ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

Last night was our Thanksgiving party here in Saijo.




We had TURKEY! for the first time in almost three years I had my favorite meal again. :) Jay bought it, and we all paid for it separately, and it was totally worth every yen. It was delicious, and in true Thanksgiving tradition, I have leftovers to enjoy the next day.   

The leaves are changing! There are so many read and orange leaves now, and it makes me miss my dog. She is a boarder collie, and she loves fall. When we take he for walks, she chases leaves, jumps on them, and she will pick them up and shake them around! It's really cute, and she is always so proud of herself for protecting us from the dangerous leaves!


  

Camilo really loves to go to yakiniku restaurants because he loves meat, but I don't love it as much as he does.

These past few times I've been getting rice, soup and some ramen! It's super delicious.

I only managed to get the leftovers of what I ate, but it shows how delicious it actually was.  

Give or take a span of 10 years, I've been making daily journals of my dreams, or as I like to call them, my "dream log".
My dream logs are of course very personal and impersonal, that I won't go into detail and the common link between them all, but I will explain a project that I've been working on (more like on and off) for the past 2-3 years.

I've been composing ambient pieces of music that revolve a different "meaning" of a given dream. The compositions are typically named "Music for Dark Room (x)" (which btw has about 40 pieces of music in that "book"). The lucid sounds of the pieces and what they are based on, really makes for some fantastic ambient pieces of music that I think are as good as Brian Eno or Aphex Twin ambient pieces, but maybe that's just my egoism running loose again.

I'll get back to you next week on another subject that is of interest for me.


  

As much fun as I have been having here in Japan--and believe me, there has been a lot of it!--I do miss all of my family back home. And high up on my list of those I miss most is my little kitty, Willow! I rescued her last year from an animal shelter in Utah, and she is just a sweet little ball of energy!
  

Whats your favorite dessert? A majority of people I ask this question usually say Ice Cream or Cake, but have you ever tried Pumpkin Pie? it's by far my most favorite dessert and it is only available during the fall. It's a dessert that is even served during Thanksgiving and, at least where I'm from, during Christmas, too. Pumpkin Pie is so good because it isn't too sweet and I feel like it's just enough to make you feel satisfied.

If you ever get a chance to try Pumpkin Pie I'd recommend it!

- James Barbosa  

Every Wednesday I work at the utazu school. Some times I arrive early enough that I can head on over to the seaside park and enjoy the scenery along with a little bit of PoGo. At night time the bridge lights up and you can see far off int he distance. Today I had a conversation with a student and I finally learned what the "sand" was. Apparently it is not sand at all. It turns out that they make or pull salt from the area. I love learning new and interesting facts.  

So I started playing this 3DS game called Fantasy Life. I'm pretty sure it's not a very new game, but it is the first time I have been playing it. Of course, it's in Japanese, but I'm getting through alright.
Anyway, the basic premise of the game is that you go through this adventure that starts off with you choosing a job. The jobs vary, from chef, knight, hunter, blacksmith, and so on. It's actually quite interesting and fun. It also kind of had me thinking.
If I was not a teacher now, and I didn't have to worry about needing to have the skills immediately (needing to learn before taking the job), what kind of job would I want?
These days it's kind of difficult to think like that, because any place you go requires you have some kind of skill or knowledge before entering that field. I think, though, that I would like to work with my hands, be able to create something. A chef would be fun, I have been interested in cooking and food for a while now. I think I wouldn't mind working as a smith either, making things out of metal.

If you could think about taking any kind of job, what would you want to be?  

The fall leaves in Niihama are so amazing right now! Every time I drive to Saijo, I get take a road lined with trees full of gold, orange, and red leaves. So beautiful! I also went to Shodoshima to take a hike and see some leaves. The trees weren’t fully ready yet up there, but the scenery was still great and there were some lovely Japanese maples with bright red leaves. I also got to meet some JETs and take a big, deluxe ferry out to the island, which was fun. Lastly, for souvenirs we got some olive-flavored chocolates. I was a little wary at first, but they were really delicious! Overall, it was a wonderful time!
  

Hello!

Today, I want to talk a little about a holiday that is held in both Canada and the United States, but in two different months! In October, Thanksgiving is held on the 2nd Monday in October, and is a holiday meant to bring family and friends together to reminisce about what they are thankful for and what they are grateful for having in their lives, whether it's a person or a job or even just good friends to share a meal with!

In the United States, Thanksgiving is held on the 4th Thursday of November, about 6 weeks after the Canadian version. There is a little more history and tradition that goes into the celebration. Thanksgiving is to remember a time in history when the British colonists who had come to America were helped to survive by the Aboriginal people already living in the country and used to the harsh winters. The holiday serves the same purpose as the Canadian version, in that people gather together with their families and their friends and give thanks for what they are grateful for in their lives, and to try and remember to always be grateful for what they have and the people they have to share it with. The traditional meal of both these holidays are often turkey or ham, with lots of different types of side dishes like potatoes with gravy, and many different types of sweet desserts. It's a great celebration to be a part of, and one of the most fun ones to participate in.  

