Hello... and Goodbye!

This is my last post on this blog. I have been writing for one year. Sometimes I cannot write because I am busy. But today I will write my last post.

Next year I am going to travel around Europe. I want to see many famous things and meet many cool people.

I will take lots of pictures. I want to take pictures of castles. I love castles.

After I travel I want to go back to college. I have many dreams. I hope to reach some of them.

I will be in Kitami for 5 more months. After that I will leave Kitami. The next 5 months will be so busy. I have to write to colleges, take pictures, travel a little, see many friends, study Japanese, practice guitar, and much more.

Many of my students are going to High School now. I hope I can see them again in the future.

Please come to America. If I am free I will help you!

Good luck in the future. And say hello when you see me.

Love and Peace!
-Jeff

Cats

Many Japanese people have cats. In America, I have two cats. This is a video that I understand very well. Just like my cats.
Enjoy!
-Jeff

Rock, Paper, Sissors

Hello Everyone.
JANKEN, or Rock Paper Sissors in America, is very popular in Japan. In America we usually say one, two, three, go when we do rock paper sissors. Here is a tournament I found on the internet.



$50,000 Rock, Paper, Scissors - Click here for more free videos


This tournament prize is 50,000 US dollars. That is about 6,000,000 Yen. Wow!

Log House

Sometimes I like to draw pictures. And sometimes I like to design houses. Here is my design of a log house.
Next year I want to build this house. It is all made out of wood. In America we call it a "Log House". A log is a long piece of wood.
It will take 3 months to build this log house. I will ask my friends to help me build it.

Delicious

I like sushi. Here is a picture of some sushi. This sushi was expensive.

Fireworks

I also took pictures of fireworks. Fireworks are called Hanabi in Japanese. The Japanese Kanji is flower fire. This is a picture from a Kitami firework.

Back from America

When I came back from America, I took some pictures of Japan. Here is a picture I took in Kitami. Do you know where this is? It's near the Mukagawa river.

Chess

When I went home to America, I found my old drawings. This is a drawing I did in high school. I like chess a lot. I can play chess, but I can't play shogi.

American Vacation

Hi everyone. Long time no see!

Three months have passed, and I have not blogged. So, today I will blog five times. First, about my trip to America.

I went to america to visit my family, eat pizza, and go to the beach. Here is a picture of my two girlfriends! Just kidding! (American Joke). They are my mother and my grandmother.

I also played guitar with my friend, Patrick.

Tokyo Day 2

I am still in Tokyo. Here is a picture of my huge building. Near my building is the government building. It's very big too. It looks like a rabbit.

I am scared of heights. I don't like to be in tall buildings.

But the view is pretty.

Visiting Tokyo

I'm in Tokyo now. This city is very big. I don't like Tokyo because it is too big. My friend says: There are more people in Tokyo than all of Ireland. I think he is right.

Tonight I will walk around Shinjuku and take pictures. The buildings are so tall. And there are many lights. I like lights, but I don't like buildings. I think the buildings are going to eat me.

Two more days in Tokyo and then I will fly to Kitami.

I'm very sleepy.

Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day in America. We celebrate mothers and thank them for everything. On Mother's Day, some people give a card, other people make a cake. It is a special day. But it is not a national holiday.
My mother is in America, so I can not make a cake.
Happy Mother's day!

I love doing crosswords.

I love doing Crossword puzzles. Do you? To learn Japanese, I am using Crossword games. You can use Crosswords to study English too. Choose a theme, and then try it. Click here to play Crosswords. Good luck!

Easter Bunny

This week I taught about Easter. Easter is an interesting holiday in America. It is in March or April on a Sunday. Sometimes, children do easter egg hunts. We look for chocolate eggs that the Easter Bunny hides. Here is a picture of an Easter Bunny. I think the Easter Bunny is scary because rabbits don't lay eggs!

Welcome to Jr. High School!

Welcome new students. And welcome back old students.

Today we studied "introducing a friend"... or buddy introduction. Our English teacher called it "TakoShokai". I thought he was saying "Octopus Introduction."

Well... let me introduce my friend to you.
This is my friend Kipling. He is 23 years old. He has a beard.
He likes computers. He is an engineer.
He has visited Japan one time. He likes Japan very much. Here is a picture of him.
Thank you.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

3rd Grade students graduate today! I am very happy for you all! Best of luck in High School and the future. If you ever need help with English, please ask me anytime! Thank you for being great students!
Best,
Jeffrey

Buying tickets

Sorry again! I am always so busy! I am buying a plane ticket so I can visit my family in America this summer. I miss my family very much. I am going home for one month. I am happy!

I wish I could bring my family here to Japan. But it is expensive to fly.

I don't like flying. Planes scare me very much. I am afraid of heights too. But, going on a plane is the only way to go to America. Japan is an Island!

Feeling better

One student wrote me: "Hi Jeffrey. How are you? Is your cold getting better?"

Yes! I am getting better. Thank you very much! I am eating a lot of food and drinking a lot of water. Sometimes I eat too much though. I like eating.

