ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

Hello all! Ever since I was young I've always had a love for footwear, mostly sneakers. I use to dream about traveling to Japan to look at and buy exclusive sneakers. As time passed, two things happened that have made that dream deferred. The first thing was sneakers becoming increasingly expensive over time due to the growing popularity and exclusivity of brands and certain pairs of sneakers. The second thing is quickly realizing when I first came to Japan that my shoe size is actually a rarity. Over time I've made peace with my current footwear situation but yesterday, while surfing the internet I came across a pair of sneakers that caught my eye.



Curiosity overcame me as I looked for the price and sizes of this particular pair of shoes knowing in my mind that my size probably won't be available. To my surprise, the Japanese website had my size 31 cm available (in limited quantity of course). And just like that in an impulse, I order a pair online. I hope that I'm happy with them and they fit well. Wish me luck!  

Golden week has officially started. I'm going to use this as a chance to go see some parts of Kagawa and Ehime I haven't seen yet. I'm going to explore Takamatsu, visit some shrines, and maybe visit and island or two. It should be a relaxing week. I'm looking forward to seeing a bit more of the Island.

  

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It's the fuel to get your body and brain functioning for the day ahead. The term "breakfast" comes from "break fast" or to "break the fast" of not having eaten while you were sleeping or "fasting". I believe that breakfast is a crucial meal, so we should nourish ourselves accordingly. I usually eat eggs or tofu in the morning, sometimes with some vegetables and maybe some fruit. I try not to eat too much bread, but on the weekend I'll indulge in some bread. Below is a Sunday morning breakfast for me. Delicious fried eggs, avocado, tomato, and an English muffin. Yum!

  

Seriously though, what is this stuff?!?! I don't know too much about bugs or plants. I'm honestly stuck between the two. Fungus? I'm lost.

I showed a few people, but they ran away before I could get an answer. Don't show your girlfriend weird bug-monster-plant pictures. Lesson learned. I'm still in the dark.

When you see me, tell me what this stuff is, please. I found it in Hachimann Shinto Shrine near Ritsurin garden. Great place. Watch out for aliens babies or fungus monsters though.
  

At last my trip with my friend is over. It was super fun and exciting, but also extremely exhausting. Hosting someone in Japan who doesn't know Japanese was much harder than I expected. This was her first time to Japan so she obviously wasn't very comfortable going outside by herself while I was at work. I appreciated her coming to japan to see me and explore Japan with me, however my whole workout as well as my study routine was completely disrupted. Now I am trying to get back into a small routine before my mother comes! Although my routine was disrupted and it stressed me out a little bit, I think it was definitely worth it for all of the fun experiences and inside jokes my friend and I have now.  

Golden Week is days away. Instead of traveling I'll be staying home to focus on a new hobby. What is this new hobby? Well I've always wanted to take up painting. I have always admired painters like Monet, Van Gogh, etc. Their work inspires me to try my hand at art.

To start I would just need find the proper supplies. I looked far and wide for an art supply store to no avail. It wasn't until my husband told me to try Daiso that I found what I was looking for. Daiso surprisingly has an impressive selection of art materials. My husband and I purchased canvases, acrylic paints, an assortment of brushes, and two palettes all for under $35 USD!

Now I just have to figure out what I would like to paint. Maybe I'll paint some mountains? Hmmm, I could paint the sun rising on the beach. How about something more abstract? I have a lot of ideas! Luckily I promised myself I'd start painting the first day of Golden Week. I have plenty of time to think about it!
  

I was blind-sided today (Thursday, as I write this). A few hours before my last class I found out two of my students were leaving, one in my final class. Normally, while painful, I at least have a few days to process the emotions and steel myself for the end.

They were one of my favorite classes to teach, and now, from five, two years ago, it is down to one. I know, she too, will someday leave for the last time, but the knowing doesn't really help.

I wonder what impact I've made on them, and I can only hope that it is just as positive as their impact on me.  

I always wear two bracelets on my right wrist. I can't remember when it started becoming such an everyday item, but I feel naked if I forget to wear them. Both bracelets are made of Austrian crystal and held together with elastic. One of them has blue gold-stone beads on it. Gold-stone is a man-made gem, and I love it because it's really sparkly. There are no clasps on them because the metal irritates my skin.

Good elastic serves me well for a short time, but at any moment, disaster can strike. While I was at McDonald's, I gestured towards the menu to point to my order. The cashier and I suddenly heard *ping ping ping* and we were horrified to see that my bracelet had snapped. Beads fell onto the counter and rolled away, some making it to the floor.

Gary, the cashier, and I chased after them quickly stuffing them into my purse. It was embarrassing! I think we located all of the beads, but I can replace a few if they were lost.

I will restring the bracelet soon, maybe changing some of the colors this time.   

