ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

This week on Wednesday my friend from America came to Japan!! This is the first person who came to visit me here and I couldn't be more excited to show her around Japan! The thing I am most excited for though is to take care of someone here using my Japanese language skills. She will be completely helpless here and possibly culture shocked, and I am excited to help her and teach her key phrases in the language!

We are going to be so busy. This weekend we are going to Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Rabbit Island (Okunojima). It will be incredibly busy but I believe it will be very worth it.  

It's a new day and I'm up way earlier than I have to be. I just can't help it! I have to step outside and look at the cherry blossoms! Never in my life have I seen such beauty! The fact that sakura are my favorite color is just a bonus. I heard from a coworker that the blossoms will flourish the most this weekend. How exciting! I can't wait to have a nice picnic with my husband. I'll miss the cherry blossoms when they go. In fact, I'll be counting down the days till they return!

Interestingly enough, even though I'm from America, every time I look at a cherry blossom I feel a sense of "home". I come from a tropical environment in the states. My hometown in south Florida is a flower paradise. Yet I don't think I've ever seen sakura there. Every time I see an assortment of flowers I feel such peace. But I've never felt "home" until I stared at a cherry blossom. Maybe because like my hometown, cherry blossoms represent fragility and beauty of life.   

I have the urge to get something special for summer. The two most obvious choices would be either a yukata or a jinbei. But finding either that would fit me is a pretty big hurdle.

Then there is the social aspect. The jinbei is meant to be worn around the house, while a yukata is traditionally worn by women and children. Sure, in the modern day there is some leeway, but I want to make the best choice. Neither seems correct.

I guess whichever I can find that will fit might be the winner. That is a terrible way to make a decision.  

It's no secret that I am a chocoholic, or someone who is addicted to chocolate. Even though we finished celebrating the Easter Holiday at Gem, the actual Easter day is this month. When I think of Easter, I think of easter candy.

Most kids grew up with an easter basket of jellybeans, chocolate eggs, and a chocolate rabbit. The stores in America switch out their Valentine's Day candy for Easter, and I worked in a store that required me to do just that. Over 5 years, I saw the evolution of Easter candy. Jellybeans got more colors and flavors. Reeses peanut butter cups joined in to make chocolate more interesting. Starbursts, known for soft fruity chews, made their own jellybeans. Russell Stover, known for affordable Valentine's day candy, created my new favorite candies, the chocolate marshmallow and the bird nest.


But truly, the easter candy that I eat the most, is cadbury mini eggs. These are soft chocolates with a candy coated shell, like m&ms, and it's hard for me to stop eating them.

My stomach hurts just thinking about it! But I hope the Easter bunny brings me some.
  

I saw Sakura, in America known as Cherry Blossoms, in Tokyo last year. I went to all the tourist destinations, the palace and parks. They were indeed beautiful. Thousands of other people were enjoying the view as well. They were having picnics under the blossoms as is custom, but there were so many people I could not find a place to sit! As beautiful as it was, this year was special. I enjoyed the sakura from a hilltop overlooking the inlet sea, with only a handful of "friends"....and space under a cherry tree to have a picnic! I think this is the way it was meant to be and I am lucky to have a chance to enjoy the beauty!


  

There is this orange cat that I have seen out and about lately who seems to like spending time by the river. I walk along the river all the time and every now and then I have seen the cat on the same piece of concrete that juts out over the river, behind the guard rail. That cat always seems so peaceful, looking out over the river.

Even when I walk by it remains peaceful, and merely watches me walk past. It is so cute, and I always feel lucky when I come across the cat. Small things like this is why I enjoy living in Kagawa so much!
  

Procrastination
/prə(ʊ)ˌkrastɪˈneɪʃ(ə)n/
noun
the action of delaying or postponing something.
"Cami and I are masters at procrastination as we booked our Golden Week vacation very last minute"

As Golden week is nearly upon us, only about three weeks, Cami and I are very excited for the time off and had lots of ideas. Unfortunately for us we did not book anything until a few hours ago. Which meant that everything we wanted to do was either booked up or very expensive. It was a stressful few hours as Cami raced through sites looking up bus times, train times and possible routes for us to take on our vacation while I booked as many hotels for a cheap as possible once she figured out what nights we'd be getting there. But we've managed to find and book nearly everything we want to do while not blowing ALL of our money. We're still waiting back for one place to let us know if we can stay there.

It was a pain and we've learned our lesson to never try and book a vacation last minute again.   

This always happens to me! There are times when I just have to have a slice of pizza! If it's not homemade then I have to go outside to pick up a couple of boxes of pizza. This time while on my pizza run I was surrounded by beautiful cherry blossoms! Imagine this if you will: Me...a tall, football player of a man wearing a NJPW hat, a huge funny grin on his face, two boxes of pizza in his hand, on a small bike with cherry blossom petals flowing in the wind. Wouldn't that be the most interesting spring postcard? Hahaha!

When I got home with the pizza I still found myself surrounded by cherry blossoms. Even from the balcony of my apartment I could see three blooming sakura trees! I decided to bring out a chair and feast on pizza while admiring the views. When my wife (Candice-Sensei) came home she decided to partake in pizza and cherry blossom watching with me. At that moment, I had my three favorite things all in plain sight: (1) my lovely wife (2) cherry blossoms and (3) multiple slices of freshly made pizza! Haha! Safe to say, I had a WONDERFUL day!
  

My family came to visit me in February and it was so wonderful! My parents, my cousin from Peru and my cousin's friend and father all came! They came to Takamatsu first for two days and then we all went to Kyoto. I was so happy to see them and also to show them where I've been living and the things I've learned. It was kind of funny at times because my cousin only speaks Spanish, so switching from English, to Spanish, to Japanese was a workout for my brain! Especially Spanish and Japanese because they have very similar sounds. Anyways, I had a magical time with them and I can't wait until I see them again. Below is a photo of all of us in front of Kyoto Tower.

  

Sometimes you make great plans and you think everything will go according to those plans. But great plans don’t always work like you think they will, especially when kids are involved. This week for my homestay club I planned sandwiches, fruit, and nuts. I envisioned a sandwich for each kid with a neat little pile of fruit and some nuts on the side. However... the kids had other ideas. They didn’t want things on the side! They wanted everything on the sandwiches! Apple slices, banana slices, nuts, peanut butter, jam, cinnamon, everything! That wasn’t what I had planned at all but, oh well! The most important thing was that the kids had fun and they liked the snack I brought!
  

Went to an art museum recently. These Coin lockers are pretty unique. I don't ever see them in parks or public spaces either. Not even amusement parks like a Universal Studio or Six Flags. It makes so much sense though. Why should they get so much money for doing so little?

Knowing that people keep their things here and not get charged made me think about how much we waste putting bags away at American parks. Darn! Nothing I can do now :V

Enjoy spring :D
Get out and do everything