On Sunday I spent the evening atop a mountain in Sakaide. I’m not sure which mountain, but it was one within walking distance from the Sakaide station, though that is questionable since I wouldn’t know since I was picked up by a friend from the Circle K convenience store next to the station. It began at 4:30 and lasted till 8:50ish, a well-spent four hours in the life of each of us there. I met up with a fellow teacher at the Hashioka station and it was him who introduced me to the friend who wound up giving us a lift from the Circle K to the mountain. As we were leaving two more teachers pulled up right beside us, so we formed a mini-caravan and embarked on our little journey. All I remember of the directions to there was that we took a left from the Sakaide station, so that initially we were driving right along the rail line itself above us. We parked at the base of the mountain in a little makeshift parking lot and went down the road a bit till the friend who gave us a lift pointed out the path up to our little bonfire site. The way up was a bit toughgoing, definitely nothing I’d do for mere fun. In fact our pack was overpassed by a gentleman who seemed to be just going up and down the steps for exercise, or perhaps to pray at the shrines along the way and at the top. It took us maybe 20 minutes just to complete the path and get to some leveled ground. We stopped along the way twice to pull up into some crooks to take in the view, some of us even taking pictures of them. We were met at the top of our path by a torii gate before a vacated and unkept religious shelter of some sort. There was a large stone with inscriptions to the left somewhere, and past that some farming rows of plants, sheds, and giant pots filled with water. A bit past that we came upon our spot. It was a little hut with benches and chairs and lots of wood laying around for us to throw into the barrel left in its center for setting fire in. It started with just five of us before four others joined later in the night. We listened to some dope music that one of us hooked up to some loudspeakers while roasting schmores. I made my first “technical” schmore there. It was what we can properly call, a glorious little night.


  

While in Tokyo or other big cities, people often go on shopping sprees. I didn't buy any new clothes, shoes, books, or gadgets while in Tokyo. However, I did buy as many Peruvian cooking ingredients as I could fit in my bag. We discovered a latin american grocery store. I couldn't contain my excitement. My pantry is now fully loaded with Peruvian goods. Japanese food is good but I get bored eating the same thing all the time. Kagawa doesn't offer much in the way of foreign ethnic food. My husband and I are eating well these days.







  

It's finally cold enough that I can use my kotatsu! I was so happy to pull out my rug and blanket and clean them, them set them out with the kotatsu! This means i will be much lazier now, but it also means that my toes will be warm and happy. I love my kotatsu so much, I have plans to mail it to Canada when I finally move back to cold, snowy Manitoba!

How do you stay warm in winter? Do you feel lazy when you use a kotatsu?


  

As some of you may know, Sadie is my nickname, my real name is Sarah.

I was named after my grandmother on my mother's side, she passed away a few years before I was born. My mother always says I remind her of her mother.

I picked the nickname Sadie, because sometimes my grandmother would go by Sadie.

All of my life I wished I could have met her, my mother always tells me wonderful stories.

The picture is of my grandmother at her wedding.

Were you named after anyone in your family?  

As of recent, I've been reading more technical papers on the very notion of "Truth" (with a capital "t"), because it has been something that has been of a constant theme of my dreams (as I can remember the dreams).

I'm not sure for this desire, but I decided to pursue such a desire because of the interest that my unconscious (if such an object exists) tells me to pursue. Because of this latest development, i've read about 20+ academic analytic philosophy papers on "Truth" and just finished (the rather short) book called 'What's the use of Truth?", which was a transcript, turned book, exchange between Richard Rorty (post-analytic philosopher (at least what he calls himself)) and French philosopher, Engel Pascal (French analytic philosopher). It was a fast read and I'm happy I just borrowed a copy of the book.

What is something that your unconscious "self" tells you to do?

By the way, the picture is of the late-philosopher, Richard Rorty, which dealt with Pragmatism, Analytic, and Continental Philosophy (please refer to his collections on Heidegger, Derrida, and Objectivity, etc).


  

I didn't get a chance before to tell you about all of my wonderful matsuri experiences! I loved seeing the taikodai and hearing the taikodai and taking part in all of the festivities--it was such an interesting and cool cultural experience, and SO MUCH FUN!
  

It's getting colder and colder and that means that winter sports are on the rise! Do you like winter sports? I know I do and snowboarding is one of them. I used to snowboard a bit back in Canada since we have a lot of snow, it's very popular. But, despite snowboarding since I was a teenager, I'm not that good! And I haven't done it in a while so I'm sure I'll have to practice again!

That reminds me, I need to look for a good place in Japan to snowboard!

- James Barbosa

  

One of my favorite things about this job is getting to teach so many kids who love art. Many of my students play an instrument, or they like to draw, and its always so cool getting to hear them talk about their passion. It's even better when I get to see or hear it. This is a drawing from one of my students in Marugame. I think he's really talented and I think its really cool and inspiring how much he likes to draw.   

Recently I went to the Setouchi Art Festival. Chris, another teacher at Gem School, and I went to Awashima. My favorite thing there was the lost post office, but I also really liked the paper-mache heads and the closed school. It was all kind of creepy, but also really beautiful.   

I have worked with babies for quite some time now. What I have noticed is that for certain babies they tend to not talk much. AT some point its like they hit a switch button and you can't get them to stop talking. For me this moment is magical. I see it as this great process that goes on in the brain and can baffle so many people. Today I had a breakthrough in one of my classes. My students spoke 1000 times more than all the previous classes combined. Anything else that happened today didn't matter. This student made my day bright shiny.

Do you have kids? Did they they start talking little by little or was it at the flip of a switch?