英会話プライベートレッスン

Hello everyone! ?Anand here as always. ?I am not sure when this blog transitioned from one about English to one about running, ?but I hope you are enjoying it anyway. ?On that note, this blog is about running as always. ?My coworkers and I will be running an full marathon in Honolulu, but since it has been 2 years since I ran a full marathon, I was a little leery about the whole thing. ?So I decided that I would put in a practice marathon. ?According to my friends, that is the idea of a crazy person. ?In retrospect, they are probably right.

Anyway, my marathon of choice was the Fuji-san marathon which follows Kawaguchi-ko, a beautiful river with a great view of Fuji. ?I took the first train from Yokohama to Kawaguchi-ko station to be greeted by a beautiful view of the ocean (along with some very cold air). ?It was much colder than I had anticipated and my only hope was that running would keep me warm in my shorts and t-shirt.

I seem to have very little luck when it comes to arriving on time for these runs, as I basically only had time to check in, drop off my luggage and then start running.

With another marathon in 2 weeks I decided to take this one pretty easy. ?It was also a beautiful day with many great views of Mt. Fuji, so I took along my camera and snapped a shot whenever I got the chance. ?As a result my time wasn’t the best, but I had a good time anyway. ?And perhaps as an added bonus, although it is only a day after the race, I basically feel fine. ?I mean, I don’t think I would run another marathon today, but I think I will be fine in 2 weeks.

That said, I was kinda dying about 37 kilometers in.

Anyway, I feel much better knowing that a full marathon is doable as long as I just keep focused. ?I just hope I can beat my other co-workers!

Anyway, talk with you next week!

Hi there, Anand here as usual. ?If anyone is actually reading this you will know that basically all I end up writing about is the latest run I have participated in. ?And of course, this post is no different. ?I participated in yet another race this weekend as well. ?And, of course I ended up going back to Chiba to run in it. ?However, this run was in my old town of Katsuura where I used to teach English. ? It was…an unusual day to say the least. ?Due to a misunderstanding with the people at the station, they accused me of trying to cheat the fair system. ?However, I had actually been trying to explain myself honestly. ?The situation got so out of hand that I had to go to the police office and explain myself there. ?Thankfully after three years of living in Katsuura, I was on good terms with everyone there and they ended up giving me a ride to the race and giving the station people a talking to for wasting their time. ?So basically I was so pinched for time that I was basically putting my number on as the race began. ?But as soon as I was in my zone it was like the old days again. ?The Naruka Road Race in Katsuura is a half marathon that goes along the coast and is a race that I have participated in since I first started living there. ?Although I ran with no warm up and stopped running the race about 500 meters before the goal (I didn’t realize I had to run a lap of track at the end), I did pretty well.

Oh, and after the race I had to go back to the police station so my friend could pick me up. ?Yes, life in the countryside is strange.

Hello everyone! ?This is Anand as always. ?You might have noticed a blog post from about one or two weeks ago talking about Remembrance Day. ?On November 11th people from the UK remember lives that were lost because of war. ?Canada tends to follow a lot of the traditions of England, so we practice Remembrance Day too. ?There are ceremonies performed all over Canada honoring war veterans and those who died fighting for their country. ?Specifically we have a few traditions relating to Remembrance Day. ?One is that we wear a poppy on our clothes. ?Poppies were a common flower found at Flanders, a former trench war site and the setting for a famous poem called “In Flanders Fields”, which is often read on Remembrance Day. ?It was written by a Canadian doctor and soldier named John McCrae. ?Here is how it goes:

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

The poem is often read out during Remembrance Day ceremonies all over the world, but it is particularly famous in Canada. ?The poem’s use of the poppy is why we wear them on Remembrance Day and their red color is a reminder of the blood spilled as a result of war. ?It is a day for reflection, and is often solemn in its tone. ?The day can be summed up by three words – the slogan of Remembrance Day.

Lest We Forget.

Here is a poppy (It’s Simon’s but here is a closer look).

Hi there everyone! ?It is definitely getting colder in Yokohama, though I thought rainy season was supposed to be over by now! ?I’m not a fan! ?However, while I don’t like the rain, there are times when I like gloomy and overcast weather, and that is when I have to go running. ?And this month I will be doing lots of running. See, I will be running in the Honolulu Marathon with some of my coworkers this weekend and I have to get in shape quickly. ?Unfortunately that means I will have to do a lot of running, working out and dieting. ?In other words, I will likely be irrational and angry by the time November comes around, but hopefully in better shape.

So, step one: running. ?A couple months ago I decided to sign up for a load of races. ?The problem is I ended up signing myself up for 3 half marathons this month and one full marathon. ?The first one I did was just 2 days ago. ?I took a very (very) early morning train and headed to Choshi, on the Northern side of Chiba. ?It is mostly popular for its sunrise, which (I believe) is the first sunrise of the year, being the farthest east point of Japan.

But it also has a half marathon that has apparently been going on for a long time. ?So I took the early train and laced up my shoes for another run. ?As I said, the weather was overcast and gloomy, but I like it that way. ?It means that I won’t get too hot. ?It was actually a fun run. ?Lots of the community showed up to cheer us on, and despite little time for warming up, I kept a constant pace.

Now the only challenge is building up the stamina to do said run two times in a row!

Wish me luck!

HELLO!!
オーサムイングリッシュスタッフの河合です。
本日オーサムイングリッシュの講師のサイモンが胸元に赤いバッチのようなものを付けていました！
気になったのでこれは何？と聞いてみた所、サイモンの故郷イギリスでは11月になると、

11/11の英霊記念日まで、第一次世界大戦の戦没者を尊び戦没者に感謝の意を表すためにこのバッチを付けるそうです。

このバッチは退役軍人の方が作っており購入すると
募金になり、引き換えにこのポピーのお花のバッチがもらえるそうです。
募金は犠牲になった兵士やその遺族、退役後の軍人さんにされるとのことです。
この習わしは”Remembrance Day”というそうですよ。