The Race that Stops a Nation – the Melbourne Cup. Horse racing is referred to as “The Sport of Kings” (Queen Elizabeth II is a ardent follower & owner) Horse racing brings people from all walks of life together placing them on an equal footing.You don’t need to be rich to buy a racehorse as [...]
Over the last few years I have noticed many changes taking place here in Japan. the ever changing skyline, the introduction of many new abbreviated English katakana words (no wonder the Japanese cannot be understood when they travel overseas and use such words thinking that they are everyday English words) and the way women appear to [...]
Last month I decided that I’d go to see the “Masterpieces from the Collecdtion of the Kunstmuseum Winterthur” which is made up of 90 paintings by world reknowned artists. Winterthur is a small town in Switzerland which thanks to the generosity of wealthy art lovers has amassed an outstanding array of works of art. This [...]
Today and tomorrow two of Tokyo’s most popular festivals will take place -the Samba festival in Asakusa and the Awa Odori festival here in Koenji -the second largest street dancing festival in Japan. Koenji yesterday had a feeling of expectation about it as the locals (me included) wandered around watching the final preparations being made [...]
Yesterday I was tossing up between going to Shinjuku or Shibuya to see Inception or Salt and I’m so pleased that I elected to see Salt. From the moment the Bourne style movie started to its end it was action packed and breathlessly riveting. Angela Jolie was fantastic and was the only performer in the [...]
It is now more than a week since 20 of us gathered to party with fellow Smith’s School of English- Koenji students at our favourite local haunt – izakaya Don Bei. This was the first time that we had our usual Sunday night June party on a Saturday night in July. A decision that turned [...]
As you know we Smith’s School of English coaches of communicative confidence regularly have fun meeting and greeting students and prospective students in the morning. Over a period of time many things happen that make the start to our day quite often an unique experience and certainly one that is never mundane. I had an [...]
I recently received an unsolicited email in which there was a list of oxymorons (or oxymora) and it prompted me to share them with my ESL pupils at Smith’s School of English in Koenji part of the Smith’s School of English,pay by the month, franchise English conversation schools throughout Japan. An oxymoron is a figure [...]
One day during the Golden Week holidays I decided to go to Koenji railway station and catch up with some of the locals and some students who were still working. I usually wake up early, cannot sleep in, and I needed some exercise so why not say “good morning have a nice day” and kill [...]
Living in Japan and working with students at Smith’s School of English – Koenji (スミス英会話高円寺) is an everyday scintillating experience . My classroom is a place of learning and not only for the students to who I am a coach of communicative confidence, but also for me as I get to chat about an incredible [...]
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