英語学習にも役立つ、札幌の外国人英語教師の英語日記 札幌 英会話 [ステップアップ]

Unusual Soba

2017年1月24日 (火)

Recently I have been going to an unusual soba restaurant near my workplace.  It’s called がっつけ, and I like it very much.

My favorite Japanese food is soba, and I often eat cold soba noodles for lunch.  I used to go to a Horokanai soba shop around the corner from here, but the old man who was the chef retired. When I tried the noodles made by the new, young chef, they were not so delicious, so I stopped going there.  My favorite kind of soba is cold soba with hot duck soup and green onions. I sometimes go to Maruki or other famous soba shops, but when I don’t have much time for lunch, I always go to がっつけ.

Their soba is unique for two reasons. First, there is a salad on top of the cold noodles.  A whole salad! There is mizuna, paprika, nori, onions – even sliced kabosu.  This is fresh and delicious, and it goes well with the hot dipping soup, which is the second unique thing about this restaurant. The soup comes with ラー油 in it and is just a little bit spicy.  The vegetables and soba are really great dipped in this hot soup.  There are also three kinds of meat to choose from for the soup: chicken, pork, or lamb.  There are some other options, but I usually get one of these.  There is no duck, but this restaurant is reasonable and delicious, so I visit often.

If you want to try a unique and delicious soba/salad, I recommend this little shop.  It’s in the basement of the Shikishima building, on the corner of Ekimae street.

New year, new hobby

2017年1月24日 (火)

Happy New Year! I can`t believe it is 2017, where does the time go? Every December I like to start a new thing which I can continue into the next year. Last year I decided on the Shamisen. I am not a musical person at all but I really want to learn more about Japanese culture so I decided to start learning. At the moment I am learning some traditional Japanese folk songs… the singing without playing is hard enough!!! I honestly think traditional English songs are much easier.

England also has traditional instruments and songs however I have never been interested in learning them, I wonder why? Bagpipes from Scotland come to mind but I have always thought that it would be impossible for me to learn them. Perhaps I am being overly optimistic about Shamisen but even if I am terrible I am having a whale of a time learning. Hopefully this time next year I`ll be able to play lots of songs and even play wearing some kind of kimono, well I can dream……..

Woody Allen

2017年1月21日 (土)

I am a bit movie fan and so I have decided to write reviews about the movies that I watch. I tend to watch two or three a week and also end up watching a fair amount of Disney.

This weeks pick is a movie directed by Woody Allen. It is called Crimes and Misdemeanors and is a comedy drama that was released in 1989. It appears on Empire magazine`s poll of the 500 greatest movies of all time.

It is a story of infidelity and murder, mixed with lighter elements of comedy, and follows a cheating husbands attempts to escape from his infidelity and keep his wife and family in the dark.

I felt it was very well acted and it kept me interested throughout. The main story was gripping but I felt the Woody Allen  / Alan Alda comedy dialogues were a bit stilted and forced. However it is definitely one of his better films and well worth a few hours of your time.

Rating – 7/10

Winter in Hokkaido

2017年1月17日 (火)

This has been a really “wintry” year in Hokkaido.  We had a lot of snow in December and January has been a cold month!  Some parts of Hokkaido actually reached -30 degrees.  But my hometown in Canada has also been very cold.  Since the middle of December, the temperature in my hometown has been mostly -20 or colder.  When I think about the cold weather in Canada, I’m happy to be living in Sapporo.  I hope everyone is enjoying the winter season!  Only a couple of months left to go until Spring comes!

Bring on the New Year

2017年1月14日 (土)

Hi folks, hope everybody is healthy and happy in this very cold start to the new year. It’s this bone-cracking cold that has me feeling alive and well these days. I’ve been enjoying early morning breakfasts full of powder snow, followed by hot showers, cold bike rides to work and then hot meals at night. Hokkaido living is the best!

Some people complained that last year was terrible. In some respects, it certainly was. In other respects it was brilliant. As with every year, there are lows and highs. I think this becomes clearer with every passing year, and we see how important it is to focus on the positive things in life. Perhaps I’m looking at things with rose colored lenses (or goggles), but I think it’s the key to leading a fulfilling life. I expect 2017 will be packed full of disappointment just as much as it is with joy. And that’s OK.

I hope we’re all able to make the best out of things as they come, and remember to help each other as much as we can. That’s what it’s all about.

I look forward to seeing you in the classroom this year.

All the best in 2017,

Jon