ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

When it comes to TV and movies, my favorite genres are horror and SciFi. I love anything creepy or spooky. Recently there's been a lot of good shows and movies coming out in both genres. One of my favorite new ones is "Stranger Things" on Netflix. It has a really cool and powerful girl at the center, which is something I really love seeing.
  

It's been some time since Sadie and I try a new restaurant so we thought we'd hit up one of the local joints and see what they had to offer. We ended up at a restaurant called Mocha. We have passed by this restaurant a thousand times on the way to work but had never actually made it inside the restaurant. When we sat down the first thing that really hit us was the atmosphere of the place. It was very relaxed almost like the country club that Sadie use to work at in America. The crowd was definitely an aged one but for us that makes it better. Most of the people seem to have gone there for the ice cream which looked impressive. We ordered some pasta and a pizza to share and two iced cafe lattes. The pasta was delicious and savory and the pizza was just as good. We'll surely be going back for the coffee if nothing else. If you haven't tried Mocha yet we encourages you to get down there.  

A year ago, I posted on this very blog, about my first time experiencing the Zenigata festival in Kanonji. On Sunday, I am proud to say that I was a part of it!

The team wouldn't let us carry bags, so all the dancers had to get creative in hiding their money, cellphones, and anything else. Our costume had a pocket already made for things, and Taylor and I also sewed a small pouch into the obi. It miraculously held my bulky camera.

The team had different parts of Kotohiki park where we had to dance, with about an hour in between. The weather wasn't as hot as I feared, but the humidity was definitely hard on me and Taylor. Blessedly, the Zenigata festival set up several tables with free water and salt candy for the dancers.

Our team showed a funny student film that tried to explain the Zenigata coin is something that you can win while dancing, and joked that it was "magic" and showed one of our team members becoming wealthy and popular from it. The best way to win a coin is to dance with your heart, even if you make mistakes. The 2nd time we danced, I got one!

I was doing pretty well until we had to dance in the street. Our routine pushed us to move forward during the dance, and show it off to as many people as possible. It was HOT and tiring, and we had to dance 3 times in a ROW. It was exhausting, and Taylor and I overheated and fled before the 3rd time started. Dancing in the heat is a little harder for foreigners, so we bashfully took a bit of a break and cheered on our team. I didn't see hardly any other foreigners dancing.

The best part of the day for me, was finally bonding with some of the girls on my team. The girls had been quite scared of trying to speak English with me and Taylor, but our new friend Kazue was there to translate. I remembered some Japanese and told silly jokes. I made dozens of mistakes and couldn't dance every performance (because of the heat) but my team was caring and positive all day. I hope I can properly express how honored I am to be a part of something very Japanese. I don't know how many teams would have taken a chance on 2 girls who are yosakoi beginners AND foreigners.



  

I don't know if you are big pokemon fans, or just keeping up with the news, but Pokemon GO has been a big thing lately. Based on the original video game series for the Gameboy about catching monsters and training them for battles, Pokemon GO is an app that allows you to pretty much catch pokemon in the real world. It's a crazy idea, but one that many pokemon fans have been waiting for since the first installment of the games.
Now, I have been a fan since the game first came out, but in recent years my interest has dwindled. I don't know if it is because there are now way too many monsters to remember at this point, or because I haven't really had much time to get into it. Whatever the reason, I know that I will not be getting the Pokemon GO app. Aside from it draining phone battery like crazy, and the lack of social AND environmental interaction due to one's face being glued to the screen, I wouldn't have the time to be wandering the neighborhood looking for a pokemon. Though I would like to try it someday!  

On Monday this week my best friend and I went to read books at the pier! It was so nice and relaxing! As the sun began to set me started hearing drums and went to investigate. We had previously seen a giant bird statue during the day and it seemed a lighting up ceremony was taking place now that it was dark. It was rather pretty! The art exhibitions were kicked off with this lighting and now for the rest of the summer it will be going on! Go out and see the art if you can! It's great!  

Hello!

