英会話プライベートレッスン

Hi there everyone! ?Hope you are all enjoying the new year! ?Has everyone managed to keep their New Year’s resolutions? ?I am slowly but surely on my way. ?I may as well tell you one of them today. ?I was never a big advocate of gym class growing up. ?In fact, as the smallest kid in my grade for most of my life and one of the worst at any ball sport, I was sure that this would never change. ?But when I hit university I started going to the campus gym and got a little hooked on fitness. ?After coming to Japan, I got swept up in the running craze and finished my first half marathon in January 2012.

But after I started job hunting and after I moved to Yokohama, I took a bit of a break from fitness. ?I have definitely gotten out of shape, and though I am not horribly fat or anything like that, I think this year is a time for me to get back to where I used to be. ?If I can, I want to run another marathon before the year is over and hopefully do it under 4 hours.

I have another reason for this. ?There is someone where I work who never ran a marathon in her life and she ran in the Honolulu marathon last year. ?She beat my marathon time. ?I find this unacceptable. ?So, in a petty and childish, this whole thing is an attempt to crush my co-workers and be the most in shape person in the office.

I still have a way to go, but I will try my best, even if it isn’t for the best of reasons.

Until next time,

Anand

I asked around my company about whether I could have a beard at work and was sadly shot down. ?I was pretty disappointed, to be honest. ?While I generally am clean shaven, it’s always fun to go on vacation, disappear for a while and come back looking totally different. ?But the big unkempt beard doesn’t go over too well in Japan it seems. ?I often wonder if it is because most Japanese men don’t grow full beards that well. ?I know when I see them I am pretty impressed. ?But is that fair to us fellows who can? ?I mean, by global standards, my beard isn’t one to write home about, but if I give it a month or so, it looks pretty thick if I do say so myself. ?I guess that the real problem has always been that messy period in between when the beard hasn’t fully come in yet. Even I will admit that it’s a pretty unappealing look. ?Still, I like to grow one every so often. ?I especially grow one if I am working towards a goal. ?For instance, when I was training for the Tateyama marathon, I started to grow one at the beginning of my training and shaved it after I finished the marathon. ?The act of shaving it off kind of completed my mission, so to speak.

So why an post on beards? ?Basically so I could show you this picture:

Hi there everyone! ?How are you dealing with this ridiculous weather? ?I was just relaxing in my room when I noticed a huge wall of white outside of my wall. ?Snow! ?Am I in Canada again? ?It’s supposed to be clear and sunny now. ?It shouldn’t look like this:

But I will say that Japan, at least in the Kanto region, dealing with snow is a different affair than dealing with it in Japan. ?In short, Canadians are much better with it. ?But that isn’t Yokohama’s fault. ?Dealing with cold and snowy winters is part of Canadian life. ?Every house has a shovel for their home, an scraper for their car and some salt for the roads. ?In Japan they have…nothing. ?Instead of shovels, the Japanese in the Kanto area use…brooms, window wipers…basically anything they can get their hands on. ?And the umbrellas! ?That is definitely a Japanese phenomenon. ?In Canada umbrellas are for rain only. ? I have always said that I fear one inch of snow in Yokohama more than I fear 12 inches in Canada because the Canadian response, with road salt and snow plow trucks is quick and efficient.

But again, it’s just because this area of Japan is not used to snow. ?I guess it really isn’t fair to judge though. ?Once my Japanese friend asked me what my response was for an earthquake. ?I still don’t know exactly what to do, since we never get earthquakes in Toronto.

I guess it is all a matter of perspective.

Before I sign off, I just want to dispel one myth. ?Canadians don’t like to be cold! ?Yes we get lots of snow, but I don’t just want to stand in the snow all day and be cold. ?In fact, I can’t wait for this snow to melt. ?I want to go running, but if I do now, I don’t think I would survive.

Until next time!

Anand

Hi there! ?Anand here as always. ?Did you guys make any New Year resolutions? ?And have you managed to keep them? ?So far I’ve done pretty well, but that might change in a month… But that is for a later post.

Today I will just wrap up my series on Hokkaido. To be honest, a lot of my third day involved packing my things and heading back to the airport. ?But I did manage to do some fun things. ?Despite a slight hangover and few bruises from snowboarding I was in pretty good shape, especially after an all you can eat buffet breakfast.

We all got into a bus and headed towards Otaru, which is a pretty touristy place near Sapporo. ?It has a pretty famous canal and a lot of shops that cater to visitors. ?In particular, there were lots of glass shops. ?I wanted to take pictures, but no one would let me. ?But thankfully I could take pictures of plenty of other things. ?For instance, here is me and my friend modeling some hats.

And of course…we ate more food! ?I guess Hokkaido is the place to go for ramen. ?And man…I ate a lot of ramen.

And lots of sea food…

But I guess these trips can’t last forever. ?And thankfully they don’t because I was spending lots of money!! ? But I am glad I went on the trip. ?It was like going back in time and being a teaching in a small town again. ?But those days are over and my life in the big city is exciting and challenging. ? It’s a new year, and I have to think of the future!

Until next time,

Anand

Hi there!? Anand here hoping you all had a great New Year Celebration!? I watched the countdown in Shibuya with some friends.?? It was pretty cool since there were tons of foreigners in the square.? I guess the countdown is more of a Western thing.? In any case, as promised, here is the second part of my Hokkaido trip.

Now that I think of it, my trip seems kind of strange.? We scheduled the onsen trip for the first day…and snowboarding the second day…maybe it should have been the other way around.? Yep, I tried some snowboarding.? I have skied before, but this was the first time snowboarding.? I fell down.? A lot.? Thankfully I know some great people who gave me some tips on how to move.? By the end I was…all right.? Guess I have to practice more.

But thankfully, after my hard work…we got to go drinking again!? This time we had a huge sashimi set to go with our drinks.? Though my Japanese isn’t great and the teachers struggle with English,? we all got along wonderfully.

It’s good to know such warm people in such cold weather.

Until next time,

Anand