During the Golden Week, I was visited by my family. It was their first time in Japan and I’ve decided to show them as much as possible in Kansai area. The idea was to do one-day trips in and around Kyoto. Most of the time we were able to be back home by evening, in [...]
So this year’s Smiths School of English Hanami Event is behind us and Spring is finally here. Like every year we’ve met in the big Osaka Castle Park (大阪城公園). When I arrived at 10 am, the whole place was already swarming with people in a festive mood. When I say ‘whole’, I really mean the [...]
Last Sunday, the weather was finally nice enough so that we could take a trip with friends from London to the mountains near Kyoto. Our friends have been in Kyoto before and this time around we’ve decided to go on a slightly different day-trip, rather than the usual sightseeing in the city. We went to [...]
In the wake of this year’s Academy Awards surprising win for a silent movie ‘The Artist’, I’ve been discussing the Oscars with many students at Smith’s School of English Kyobashi (スミス 英会話 京橋). All of them had been as surprised as I was, with the success this movie had at the ceremony. It won five major [...]
One of the pleasures of teaching English at スミス英会話長岡京校 is learning about the diverse lives of students and the rich culture of their homeland. And while I’m proud of my birthplace, Canada, our 150-year history is dwarfed by the long history of Japan. Some of the festivals celebrated today date back over a millennium! Following [...]
I’m an avid sci-fi fan. At about the age of ten my favourite author was a French writer Jules Verne. His books were usually combinations of adventure and science fiction and in his work, Verne introduced to the world many interesting ideas and inventions that would eventually become true. There are probably few people in [...]
Student’s at Smith’s Kyobashi (スミス 英会話 京橋) often ask me how difficult is life for a foreigner in Japan. Although this question crops up numerous times, the question’s formulation, always surprises me. You see, I would expect something like ” Do you enjoy Japan?” or “What do you like about Japan?”. I’m not saying that it never [...]
A leisurely 45 minute train ride on the Keihan line from Yodayobashi lies Fushimi Inari, Kyoto. Last Sunday, students from Smith’s School of English, Tsuruhashi went to visit this beautiful shrine. It was built in 711 and is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes [...]
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