英会話プライベートレッスン

Hello everyone, Anand here as always with an update. Hope you guys enjoyed watching the Olympic games. As you all know, I am from Canada, and in Canada we take the Winter Olympics very seriously. And thankfully it shows in the standings – 3rd in gold medals won and 4th in medals won overall. Not bad for a country with a third of the population of Japan, right?

But what was especially satisfying was watching our hockey teams prove that they are the best in the world. See, ice hockey is more than just our national sport – it is tied in to the very identity of Canada. I can’t lie – I am terrible at both skating and hockey, and generally don’t make a point to watch the games, but I never feel more Canadian than when I see our team score a goal in the Olympics. I guess it reminds me that no matter how boring and insignificant the world thinks we may be, we can still beat the rest of the world in our precious game.

As a result, you can probably guess how I spent my weekend. I had a few of my friends over, grabbed a beer (or six) and watched the hockey games. I don’t know too many Canadians around here, but I know a couple of people from Minnesota which is close enough. ?It was funny, because when we watched USA versus Canada they were cheering against me, but when we watched USA versus Sweden (for the GOLD!) they were with me. I guess if you are going to be beaten by a team (we won 1-0 against the US), you want them to win the whole thing (which we did, winning 3-0 versus Sweden).

What is just as satisfying is watching people watching hockey. Canadians are known for their polite behaviour, but if you want to see Canadians go crazy, watch them watch hockey. It brings out something strange in us.

Now that we have won gold, I get the extra benefit of gloating to all of my American co-workers. We Canadians don’t get to do it often.

Better luck next time, rest of the world.

Anand