ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” - Marcel Proust

Pictured above are two friends of mine. The girl pictured is a professional pianist who teaches and performs in the Kyoto area. The man pictured here works in Nara at a museum while also performing as a baritone opera singer occasionally. I met the girl two years ago when I was in Kyoto the last time. A coworker and I had gotten ourselves a bit lost for a train back to our Air BnB place, and so one of us had to approach a stranger to ask for assistance. As I was the one who knew a bit more Japanese than the other, I took it upon myself to approach the nearest stranger. That person was the girl in this picture. She was kind enough to walk us from one station to another, and then the next morning to hang out with us for the morning and early afternoon. We took a leisurely stroll up and down Mt. Arashi and then lunched at an all-you-can-eat shabushabu restaurant. When I returned to Japan I came across a flier advertising the Takamatsu International Piano Contest, held every four years. I informed my friend (the female) of it and ever since we kept in touch. Even though we only met twice before (at the station and then the next morning two years ago), she was kind enough to let me stay with her family in Kyoto for Golden Week. The above photo was taken at Fushimi Inari. It was the first and only day that I got to meet and hang with the fellow pictured, a very rad dude who listens to avant-garde music while curating the museum he works at and performing with his musical group. I hope to catch up with these two again this year.

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson