Curricula
Here are the chronicles of my adventures in Japan. Living in western Tokyo, I've had the opportunity to visit all the major tourist hotspots, and some places off the beaten track. The latter category is normally saved for a person's second or third trip to Japan, but if you want to spice your first trip up a bit, you can try one of these.
Follow the travels and travails of the wanderers as they travel here and there, and check out new and interesting sights and restaurants.
Interesting news items from around the world, and some of my views about the world we live in, culture, society, life, or frankly anything that will stimulate discussion.
This set of lessons describes our trips to Europe in the spring of 2023 and the spring of 2024. They were very different trips, though some of the same countries were visited - just different parts. The first trip encompassed Vienna, Rome, and Florence. The second trip - with me driving - included Zurich, Lucerne, Como, Milan, Bolzano, Innsbruck, and separately, Prague. I wonder if we will return to Europe again for a third trip...
This curriculum includes lessons, vocabulary and quizzes that focus on the lives of John and Marie, a typical couple navigating life together. We begin the story before John and Marie met, going back in time to the 1990's. From there we will follow their journey through their early working years, how they met, their relationship, and well, we shall see where the story leads!
There will be many idioms included in the lessons that are used very commonly by native English speakers. Knowledge of idioms should be a priority for advanced English learners.
Traveling has become a major focus in my retirement years.
This curriculum provides a high level review of the hardware, software, and network components of a personal computer.
This curriculum is intended to focus on anything that is technical, past and future. Originally I was thinking of just having a Virtual Reality curriculum, but decided to broaden it because of all that is going on in AI and robotics. Let's see where this takes us!
This curriculum of lessons will focus on healthcare in many different facets. Follow Dr. Tanaka as he works his wonders, providing the best care for his patients.
Please note - these lessons should not to be used for the diagnosis or treatment any any real illness. They are intended to get you familiar with common ailments and their English descriptions. If you are ill, consult a real doctor or website that specializes in medical information instead of this website. Thank you for your attention!
How about a little Samra family culture to lightenup up your day? Click the link below to see our collection of Samraisms!
If you have any questions about anything on the website, or have suggestions on what content you would like to see, please contact me. Click the button below to bring up the form, and submit your note. Thank you!
Published: 2025-04-01
Being a sports fan from Philadelphia can be a blessing, or a curse. Success breeds contempt, as can be seen from online trolls trashing the Eagles and their fans.
Published: 2024-08-24
It is rare that a little league team from where I grew up makes it all the way to the Little League World Series. It brought back a bunch of memories for me, especially about the last game in which I played.
Published: 2024-03-20
As a Temple alum, I have to wonder what is going on with my former university. In 2020 the Dean of the Fox School of Business was indicted on charges of submitting false data to U.S. News & World Report, a publication that ranks all universities in the nation. The basketball program is now mired in a supposed gambling scandal. What is going on?
Published: 2023-10-28
Well, it is that time of year. Two teams, one from each league, will compete for the "world championship" of baseball. Two small market teams somehow made it to the World Series, the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Published: 2023-02-14
The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles played in the 2023 Super Bowl on February 12th in Glendale Arizona.
New Lessons
During our time in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture we were able to explore the ancient fortress on the hill, Matsuyama Castle. A cloudy and rainy day made the castle seem overly gloomy, but there were facinating historical artifacts and displays inside the castle that made up for it.
A little known sports bar in Nihonbashi got my attention last year with its Philly theme and pursuit of an authentic cheesesteak. The owners just returned from a pilgrimage to Philadelphia to show off their version. So it must be good right? Well, I did the taste test, and...
Over the years I have seen many pictures of The National Diet Building in Nagatacho, but never actually came close to visiting it. Well, finally that day came, and it was grander than I expected. And we even got a chance to visit the Parliamentary Museum and the National Diet Library before our tour started!
I've been a paying customer of OpenAI for a while in order to use their ChatGPT AI product suite. In the past I've used AI to generate lesson quizzes, at which it did a credible job. Recently I decided on a project for this Samraworld website that I thought ChatGPT could help me with. Well, it did help, but it took some patience.
Himeji-jō, known as the White Heron Castle because of its distinctive white exterior, is the most visited castle in Japan. We had visited other castles in Japan before, but this one was at a different level. Not only is Himeji-jō very well preserved, but in cherry blossom season, it is absolutely spectacular.
The mountainous region of Nara known as Yoshinoyama has been known as one of the best places to visit during cherry blossom season. So we wanted to see if the reality was up to the hype. Well, I am here to report that it did, with flying colors!
To-ji is an important temple on the southwest side of Kyoto. It is especially pretty in cherry blossom season, and in the fall when the colors change. It's probably not a place you will visit on your first visit to Kyoto, with all the other more well known temples to see, but you will not be disappointed if you have time to visit To-ji.
The Creative Noodle Factory Nakiryu was on my short list of ramen places to visit in 2025. This classy ramen shop had won a Michelin star in 2017, so it is going to be good. How good was the question.
This spring we took a bus tour to a few beautiful locations for viewing cherry blossoms, referred to in Japan as sakura. The first stop in the tour was Byodoin, an ancient Heian temple located in the southern part of Kyoto. Most folks visiting Kyoto are not aware of Byodoin. It is a bit out of the way in Uji, and well, there are so many temples and shrines closer to the center of Kyoto that Byodoin is kind of an afterthought, if thought of at all.
It's been a long time since I posted a lesson about a restaurant. I was intending to last fall, as I visited a couple of well known ramen shops. But for whatever reason I never got around to it. So, here is a quickie review of Nobunaga, a tasty ramen shop on the edge of Ginza.