英会話プライベートレッスン

Hi there everyone! ?Hope you had a good weekend! ?To be honest, I really didn’t do all that much. ?Now that work is a little less hectic (just a little), I have a little more time to devote to studying. ?It’s always hard to find a good way to study Japanese. ?I used to take lessons in order to pass level N2 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, but I found that the just made me hate studying. ?And that is strange, because usually I love studying Japanese! ?In the end, while it is nice to keep pushing yourself towards learning new grammar and vocabulary, it can’t be your only form of studying.

That is why I jumped at the chance to read one of my favorite novels in Japanese. ?It’s called Call of the Wild in English and 野性の叫び声 in Japanese. ?It’s by a writer named Jack London. ?It’s the story of a dog who gets kidnapped from his home in California and sent to Alaska to pull sleds during the Gold Rush. ?I’ve always liked it for its clear writing and its short length. ?I was walking through Book-Off and randomly stumbled across the book. ?I flipped through the pages, and while it is pretty hard, I know the story well enough to guess the meaning of the Japanese. ?I am definitely hoping that it improves my reading and my kanji!

Hope you guys do well in your own studies!

Until next time,

Anand

Hi everyone, Anand as usual with you Awesome English update! ?Hope you guys are keeping cozy in this strange weather…I hope a proper spring shows up soon.

It’s been a long time since I have been to a theater. ?When I lived in Katsuura, the closest theater was 40 minutes away by train. ?And even if one was nearby, I don’t think I would have gone. ?See, theaters in Japan are really expensive to foreigners. ?What is more, they really rip ?you off on the popcorn. ?I’m done before the movie even starts!

But if a girl is cute enough, I will pretty much go anywhere.

My friend and I decided to hit the theater last week. ?Our goal was to see a movie called Looper, starring Bruce Willis and Jason Gordon-Levitt (he was in Batman Begins). ?It’s a movie about people called “Loopers”. ?See, in the future they discover time travel, but it’s only used by the mob. ?What the mob does is they send people back in time to be killed by Loopers, who dispose of the body. But what can happen is that sometimes Loopers have to kill their future selves. ?That is what is supposed to happen to the main character, but his future ?self escapes. ?I know, it’s confusing in any language, but the movie explains it better than I do.

Anyway, the movie has a very exciting, complex plot and the characters are much deeper and complicated than your usual action heroes/villains.

It should be running for a while, so if you get the chance, please check it out!

Anand

Hi there everyone! Hope everyone enjoyed their long weekends! I know I certainly did…but wait a minute! My weekend isn’t over yet! I have to work next Saturday, but that means that I am free, free, FREE today! I have tried to make the most of my time with studying, exercising and reading, but of course I have also been spending time with my friends….and spending money with them too. I finally upgraded my apartment with a new sofa bed. I flipped over my futon the other day and it was covered in mold. My new sofa bed arrived from IKEA on Saturday. I decided to turn on Skype so that my brothers could laugh at me as I tried to put it together. They did. I then met my friend in Yurakucho where we watched Looper and got some great Korean food. On Sunday my friends and I met up and went to Chinatown to enjoy the New Year celebrations. For the most part we spent the day getting pushed around in a large crowd and waiting in line for restaurants. However, we did get to have some great dim sum. Yesterday I just took it easy, did some shopping and cleaned my apartment. It actually looks pretty good now. When I get some curtains, I may actually upload some pictures. As for today, well I am writing this blog and soon I will head to the gym for some much needed exercise. Ah, and I signed up for the Yokohama Road Race. 20 kilometers! Wish me luck.

Until next time,

Anand

Hello everyone! Anand here as always! It’s getting warmer, right? Hopefully spring will come soon and bring both longer and warmer days. I’ll be happy once I can sit on the roof of my building and read a book with a beer in hand. But that is something for another day.

If you pay any attention to these blogs, you will know that I love running. When I lived in Katsuura there was basically nothing for me to do after work so I just started running around the city. I actually became pretty good, having run my first full marathon last year. But after I moved to Yokohama I took a break so I could get accustomed to the big city life.

But since I have been in Yokohama for six months now (wow!) I am settled enough to get back into it! I decided that my first run would be something I have never tried…a trail run! I have done all of races on roads, so I thought a dirt trails would be something interesting to try. I chose the 1st Ise-Ebi run in the town of Onjuku, Chiba as my first choice. I was a little nervous about my first run in several months, but luckily I had a friend run with me.

And so I ran last Sunday.

And…it was great! Instead of just running on the road, I got to run on the beach, through the dirt, and up some crazy hills. I even got to climb some rocks. Part way through the run I realized that I wouldn’t be able to reach my personal best time, so I just focused on enjoying myself. And what ended up happening? My time was not so bad! In fact, I don’t think I have ever enjoyed myself more while running.

I guess somewhere along the line I started taking running too seriously. I forgot how fun it can be. I’ll definitely be running again.

Until next time,

Anand