2018年1月24日水曜日

3 Months in the Land of the Rising Sun


Koeikan Junior High School
晃英館中学校にて

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
武田薬品工業にて




始めまして!カナダのバンクーバー出身のダラス・ピーリングです。日本は英語を教えるのに最高の国なので、2017年の10月からSESで働き始めました!子供から大人まで様々なレベルの生徒さんを教えるのは楽しいし、やりがいがあります。

Hello everyone! My name is Dallas Peeling. I am from Vancouver, Canada and I have been working at SES since October 2017. I chose to come to here because Japan has a really good reputation as a great place to teach English. I love how my classes are so different, with a big variety. From teaching children, teenagers, adults, and senior citizens from all English levels, it is a fun and enjoyable challenge for me.

私は生徒さんにいつも「緊張しないで」と言ってます。私もいろんな言語を勉強中です。皆さんの気持ちはよくわかります。

なので緊張せずリラックスして楽しみましょう!

I always tell my students, "No stress, no stress in my class". Although I do not speak Japanese yet, I have also studied other languages. Including French, Spanish, Italian and Swahili. I understand your experiences as language students. So please, always relax and have fun in my class. 🙂

日本は綺麗で安全ですし、人々も親切で礼儀正しいです。旅行をしたり写真を撮る練習をするにはもってこいの場所です!

I am really enjoying Japan so far! I think the Japanese people are very polite and respectful, and it is a very beautiful and safe country. I enjoy travelling and practicing photography, so Japan is a perfect place for both activities!

Kanokami - Shunan
周南市の鹿野上にて
SES foreign teachers on Miyajima Island
宮島でSESの先生方と

ここでいくつか写真をお見せします。10月に下関と角島に行ってきました。魚市場で寿司を食べたり、山口県をぐるっとドライブしてきました。

I will share some of my photos below. In October, I went to Shimonoseki and Tsunoshima with my colleagues. We enjoyed lots of fresh sushi at the Tsunoshima fish market, and driving around the picturesque Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Shimonoseki
下関
Tsunoshima
角島

11月は石見銀山にと出雲大社に行ってきました。さらに宮島には同僚と、カリフォルニアの友人と一緒に2回訪れました。

November was busy. I went to the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine in Oda, and the very impressive Izumo-taisha shrine. I visited Miyajima Island with my colleagues, and I revisited when my friend from California came to stay with me.

Bridges in Oda
島根県 小田にある橋
Izumo-taisha Shrine
出雲大社

My friend Mason at Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island
友人のメーソン 宮島の厳島神社にて
Kinkaku-ji Golden Pavilion in Kyoto
京都の金閣寺にて

カリフォルニアの友達とは京都や広島、東京にも行ってきました。紅葉や、日本食を食べて楽しみました。

While my friend from California was visiting, we went to Kyoto, Hiroshima and Tokyo. The fall leaves were turning many different colours, and they looked very beautiful. We did a lot of sight-seeing, and enjoyed sampling much Japanese cuisine.

Changing autumn leaves in Kyoto
京都の紅葉
Tokyo cityscape view from the SkyTree
スカイツリーから東京を一望
Fushimi-inari Taisha in Kyoto
京都の伏見稲荷大社にて

12月は同僚と北九州へ。寒かったですが、温かい抹茶で体がぽかぽかになりました!

In December, I went to Kitakyushu with some colleagues. It was very cold and windy, but we enjoyed some hot matcha tea to warm us up!

The Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima
広島の原爆ドーム
Traditional cafe in Kitakyushu with Taz - sensei
北九州のカフェにてタズ先生と

クリスマスはカナダに戻って家族や友達と過ごしました。前年はタンザニアにいたので家族と過ごすクリスマスは楽しかったです。

For the Christmas holidays, I returned to Canada to celebrate with my family and friends. Last year I was working in Tanzania, East Africa, so I was not home for the Christmas holidays. It was nice to spend time with them. 
With my grandparents, cousins and siblings in Canada
カナダにいる祖父母、いとこ、きょうだいと

1月に日本に戻り、東京、大阪、奈良、岩国を訪れました。美しい場所を見たり、新しい食べ物に挑戦したり、日本文化を学ぶのは楽しいですね。

When I returned to Japan in January, I spent some time touring around Tokyo, Osaka, Nara and Iwakuni. It has been a very busy month for sure, but I have really enjoyed seeing the many beautiful sites, trying new food, and learning about Japanese culture. 

Tokyo Tower stands out against the skyline.
東京タワー
Many friendly deer in Nara
人なつこい奈良のシカ
Osaka Castle
大阪城
Kintaikyo Bridge in Iwakuni
岩国の錦帯橋





2018年1月5日金曜日

Welcome to 2018


皆さん、あけましておめでとうございます!

Happy 2018 everyone!


家族やお友達と良い年末を過ごせましたでしょうか。

I hope you all had a wonderful and exciting break whether it was seeing family, catching up with friends or enjoying some peace and quiet.


私は10日間、友達とタズ先生と一緒に日本旅行をしてきました!合計6か所に行ってきましたが、USJやディズニーランド、

お寺や神社、買い物、食事、迷子になったりと(笑)楽しかったです!