So, as I mentioned last week, this past weekend, Rose and myself and a friend of ours took a bus to Osaka for a couple of days! It was, as I expected, fantastic! The birthday party we went to was very fun, and we had so much fun in the city on Saturday that on Sunday, we decided to spend one more night, and go home Monday afternoon. So on Sunday, we did some shopping around Namba and Umeda, and that evening had a wonderful dinner at an okonomiyaki restaurant near the Shinsaibashi area of the city.

I have decided that I love being in Osaka, and I'll be looking for more reasons to visit again in the future! It was a weekend of great fun, and although I may have spent too much money, I'd do it again in a second!

A  

Concerts in Japan are so much fun! Of course going to them in America can be fun as well. I enjoy that the fans here have choreography to go with the performer's songs. It is much more entertaining and shows more support for the artist. The atmosphere feels much more group oriented and friendly. I definitely plan to attend many more concerts in the future. :)  

While driving through town to get brunch with my family, we encountered something quite common in my hometown. Perhaps it's not so common for others though. It's pretty cute. There are many geese that live in my hometown so they can be seen near all the lakes and ponds and even crossing busy roads. Luckily people stop and wait patiently for them to cross. I love seeing little babies following their parents around.

  

I went to Osaka this weekend again! I love travelling through the big city and meeting many people. This time I met my friend Wada in Osaka! He helped me learn Japanese before coming to Japan and I helped him learn english. We took a lot of pictures and wandered all over the food district of Osaka. I had Japanese pizza and it was really good! As a New Yorker, pizza is serious business and I was very happy to enjoy Japanese pizza.


  

Tomorrow is the Zenigata Festival here in Kanonji, and it will be my first time performing Yosakoi in public! I still have a little work to do on my dancing costume, but it will be finished in time! Katie will be coming here tomorrow pretty early so we can help each other put our consumes on correctly. I am getting a little nervous, and I am worried that I might forget the dance! I hope I can remember it!

I hope to see some of you at the festival tomorrow!  

I am the clumsiest person there is and I am always dropping things and bumping into things!

So today I went to the Ministop with some coins in my hands and when I walked in I dropped some of my coins! They went everywhere... One man by the magazine stand saw and picked one up for me and saw one went under the magazine rack. We both looked under and saw it went all the way to the back; I thought to myself "Oh, well.." Then the man proceeded to pull out the magazine rack!! I was like WOW and also thinking what everyone else in the store thought we were doing. I got my coin and I thanked him many times for his efforts!

People in Japan are so nice, I am continually shocked by the kindness I am received.

  

As you probably know, I live in Saijo! It is very common activity to go down to Kamogawa River on the weekend when the weather is nice. Recently my friends and I had a BBQ. Here is a picture of some chicken and pork I bbqed with the sunset in the background. It was a fun day. We cooked a lot of food and sat by the river putting our feet in to cool off a bit.

What is your favorite things to bbq? Let me know!

Thank you for reading,

Kristen  

So this is what my meals look like on a daily basis. I've recently gone on a meal plan which is basically a diet of chicken and broccoli. Now you may be thinking that it must be boring and I would agree with you, however I have the freedom to make it in different ways so it's been really fun experimenting the different ways I can cook these ingredients. I'm doing this because I want to get into better shape than I am and build strength. On the weekends I have the freedom to eat other things but so far I haven't strayed from my diet and I've started to see changes in my body.

Heres to good eatin'!

- James Barbosa  

Right now all my friends are playing Pokemon Go! I'm really jealous because it seems like a lot of fun. Not only are they getting to play pokemon in real time, in the real world, but its also helping them meet a ton of new friends. Lately its all any of them will talk about. I can't wait to try it myself, although I may need a new phone to do so.
Do you like Pokemon? If so, who is your favorite?  

As I mentioned in one of my previous post my laptop died not too long ago. Well I'm very happy to say that its replacement has arrived. I built this pc about a year ago. I did a bit of research and most places said building a pc was easy and simple, so I gave it a shot. What a disaster! I had to replace the motherboard twice because it was defective. When I finally got the pc up and running I had to deal with drivers. Even the newest drivers were messing things up and making the pc unusable. It took me roughly three weeks to work all the kinks out but I finally figured it out. My next build should be much smoother. Now that it has arrived I can finally get my FIFA fix. If anyone wants to join me and play some online video games you can try to find me on Fifa, Archeage, or League of Legends!

