Chris-Ballard

You can almost feel the tension during this time of year. The younger generation is O.K. and interested but the over 70 crowd have no idea w....
28 Sep 12:57 pm from Chris-Ballard

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A “trick or treating” memory of a 10 year old

When I was 10 I had 2 "I'm gonna remember THAT forever!!" moments.1. (the blue arrow) marks the spot where I was trick or treating really la....
25 Sep 10:19 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Japan 2 Harvard & gimmie tha plastic one!!

I have a student who is taking a crack at Harvard. He needs info on taking the S.A.T's in English of course and the TOEFL test. He ain't fuc....
12 Sep 6:15 pm from Chris-Ballard

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September…not cool yet..but the teachin’ is fine :)

One of my favorite classes! One of them has saved $600.00 in "School money". She KNOWS I don't have anything that expensive for her. I reali....
4 Sep 1:07 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Back in the groove..almost + “Keyword chaos”

Starting to almost get back into things here. The Japanese school summer vacation is almost over and I can start teaching heavy again. As a ....
26 Aug 10:03 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Having fun during O’bon vacation :) 143

I had a BLAST jumping off a little cliff today!! Big fun!!!! Time to teach from tomorrow but I had some serious fun this O'bon!! 143 baby!!!....
16 Aug 9:57 pm from Chris-Ballard

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River fun…in Japan

Had some fun today playing in a river eating and hamming it up for the camera!This is the slow season for teaching (the next 2 weeks) so bea....
8 Aug 9:23 pm from Chris-Ballard

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A Perfect Eiken Interview…AGAIN!!

This class had 3 girls pass the Eiken 3,3 and pre 2. The top pic is of a perfect interview scorecard. Yumi kicked ass.And yeah.....I did it ....
4 Aug 10:02 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Off Topic (Rage Against the Machine)

So I went to see Inception at a Japanese movie theater today. It was AWESOME!!I had to laugh at the anti-pirating warning just before the mo....
2 Aug 9:47 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Basic review with Advanced Japanese Elementary kids

Where's Hawaii?....um (that's not cool..I took em over to the world map and let them handle their business) They ALL know where Hawaii is ;)....
22 Jul 9:54 pm from Chris-Ballard

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The 2010 Summer Beach Barbeque

This was my favorite Summer BBQ. The whole Pig 2 years ago was a nightmare but it was a nice experience for the students. Last years Prime R....
18 Jul 10:52 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Where is the 2010 Beach BBQ?

This is a beautiful private type beach with facilities and nature trails. I finished making the anchors for the beach volleyball and beach b....
28 Jun 12:25 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Japanese Diary (little girl’s morning version)

The first moments of a day as seen through an 11 year old Japanese girls eyes. Sounds pretty textbook for Japan and maybe that solid "Leave ....
24 Jun 8:08 pm from Chris-Ballard

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2010 Japan beach BBQ..it just hit you in the head :)

The 2010 menu is not fully decided but you better look both ways before you cross the beach because my newest weapon with trained warriors w....
19 Jun 9:36 pm from Chris-Ballard

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3 person water ballooon launcher = Winner :)

I tested the 3 person waterballon slinshots and it's a definite winner :) As long as the balloons are of reasonable size you can REALLY slin....
12 Jun 1:35 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Ikura the Japanese BOSS cat V5 “retired….and chillin”

Ikura visited for the first time in a while and he looks...good and retired. I watched him get beat and then beat a freakishly huge cat name....
11 Jun 4:53 pm from Chris-Ballard

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June’s Top 10 and stuff

The "Top 10" for June 2010A nice gift from my student Yumi who went on a school trip to Nagasaki. Thank you Yumi :)Before the conversation s....
2 Jun 11:06 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Living in Japan (Being a **cough** good neighbor, and the “get” part IV)

She has been saving for something since I started the "Pay for performance" system. It is ALL outta my own pocket but what is money for anyw....
21 May 3:36 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Generic update. Teaching and living in Japan part….?

Getting ready for the Eiken :)A couple more gifts from some students. Saki/Wakana, Keiko and Sho. Thanks :) The "Pen Wars" are about to eru....
18 May 11:16 am from Chris-Ballard

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Saturday girls closing down the week.

I tried to take some pics using a remote and they came out s__tty!!! :(Oh well!!Saturday is such a fun end to the week and it's mostly becau....
8 May 1:35 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Teaching English in Japan. Who the ____ made my schedule??

I used to complain about my schedule when I worked for someone else. Now i work for myself but I still complain cause the "Changing season" ....
7 May 2:11 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Golden Week in Japan v4 ( Just chillin”) USAVICH

USAVICH is the most popular item among my students (Japanese kids)right now. Ala MTV!My student's grandmother provided the "post test" sweet....
2 May 10:44 am from Chris-Ballard

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A beautiful day in Japan

Made my own little BBQ grill using nature and a 100yen screen to cook those steaks. They were pretty damn good!! A nice way too kick off the....
26 Apr 1:41 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Saturday..Operation “Chill”

Saturday is always a smooth ending to my work week. This class is prepping for the Eiken. I think everyone is actually :) They are also work....
17 Apr 11:29 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Eiken Prep. Elementary Students

She scored some school cash for translating AND answering the Q's perfectly.She's 10..11? and she writes like an adult? He vocabulary is sim....
15 Apr 11:30 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Dear ALT’s in Japan..Take the red one!! Don’t sell your soul.

.After 5 years of running my own School and watching some 20 or so ALT's come and go I have come to believe there are 4 kinds of ALT's 1. Th....
13 Apr 1:40 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Is Japan “Tapping Out”?

I have been like "St John the Divine" with my apocalyptic comments about the monster looking over Japan's back...China, during the past few ....
12 Apr 10:11 pm from Chris-Ballard

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TOEIC 950!!! ( トーイック) 143 in the house ;)

I just had a student achieve a score of 950 on her TOEIC test. For those not in the know that's an AMAZING score!!She was not gifted in Engl....
5 Apr 5:55 pm from Chris-Ballard

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Manga as a study tool…..FTW

I don't know the name of this comic book...to be honest i just realized that it's a regular book and not manga at all.....oh well...the titl....
1 Apr 9:02 pm from Chris-Ballard

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A well used English Dictionary (Japan)

I think it's pretty safe to say that this student uses their dictionary :)This is full on "old school". None of that new fangled digital stu....
27 Mar 8:32 pm from Chris-Ballard

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