Amys Obon Adventures

こんにちは！エイミーです！ この夏私はダラス先生と一緒にフィリピンのセブ島に行ってきました！

Hello its Amy again!

Hope everyone had a great Obon holiday last week.

Whilst most of the other teachers spent time exploring Japan, both myself and another teacher, Dallas, decided to go further abroad and explore the Philippines.

The view from our hotel in Cebu
セブ島にあるホテルからの景色

セブ島ではビーチでのんびりしたり、日光浴をしたり、島を探検したりしました！ジンベエザメにも会えました！

セブ島の次はボホール島というところに行って、チョコレート・ヒルズやメガネザルなどを見てきました。

We landed into Manila on Sunday evening and spent time relaxing at our hotel before our departing flight to Cebu on Monday evening.

When we arrived into Cebu we spent a few days relaxing by the beach, soaking in the sun and exploring parts of the island. My favourite thing that we did here was go and see the Whale Sharks!

After Cebu we traveled by ferry to the island of Bohol. To me this was the nicest and cleanest island that we visited. We also did lots of exploring before we had to head back home to Japan. We saw the Chocolate hills, Tarsier monkeys and man-made mahogany forest.

The views of the roads in Panglao
パングラオ島の道の風景

フィリピンは日本ととても違っていますが、共通していることは人々がとてもフレンドリーで素晴らしいということです！

写真を何枚か載せておきますね。

It was so nice to spend most of the week relaxing and experiencing another different culture. The Philippines are very different from Japan but one great thing that they have in common is how friendly and incredible the people are!

Here are a few photos from my trip below.

Found this graffiti on a wall at a petrol station

ガソリンスタンドで見つけた壁画

Dallas and I in the man-made forest 

ダラスと一緒に森の中で

Me - red faced and sunburnt in the Chocolate Hills
チョコレート・ヒルズ①

The Chocolate Hills of Bohol
チョコレート・ヒルズ②

A mural at one of our hotels!
ホテルの壁画

インスタグラムのフォローもよろしくね！

Thanks for reading and as always, if you'd like to see more of my adventures, follow my instagram here
https://www.instagram.com/amymartha/?hl=en

Amy

Where will I go next?

こんにちは！前の投稿から数ヶ月ぶりのブログになります。

Kon'nichiwa!

It has been a few months since my last blog post so here's an update on what I've been up to.

数週間前、私とダラスといっしょに韓国のプサンで週末を過ごすことに決めました。福岡から45分で到着しました。

A few weekends ago myself and another teacher, Dallas, decided to get away from Shunan and take a weekend break to Busan in South Korea. It was a place both of us had been wanting to visit since we came, and so we booked the short 45 minute plane journey from Fukuoka and off we went!

友達と一緒になって知らない場所を探検するのはとても新鮮でした。小雨が降っていましたが、おいしい食事や観光地、

浜辺を散歩したりして楽しみました。

When we arrived we were both happy to be back in the city and close to the beach. It was lovely to also meet up with friends and enjoy the new experiences of exploring a brand new place. We ate delicious food, visited some of the tourist attractions and walked along the beach. Although the weather was a little rainy, it was still an enjoyable weekend. 

写真を何枚か載せておきますね。

Here are a few photo highlights from the trip 

Dallas and I posing in front of the sign of Haeundae Beach in Busan

海雲台ビーチの前で

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple by the Ocean

海東龍宮寺

Gamcheon Culture Village, I recommend this place!
甘川文化村①　ここはオススメ！

Gamcheon Culture Village, Harry Potter steps
甘川文化村②　ハリーポッターの階段

Gamcheon Culture Village, there is artwork to be found all over the village
甘川文化村③　村中にはアート作品がたくさん！

Gamcheon Culture Village, the stairs to see stars!
甘川文化村④　星が見れる階段

プサンは週末に訪れるだけでもいいくらいオススメの場所です！

As you can see we had a fun weekend immersing ourselves in all the different sites of Busan. I highly recommend that you visit here, even for just a weekend, as the atmosphere, food, attractions and views are all excellent. 

まだまだアジアを旅行する予定です。次の目的地は・・・香港！

I am going to continue exploring Asia whilst I am here so be ready for more posts from me. Hopefully my next stop will be...Hong Kong!

もっと写真を見たいという方は、インスタグラムをご覧ください。

If you want to see more photos from my adventures here in Japan (and from the world) you can view my instagram here 

->  https://www.instagram.com/amymartha/?hl=en

Thank you

Amy 

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

My life in Japan so far...

