ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

Hello!

There are a couple of very exciting days coming up soon here in Japan, at least for me! This weekend in Saijo, in the Ehime prefecture, there will be a game night coming up at a friends house. He has hosted a night like this once before (that I have been available to go to), and it was a ton of fun. Some people played video games, there were board games available to play, and (my personal favourite) there will be people playing Magic! I'm going to make the drive over early in the afternoon to maximize my game playing and enjoyment having! The weekends have been a lot of excitement here the last month or so since we've started meeting people outside of Kanonji, and I'm looking forward to having more fun and adventures!  

Hello!

Today I wanted to talk about one of my favourite pastimes. Often, I'll have some downtime during the day, either before or after work, where I want to listen to something, but not necessarily something musical, or something that requires active listening. One of the best things that fits this bill is listening to podcasts, or internet radio shows. These shows are often independently produced, depending on the genre of show that you enjoy listening to. Any one with a computer, a microphone, and a way to record sound can create and distribute a podcast, and there are literally thousands that exist today on any topic you can imagine! My favourite ones are the comedy shows, that feature either humorous interviews with actors, or sketches performed by groups of people. There are also a number of shows that talk about films that I enjoy listening to as well, usually about bad or poorly made movies in a comedic way. These shows are just like listening to radio, but you're able to curate exactly what you want to listen to at any time, and enjoy new content whenever it comes out! I find it a great way to relax, and a super fun time!  

Hello!

I wanted to share with you an exciting even that happened to me this past weekend! I travelled to Marugame city and participated in a trial tournament for the card game that I play, Magic:The Gathering. It was five round of games, and the winner would receive two byes in the large Grand Prix tournament that will take place this November in Kobe. This is a big advantage, as the tournament will be host to hundreds of players, and being able to skip the first two rounds puts you well ahead of the pack. Unfortunately, I didn't perform very well over the weekend. There were some very well built and designed decks, and I played a deck that I had designed and built myself, putting me at a pretty big disadvantage. However, I didn't go to win, I went to have fun, and I certainly had that. Magic is not a competitive game for me, and I don't normally play it at a competitive level, so when I do, I never have particularly high expectations for winning. There's another trial tournament happening this week coming up, and though I won't be going, I still have plans to head to the big Kobe tournament this winter!
  

I was going through my pictures today and found this picture from when I went to a Japanese restaurant in Canada. I thought it might be fun to share it with you, since it might be a little different.




The restaurant is called Sun Sushi, I went with my friends fairly often when I was in Canada. Mostly it's popular because it carries western style sushi rolls, but my favourite dish was always Japanese style curry katsu.

What do you think? Does it look similar to authentic Japanese food?   

This is a question i get asked quite a bit, and it's not an easy one to answer. I was born in San diego, and I lived there until I was 13. I moved Oxnard, a small city north of Los Angeles for high school, then after high school I lived in LA for 3 years.

Despite only living there for a few years, I still feel like LA is my home. I love the place, though many people dislike it for being too crowded and too smoggy. HEre's a video that almost shows what see when I think about Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Hyperlapse/Timelapse Compilation from Vadim Tereshchenko on Vimeo.

  

Today I wanted to show another one of my favourite hobbies. I've always loved the idea of embroidery, it's what ladies and princesses do in all the stories I read as a child so I always wanted to try it to be more like them. My grandmother also did embroidery when she was alive, so I passed many pleasant evenings sitting with my grandmother in her living room doing cross stitches. I really miss sharing that hobby with her, so it's become even more important to me within the last few years. I feel close to her when I do embroidery.
Here s an example of some practice I did recently, I want to learn lots of stitches.




I find it really relaxing, so I love to do it. I think I have too may hobbies though.


  

I hate the summer time with its constant unbearable heat and sticky humidity. I much prefer the fall or even the winter, when I can be comfortable in a nice sweater or even a heavy jacket, and when the humidity isn't so heavy.

Still, I think I'll miss this summer when it's gone. I've had a great time in Saijo. I've made lots of new friends, gone to a few great bbqs and imotaki parties, and enjoyed some beautiful Hanabi displays. These things make summer enjoyable for me, and though fall's coolness will be a welcome relief, I'll miss the long days by the river.   

Teaching English in Japan has been an awesome experience so far, but it isn't without it's moments of culture shock. I've started reading a comic by an American named Mary Cagle. It's called "Let's Speak English!" And it's about her experiences as an English teacher in Japan. It's really great, I can identify with nearly every comic that she draws.

This one in particular is pretty good. :)




Check it out and practice your English reading! www.marycagle.com  

I had a great time at summer tour with my fellow teachers! It was great t be able to meet students from other GEM locations in Kagawa where I never teach. :)

Here's a picture from Sue of us in our flight attendant/ security uniforms. I'm the big guy in back who is trying to look serious and failing.



Here's another one from right after we finished up the last show and sent the kids home. I'm ridding my kingdom of the pesky bandit Robin Hood. :D




It was a great event. See you next year!   

I spent most of obon enjoying my car and got some great pictures as a result. :) Here are some from Shikokuchuo!





It was a nice vacation, but I'm excited to get back to teaching!

  

This is the James Webb Space Telescope. It is going t replace the Hubble space telescope that is currently out in space orbiting Earth. It's about the size of a tennis court and as tall as a 4-story building. It will be able to take pictures deeper into space and with more power. I'm excited to see what the first images taken with it will look like.

If you aren't familiar with the type of images the Hubble space telescope takes here is a picture of what it's capable of.




That is a beautiful image taken by the Hubble space telescope. Imagine what the James Webb telescope will be capable of.

If you're interested in learning about what it has here is a picture explaining all the different things on the telescope.




