Life as it is... living in Japan

“I guess you’re wondering how I became so international,” she said. 「どうして私がこんなに国際的になったんだろうと思っているでしょ！」と彼女が言った。 Actually I was kind of wondering that. Here is a woman in her late 60s, raised in a time when English education was based almost entirely on the grammar translation method which ensured that her generation can say nothing but ‘This is a pen,’ speaking to me confidently in conversational English beyond that of many of the English teachers that I work with. 実はその通りだった。英語教育が文法翻訳法を中心にしていた時代に育った６０代後半の女性が自信満々で英語で私と会話をしていた。同じ年代の人のほとんどが This is a pen しか言えないのに、この人は一緒に働いている英語の先生よりぺらぺらだ。 Let me tell you the story that she told me as I remember it. 彼女の話をちょっとだけ書かせてもらおう。 “Well,” she began, “it started when I was in university. I was studying English at a university in Tokyo. Of course at that time, English education was not very good, so I couldn’t speak English at all. There were two exchange students at my school, who were travelling around the world. One was a man fro...

At the suggestion of my lovely friend Sinead, I have decided to write in detail about my experience in running my first half marathon. 大好きな友達シネードのおすすめで、初ハーフマラソンについて詳しく書こうと思う。 Let me just start with, unless you have time to train and follow a proper nutrition plan, I don’t think a half marathon is ideal. A 5km or 10km you can wing to a certain extent, but a half marathon will cause some serious burden on an unprepared body, especially the joints. My knees and ankles really hated me during the race and for several days after as well. I could barely climb the single flight of stairs to my second floor apartment. まず、体を鍛えるトレーニングと栄養プランがないと、ハーフマラソンはきついと思う。 5 キロや 10 キロのマラソンだったら、なんとかなるけど、ハーフマラソンの場合、準備しないと体の負担が大きい。特に関節。走っている時から数日後まで、膝と足首がすごく痛かった。２階にある自分のアパートまでの階段がきつかった。 So let’s talk about training. I have been running regularly (approx 2-3 times a week) for about 2 years now. My usual distance is 4-5km which I can run easily under 30 mins. I sometimes push myself to do a long...

I remember watching a documentary about Takarazuka Review in high school Japanese class, and thinking I must see this! Unlike more traditional forms of Japanese theatre such as kabuki and noh in which men perform male and female roles, Takarazuka is an all-female group. It is notoriously difficult to get into, you must be good at singing, dancing and acting to enter the school, where students study for two years before being allowed to perform on stage. I taught a student a few years ago who dreamed of getting into the school. She had been taking ballet and singing lessons since she was a child, and had the straightest posture I had ever seen for a 15 year old girl, but had failed the auditions twice already. Hearing her talk about her dream, and also seeing several former Takarazuka stars on variety TV made me even more curious to see the show. 日本語の授業で宝塚のドキュメンタリーを見て、 高校の時からずっと 本物を見たいと思っていた。歌舞伎や能楽のような伝統芸能と違って宝塚は女の人だけの歌劇団だ。入団するのが非常に難しいのが有名だが、歌やダンス、演技も優秀な人だけが入ることができる。ステージに上がる前に、２年間宝塚 ...

I am not sure if you noticed, but I lost a little weight. Naturally, this has become catalyst for a variety of interesting conversations about weight and weight-loss. A lot of people are shocked when I tell them I didn’t use a diet or detox program. I didn’t give up sugar, carbs, or gluten. I don’t have a gym membership. I eat Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream like it is going out of fashion. Just so you know, it actually does say limited edition on the packaging. Better get another one for dessert tonight just in case! My point is, I am clearly not following any diet plan, so what’s my weight loss secret? Well, there is no secret. I lost weight for two reasons. First, I started exercising more. Second, my digestive system decided to start disapproving of my lifestyle choices. 皆さん、もう気づいたと思うけど、ちょっと体重が減った。それをきっかけに、体重減少等について面白い話が次々出てきた。私がダイエットしていないことに驚いた人が多かった。糖分、炭水化物、グルテンを普通に食べていた。スポーツクラブにも入っていない。今でもハーゲンダッツのチョコ・ファッジ・ブラウニーというアイスクリームをよく食べる。期間限定と書いてあるから、という言い訳をしながら、今日も食べよ...