英会話プライベートレッスン

Hello everyone, this Anand with another Awesome English update! ?I have been busy as always, but I manage to find pockets of time here and there with which to enjoy myself. ?As I wrote last week, I recently dropped an exorbitant amount of money on a Brompton folding bike. ?Since it was so expensive, I naturally feel the need to get as much use out of it as possible – so I have been taking the time to explore the back roads (and some of the main roads) of Yokohama. ?It is a much different experience being on your bicycle than being on my feet, which is how I used to do my touring. ?I am much more free to experiment with some detours and new roads, which would take to long too explore on my feet and too inconvenient or inaccessible with a car. ?This week I took my bike around the Red Brick Warehouse, which, to my surprise was holding a folding bike expo! ?My little bike was pretty popular, since it is a world-famous brand for enthusiasts. ?There are only two problems. ?I am so afraid of the thing getting stolen that it’s hard to take my eyes off of it. The other problem is that I am enjoying biking so much that I don’t really want to run anymore!

Here my bike in its trademark standing position. Looks like a dog, right?

Hello everyone, Anand as always for the Awesome English report! ?Hope you guys are enjoying this sneak peek of the summer! ?I am definitely enjoying my night runs more, but I am hoping that this is as hot as it gets this year.

In any case, I made a big investment the other day. ?Now, if you had 2,000 dollars, what would you do? ?You could buy a big screen tv, put it towards your retirement…or buy a folding bike. ?Well I bought a folding bike. ?Brompton bikes are basically the Aston Martin of folding bicycles. They’re British, they’re expensive, they are build with the utmost care, and they are bought by elitist snobs all over the world. ?Actually, they are a marvel of engineering, designed for the best ride while folding in the smallest space. ?My hope is to take it on to trains and cycle around Japan! ?I had been thinking of a big triathlon bike, but there is no way I would keep a bike like that should I ever return to Canada. ?So in the end, I went with Brompton. ?In the end, money is meant to be spent and not hoarded. ?So I spent lots of it!

In any case, here is a look at it.

Hello everyone! ?This is Anand with another Awesome English update! ?I hope you all had a great Golden Week! ?I know I did, having spent it in my old town of Katsuura. ?Before I worked at Awesome English, I was an English teacher there. ?It’s much different than Yokohama, being a small town of fishermen as well as fewer and fewer children. ?This time I decided to stay at a guest house ?as opposed to staying with friends. ?I have no objection to staying with friends, but I didn’t want to overstay my welcome, as you might guess would happen after a week. ?So while I was a little more secluded than usual, it was nice having some time to myself to read, study and run. ?In addition, I was able to eat some great fish fresh from the ocean! ?I like the city life and I like having lots of things around me, but sometimes I do get a little mad, even in a place as great as Yokohama. ?Sometimes it is nice to go to a place that only has one grocery store, one coffee shop and one bar (well, the lack of bars kinda sucks). ?In any case, in some ways it is good to be back since my batteries are charged and I feel like I can take on the world!

See you next week!

Anand

Hello everyone, I hope you are all well on your way to having a great Golden Week! ?I will be disappearing for a few days with the hope that no one can find me. ?I’m simply going to run and study and maybe drink a few beers along the way. ?I will also be doing lots of reading as well. ?In preparation, I have purchased a few books. ?My most recent buy is a Japanese book on how to remember things. ?I have always been absent-minded. ?I am constantly misplacing and forgetting things and it has only gotten worse with age. ?I am not sure if it is the beer or the fact that I barely exercise my mind these days, but lately it’s been getting a bit ridiculous. ?In any case, I am all about killing two birds with one stone, so I figured I would get the most out of the book by reading something in Japanese.

In any case, it couldn’t possibly make my memory any worse!

Until next time,

Anand

Hello everyone, this is Anand with another Awesome English update!? I hope you are all having a good time as the weather gets warmer and warmer.? While I spend lots of time teaching and using English in my daily life (despite being in Japan), I find that, regrettably, I never seem to have enough time to get any reading done.? I used to always have my face buried in a book when I was a kids and well into my university days.? These days work keeps me so busy that I can never seem to find those moments of time to pick up a book and read.? I have been trying to correct this though.? Now I make a point of reading for 30 minutes before I go to bed no matter what time it is.? As a result, I have slowly and surely made my way through the classic novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.? It’s a fun adventure with plenty of fighting, comedy and sex (though it is never referred to as such) for anyone to enjoy.? If you ever have the time, I say check it out…and if you don’t have the time, I say make the time!

