ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

I try ot be a very organized person, and i always try to do everything I need to do. But i sometimes hve trouble remembring things I need ot do, or things that I need to buy. I may have finaly found soemthing that really keeps me organized! It is a system of note taking called Bullet Journaling.The name comes from two words - journaling (writing down your thoughts and feelings) and bullets (a fast, short style of taking notes). It works really well. And I get to use so many cute stickers and coloured pens! I really love it. Sty tuned as I tell you more about how I keep my bullet journal and what I like about it!


  

Ever since in Japan I have found and grown to love Rilakkuma! Anywhere I see anything Rilakkuma I have to get it!

I have only been in Japan for about half a year already and I have acquired many Rilakkuma items, it's almost embarrassing. As you can see by the photo.. I have a stuffed animal, many stationary items, a few boxes, some dishware and more!

I've spent so much money on it, I'm just glad Camilo doesn't mind! :)

Do you collect anything?  

Last Saturday was a good day, but it was really bittersweet.

The day started with the GEM BBQ in Nio, which was great fun. The food was delicious, and Im always happy to meet new students and play with kids that I haven't seen in a long time. It was really good. Unfortunately we had to rush out as soon as we were finished, because Kristen's goodbye party started at 9:00 and the BBQ ended at 8:00.

After a frantic drive back to Saijo and a quick change of clothes, we made our way to the local watering hole. It's owned by a couple of friends of ours, and we were greeted with warm smiles and a large group of friends eagerly awaiting our (fashionably late) arrival.

Yes Kristen is leaving, and at the same time, two more friends of mine are returning to their home countries. It was a good party, lots of fun, but it was also desperately sad at times, and I had a hard time dealing with the sudden rush of emotions after a long, carefree day.

In any case, goodbye John, Nicole, and Kristen. Good luck in the future, and I'll see you some time.



  

Recently Pokemon Go was released in Japan, and just as in America, it has risen to the top of the app charts.

I'm not playing it myself, but lots of my friends are. Their stories have been universally great, and I wanted to share a few here.

The game was released on a Friday, and by coincidence a few friends of mine were climbing Mt. Ishiuzuchi here in Saijo. Somehow they managed to get cell phone signal at the summit and discovered that the shrine there was a pokegym. My friend made her whole group wait for a few minutes while she got to level 5 (the minimum level to compete for a gym) and took over the gym - she is officially the first gym leader of the Ishizuchi summit gym, which i think is hilarious.

Another gym related story happened on Monday, when Kristen and I were returning from Kagawa. As I was driving, she was playing Pokemon Go. She spotted an uninhabited gym nearby and we took a short detour to go take it over.

Gyms are usually located near important sites or interesting local landmarks, and this one was no exception. It turned out that this gym was located at an interesting local Shrine/ temple hybrid. I snapped a quick picture of the statue there and Kristen dropped off a pokemon, but after that we spent a few minutes just enjoying the location. I think that's the real draw of the game - not hunting the pokemon themselves, but the experience of being outside and seeing new locations in the context of playing a game.



  

Hello Everyone,

It is time to talk about one of my favorite parts of Summer in Japan: Fireworks! Recently I went to the river in Saijo with my friends. It was a great time! I really like holding the sparklers and watching the other small fireworks we had light up the sky. It was such a fun time. Nothing like the bigger shows that you can see around Ehime. But having a small fireworks show of your own with your friends it also very special.

Do you do fireworks with your friends?

Thank you for reading,

Kristen  

One thing I've been wanting to do is to go to Hawaii and learn to farm, mainly coffee farming. When I lived in Canada my passion for coffee skyrocketed when I worked at Starbucks for most of my twenties, eight years to be exact. Since then I've always wanted to visit a coffee farm and work on one just to see what its like and learn more about how coffee is made. I've learned a lot about coffee through Starbucks and other cafes I frequented back home but it's not the same as actually living that lifestyle. I hope to do it one day.