The weekend came and I went out for my usual "walk around town". I walk every chance I get in order to explore my new "home". Unfortunately the cherry blossoms have mostly all fluttered away in the breeze, but they have been replaced by a couple of my favorite flowers; the iris, lilacs and the wisteria.

The Iris is a beautiful old fashion flower my mother grew in her flower garden so it brings me back to my childhood, along with the lilacs. My father would pick a bouquet of lilacs for my mother every spring. The fragrant smell of lilacs filled the house. It wouldn't be spring without smelling a lilac flower. But wisteria is a personal favorite. The first time I traveled to the southern United States and saw them winding around a mighty oak tree with their purple flowers cascading down, I was in awe. They had turned that huge oak tree into a beautiful, colorful work of art! Coming to Japan and seeing how special they are here, just endeared me more to their beauty as I saw that another culture appreciated them as much as I did. In fact, I went to a festival in Tokyo honoring the Wisteria.

As we were sharing our "weekend stories" in my adult English class this week, I brought up how much I enjoyed all the Wisteria in bloom around town. I showed them a picture I took, as I did not know how to pronounce "Wisteria" in Japanese. I asked them and they told me "fuji- like the mountain"!! I was so surprised! I had to look it up on Google immediately when I got home from class. Sure enough! This is what came up on google-

"Wisteria, or fuji in Japanese, plays an important role in Japan's culture and traditions. Fuji Musume or Wisteria Maiden is a famous classical dance of the Kabuki theater. Pictures of Wisteria Maiden are also popular and are believed to bring good luck. Wisteria grows in many gardens in Japan"

So, another special memory surrounds this very special flower and endears it further to my heart!




  

Over the weekend Michael and I went to a yosakoi dance practice! It was so much fun! The dance was very intense and powerful and I felt awesome doing it. There were a lot of things that I didn't get and I kept messing up certain parts but it was so much fun that I didn't care too much.

Of course it was good exercise too, so I got quite sweaty and red faced (my face gets red very easily). I'm a little nervous about the summer heat with how warm just the dancing made me, but I want to do my best. Michael and I decided to join the group, so hopefully we can practice every weekend!  

So after nearly 10 months here in Japan I have finally decided that its time to learn Japanese seriously. And my friends have been recommending a FREE class near Kanonji so over the weekend we finally checked it out! And it was a great class! There were many students there that were broken up into groups depending on their level. Cami and I were new so we got a "private" lesson and thrown right into reading. Which was fine for me as I have studied Hiragana a lot on my own...but when it came to reading Katakana the teacher was clearly disappointed with my level. Maybe it was because she thought my level was the same level as Cami who has more experience reading Japanese. But either way I persevered and managed to survive the two hour lesson and come out of it with a slightly better understand of Katakana. Unfortunately since next week is Golden week we won't be able to continue the lessons until after but until then its study, study, study!

  

"The couple that plays together, stays together!" I once heard that quote in a magazine. I'm not sure it applies to couples playing video games together. Yet here I am trying to teach my wife how to play a fighting video game!

I thought it would be good to teach her Smash on my Nintendo Switch. At first she was playing as Pikachu. Usually in fight games you try to play as a character based on their strength. My wife only picks a character if they are cute. Haha! Sometimes she asks me to remind her to block. She'll even ask me mid-game fight what buttons to press to do a particular move. I'm more than happy to help without micromanaging her game play. It is super admirable to see her determination.

She is still trying to pick her favorite character. So far she likes playing as Palutena because she likes long range attacks. She said she is scared of getting close to fight someone in the game so she prefers to use attacks that are far. The more she plays the more I see her confidence grow. After gentle reminding, she now knows how to do a proper combo and super attacks. Overall, I'm having a great time teaching her!
  

With the warm weather here, and the cooler days on the way out, I'm excited to get out enjoy the weather. I am going to get my hikes, long bike rides, and other tiring trips out of the way before the heat of summer gets here. I've enjoyed japans winter, it wasn't too cold, and I could still go do stuff most days. That being said, I'm excited for spring and the warm weather. It has been nice to go for walks without a coat, to leave the heater off at night, or to drive to work with my windows down.


(Not My photo)  

Who doesn't love nature? How bout a nice, big rock? I am sure I am not alone when I say I think nature is fascinating. I love being outdoors; I love to cycle around the city and explore, I like to take walks in the park or near the ocean, I also like hiking. Anything outdoors, you name it, and I like it. I don't particularly like being outdoors when it's really hot, but nonetheless, I always try to appreciate the nature around me. There's a whole world to explore in nature. Below I am pictured "petting" a rock. It's a nice, sweet rock, so I wanted to thank it for being itself. Thank you, rock!a

  

It was explained to me recently, about how much construction happens in spring. The new year comes around and with it the yearly budget is set for governments, companies, and even schools. People will begin a lot of things in spring. They get transfered to other departments at work, start a new school year etc. For construction companies they get new budgets.

