English Learners Club(ELC)

Monday, July 15th 2024 After a night in a hotel near the international airport, and then a seaplane and boat the next day, I finally made back to this small, cozy, and amazing island.  This trip might be the last time though, it's too far! The restaurant served mainly Mexican food tonight, and I was looking for something spicy with beans, but I was too tired and ended up eating something else....

Last month, I rode the Hokuriku Shinkansen for the first time. I was visiting my mom in Fukui, and for the first time, I could take the Hokuriku Shinkansen directly there. The Hokuriku Shinkansen has been operating since 2015, but initially, it only connected Tokyo and Kanazawa, leaving my hometown, Fukui, out of reach. However, this March, the line was extended to include Fukui, making my journey...

You know the typical style of Asian cuisine. There is rice, side dishes and soup. Needless to say, rice should always be in the center position. Side dishes and soups provide extra nutrition and a variety of flavors. However, I watched an interesting video on YouTube about diet and health. They said the most important thing is the order in which the dishes are eaten. Their recommendation was to ea...

I’ve seen a lot of castles in my time, but Himeji castle takes the cake! It was built in 1609, and even after more than 400 years, it’s beauty is incomparable. I had been looking forward to visiting Himeji castle, so I booked a guide. Having a guide made the experience totally different. He taught me how the castle was built, how it was defended from enemies, how day to day life was for the inhabi...

I went to Primal Fear's show in Osaka. They are a German metal band. As I came in I saw a notice posted on the wall at the entrance to the venue. It said: "Today's show won't be perfect. If you agree to that, please proceed to the venue floor." A spokesperson for the band appeared on the stage when we, the audience, were waiting for the band. She announced, "They can not provide you the show you e...

Today, I’m going to talk about a new part of my morning routine where I go outside right after waking up. Initially, I aimed to get back into running after suffering from sciatica last year due to a sedentary lifestyle. However, I found it quite challenging. The most difficult part was getting my butt out of bed and going outside in the cold weather with just my running gear on. My husband suggest...

Spring break was from the end of March until the beginning of this week, which means I had to make my kids lunch boxes everyday when they were out of school. When you make a lunch box there are various things that you have to consider. There is a lot of pressure on mothers to make a lunch box that their child can be proud of when eating with their friends. If your child’s lunch box looks boring, t...

When I get up in the morning, sometimes I remember two or three dreams I had. All of them are completely different, and pretty detailed. Do you have similar experiences? Recently, this happened again. Let me tell you about it… I dreamed that my best friend in Tokyo got in a car accident. I told her about it in the morning because I was worried about her. But I also told her, “It’s just a bad dream...

I like playing a pretending game. In Japanese, I think it’s called “ごっこ遊び”. I’m getting more and more forgetful. Therefore, recently I created a new game to benefit from my forgetfulness. The game is very easy, doesn’t cost any money, and you can play it anywhere you want. In the morning, I tell myself “Oh! I have something fun and interesting to do at work today!” That helps me start my work...

JR Higashi Nihon, a railroad company, held an interesting campaign recently. They sold one day “free pass” tickets to ride any JR train in east Japan, including bullet trains! It costs only ten thousand yen and can only be used on weekdays. This is amazing! I am the kind of person who never misses something like this. I got the ticket for myself and I went to Morioka city last Wednesday for the fi...

On the 7th of February, my friend and I had a plan to meet, so we were texting about what to do the day before. The only thing on our agenda at that time was a morning visit to a popular temple in Tokyo. The afternoon was free, and I was content with the idea of simply catching up. However, at around 8 or 9 PM, she called me with an incredible proposal: "Do you want to go to Taylor Swift's concert...

I highly recommend listening to podcasts for English learners because you can get used to the rhythm of English. There are so many English programs, so you can find whatever you like."Free Bird English: Teacher Talk" is my current favorite. In that program, native English teachers who have lived in Japan for a long time talk about various things. Since they have experience teaching many Japanese E...

What do you think is the most important thing when traveling? For me it’s the weather. My husband and I went to Miyazaki prefecture last month. The place we wanted to go to most was Takachiho Gorge, which is close to the prefectural border between Kumamoto and Oita. Second was Toi Cape which is the southernmost tip of Miyazaki prefecture, so we couldn’t do it in one day. Takachiho Gorge was a trul...