That’s all for now!

Anand Mohan

Hello everyone, this is Anand with another Awesome English update!? I hope you are all having a good time as the weather gets warmer and warmer.? While I spend lots of time teaching and using English in my daily life (despite being in Japan), I find that, regrettably, I never seem to have enough time to get any reading done.? I used to always have my face buried in a book when I was a kids and well into my university days.? These days work keeps me so busy that I can never seem to find those moments of time to pick up a book and read.? I have been trying to correct this though.? Now I make a point of reading for 30 minutes before I go to bed no matter what time it is.? As a result, I have slowly and surely made my way through the classic novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.? It’s a fun adventure with plenty of fighting, comedy and sex (though it is never?referred to as such) for anyone to enjoy.? If you ever have the time, I say check it out…and if you don’t have the time, I say make the time!

That’s all for now!

Anand Mohan

Hello everyone, hope you all managed to enjoy the cherry blossoms at their height! ?Sakura season is definitely over looking at the tattered trees outside of my window.

I hate giving up and I like to try lots of new things. ?The combination of these two things has given me a lot of grief in my life. ?I find myself signing up for lots of different courses and classes, none of which I have time for but then refusing to give any of them up. ?One of the things I tried signing up for recently is piano lessons. ?I used to play a little in Katsuura, but I had to give it up for various reasons. ?Unfortunately these days I am infinitely more busy than in my previous days in Katsuura. ? That didn’t stop me from being bullheaded and buying a giant piano that takes up a huge amount of my apartment.

There comes a time when you have to simply know when to quit, and it is looking like it is high time to do so now.

In short…does anyone want to buy a piano?

Hello everyone, this is Anand with another Awesome English update. ?I hope you guys are doing well. ?I have a lot of hobbies – Japanese, running, piano, etc. ?but one I don’t bring up too often is my fascination with the Nazi regime and Adolf Hitler. ?I suppose the reason is because it just kind of stands out as a little odd to people. ? However, I find the whole idea that such an insane group of human beings were able to take over what is now an economic power and a model to the world for education and efficiency. ?What is it about Hitler that allowed him to reach great heights? ?And what is the basic flaw in the human character that let us lift such a man up? ?These are questions that fascinate me and have driven me through volumes of work on the man and his followers. ?Japan always has an interesting perspective to me because of its unique ties to him, and I have always been a fan of Osamu Tezuka’s Hitler story. ?And now it’s being turned into a play! ? Who’s going to go with me?

Hello everyone, this is Anand with another Awesome English update! ?Spring is in the air and I hope you all have plans of hanami and the drinking that comes with it. ?I haven’t done any of the hanami, but I have certainly worked on the drinking part. ?In Yokohama I have developed some rather elegant (and unfortunately, expensive tastes). ?I have been sampling some of Yokohama’s best craft beer bars, and there are certainly many of them to pick from. ?This weekend I went to Thrash Zone which is a little bar on Yokohama’s west side. ?It features strong, hoppy beers brewed by the owner and hard rock music. ?There is no fancy stuff here – no special appetizers, no ambiance, just a lot of hard beer and hard metal. ?If you want to test your mettle and your tastebuds its a great place to try out. ?However, if you like the sweet stuff, or anything low-alcohol, you are best served going somewhere else. ?It’s not a place I would go often because of how crowded it is, but it is a nice place if you want to try something different. ?Definitely seek it out, if only for one time!

Happy drinking!

Anand

Hello everyone, this is Anand here with another Awesome English update! ?I hope you guys all made the most of another grey weekend. ?I know I certainly did. ?I know this because I finished the Yokohama Marathon! ?I was lucky enough to be able to run with my company, meaning not only did I get in, but I got to run for free! ?That said, I haven’t been training nearly as hard as I should have been, and I didn’t eat right for the previous 2 weeks. ?Luckily the Yokohama course is pretty easy compared to most other races, albeit a little unattractive. ?It is pretty even except for maybe one steep downhill near the end (which is actually a pretty terrible point to have a downhill). ? The run actually went pretty well, since cool and grey weather makes for pretty good running since your body doesn’t heat up too much. ?My only real trouble was on the aforementioned downhill when my legs got cramped up from the impact. ?Thankfully after a bit of a stretch and a couple of salt tablets I was able to keep going. ?In the end, while I did have to walk out a few cramps and slow down a bit, I managed to get a personal best, which is something to be proud of.

Now I get to enjoy a little free eating, which is really the whole point of doing this to myself.

Until next time!