Did you buy or build your computer? Would you like to build one?  

In the middle of a cleaning and sewing spree this weekend, I stumbled upon something wonderful. I found music from my favorite American band, Brand New,that I had never heard.

I don't know why they're called Brand New, but to me, the feeling that I get when I listen to their music is that it feels new. I'm always hearing something special every time I listen. The band has been evolving their sound with every album; punk-alternative-hard rock. And I can't pinpoint why I feel so strongly about these songs. I've given introduction CDs to friends, hoping that they would feel the same way, but it hasn't happened yet.

My enthusiasm did get my sister on board though. When Brand New was selling tickets (which sold out in less than 30 minutes) to their concert, I got 2 tickets and told her that we were going. We had a sisterly road trip of sorts because the venue was nearly 3 hours away. Bar venues are the worst because we are both short and couldn't see anyone on stage. But I thanked my lucky stars that my favorite band was still together. That night, I even met the bassist and drummer by waiting outside in the cold after the show. While my sister may not feel as strongly as I do, we created a wonderful memory together by going to that concert.

Brand New's last album was in 2009, and I'd honestly thought that the boys would have moved on to other things. I saw them in concert during that CD's Tour but I didn't know that so much time would pass until the next Tour. This band is the opposite of L'arc en Ciel and Vamps, they haven't taken many photos (I wouldn't recognize them on the street), and don't do much publicity. They only have 1 music video in all of their 4 albums. I've never EVER found a Brand New song in the karaoke machine. The band weirdly kept lyrics unpublished for ages, and fans have been guessing some songs. I asked the bassist what the chorus was to my favorite song, when I met him.

The band is finally on tour again, with 2 new singles ready to go. There's some speculation that there will be one more album and then an official breakup in 2018, but for now, I am happy to hear anything from my favorite American band.

If you are curious, my recommended songs are: Not the Sun, Play Crack the Sky, Jaws Theme Swimming, The No Seatbelt Song  

Recently I went to TOHO Cinemas to watch a movie. Can you guess which one?

If you said Deadpool, then you are wrong! Though I would still like to check that out...

No, I saw the new Alice movie. Don't worry, I won't be giving any spoilers.

I of course have seen the first one, and it was pretty good, though some parts of the movie I felt were a little forced. This new movie I would probably say the same.

I do have to say, though, that I really enjoyed the Red Queen this time around, definitely more than in the first movie. It might be because she seemed a bit funnier in this movie? Or maybe because in some cases she reminded me of my girlfriend (not in a bad way!). Best part is, my girlfriend thought the same thing! Hahaha.

I would say you should check it out, thought I have been told the Japanese translation sometimes doesn't quite match up to what is actually said. But then, I think that happens for most movies.  

This week a game has taken the World by storm! Pokemon Go is shattering records and is quickly becoming the number one trending thing on the internet. As you can guess it is a pokemon game, the twist is that is it based in the real world. People can walk around to parks and other historical places while searching for these pokemon, getting to not only know their neighborhood better and exercise but people have also been meeting people and making friends. I think that games like this are kind of awesome! Hopefully the same thing happens at the launch it Japan!  

Hello!

I have a bit of an exciting trip coming up, and I'm very much looking forward to it! This weekend, myself and Rose will be travelling to Osaka with a friend of ours for the weekend! It will be the second time I have been to the city, and the third time for Rose. We'll be attending a birthday party for a friend of a friend, and then spending the next morning and afternoon in the big city before coming back Sunday night! I really loved my time in Osaka last year when we here here for Golden Week, and I've been looking for a reason to go back and explore the city a little more, so this is the perfect opportunity to go out and find something cool and new!

What are your plans for the weekend? Tell me all about them!

A  

I love playing paintball! It's exciting and great for team building. Paintball requires a lot of strategy and can get very intense. Some paintball fields have many obstacles for you to run around. I went to a paintball park that had many detailed fields. One field was a small city, one looked like a car junkyard, and another field looked like a plane crash. They get very creative with the fields which makes them more interesting to run around in.