This is a sequel to Episode #80,"On Cloud Nine" .I'd like to give a special thanks to Minakov for contributing to this episode. -------------------------------------------------------------- On Cloud Nine (Part 2) When I stood in front of them, my mind went blank and my heart was pounding. I decided to call them each by name and say the same eazy line to all the band members. First,...

It had been a while since my friend and I went to a concert, so we decided to see Billy Joel at Tokyo Dome. As I had imagined, the audience was older, and the ticket prices were quite high. I bought seats recommended by a friend who often goes to concerts, and they were great. The concert, which started with his hit song, “My Life,” was a dream-like experience for me. Since the audience was Japane...

When people ask me, 'Which do you prefer, summer or winter?' I always answer 'summer.' I have a higher tolerance to heat than the average person, and I prefer being warm. I've always been a summer girl, and there are many events I look forward to, like rock music festivals, get-togethers with friends, and traveling. Summer always brings opportunities to enjoy these kinds of thi...

Finally, my favorite band CARCASS came back to Japan! They performed at a Heavy Metal festival that featured 12 bands in March. I wanted to get as close to the stage as possible, So I went into the floor area long before they played. I inched forward during the opening acts taking advantage of the mosh pit chaos. Fortunately, I was able to get to the very front! I was on cloud nine ! CARCASS was p...

Since I quit going to the gym I've been feeling like I need to get some exercise. I used to commute to work on foot, but working from home has become more common, so I started taking walks around my neighborhood every morning instead. There is a canal nearby that is very beautiful, especially when the cherry blossom trees are blooming. In summer, walking along the canal and seeing the sunlight dan...

Today, I want to talk about Chat GPT. Recently, I upgraded to Chat GPT-4, which is a subscription-based service, and let me tell you, it's exceptional. I started using it by talking into an app called NOTTA, which transcribes my voice. I then copy this transcription and paste it into ChatGPT. I asked them to proofread it for me, and boom! Just like that, it produced a perfect translation. They rec...

I attended Arthur Binard's lecture organized by the Buddhist group in Hiroshima. He is an American poet and translator, and has been living in Japan for 35 years. His lecture was on Japanese language from an American perspective, and he delivered it in Japanese to 270 temple members. As an English learner, I also found his talk very interesting. First of all, he explained his name. "My fi...

The other day I was on a train, and there were three foreign girls sitting next to me chatting in English. I wasn’t eavesdropping, but as an English learner, I couldn’t help but pay attention to them. And then the moment came… the train stopped suddenly. Train stops are common in Japan, and it’s usually due to a very minor problem. No one was confused except for the three girls. Unfortunately, the...

Although I've always wanted to visit Hokkaido, I used to always end up choosing Okinawa over it, but this time, I finally made it to Hokkaido! The first stop was Asahiyama Zoo, a place I'd been curious about for a long time. This zoo is known for pioneering "behavioral exhibits" where the viewing distance to the animal is very close. It's a rather compact zoo with a historica...

There is one thing that I always thought about doing, but for some reason I dragged my feet and never went through with it. I want to switch my cell phone service provider and get a cheaper plan, because my stomach drops every time my monthly bill arrives. When the discount service providers started coming out, I was excited to get a better plan, but I still haven’t made the switch. If I do, I’ll...

My husband and I enjoyed our summer vacation in the Maldives last month. We chose Bathala, an island in the Ari Atoll of the Maldives, which my husband had wanted to visit for many years. With a drop-off nearby and a carpet of white sand covering the entire island, you can go anywhere barefoot all day long. I had a lot of experiences talking with people from different cultures. That was actually t...

Recently, my husband and I traveled to Kagoshima and Hakodate. Kyushu has seven prefectures, but I imagined Sapporo to be the center of Hokkaido and Fukuoka city to be the center of Kyushu. I thought Kagoshima and Hakodate were kind of similar, but they turned out to be completely different. Kagoshima city was bigger, while Hakodate was smaller than I expected. I now know that the population of Ka...