   新しくＳＥＳにやって来たエイミー講師です！

　 皆さん、どうぞ宜しくお願い致します♪

Hello everyone it's Amy...
こんにちは、みなさん。エイミーです。

Here's me at 2am on the day I left

....and I'm here to tell you all about my first month living here in Shunan, Japan.

まずは、周南での初めての１ヶ月についてお話しします。

When I first arrived into Tokuyama train station I was tired, confused, and a little worse for wear! I had just spent the last 42 hours travelling all the way from Manchester in England to a very rainy Japan, and all I could think about was having a hot shower, drinking a cup of coffee and going to sleep.

初めて徳山駅に降り立ったとき、私はとても疲れていました。マンチェスター（イギリス）から雨の降る日本までのフライトを終え、ただ考えるのは暖かいシャワーを浴びること、一杯のコーヒーと睡眠をとることでした。

But before I tell you about all of that, here's a little information about myself.

ここで、私のことについて少しお話ししましょう。

I am 24 years old (as of November 11th) and I was born and raised in Rotherham, England. I am the youngest in my family and I have been living in York in England for the last five years. I studied Psychology at York St. John University and I have a slight obsession with shoes!

私は２４歳で、イギリスのロザラムで生まれ育ちました。末っ子で、この５年はヨークセントジョン大学で心理学を学びました。・・・

When I first told my family and friends that I wanted to move to Japan they asked me why. Why?
There are many reasons that made me want to come to Japan, I love the people, I love the culture, I love the scenery and most important of all...I love the food!

私が日本に行きたいと言ったとき、家族が　どうして？なぜ？　と聞いてきました。たくさんの理由がありますが、人々、文化、景色、、そして何といっても、日本食が大好きなんです！

But enough about me, take a look at what I have done in my first few weeks of being here.

周南での最初の数週間についてお話しします。

Hopefully as you can see by my photos I have already explored some of the things to do in the Yamaguchi prefecture. I highly recommend driving through the mountains at this time of year as the changing of the leaves is simply breathtaking.

この写真からわかるように、すでに山口県のいくつかの場所を探索しました。・・・

Shrine in the mountains

Here we drove for around 40 minutes where we found two amazing cafe's out in the woods. We drank hot chocolate, ate food and admired the views.

そして、４０分くら車を走らせると、森の中に２軒の素敵なカフェを見つけました。
そこでホットチョコレートと食べ物をいただき、景色を眺めました。


This was a cool semi-abandoned shrine that we found on a short walk from one cafe to the next.

これはカフェからもう一つのカフェへ行く道で見つけた、やや廃墟と化した神社です。

View from Hikari beach 

Part of my job involves teaching in a few different locations, one of which is in Hikari city. Hikari is about a 20 minute drive from my house in Shunan and has a really quiet beach where you can enjoy watching the waves roll in and letting the world pass you by.

私の職場は光市と周南市です。・・・

I am looking forward to spending more time here when the weather is nice and warm!

天気のいい時に時間を過ごすのが楽しみです。

Admiring the Koi fish in Kanyo-ji Temple

Last weekend I went to visit the Kanyo-ji Temple which is a 45 minute drive from Shunan centre and is in such a beautiful location. We explored the Temple for only 300 yen and enjoyed the peace and quiet when we were there. 

先週、漢陽寺へ行きました。…

After visiting the Temple we walked around Kanokami and went to a few more shrines before heading home for the day. I highly recommend that you come here in Autumn as the views in the Temple and around the mountains are spectacular. 

そのあと鹿野上を歩いて回り、いくつかの神社を訪ねました。・・・

Observing an Aikido class

I went to observe an Aikido lesson during my spare time on Sunday. It was amazing to see everyone perform the moves and work together. It was a very good experience and I enjoyed watching the class. I am hoping to join an adult Aikido class at some point this year so stay tuned!

日曜日には合気道の練習を見に行きました。みんなの動きや、一緒に頑張る姿は素晴らしかったです。・・・

Surprise Birthday party thrown by my students

And finally here's a photo of me! My students threw me a lovely surprise Birthday party with cake and presents, topped off with this amazing decoration! It was such an amazing gesture and I can't wait to continue my teaching journey here in Japan! 

最後に、私の写真です。生徒たちが私の誕生日をお祝いしてくれました！日本で英語を教える日々が楽しみでしかたないです！・・・

Thanks for reading,

Amy