- James Barbosa  

This is my nephew and my brother-in-law. Recently they took a trip to the Cleveland Zoo, and my sister sent me a lot of photos. My nephew is now two years and five months old, as of yesterday. I know it so well because we were born on exactly the same day. Almost at the same hour, even. He was born on my 25th birthday at around 10 p.m. I was born a little after 11.
Even though he's nearly two and a half he is super short. Sometimes one year olds are taller than him. His father is really short to. And so am I, I guess. But I am taller than his father, at least.
My brother-in-law and I are very competitive, because he likes the Yankees (you can tell from his hat) and I prefer the Red Sox. Those teams are huge rivals. We often used to debate about it at family dinners, but he would always win, because I only kind of like sports.   

A couple of weeks ago Sadie and I went to a store looking for some goodies for our students. Unfortunately the store didn't have what we needed but we got some good replacements. But that is not what this post is about, its about what was at the front of this particular store. At the front of the store there were a bunch of crane machines where you could win prizes. Inside one of the machines was a super cute Mew! I had to have that Mew so I put 500 yen in and tried my luck. I had no idea what I was doing. One of the staff saw that I was completely lost and he came over to explain the game and reset it so I could try again. about 3000 yen in all the spots were filled in except the one I needed. The staff felt so bad that he essentially rigged it so I could win. After getting my Mew we went through the store and on the way out I couldn't help it but try again and see if I could get the Pikachu in a Snorlax costume! At the end of the day I spent slightly over 5000 yen but I went home with two new friends.

That same night Sadie and I watched Pokemon: Mewto Strikes Back and Pokemon 2000. Have you seen any pokemon movies?

  

In the midst of dozens of tax papers (health insurance, pension, city) it was nice receive a letter that wasn't demanding my money---and that I could read!

As you can see, my Mother makes writing letters fun by writing in a spiral. It was really funny to read on the train, I must have looked so strange turning the paper around and around!! She sent me some photos last month, along with some chocolate that had melted over everything. "It's the thought that counts."

The photos were of her new cat and the variety of wildlife handing around her countryside home. Raccoons, turtles, deer. There was even a peacock! I don't believe that Michigan has peacocks so it must belong to a farm nearby.

My mother wrote about her garden and lake, and how happy she is living there. She bought a kayak but almost lost it when it floated away! I was happy to hear from her, because I sent her birthday presents in early July and hadn't even gotten an email since. Turns out, her computer is broken. She hates computers anyway.

I feel like buying some cute letter sets and writing back soon!  

Throughout the year, I had been told time and again things like "Have you lost weight?" and "You look slimmer!". That is mostly because I have been losing weight. In fact, I am much thinner than I was when I first arrived to Japan. Mostly in a good way, though I think I lost a lot of muscle as well.
However, recently I think i may have put on a bit of weight. Not a lot, as I still fit in even my tightest of pants (still not all that tight around the waist). But I have noticed a bit of flab showing more around my stomach (that was always the problem area, but now it seems to have taken a turn for the worst).
I'm pretty sure it has to do with the fact that 1) I haven't been doing much exercise lately. Before I had a sort of routine, even if it was a bit on the short side. But now I barely get out to go for a short walk, and so the inactivity has led to more pudgyness. 2) Poor diet. I have been eating a lot of bread lately, mostly because I don't make anything for breakfast or lunch. All those carbs went right to my stomach, or so I believe.
I hope I get out of this slump soon. I really don't want to pack on all the weight I worked kind of hard to take off!  

Recently, my little brother got engaged to a wonderful girl who asked me to help her plan their wedding! She is a darling and I can't wait to have her in our family! I love weddings and now I have the opportunity to help plan one! I am so excited! The bride is a fantastic woman! She and I have many similarities so it makes it uniquely easy and fun to help plan! It is going to be a beautiful ceremony with country flare decorations! I can't wait!  

Hello!

Holy cow, it's so hot in Japan this time of year! I remember it being hot and humid this time last year, but for some reason, it's been hitting me pretty hard this summer. For those who have never been to Canada, it almost never gets above 30 degrees Celsius, and the humidity is never even close to what it is here! It's been really nice, and I'll take a very warm Japanese Summer over a ver cold Canadian Winter, but after two months, it's hard to keep sweating day after day! I'm looking forward to the cooler Autumn weather coming up in a month or two, but until then, if you need to find me, I'll be the guy who always looks like he just came out of the pool!

