Since arriving to Japan, I have been over the moon and back and have managed to learn all the in’s and out’s of Ogaki. I can’t wait to discover some more of Gifu/Nagoya during my time here! So far, my favorite thing to be do is eat all the ramen I can find! Ramen here is so incredibly filling and delicious, I think just about any ramen shop is good! Last week, I went to Ōsu in Nagoya and found this shop called “Fujiyama Go-Go5” and with absolute certainty, I can say this is the best ramen I have ever had…..so far. 

– Luis

いよいよ２０１９年度第１回英検の申込受付が始まりました。

目標をもって英語の学習に取り組むことで、さらに英語の力を

伸ばすことができるチャンスです！！

ぜひ、英検を申し込んで、目標の級に向けて勉強を始めましょう。

Meet Missy Elliot! Missy is my older sister’s fur baby, making her my fur baby niece (or Niecey Baby, as I like to call her). Missy can’t travel to visit me in Japan, because she’s a nervous wreck in transit, but there’s no such impediment preventing my family back home from photobombing me with adorable pictures of her 24/7! So allow me to share that uplifting experience with you all.

Missy’s favorite things are fetch, tug-o-war, terrorizing squirrels, cheese, popcorn, waking up at the crack of the dawn to demand the aforementioned things, disemboweling stuffed animals, and belly rubs (but only when she demands them, at which point stopping is not an option without her expressed approval).

みなさんこんにちは！

新年度がまさに今日から始まりましたね！新しいクラス！新しい学校！ワクワクしますね！

ハローズでも今日から授業が始まります！みなさんが元気に「Hello!」と言って校舎に入ってきてくれるのを待っていますよ！！個性豊かな新しいハローズ先生たちも、みなさんに会えるのを楽しみにしています！

Calligraphic Writing “Hello”, vector illustration

I played music a lot growing up.  When I was a kid, I played the trumpet and taught myself to play the piano.  When I got into high school, I started playing bass and joined my first band.  Playing music is an important creative outlet for me, and I love to do it.  Even after moving to Japan, I continued writing and making my own music at home.  A few months ago, I bought a brand new guitar, and it’s been one of my most prized possessions.  When I’m stressed out or just need to wind down after a long day at work, I sit down with my guitar and it is the perfect escape.  

However, just having a guitar isn’t quite enough.  I really like experimenting with tones and making my guitar do fun and weird things, so I have also started collecting guitar pedals.  I bought about 6 or 7 pedals after purchasing my guitar, and it’s been a lot of fun playing around with new sounds.  But a couple weeks ago, I purchased this beautiful reverb pedal from Chase Bliss called Dark World.  It would take several more paragraphs full of technical terms to explain just what this small piece of equipment can do, but it basically creates a super dreamy and kind of dark sound that I love in the music I listen to.  And on top of that it’s beautiful!  I’ve been playing around with it for days, and still have so much to explore.  Making music is a lot of fun, and adding even one piece of gear like the Dark World gives you so many more wonderful options.