ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

A little late in saying so, but it has already been two years since I came to Japan and started working for Gem School! Whoooo!
It has been quite a fun time since, and so much has happened. I have already moved twice (three times, if you count moving back), participated in several marathons, encountered many people, drank at several different locations, experienced nature in ways I was not able to before, and have had more fun than I thought possible!
Not only that, I have already signed on for another year with Gem School, so here's looking forward to another amazing year! I am looking forward to a great summer full of outings (though maybe not a lot of traveling). I hope I will have some kind of adventure, since now a days I really need to go easy on the spending, as I will soon have to start paying for full pension and stuff. Well, we'll see how it turns out!   

Hello, all!

Here it is! The post in which I hardly do any writing at all. Instead, I'll mostly just post a few photos from my friends' visit, with some notes.

I met Matt and Richard in Hiroshima on Saturday, and got to spend all the time through Wednesday morning with them. We saw Miyajima, stayed in a ryokan, hung out at my apartment, went to Marugame Castle, met lots of Gem School teachers, and even visited the Kanonji school. It was Richard's first time overseas, so I'm grateful he decided to visit me here!


Matt and Richard arrived in Osaka, just in time for the end of cherry blossom season! Here's Richard enjoying his first day in Japan.



Matt, who is a quarter Japanese, has relatives in Osaka. He's written them many times, but never met them before. He finally got the chance last week! This is, I think, his great-uncle (his grandmother's brother).



Here's one of the Miyajima deer resolutely attempting to eat a tourist brochure. We think someone must have held the brochure with greasy hands, so it smelled like food. Don't throw your trash on the ground, folks! Animals are not smart enough to know they can't eat it.



Matt was very, very excited to have me take his picture touching the "Pacific Ocean" (actually the Seto Inland Sea). I'm not sure why he was so insistent, but here's the picture anyway!



Here's a nice picture Matt took while crossing the Shimanami Kaido. He's traveled a lot around Japan before, but he agreed that taking the bus instead of the train was worth it for this scenery.



We were accosted by some, er, rather inebriated ryokan guests at dinner our second night. (Note that they were drinking; we didn't drink at all!) For some reason they were particularly interested in Richard, so we took this picture of him being shockingly serene in the midst of their onslaught. (Actually, we had a pretty good conversation with them in Japanese, too.)



Finally I have a good picture of my favorite local temple—Senryū-ji, in the mountains behind Shikokuchūō! Even my students in Shikokuchūō don't know that Senryū-ji exists, so I was proud to be able to show my friends such a nice hidden treasure.



I spotted this little guy in a stump in Mishima Park, and Matt took just about the coolest picture I've ever seen. Be sure to click for full size—it's wallpaper-worthy!



Finally, I am very happy that Matt and Richard share my affection for moss. Moss is so great! It's cool, and such a bright green, and has so many different textures, and everything covered with moss makes me feel comfortable and happy. Richard took this excellent photo at Senryū-ji. Wait... this is wallpaper-worthy, too!


Besides memories, Matt and Richard left me another wonderful memento: grape jelly! It's impossible to find in Japan, but now that I have it I can make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a few Japanese people who have been interested. (...And for myself.)

Have a wonderful Golden Week!

—Matthew  

This special exhibit is at the Kagawa Museum in Takamatsu, which is close to the train station and very easy to get to. The cost is 1200 yen and includes the rest of the museum. The show continues through May 22nd. No photos were allowed inside the exhibit, as is usually the case.

The show included a variety of his work over the many years of his life, the kinds of things I've seen before. One interesting thing that was part of this show, that I've not seen in other shows, was one room of photographs of the artist over the years. I've read much about how the women in his life affected his art, but this has me wondering how much the women influenced his appearance. Or maybe that was all his own doing? Photos in the '30's and '40's show his hairstyle as a longer comb over, probably to hide the thinning hair on top. Then, the photos starting in the 1950's show the close cut, almost bald on top, style that I think of when I think of Picasso. He seemed much bolder and freer in his appearance as he aged. In almost every photo, right up to the end of his life, he has a cigarette in his mouth or hand. I think he lived to be 91. Maybe he just posed with the cigarettes and didn't smoke them? It doesn't seem fair that one can smoke so much and live so long.



  

Golden week is almost here! I'm very excited for some time off. I'm really looking forward to taking a trip to Hiroshima this year.



I visited last year but only for a day. It was a very somber experience for me.

I didn't get to go to Miyajima last time, so I'm excited to finally go, though I'm worried about the crowds. Hopefully it won't be too bad. I also love Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki!

I'm so excited!