英会話教室Pure English（旧ファングリッシュ）

Hello everyone!

Yesterday (Saturday, Aug. 24th) we had a small event for our Funglish students. It was a movie day. This was actually the 2nd time we had done this, but this time there was an extra feature.

We of course went to view a movie. The film was a new release called “Star Trek – Into Darkness”. Afterwards we went to have a coffee/tea and chat about the movie. I enjoyed chatting with the students and hearing their ideas and opinions about different characters, scenes and story points in the movie.

For myself, I thought it was a good film. There was a nice blend of action, drama, suspense and character development. The story was well written and I don’t have any major complaints about it. There were many underlying ideas woven into the plot that reflect some political and moral issues happening in today’s world. I would recommend this movie to anyone looking for an entertaining show to watch!

Before the movie started we held a special English challenge/game. The students were to use their English skills at using directions and identifying different types of clothing. This was done in a FBI-secret agent style. They were given a special mission file with instructions about what to do. Then they had to find items, give directions and find a person using only a description of his clothing. Everyone did very well and finished all parts of the challenge. Well done agents!

I hope everyone had a good time. It was very enjoyable for me to spend some time with students in a different place and practice English in a natural environment.

Take care and enjoy the rest of the summer.
Special thanks again to all the students who participated in the event!
Thank you!
-Paul

Good evening! What’s happening?

Today was a glorious Saturday. Why, you ask? I’ll tell you.
It was my first full day off in 2 weeks and it wasn’t rainy, windy and cloudy. Glorious.

So I was a bit lazy first thing in the morning. Sipping coffee and pretending to be interested in the news I was reading on the internet. Then it was down to business.

There was a week-long buildup of laundry that needed to be taken care of first. After completing this mission it was necessary to do some vacuuming and general tidying up of the living space. Then I played my guitar for a few hours like the world was ending tomorrow. I hope my neighbours didn’t mind, haha.

For tonight’s supper I was feeling ambitious so I decided on tempura. I made onions, sweet potato, carrots, mushroom (eringi) and chicken tempura. Also some rice and tempura dipping sauce. There was also a bit of salad for good measure. I favoured the sesame (goma) dressing tonight. Love that stuff. I ate like a pig and was quite stuffed when the meal was over.

I only suffered one minor oil burn while making the tempura so overall it was a very successful venture. Job well done!

I hope the fine weather will hold tomorrow and we can all enjoy a nice, sunny and warm Sunday. Hope you have a great weekend! Take care and eat tempura!
-Paul

Hello everyone!

Well, we had a spring break last week so no Funglish classes. I hope everyone had a great week.

I was planning to go out to see some sakura this weekend but poor weather and rain have crushed my hanami dreams. So instead I had to find things to do around the house. There were games played, groceries purchased, meals made and general house maintenance performed. My boys were kept mostly entertained by playing some games and a little in-house wrestling.

I also have a new method of passing the time. Actually it’s an old hobby that has been rediscovered. I bought an acoustic guitar about 2 weeks ago. I’ve been spending some time relearning some old songs I used to play and also learning new ones. There’s a picture of my baby on the side of the blog. Perfect for a rainy day at home!

I can’t wait ‘til we finally get a weekend with nice sunny weather. I’d like to take the guitar down to the ocean-side and just hang out there for a few hours. Maybe have a little picnic and relax.

Well that’s about all there is to report for now. After dinner I must go to Unidy to get some items to repair a kitchen chair. Little boys can be rough on furniture. I hope you all had a great weekend and have a good week. I highly recommend buying a guitar to anyone reading this. You won’t regret it.

Thanks for reading!
-Paul

Hello my friends!
It appears that spring has finally sprung. The sakura flowers are in full bloom and the weather is slowly but surely getting warmer. I hope to be able to actually go out and view the blossoms this weekend. A little ‘hanami’ is good for the soul.

It’s been a very busy time lately. But last weekend I had a chance to get some R&R time in. I went to a little club (live house) called the F.A.D in Yokohama. F.A.D stands for the Flower and Dragon. It’s very close to Ishikawacho station.

One of my students was singing in his rock band and he invited me out to watch their concert. The performance was very good. They had a lot of energy and they sounded very tight. A great time was had by all.

Afterwards I had a chance to visit with them and some of their friends at a local izakaiya. I didn’t drink too much, don’t worry – haha. It was very enjoyable and was sort of like an informal language exchange party for me. Maybe I even learned a little Japanese during the evening.

I have included a few photos from the performance.

Thanks for reading and keep on learnin’!
-Paul

Hello again!
It’s been a while since I’ve made a blog post. ひさしぶりね!
It’s really been a super busy December, but now everything is wrapped up. Whew!

This might be my last blog for this year. Tomorrow I will be travelling to visit Canada. I’ll be there for about 2 and a half weeks, and then I’ll return to Japan. I’m excited to see many friends and family and to take my boys to experience Christmas and New Year’s there. I haven’t been back to Canada for almost 4 years. Long time!

I’d like to make some blogs from Canada but I’m not sure if I can access the website from there. If I can’t then I’d like to wish a very Merry Christmas and a super Happy New Year to all my students, friends and colleagues in Japan! I hope you all have a great Holiday Season and an awesome 2013. Thanks for everything you’ve done for me in 2012, it’s always a pleasure to see all of you and talk with you.

There’s one picture included today. I made some Christmas cookies with my boys last night. They are simple sugar cookies and we used pink icing (basically icing sugar and milk) and choco pens. Then we put on some toppings and sprinkles. They had a lot of fun making their own cookies, and then of course eating them.

So long for now and see you next year!
-Paul