As summer approaches, I cannot help but be reminded of the many barbecues I went to last year. In America, a barbecue is a common way for people to eat together when the weather becomes warm. I enjoy them because you usually eat a lot of food outside in the nice weather and talk with friends and/or family...

As June rolls around our thoughts may turn to 'June Brides' and the popular belief the warmth of summer brings the best time of year to get married. Every time I'm invited to weddings here, I always get a great sense of happiness sharing such a special day with two people starting their lives together...

I have always had a passion for playing the drums. Before I came to Japan, I was playing in an alternative rock band in the New York Tri-State area. I knew that I would miss playing the drums when I came to the countryside of Japan to teach English. To my surprise, I was able to continue playing music when I moved to Tsuyama....

I'm lucky to have celebrated almost twenty O-Hanami seasons in Japan, and every one of them holds special memories for me. The one that stands out for me is my first. Nothing I know of in my home country can compare to what is celebrated here in spring every year. I landed in Japan in the middle of winter, a radical climate change for me coming from a boiling summer down under. Japan, and the Japanese, seemed to be only bleak in that time; gray chilly skies and gray chilly stares are the earliest memories for me of my life in Japan...

Adam Demby

I arrived in Tsuyama on Friday, June 20, 2008 at around 10 PM. Everyone I have met since then has been very nice and welcoming. I do not think I could have asked for a more suitable place to live and work...

The time has come for me to say goodbye to all of you. It has been a pleasure being your teacher. I am excited to return home, but I will be sad to say goodbye...

Well it's been almost 4 months now since I came to Tsuyama. Life here has definitely been interesting, compared to my previous Tokyo experience ...

They say a person’s life is a series of events that can be summed up like chapters in a book...

Toastmasters International started out as a small meeting in the basement of a YWCA in Santa Ana, California in 1924 by Mr. Ralph Smedley who believed that public speaking would help young people develop communication and leadership skills ...