Disney Sea!

 

 

Last week I went to Disney Sea for the first time and it was great! I’ve been to Disney Land in California and I was curious to see if Disney Sea would be different. I was surprised at how many things were in English, from the announcements on the loud speakers to the signs indicating locations and the dos and don’ts of the park. Even the workers were very skilled English speakers. I guess this makes sense due to the amount of foreigners that must visit the theme park. It was fun to see the shows that required speaking because it was all in Japanese. I really enjoyed the Little Mermaid performance, the stage and setup of the room made it feel as if I were actually under the sea. The Crush act was also fun to watch and I was happy that I knew enough Japanese to understand most of the jokes. I stayed from open to closing and by the end of the day, I was super exhausted but it was worth it.

 

 

- Yaya Campbell

Cookies for Everyone!

 

 

It’s finals week, which means that everyone is busy with either preparing or studying for exams. Since there are no clubs the week before final exams, the international club teachers wanted to do something nice for the students, so we decided to make Christmas cookies for everyone. It took us a few hours, but we made a ton of cookies, maybe even more than a hundred of them. We had the students come into the kitchen a few at a time to grab a cookie and tried to interact in as much English as we could. The students seemed to like the chocolate chip cookies and were a bit hesitant to try the rice crispy treats, which in my opinion would have been a delicious foreign snack to try. Overall, it was a fun afternoon of baking and talking to students.

 

- Yaya Campbell

冬休み

 

Sarah’s Blog Post 14: December 11, 2015

 

This winter break, I am going all the way back home for the holidays. I am sad that I will not be able to get a special KFC holiday meal. In the United States we usually eat ham, turkey, or a roast for Christmas dinner, so the KFC holiday meal is unique to Japan.

 

I have been shopping for Christmas gifts and it is very difficult. California has a lot of Japanese influence just like Tokyo has a lot of American influence. Finding presents can be hard because my friends and family have already tasted things like manjuu, mochi, and senbei. One thing that we don’t have much in the United States is yuzu. It is getting popular in big cities, but it is still very difficult to find. I love yuzu, so I want to bring yuzu flavored things back to my family.

Speeches and Pronunciation

 

This week we had a lot of our students doing speeches for the end of the term. I always enjoy going around the classroom and helping students practice their speech. Things like pronunciation and timing are very tricky if English is not your native language, so lots of practice is helpful for them. I genuinely enjoy hearing what they have to say and I want them to have fun with their speeches.

 

- Yaya Campbell

カラオケ

 

Sarah’s Blog Post 13: December 3, 2015

 

I love to go to karaoke in Japan. It is especially fun because it is more popular in Japan than it is in the United States. You can go with many friends and have your own party in the karaoke room. In the United States, none of the places for karaoke have private rooms. There is one stage at the front of the room and only a few people can go up to the stage at a time. In the United States, everyone hears you sing. Shy people would not enjoy going to karaoke places in the United States.

 

Yaya-sensei and I went to sing karaoke last night. It was so much fun! We are not very good at singing Japanese songs because the words on the screen appear too fast for us. Luckily, most karaoke places in Japan have long lists of English songs. Since American musicians like Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift are popular in Japan, I was not surprised to find their songs. However, I was surprised to find so many other artists that I like. Some of the music I like is old and from the 1990s, but I still found many of those songs. I wish the United States had more karaoke places like Japan does!

Happy Thanksgiving

 

This week in America, there is a national holiday called Thanksgiving. It is a time to be thankful and eat lots of delicious food with your family and friends. In class we talked about this holiday a little at the start of each class on Thursday (Thanksgiving is always on the fourth Thursday of November) and I got to talk about it a little more with some of the first-year students. It was mostly made up of pictures of Thanksgiving food, like Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pie.. lots of pie. With each photo the students oohed and aahed at how delicious the food looked.  I was surprised that none of them have ever eaten turkey before but then again, turkey is hard to come by in Japan. I hope that one day, some of the students will get to enjoy the delicious food of Thanksgiving.

 

 

- Yaya Campbell

サンクスギビングデー

 

Sarah’s Blog Post 12: November 26, 2015

 

Thanksgiving is a major holiday in the United States. Usually, families come together on Thanksgiving Day and eat a very big dinner. In the United States, Thanksgiving happens every year on the fourth Thursday of November. This year, it is on November 26^th. Many people believe that the first Thanksgiving in the United States was celebrated in 1621 before the United States was even a country. Pilgrims left England and traveled to the United States in order to be able to practice their own religion. They were not allowed to do this in England. When they came to the United States, they couldn’t grow any food. The Native Americans helped them. This is why we celebrate Thanksgiving with a big dinner.

 

Traditional Thanksgiving Day foods are turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. There are many other dishes that families often make like yams, cranberry sauce, and green beans, but turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie are the most common. Many people watch football or the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on television as well. I miss my family a lot and wish I could eat all of the delicious Thanksgiving Day foods.