A  

My favorite thing to do when it’s hot outside is to go swimming. My friends and I would often go to a beach house in the summer. We would spend a few days there swimming and barbecuing. Swimming in a pool is fun too but I like lakes better. I haven’t gone swimming in the ocean yet. I have gone snorkeling in the Gulf of Mexico but it was in a tourist area and I don’t count the Gulf as the ocean. I hope to go soon!
Where is your favorite place to swim?  

I saw my first real Tanuki!! I stopped to get gas and saw there was a strange looking furry animal sleeping on the ground nearby. I asked the person working at the gas station what it was and they told me (to my delight) that it is a tanuki! It was smaller than I imagined it would be. It woke up once I approached to take a picture.

  

I've always wanted to go home without telling my family in order to surprise them. I finally got around to doing just that earlier this month. I only told my brother that I was coming home so he could help make sure my parents didn't leave town at that time. He told my mom that he was coming to visit for a week so she could ask for time off. My parents usually do a road trip every summer around the time I would be coming home. They planned a road trip with my brother this year! My brother met me in Chicago so that we could take the train home. My dad told my brother he would pick him up since the last train would arrive late. My mom went to bed.
I told my brother to distract my dad while putting his bag in the car so I could sneak up unseen. It worked perfectly. When my dad turned around he saw me standing next to the car. First he looked confused. Then shocked. Then very very happy. He said it was the best surprise of his life. :)
Next we decided to wake my mom up when we got home. I knew she would be confused because she was sleeping very deeply when I opened the door. I chose to roll with the confusion. I opened her bedroom door as asked, "Mom, where's the pizza?" She sleepily answered, "What?". So I said again, "where's the pizza??" Again confused she just asked, "What?" "Why?" So I continued, "I'm hungry. Where's the pizza at?" At this point she just stopped talking and stared into the darkness. Then she reached for her glasses on her bedside table. Finally I walked into the room from the doorway so she could see me better. At this point, she didn't know if she was awake or dreaming. She asked me many times "What??? Why are you here? How are you here??" She was very happy and confused.
That was the most fun surprise I've ever participated it. I'm so lucky that I had the opportunity to do it! My parents were so very happy.

  

Yesterday, I went out and saw the Zenigata for the first time! It was very interesting! I wandered around the area for a little bit and saw a staircase. I walked up the stairs and found myself visiting my first temple! There was a very gentle music playing and the whole thing felt very serene. I was the only person there, so I wandered for a while. It was a very calming experience and I look forward to visiting more temples!



  

Yestersay was the first day we could play Pokemon Go! in Japan! I have been having so much fun catching Pokemon for the past day. Sadie and I had a very long, slow walk home from work to try and catcha few of the cute monsters! We have seen so many people playing the game, and I am so happy to see so many people enjoying being outside! if you decide to play Pokemon Go!, please be careful in the summer heat! You should wear a hat and take a bottle of water with you, so that you don't get sick.

Have fun and please be careful!


  

Once a month I go to Kunita preschool close by my apartment to teach some of the kids there. When I got there some of the kids were running through the halls naked and other finishing taking an outside shower. They were all saying hello to me as I passed through. It was very cute! I was very surprised by this because in America this would never happen.

I love how this can happen and there is no worry about something bad happening. Japan keeps surprising me everyday and I love it more and more!  

Hello Everyone,

Recently I made a new friend! This is a funny story.

I came home and found this little guy inside my house. It was a small brown moth. I tried to get him to fly outside but instead he decided to sit on my hand. So I walked outside vert slowly and he didn't move. He sat on my hand for about 5 minutes and then flew away. I usually try to take any bugs I find in my house outside. I thought it was pretty funny that he didn't want to get off my hand.

Have a great day! Thank you for reading,

Kristen  

So I love cycling and sometimes when I can't sleep I do just that, go out and cycle. Here is a picture of me out cycling to Sunport Takamatsu. It was really calm and quiet, all you could hear was the water. It was also the same night when Pokemon Go launched in Japan and I could notice a few playing. It was interesting. Takamatsu is such a great city, even at night.

This this city.

- James Barbosa