日本の映画館 ～「沈黙－サイレンス」を観て －－－マーレン先生

This past weekend I went to a Japanese movie theater. I was very surprised! In the United States, you cannot choose your own seats. It was so nice to have assigned seats and not have to wait in line or run to grab enough for everyone. I was also very surprised at the amount of concessions that were available. I did think movie theaters served chicken, hot dogs, French fries, and more than one type of popcorn! Normally, American theaters only offer butter and salt, not caramel, sweet corn, or bbq. It was very interesting to see.

 

The movie we saw was a historical fiction film about part of the edo era called “Silence.” It was really interesting. While I did not understand all of it (some of the Japanese lacked subtitles) it really made me more interested in learning about that time in Japanese history. My friends and I all went to a café afterwards and talked about the movie, Japan, and life. It was a very nice experience!

 

日本でのスキー －－－エマ先生

I heard that some of the high schoolers are on a ski trip in Kamui, Asahikawa right now. I went on a ski trip myself last weekend, to Hakuba Goryu in Nagano Prefecture. It was a group of one hundred and fifty people, most of them foreigners, from all over Japan. My friends and I rented a car and drove from Tokyo, which took about four hours. It was an interesting experience to see Japan from a car, as I’ve only ever travelled by train so far. On Saturday morning, we woke up to a ton of fresh snow on the ground, and it was still snowing! I rode for the full day, and it was one of the best days snowboarding of my life. I grew up skiing and snowboarding, so I was very happy to go for my first time this season, and for my first time in Japan. The resort was a little smaller than what I am used to in Colorado, but I still had a great time, and all the fresh snow made up for it. I also saw many foreigners working at the resort. I hope the high schoolers had as a great a time in Kamui as I did in Hakuba. Hopefully one day I can go to Kamui too!

『オズの魔法使い』 高校3年選択授業 ーーーマーレン先生

It is a new trimester at Fujimura, which means the third-year high school students get to take elective courses. This surprised me because in America elective courses are open to all high school students, not just seniors. One of the Japanese teachers of English I work with asked me if I would like to help teach the theater class and I was very excited! In the United States I taught a theater for ESL course, so it was something I am very familiar with. We planned a lesson where our two students would memorize and perform a scene from The Wizard of Oz.

 

We met for four hour long classes and worked on emotions, movement, memorization, and performing. The students were amazing! I have taught many different students theater, but the Fujimura girls really are talented. The scarecrow was full of emotion and Dorothy full of confidence. We performed the scene for some junior high students as well as sang a song for them. I loved teaching theater again and it was so nice. I hope I can teach more theater classes in the future!

アメリカでの年末年始 ーーーエマ先生

During winter vacation, I went home to the United States. First, I went to San Diego, California, where my mom and brother live. The weather was very nice and warm, and we went to the beach. We bought a Christmas tree and decorated it, and celebrated Christmas Eve together with a big meal and presents. Then, I went to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to see my dad and my friends. My dad and I cooked Christmas dinner together. I ate a lot of spicy Mexican food, which is what I missed the most about home. Then, I went to Denver, Colorado, to see my friends. We celebrated New Year’s Eve together, which was so much fun! It snowed a ton while I was in Denver – nearly 20 cm. It was very cold, but my friends and I still went out to eat, went shopping, and enjoyed spending time together. It was a great trip and it was very nice to see my all my friends and family. Now, I am happy to be back in Japan and excited for what the New Year will bring!