Wish I had something like this in my backyard.

- James Barbosa





  

Hello, all!

This weekend I took a nice long walk around Mishima, my area of Shikokuchūō. I walked by the ocean, through parks, and up into the mountains. I saw geckos, very large (but not giant) isopods, many insects, birds, deer, and other animals. I saw a baseball game, the nicest area of the city, the poorest area of the city, water parks, woodlands, schools, and people. I saw some wonderful scenery from Mishima Park. But the most interesting thing I saw... was the 7-Eleven.

Prepare to be surprised: until last week, Shikokuchūō had no 7-Elevens! There were Family Marts, Lawsons, and Circle Ks, but the closest 7-Eleven was in Kanonji. When our first 7-Eleven opened six days ago, it was the talk of the town. Everyone came—the parking lot was always full. Maybe people wanted to see if the 7-Eleven deli food is really better than other conbini's. Maybe the big sale attracted them. Maybe people were just interested in the new experience of a Mishima 7-Eleven. Whatever the reason, I've never seen so much excitement over a convenience store! When I went in to do some printing and buy a new umbrella, I found about 25 customers and 10 staff members. Japan really does love its conbini!

—Matthew  

What kind of arts or crafts projects do you like to do?

I like to try all kinds of things. One this I tried recently was working with clay. In this picture you can see a very tiny elephant that I made. I made it with my students and they all really liked it. It looks very complex but it was easy. It was fun showing them how just simple shapes can make something so cool.

Let me know what kind of projects you like to do!

Thank you for reading,

Kristen  

Do you like gelato? I tried a gelato shop near the Saijo train station recently. It was so yummy! They have three sizes to choose from and with every cup you can choose three flavors. I had chocolate, pudding and strawberry gelato. They were all so tasty that it is hard to pick my favorite! Do you like gelato? What is your favorite flavor?

Thank you for reading,

Kristen  

Hello everybody! My name is Leslie. It's nice to meet you. I am a new teacher at Gem School. I arrived in Japan at the end of July. Here is a little bit of information about me. I am from the United States of America from a state named Texas. I absolutely love to travel! I was living in Australia before coming to Japan, and I was living in South Korea before Australia :3 . I love taking photos, designing, drawing, and baking! I also love very cute cafes!

Thanks for reading and hope to meet you soon! <3

-Leslie   

Do you like curry? How about Indian Curry? I went to an Indian restaurant for curry recently for lunch. It was really good. I had spinach curry with chicken in it. It was so tasty. I like spinach very much. Another thing I like about Indian food is eating the Indian bread called Nan. I love eatting hot fresh Nan with my curry.

You should try Indian Curry! Let me know if you do!

Thank you for reading,

Kristen  

I found a new favorite food! At the Saijo night market I was told that I should try Setoyaki. It was delicious! It is very similar to my favorite food Okonomiyaki. The best park about Setoyaki is that there is a whole egg in the middle! Yummy! I was also told that there are only a few times every year when you can find it. I can't wait to eat it again. If you ever get a chance to try it, please do!

What is your favorite snack food at night markets?

Thank you for reading,

Kristen  

I just found this at a bakery! It's red bean bread that's shaped to look like Totoro. I've seen many types of baked goods at a bakery that are shaped like random characters. Apart from the fun design of the bread, it was very delicious. Totoro is actually my favorite character from Studio Ghibli so whenever I see something Totoro I always get excited.

Red bean flavor is a great flavor that I've only ever had in Japan, although it isn't my favorite it definitely is one of them. My favorite filling in any pastry is custard. I love custard. What's your favorite?

- James Barbosa  

I have done crafts of many kinds, ever since I was a little girl. My house was always full of beads, string, paint, and fabric. My mom would steal ideas from craft shows and magazines, and I would try things out with her and my friends. I was never really good at any of it until I was in my 20s, and started to have more patience in my work. I make a lot of jewelry right now, but sometimes I have to make a peice several times before it's perfect.

Recently, I dove into a new craft that I found here in Japan, making pendants out of metal and resin.
I'd seen resin work before but it's not as easy to do in America as it is to do here in Japan. The pendant pictured was my first one, and even though the paper got a little faded, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I even got my hands on a bat mold! Not sure how I'm going to get a hole in it to make it into a keychain, but I love a good challenge!

I haven't showed off my work yet to my friends in America because I think I might make them pendants for Christmas.  

Hello all! Today I will tell you about some more of my adventures during the Obon holiday!

So after my time in Kyoto, I hopped on a train and took off to Nara! The train ride was a bit long, as the train was full and there was no where for me to sit, but the scenery was just beautiful! I arrived in Nara, and found the tourist centre so that I could leave my luggage in the luggage drop off centre. I then jumped onto a bus to Nara park! I got to the park and walked around the botanical garden for a while. It was such a magical place, and it certainly felt like there were all sorts of spirits around! There were a few deer about, but i didn't really see many until I got back tot he main area. I purchased some deer food, and was immediately surrounded by three or four deer!
I fed them as fast as i could, and as soon as I ran out of food, one of them bit my thigh! I hurried away and walked down the road towards Todaiji Temple. I stopped in a couple shops along the way to pick up some souvenirs to send to my family (and for myself!). I finally got to Todaiji Temple, and I still can't believe how amazing it was!
The size of the building, and the Buddha statue were incredible! I never wanted to leave! I really wish I spoke more Japanese, so that I could have asked some questions about the history of the temple! After I finally was finished touring the temple, and i had purchased a few trinkets and good luck charms, I headed back tot he bus station to take a bus to the train station so I could head to Osaka. I can't wait to share the rest with you next week!