Thanks for the question!
~Jeff

Sick again!

(Grade 2)
I have a cold again! So, I got up at 1 pm this morning :)

In Japan, sick people wear doctor's face masks. ^
I was very surprised by this!
In America, people don't wear face masks when they are sick. But I think they should. It is very polite.

Sorry I have not written for a while. I have been very busy. Many students are going to high school soon, and they have to take a high school test. Good Luck Everyone!!! In America, we don't have to take a test to go to high school. We only go to the high school that is closest to our house. Here is a picture of my high school... and our mascot, the "Titan". At my high school, there were 2,000 students. And I used to drive my car to school.

My New Guitar

(2nd Grade)
I can play the guitar. I like the guitar the best of all the instruments. This is my new guitar. It's beautiful. I want to be in a Japanese rock band. So, I am studying Japanese.

Yesterday

(3rd grade)
I think 'Yesterday' is the most famous Beatles song. It is a beautiful song.

The Beatles are from England. They started in 1960, and played music together until 1970. They have a total of 13 Studio Albums.

You can watch Yesterday, played by Paul McCartney here:

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day in America is a very important day. We buy chocolate, candy, flowers, balloons, and cards for people we love. We say "will you be my valentine?" to one special person. Boys and girls both give gifts and cards. I like Valentine's day because I like candy!

More Music

This is one of my favorite bands. They are called Coldplay. I really like this video. They are from England. See if you can understand the words. This song is called "Talk".

Sick

(First Grade)
I did not go to school today. I was sick. I was very sleepy too. So, I slept in my bed all day. I also listened to a lot of music. I hope I am better tomorrow.

I will not go to the hospital though. I'm only a little sick. In Japan, people go to the hospital often because it is easy to go to the hospital here. In America, going to the hospital is very expensive, so we don't go often. Wish me luck on getting better!

Chocolate

(1st Grade)
I love chocolate. I can eat a lot of chocolate. This is chocolate from Tokyu. My friend Erin likes chocolate too. I like to give her chocolate. We can eat a lot of chocolate, but it's not healthy. Take a look at this picture. That is a lot of chocolate!

Rubik's Cube

(2nd Grade)
I'm an early bird and a night owl. One night I was up very late, and I learned how to do the Rubik's Cube. The Rubik's Cube was very popular when I was young. Now, I can do the Rubik's Cube in about 2 minutes. If you bring a Rubik's Cube to school, I can show you.

Animation

I really like animation. I saw this on the internet yesterday and I think it is so cool. It is a person's life in 1 minute. I think it is made by a Japanese artist because there is a Japanese school in it.



I can't make animations like this.

Judo

(3rd Grade)
Can you do Judo? I watched a judo tournament today. It was very fun. But Judo is very fast. Every fight is only two minutes long. Here's a picture from the tournament. --->

There were a lot of people there! Some of my students were there too.

Pronunciation

Hello everyone! Sometimes, Japanese students say the wrong words. Here are 4 common mistakes (よくある間違い).

Sank and Thank
Right and Light
Sin and Shin
Who and Fu

Click them and listen.

A Man Who Snowboards

(3rd Grade)
I am a man who teaches English. I am also a man who likes snowboarding! Here is a picture of me in Tanno---->
I just fell down.

I am learning to Snowboard, but I can't go very fast yet. I want to be good, like Shaun White. He is a man who is good at snowboarding. In two weeks I'm going to go to Furano with my friends.

Towers

(2nd Grade)
Today I learned that Tokyo Tower is bigger than the Eiffel Tower. Tokyo tower is 333 meters. The Eiffel tower is smaller, but I think the Eiffel tower is much prettier. I saw the Eiffel tower when I went to Paris, France. Which is bigger, Paris or Tokyo?

Tokyo is bigger in population. But I think Paris is bigger in area.

How about Japan or California?

California is bigger, but Japan has more people.

Schools

(2nd Grade)
Today I played FACE! with my students. We studied the words "bigger" and "biggest", "smaller" and "smallest". Here is my drawing--->

I teach at 7 different schools. Some schools are bigger than other schools. I think Koizumi is the smallest and Koei is the biggest. I like all the schools though.

Bathroom

(Grade 1)
In America, we don't have this kind of toilet--->
I don't like this toilet. It's very difficult to use. Sometimes I fall down.

In America, we have the toilet AND the bath/shower in the same room... so we call it the bathroom. But in Japan, they are in different rooms.

Music

(1st grade)
My hobby is listening to music. I like singing too. Listening to Japanese Pop music helps me learn Japanese. Listen to English music, and you will learn English very fast. Here is a picture of me at Karaoke--->

I also like sideburns (momiage). When I was 18 years old, I grew sideburns.

Guitars

(2nd grade level)
I love the guitar. I think guitar is the most popular instrument in America. I play guitar everyday. I am learning to play Japanese songs now. I like Koda Kumi, Remioromen, Utada Hikaru, and Orange Range.