Alpacas in 栃木県 😍

Today, I've been on a bit of a roller coaster. I feel happy that it is the first time in a while that I have full classes on a weekday. I feel happy because I have a lot of kids in my class today. But I think I'm starting to doubt whether kids like me or not. I'm not sure? Not all of the kids were smiling. I know I like to say ニコニコ知ってね whenever I talk to them. They don't smile too much tho? :( I wonder if how I teach is not too good for them. :( どうしようかな？I guess I need to think about it more tonight. I have lots of kids to talk to tomorrow it seems. Well I have to say today, almost everyone I talked to is new. Except one person. I wanted to share a bit what we talked about today because I became really excited and I did not expect it. So what was so special about our talk a while ago? I did not expect him to talk about an animal that is local in South America to be located in Japan. What am I talking about?

These adorable creatures called alpacas! I want to go to Japan like right now just so I can finally be able to see these cute creatures. I really thought they could only be found in South America. So that's why lots of Japanese shows and varieties show alpacas! I didn't know there were some in Japan! That's so cooooool! I've known about alpacas when I was in high school, I think. A friend of mine showed me pictures of alpacas and how fluffy they were. I even found a blog dedicated to alpacas, which is why I've always kinda wanted to see one in real life for a long time. It seems I don't need to go to South America anymore to see one! I can't wait for the time I go to Japan now! haha I feel like a kid wanting to go to the zoo. haha forgive me. I'm too excited. I have to be honest about something. I feel bad I haven't been doing my school work lately. I promise to do them next week! I promise to finish the last exam for work today. After that I don't know if I'll take exams there anymore. Next week, I promise to finish at least 4 exams on my certificate. I need to make it to the halfway mark! Ok I have a goal. I have to promise myself to do it! I hope everyone supports me! :D For now, I am going to work on my freelancing work. I hope to finish them tonight so I can focus on teaching tomorrow. See you guys tomorrow! :)

ーメイコ

2019 Japanese trip might become a reality?

I'm writing this and I'm not even sure if everyone knows but I like Arashi very much and even especially Hey Say Jump lately. I didn't even realize that this year is Hey Say Jump's 10th anniversary. I've been randomly telling students I want to go to Japan at 2019, but now I'm really considering whether or not to go by then. I see myself in this scenario by that time, I'm either here as a teacher still, or I might be in a different country teaching. I'm not sure who but I remember telling one student I want to teach in either Japan, Kazakhstan or even at Italy. So yeah. Why do I want to be at Japan on 2019? Arashi's 20th Anniversary. I dunno if I'll be able to get tickets tho? From what I heard you need to live in Japan to be able to get tickets to go there. haha. Forget Olympics, I don't think I'll be able to get some to watch something as trivial as a Japanese concert.I kinda want to say I'm learning Japanese because of something as trivial as bands. I don't want to make it too complex anymore. I mean I haven't been updated, it's only recently I knew that Hey Say Jump is getting more and more famous lately. Even their stuff is kinda expensive. I also kinda decided late to buy, the pre orders of buying their stuff is done now. haha. so nevermind. Since I'm bored I decided to show you guys the only fan girl item I have right now. At least I can use it right?

PS: It seems I can't take the JLPT exam this December, I didn't know the registration is only until August 29. haha If I've know I would have submitted but it seems it's not meant to be yet. I'll try next year :) By then I'll be really ready. Maybe this is even the world's way of telling me to focus on TESOL. I dunno? Hopefully not. I miss learning Japanese with my friends. I'll go bother them now. See you! :D

ーメイコ

Half Year Resolution

I remember I still haven't done my half year resolution for those of you who don't know it's a response to my year goals post last January, so here I go

• I got the smile and thank part still going strong
• Language daily streak is a fail but still keep trying Meiko, still keep trying.
• I still have time to do this travel part. I hope I can do it.
• Baler
• Baguio
• Surigao
• I didn't enroll in a gym but I have
• Yoga (started)
• jogging (will try)
• Try to take certifications
• TESOL
• JLPT
• Italian classes if I can find any
• I want to properly blog again.
• Talk to old friends.
• Enjoy working

ーメイコ

Year Goals!

明けましておめでとうございます皆さん！ Well since it's the new year I decided to be real and objective. I have to set goals for myself and I have to enjoy myself. I've been low for years now so I've decided that inorder for me to really enjoy myself and my year, I have to set goals and keep reminding myself of what I should do. I have to always look back at this list and make it my mantra. じゃ今年もよろしくお願いします皆さん。
Blog everyday

• Always thank and smile
• Make your language daily streak record!
• Travel before going to Italy
• Baler with Tita Nes
• Enchanted with Ate Gale
• Baguio with Kate
• Enroll a gym and go there routinely
• Stay simple
• Enjoy little stuff with your sisters

Well here are my goals for now :) who knows? I might add some more on the second half of the year? hmm. maybe I should do another goal setting blog on July 2. Ok I'll set my date for that day and look back here to check if I did all of these and hopefully add more :) especially since I'll be in a different country by then :)) for now, I'll enjoy the new year :D Happy New Year everyone!

