2008年3月アーカイブ

Hey everyone!

 

My name is Beau and I'm a teacher at Imarge.

 

It's my turn to write the blog so I figured I'd let everyone know about one of my funniest experiences in Japan.

My girlfriend and I took a trip to Nara one weekend a couple months back.

We wanted to go to Todai-ji　while we were there to see the big Buddha.

 

For those of you who have never been, there's a small hole in a massive pillar behind the great Buddha. Visitors to the temple can attempt to squeeze through the hole to the other side. Those who can make it through to the other side are said to have achieved great intelligence or ultimate enlightenment.

 

I was feeling adventurous so I decided to push my way through the hole. It was a little scary going through that small hole but I did it anyways. After I went through a man decided he wanted to go through. The man was a lot bigger than me so I thought he would not be able to go through. I told him, "maybe you can't fit in the hole" but he was determined to go through.

 

So he took off his shoes and began to slide through the hole. I was right, because he made it half way through and got stuck! I asked him if he was stuck and wanted help and he said "yes, I'm stuck and can't move!" He asked me to grab his arm and pull him the rest of the way through the hole.

I pulled and pulled but I think I only wedged him deeper into the hole even more.

 

About 30 minutes later, after a lot of pulling and pushing and stress, I got the chubby little man through the hole!

After he made it through everyone standing around gave him a standing ovation for his efforts. At the time it was very scary for me and him of course but afterward it was probably one of the funniest things that has happened to me here in Japan. It's not very often that you have to pull a chubby man through a small hole.

こんばんは！英会話スクール　イマージ受付担当の大黒です。

だんだん温かくなりましたね♪

天気のいい日は外にお出かけしたくなる今日この頃です。

 

 

ということで、先週末に愛犬（チワワ/１歳半）を連れて近くの河川敷へ行ってきまし

た。

実家から車で約１５分のところに大きな河川敷公園があり、

週末になるとそこへ散歩に出かけるのが私＆愛犬の最近のお気に入りです。

 

 

普段はあまり外に出ないうちの愛犬は広い芝生に大喜び!!

テンションMAXでそこらじゅうを走り回ります^^

 

私も自然に触れる機会がないのでとても気分転換になりました。

 

もうすぐ４月。桜の季節ですね(・V・)♪

次はお花見にでも連れていってあげようかな…★

 

みなさんも気分転換に自然に触れてみてはいかがですか？^^

 

【今日のワンフレーズ】

Let's go for a walk!　散歩へいこう！

 

受付担当　大黒でした♪

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Everyone!

 

On Wednesday of this week, our friendly student Mari was kind enough to stop by and show us a Japanese tea ceremony!  It was the first time for Leo and I to experience one.  It was great!

 

Mari showed us the proper way to hold a tea ceremony.

She showed us all of the tools needed to make the tea, as well as the correct way to hold the tea cup, how to pass it along to the next person, etc.

Leo and I were surprised how big the tea cup was!

We thought it would have been a regular, small sized cup.

The green tea was very delicious, although a little bitter.

So, Mari brought us some tasty Okinawan sweets – they were little crumbly sticks that had 3 flavors: regular, squid ink and blueberry.

I really enjoyed the blueberry one.

Mari said that because the green tea is bitter, it is best to eat some sweets with it.

 

We had a really good time, chatting and laughing a lot together.

It was fun, and I want to say thanks to Mari for introducing us to a Japanese tea ceremony!

Boo! ☆

 

Hey all!

My name's leo - I'm from England :)

 

Have you all got plans for Golden week? Or maybe a summer holiday?

I went to Malaysia last summer and I had an amazing time there, so I wanted to tell u all about it!

 

My mum is Malaysian, so we have lots of relatives there, which always makes the holiday more special ：）☆

We did so many things there, like cave-trekking, parasailing, relaxing on the beach (they have some really beautiful beaches, especially in Penang, the island where my family live, and you can try all sorts of beach activities, like parasailing, jet-skiing, horse riding along the shore,massages、etc, etc...), eating many many MANY delicious Malaysian dishes, and we even got to hang out a few times with the world's number 1 female squash champion, who is  Malaysian! :)

 

I love all kinds of foods, but Malaysian food comes close to being at the top - and it's sooooo cheap, like my favourite dish is this dish called `Roti Canai` - it's a soft fluffy thin pancake-type thing, but kinda crispy on the outside, and you dip it in curry with meat and potatoes... and it costs about 30yen! Crazy huh? There are lots of thick-flat noodle dishes and rice and seafood... lots of variety!

Oh and my favourite desert is sticky rice with `kaya` (kaya is a thick sweet coconuty-sugary-paste thing mixed with a huge flavoured leaf called a `Pandan Leaf` to add some extra special flavour). It's the nicest thing on

Earth(!!) (and again - really cheap hehe!) the sticky rice is usually dyed blue!

 

The cave-trekking was awesome. Me and my mum and brother and aunties and uncles and cousins, all in a long line, went on a 4 hour trek through some beautiful caves... we had to wade through warm water, and crawl under really really low passages, and slide down slippery rock faces and climb all sorts of random routes... it was so much fun, especially as we could all enjoy it together as one big group.