You should end your year with a lot of new projects. It makes it look like you need a lot more money, or maybe it makes you look busier than you actually are. Also, the weather is nicer.

Lets all enjoy it. Watch out for falling objects.   

This past weekend we rented a car and traveled to Tokushima, Naruto, and then through the mountains to Takamatsu. It was a really amazing experience and I highly recommend people to do this. After this trip, I truly believe this is the best way to see Japan and it really is worth the money. The drive from Niihama to Tokushima was nothing special since we took the expressway at night, however the drive to Naruto and Takamatsu was breath-taking.

We went to Naruto to see the whirlpools, however they weren't too active on the day we went (even during the high-tide), so we decided to explore the peninsula as well as the nearby island. One of my new favorite activities now in Japan is to explore islands. The sights of the ocean is just completely relaxing and breath-taking to me. My friend and I are from Missouri which is in the center of the USA so we thoroughly enjoyed being able to explore and see many great views of the sea.

The following day, we left Tokushima to go to a place called Scarecrow Village located in Tokushima prefecture, deep in the mountains. The road leading to the village took us u and all around the mountains. The roads were extremely narrow and many times I thought there was a likelihood of us dying because of all of the sharp turns and close encounters we had with other vehicles. Despite this, it was a completely amazing experience and one where my friend could go home and share with many people including others who have been to Japan because I am sure very few people have had an experience like the one we had driving in those mountains.  

I have a song stuck in my head. I hum it every time I go food shopping. At work I tap my feet to it during a break time. Sometimes I sing it to myself while folding clothes. Don't even get me started on how many times I've replayed the tune on my phone. What is this strangely addicting song? It's "Last Surprise" from the video game Persona 5.

To be honest, I've never actually played a single Persona game. In fact I only ever hear the song when my husband plays it on his Switch. And that is if he's in battle mode. Interestingly enough, "Last Surprise" is only ever heard during fight scenes. That explains the lyrics:

"You'll never see it coming
You'll see that my mind is too fast for eyes
You're done in
By the time it's hit you, your last surprise"

Even though it is essentially a fight song it plays like a jazz classic. The opening string arrangements are entrancing and make me imagine a 1940s juke joint rather than a battlefield. Plus the singer, Lyn Inaizumi, has such a soulful voice. It's no wonder that it's constantly on repeat in my brain. I definitely recommend this song to anyone looking for a new tune for their playlist!
  

Do you like matcha-flavored sweets? Honestly, I'm not sure. Recently there have been all kinds of treats with matcha, displayed prominently around my favorite grocery store. So, of course, I had to try some... for science...

The best of the batch were the matcha ice cream Country Ma,am cookies. Very tasty. Some of the others were good, but mostly you could only get a hint of matcha. It is easily over whelmed by chocolate.

More testing may need to be done.  

Last weekend, I did an anime rewatch. I rewatched several of my favorite anime, including Full Metal Alchemist, or Hagane no Renkinjutsushi. But after over 20 episodes in, I still have SO much trouble saying the title in Japanese!

I am happy to say that even after such a long time, the anime is as good as ever. I still find it compelling and moving, with fantastic characters. I always feel a connection to characters that I have cosplayed (or want to cosplay) and the main character was my very first!.
I won't say how old I was, but it was probably in 2005 or 2006 that my mother helped me make nearly every part of Edward Elric's costume for my first anime convention. She even made that red coat! The shirt and the belt were really hard to make and it didn't look perfect.

The convention halls were quite small back then, and cosplay was fun but not done by all attendees. Nowadays, I think most attendees want to or will cosplay at a con. I was recognized at the con and people kept calling me short so that I would yell at them in character.

I went with my friend Aileen, and this picture makes me miss her. I am grateful that we took some photos in costume. My friends in America are not embarrassed by cosplay at all. I hope I can cosplay someone soon again.
  

My first day off from school all week and it was raining! I always "walk somewhere" on my day off so I was bummed! Then I stepped out onto my balcony to smell the fresh air and found to my surprise, it was warm and pleasant outside. NO wind!! I'm going for a walk! Without the wind, I will stay dry under an umbrella.

I new right where I was going to walk. I had looked on Google map and found a river with a walkway along it that literally went on for miles. Google called it the Gobo River. It was just at the end of a quiet street near my apartment. So off I went.

I had a wonderful time!! The air was fresh from the rain. I could smell the spring flowers and grass. The sound of the river water flowing along was so relaxing, along with the gentle rain hitting the umbrella and pavement. As a bonus, when I looked down into the river, I could see lots of fish. Big fish, spawning and even jumping up. And turtles, lots of turtles! Big ones, piled up on top of each other on the rocks!! Lots of birds and even cranes. I went for miles along the river and was not disappointed.

I got home still dry and warm...relaxed and refreshed! A perfect day off!!