For me, I chose to do a 10 day round trip of Japan with my good friend and fellow SES teacher, Taz! We managed to visit 6 prefectures (one by accident), see USJ, Disney Land, Disney Sea, visit Temples, Shrines, shop, eat, be tourists, get lost and most important of all, have fun!


写真を使って旅行のハイライトを短く伝えていきますね。

I will try and make this blog as short as possible so here are a few photo highlights from the trip. Enjoy.


December 25th - Found Hogwarts
12月25日 ホグワーツを発見!

まずは大阪。USJには行かずにはいられませんでした!ハリー・ポッターファンの私は、クリスマスにはしゃぐ子供のように歩き回って

笑顔が絶えませんでした。

Our first stop was Osaka and we simply could not resist visiting the famous Universal Studios Japan. As a major Harry Potter fan I was like a child at Christmas (literally) and when we were walking around the place I could do nothing but smile. I had so much fun here and I definitely recommend that you visit if you haven't already. And don't forget to take a ride on the Flying Dinosaur! 
December 26th - Beat the crowds at Fushimi Inari
12月26日 伏見稲荷大社にて

大阪の次は京都の伏見稲荷に行ってきました。他の観光客よりも早く来たので、たくさん写真が取れました。もし行くのであれば朝早くか夜遅くがオススメです。朝9時にはもう混みはじめていたので。

When we told people we were going to do Kyoto in a day they all laughed. But as 5am came we embraced the journey from Osaka and our first stop had to be Fushimi Inari! It felt great beating the tourists and we got to take loads of cool pictures. If you want to come here, I would recommend coming early in the morning or late at night, by the time we left at 9am the place was already starting to become crowded.
December 26th - Made our very own ramen!
12月26日 ラーメン作りを体験!

タズ先生と一緒にラーメンを作っています。「ラーメンファクトリー京都」というところで作ったのですが、

京都に来たらぜひ行ってみてください。スタッフも親切で、ハラール(イスラム教で合法なもの)の肉もあります。

Here is Taz and myself making our very own ramen (from scratch). We booked this place just before we went and it was such a fun experience and the food was delicious! The shop is called Ramen Factory Kyoto and I definitely recommend that you come here. The staff were great and the shop also does Halal meat (a rare find in Shunan!) so it gets double the bonus points for that.
 

December 26th - saw the Kinkaku-ji!
12月26日 金閣寺 

忘れちゃいけないのが金閣寺!京都は観光客がいっぱいでしたが、ここはそこまで混んでなかったので、上のような写真を撮ることができました。京都に来た際は一見の価値ありです! 

Still on our Kyoto adventures we felt that we could not miss Kinkaku-ji! Although there were lots of  tourists here the place wasn't too crowded and we managed to take several amazing pictures like the one above. The temple is breathtaking and definitely worth checking out when in Kyoto! 
December 29th - Disney Land day!
12月29日 ディズニーランド


千葉に来たときは東京ディズニーランドと東京ディズニーシーに行くことに決めていました。両方とも素晴らしくて、

魔法にかけられたみたいでした。これが私の初ディズニーでしたが、特別な経験になりました。 


As we made our way North of Japan to Chiba we decided to embrace the winter coldness and visit both Disney land and Disney sea. Both were incredible and I was far too excited by all the magic and detail in both parks. Although I do prefer Disney Sea, Disney land was also so much fun and it was my first time ever at a Disney park which made the experiences extra special. 
December 31st - Saw the New Year in Shibuya crossing
12月31日 渋谷の交差点で年越し

渋谷の交差点で新年を迎えています!雰囲気も良くみんなうれしそうだったので楽しくお祝いできました。

カウントダウンの後はカラオケで歌ったり踊ったりしました。

Here am I in Shibuya crossing at New Years. The atmosphere here was amazing and so much fun, and I enjoyed celebrating the new year here because everyone was so happy! After the countdown we went and sang karaoke (very badly) and danced our way into 2018.
January 1st - Became a samurai for the day
1月1日 侍に変身!

しっかり寝て、起きたあとは東京のサムライミュージアムに行ってきました。1時間30分の英語ガイドで楽しんできました。

侍の格好をして写真も撮ってきました!

After having a much needed sleep we woke up and headed straight to the Samurai museum in Tokyo. We did a guided English tour which took maybe 1 hour 30 minutes to complete but it was so worth it. Not only is the museum fascinating and the tour staff informative and funny, but the tour is very interactive and we got to dress up like Samurai at the end.
January 2nd - Saw Mt. Fuji, our last stop before home!
1月2日 旅の終わりは富士山!

最後は富士山に行ってきました(登ってはいません!)。でもいつかは登ってみたいですね。


Our last stop before our flight back to reality was to visit Mt Fuji. And before you ask, no we didn't climb it! However, it was breathtaking to see and no photos do the mountain justice. Hopefully one day I will have climbed Mt. Fuji but for now, seeing it in real life was good enough for me.


これが10日間の日本旅行でした!2ヶ月で47都道府県中10個を制覇しました。

And there you are! They were my ten days travelling Japan. I am hoping to do lots more travelling in the future as I want to tick off every prefecture in Japan. So far I have visited 10/47 prefectures in 2 months, so I think I'm doing a pretty good job! 


では、良い新年を!

Thanks and once again Happy New year!

Amy