Updates and Article Reaction/Review

aia. I haven't been blogging lately. And I feel like there are lots of things to blog! Well I'll try to cut them by pieces and tell whichever comes first. So I just wanted to say that for a few days now I've been planning to watch NigeHaji because a student of mine recommended it and I accidentally watched a video of people doing the 恋いダンス. So I'm currently very curious and I want to try it too! Is it really very famous? Please tell me! hahaha.

hmm. What else is there? hmm. I'll be travelling to my hometown for Christmas! So I'll be gone from December 23 to December 26. Oh and I'll make another blog post about what happened last Sunday :)

I don't know what to expect these next few days because I kinda have a bad news affecting me lately. I hope it doesn't show too much during class so I'm saying sorry ahead. I'll still try my best to be lively :)

I'm thinking about buying lots of toys. haha. I just wanted to share that sometimes kids have lessons with me but aren't really interested in class. I had a student last night who I think didn't want to talk to me last night. So I ended up showing him my pet toy and that got him talking. Maybe I need more toys. I was thinking maybe kids will like it if we kinda have role play between toys? I mean I just thought of it last night so back me up on this. Well, I think kids have it rough and I know that some of them do not really want to or are forced to learn things they don't want to. So I was thinking maybe I should make it interesting for this kid? And I feel like my theory is correct because another person actually thinks the same and applied it to an institution. I really feel like English shouldn't be a めんどくさい thing for kids. I know the importance of english because I, myself, use it better than any of the other languages I know. But if I have other opinions I'd better keep that to myself :)) For now I think supporting my students and being what I am is best for my students. I just wanted to share as well that if I was given an opportunity to teach at that school I would because I think that institution would be the real definition of catering to student's needs :)

My current repertoire of toys

Can you imagine what kind of future children can have if they can start choosing at a young age? I would just like to share that at a young age I didn't know what I wanted to be because there are soo many things in school that I can be and I don't know which I'm really good at. I wasn't until I was working did I realize what I really wanted to be. I have to be honest that when I say I want to be a teacher in the future. It was never "I always wanted to be a teacher". I only discovered how much I wanted to be when I was actually doing it. I only landed this job because I was doing jobs a teacher can do and my previous company gave me the opportunity to be a teacher for real and it was amazing how much I came and loved being a teacher. I did not expect that I would be here almost one year and still be teaching. I'm in a different company, yet here I am doing what I love doing. I'll do my best to stay here. :)

ーメイコ

Philippine Independence Day!!!!

uwaaaaa! I've been soo busy lately! Super sorry! I wish you guys don't get mad. I really try my best to open classes and I really couldn't open classes last week due to extreme fatigue. 超ごめんなさい！Anyway I just wanted to share that today is Philippine Independence day! *throws confetti* And guess what happened today? I got a free train ride! *throws more confetti!* That's kinda all I wanted to say hahaha. I hope to see you guys today! I miss everyone! :D

Holiday!

Hi. I'm at work today. I'll be off tomorrow again. Anyways I went to Mendez last Wednesday and supposed to be I'll be off until Monday but I decided to go to work today. Anyways. I'm not sure if all of you know but it's holy week. Well since most Filipinos are Catholics. Everyone is expected to respect the Lenten season. So anyways. Every year. I join religions processions on Wednesdays only. But this year I decided to complete both Wednesday and Friday processions. Well I just learned that on the Friday procession, there is an event where people are allowed to kiss the image of Jesus after the procession. And I also learned that there is also a Silent Procession when Jesus is buried well kind of. He's hidden inside the church. Anyways. I'll go back to work for now. I hope you guys aren't mad I didn't have open classes this week. This only happens once a year and it so happens special relatives are home this year. So see you guys next week :) <3

(I'll post my own pictures after going back from my hometown. for now this is a picture of a procession from google.)

ーメイコ

The road I pass through daily.

Sometimes I feel like people from Parañaque have some kind of grudge against people from Cavite. You see if you live in Cavite, the only way you can get to Manila is if you pass through Parañaque. But you see, drivers from Parañaque aren't really generous when it comes to sharing their roads. I'll give an example. There are 5 lanes in Baclaran (a part of Parañaque). There is a T intersection in Baclaran that lots of drivers from Cavite avoid because drivers from Parañaque take up 4 lanes. Like where is the justice in that? And another example is the officials. I mean traffic enforcers stop cars that are coming from Cavite despite the stoplight having another 17 seconds of green light. Where is the justice in that?!

OK so this is also one of the reasons why I don't want to drive despite knowing how. I suffer from rode rage my dears.

(The picture isn't mine. Maybe someday I'd take a picture of Baclaran if I have time)

ーメイコ

An Agoraphobic's guide to riding trains.