 

The weather is always hot there and there is the hugest variety of fresh fruits available! The people are really really laid-back and very friendly, and the unique culture and atmosphere makes it an awesome holiday destination! ☆

 

Leo☆♪

 

Hey, my name is Scott, I'm the Australian teacher at Imarge.

 

I thought I'd blog about some of the places I like to go out to eat at around Umeda.

 

If you have a sweet tooth like me there are a bunch of nice cake shops around Umeda.

First off Gokan in Kitahama is nice. It's really cheap for what you get costing about 1000 yen per person for a cake and coffee. The cakes are really nice both flavor and quality wise. The coffee (I recommend the iced coffee) is very nice too with a nice strong taste. The cake comes on a large rectangular plate that also has a small sampling of another cake on it as well as a palate refreshin  g sorbet in a small glass. All in all a great deal for 1000 yen.

 

Not far from Gokan over near Utsubo Park is a cake shop called Piano Piano.

One of the great things about Piano Piano is that it's quite small, cosy and in a pretty out of the way area so it never gets too crowded (unlike Gokan which gets so packed that you can find yourself waiting for 30 minutes to an hour). The cake and coffee at Piano Piano is great and cheap too, a cappucino and cake will set you back about 800 yen. It all has a nice authentic taste too, it definitely reminds me more of the type of stuff I would have in Australia as opposed to the typical type of stuff you get in Japan.

 

Finally I'd like to mention a restaurant in Higobashi, it's called Organic Tomato. Part of the restaurant's appeal is the atmosphere, it's very cosy inside and the staff are really friendly. The food is also top notch and good for you too seeing as most (if not all) of it is organic. They have stuff like tofu nuggets and ratatouille. A main will set you back about 850 yen or so and will fill you up too as they come with an assortment of salads and a soup.

 

Well that's it for my first blog post, hope you got something useful out of it :)

  My final day I headed to the Meiji Jingu Shrine one if the biggest ones I have seen.

I expected it to be a boring tour but my friend loves temples so I had to go. AS we were about to head into the shrine we were stopped by a Yokoso tour guide and she offered to give us a free tour of the temple. At first I thought this was going to be long and boring and I should just say no, take a quick look of the shrine and leave. But seeing that this was my first tour of a shrine and I have lived in Japan for 1 year and knew nothing about shrines I decided to take the tour, and thank god I did, it was very educational and interesting. I learnt the reason why the emperor built a rose garden, why the gates are built, where the wood came from to build it and so on. For the first time I saw a traditional Japanese wedding and prayed at the temple.

 

So in the end my Tokyo trip was fantastic never a dull moment many things to do and see and any great bars and night clubs to go out in the night and that’s why I love big cities. Sorry Kyoto and Nara but I am now a Tokyo girl.

 

 

 

Hi Everyone!

My name is nadja Briscoe.

 

So last week I went to Tokyo, and I have to say

I am now the biggest Tokyo fan.

It's such a great city, so many things to do and places to go.

 

I have been living in Japan for 1 year in Osaka

and I usually travel abroad because it's cheaper and

I really don't care too much about temples shrines or hotspring(Sorry)

So when I  heard I was going to one of the most famous cities in the world

I was so excited, finally my kind of traveling.

Culture, entertainment,international food and a great night life.

 

First day I just walked around  Akihabara waiting until check-in time before really starting  exploring. After check-in however, I was a bit tired so I just stayed in and hung out in my hotel room.

The next day however I went to Roppongi hills, one of my favorite places in Japan very modern and sophisticated, the architecture is very unique and the wide spaces were amazing.

I sat with a friend for hours in an open air café, talking and enjoying the environment.

 

Then we went to the National Museum.

This was very tiring but wonderful nevertheless, I saw art and monuments from different Asian Countries and countries around the world from Iraq, Afghanistan and Egypt.

There was even a real mummy!!!!!

 

To be continued...

 

 

Hi Everyone!

My name is Gerry, and I am the Head Teacher here at English School Imarge.
I had a really great time in Sannomiya on Saturday!
For dinner, I found a nice izakaya near Higashimon Street.
It is small and run by a husband and wife.
My waitress was their 9 year old daughter!
She was very cute and polite, so I gave her a \500 tip.

I recommend this izakaya, as the food and drink were very delicious.
I ordered many dishes, including namuru, saba no sashimi, green salad, karaage, and fried octopus.
The izakaya had really nice sake, too.
Unfortunately, I forgot the name of the restaurant! Haha.
If you want to know the name, please let me know and I will try and find out.

After dinner, I went to a dance club on Higashimon Street.
They had a special party and the DJ’s were playing 80’s music.
They also had a live band, who were playing covers of famous 80’s music.
It was fun, and everyone was dancing like mad!
Please post on our blog often.
It is a great way to keep in contact and improve your English.
I hope to see you here soon at our school!

~Gerry