This morning was a very sleepy, rainy, stormy, miserable way to start the day. I’d spent the night listening to a furious thunderstorm so I wasn’t feeling very alert when I came into work. I was preparing my lessons when suddenly I heard a familiar voice call out “Hello!” into the room. I look up [...]
I recently joined a local sports club I’ve been wanting to join ever since I arrived here 7 years ago. It’s quite expensive, so I’d shied away from it before. (Thanks to Smith’s School of English, I can now afford such a luxury!) Wouldn’t you know I ran into one of our students my first [...]
One of our students is in the long process of trying to move permanently to Canada. Not entirely sure why, exactly, but it is her dream. Her husband has joined her in this adventure and went to Canada ahead of her in search of permanent work. After going on a student visa, he has finally [...]
We have several families who’ve joined our school. Sometimes they join together, but often they stagger it. Our first family joined the first month we were open, 3 years ago. The husband dropped by one evening and rang the bell without an appointment. At that time we had hardly any students, so I was free [...]
My husband and I took a short trip to the Izu Peninsula during Golden Week vacation. Before our holiday break, as is our custom, we discussed holiday plans with our students (our plans and those of our students). A great opportunity to use real English, it’s also a fabulous chance for us and students to [...]
Truly the best compliment I have ever received from a student was from our very first student (#001), who of course is still studying with us at Smith’s Azamino and has begun her 4th year with us. (Her son is also a student!) She is a teacher herself, and therefore understands the value of reviewing [...]
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