Definition of Terms
Agoraphobic - Fear of Crowds
Claustrophobic - Fear of Closed spaces
Manifestation - an event that clearly shows or embodies something

You see. When I was in high school I've identified myself as both an Agoraphobic and Claustrophobic person. And riding trains is like the manifestation of all my fears. And because of work I have to face my fears everyday hopefully without having to vomit I'm gonna share my tips to fellow Agoraphobic and Claustrophobic people

• Have a friend
  
• Out of all the advice I can give this might be the most complicated. I mean it's not everyday that we have someone we can tag along with when we ride the train. I put this first because if you have a panic attack, there is at least one person who understands what is happening and he/she might assist you ASAP. And the person you are with can be a source of strength because we both know how scary it is to ride a train.
• Stand next to the door
  
• One thing I realized helps me feel better is if I'm standing next to the door. Even if there are seats available, I don't bother taking a seat because I feel safer next to the door. For Claustrophobics I know it is scary looking at automatic doors closing on your face. But it's even scarier if you're far away from the door. You don't have a place to run to if you feel trapped. So I really recommend that you stand next to the door.
• Always look outside or up

• My legs always feel weak even if I just feel like I'm in a crowd. aia I feel like crying thinking about this. Don't look at the crowd and try to forget about it. Look outside or look up. Don't you dare think about the crowd! Just think of your happy place ok? sorry I really feel weak right now even thinking about this. TwwT
• Listen to Music
  
• The most effective distraction for me, from the crowd, other than looking outside is when I listen to music. For me this is my happy place. So I recommend that you try this. This really makes me feel relaxed and forget a bit that this is the most scary place for me. So try this ok? :)

Oh credits to all the owners of the pictures. They aren't mine. I just got them from google. I don't think I've watched any of these anime tho so sorry if you ask me about it and I don't know. I just really needed pictures for presentation. 

btw share. I kinda look like the girl from the third picture every morning, except I have headphones like on the fourth. I kinda feel like the pictures are redundant but these are the perfect representations. So sorry if you didn't like it. Anyways. I have something I wanna share. I define "bravery" as this

Brave people aren't the ones who don't have any fears,

brave people face their fears everyday.

Don't be ashamed my dear and we shall both face our fears. It will take a lot from us to do these but it is for our benefit as well right? So be brave and I'll hold your hand :)

ーメイコ

Jeepneys ｢(ﾟﾍﾟ)

I've been wondering. Do any of you know what a jeepney is? I mean I ride it from time to time and it's really common here in the Philippines but I've been wondering if any of my students know what a jeepney is? I mean this post will be about jeepney anyways If you don't know I've searched the internet and will post a picture of it here :))

Anyways. I wanted to share something I saw earlier that wasn't very common to jeepneys. You see normally, the seats are made of foam. But I rode a jeepney earlier that didn't have foam as the chair. I'll post a picture of it here.

You see the chair was made out of bamboo. I mean bamboo chairs are really normal on the Philippines but on jeepneys? (」゜ロ゜)」 not too much. I just posted this to share my confusingly weird experience. hehehe. ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌ じゃね

ーメイコ

Late post from last thursday :)

Ok I haven't posted in a while because I didn't have internet connection at home since last weekend. Well here are the photos I wanted to share from last Thursday :) I'll probably post another set since today we had a seminar and everyone was feeling very vain today and wanted to take pictures. But this post is about last thursday so here they are :)

ーメイコ

Note to self.

Dear self.

This is to remind you that you shouldn't try to work earlier than 9 TwT </3 I'm sorry student :(

This is to remind you that you can't run from Paseo de Roxas to the office because of your short legs TwT


I'm really sorry Admin. I'm really sorry TL. I'm really sorry Yuta -_-

超恥ずかしい日

ーメイコ

デート

My dear students,

Please don't get mad but I was in a date today. With ナツキさん。Haha. I wanna post the pictures now but she has the pictures! uwaaaa! I really had fun today. We both coloured our hair! :D We also had an unexpected trip to my hometown. She met my dear cousins today! I was really happy that she met my family today :D I want to say right now that I really had fun today and I kinda wish I can share more with you guys. I will maybe tomorrow or on the weekend! I'll share the pictures and videos by then. For now, I'll say good night :) おやすみなさいみんな。

ーメイコ

Free Ride!

Uwaaaaa! The strangest thing happened today! I was sleepily walking to the train today. And inside the station, I was hearing a megaphone being replayed by a guard. I was weirded out because that's very unusual and when I was about to tap my card to enter the platform a guard stopped me and told me: "All women have free rides today. Please proceed this way." I was really shocked because I didn't expect anything like that to happen today. But when I got to the office and opened my browser. It seems it's International Women's Day

Happy Women's Day! :D

I don't normally post pictures but here's a picture of the ticket they gave me!

ーメイコ