Feeling a little bit under the weather today. Can't write much.

I missed the eigoTown party on Saturday, but I heard that it was another success. I should make it to the party at the end of March. So might see some of you there, then.

I see that eigoTown.com's Classic Story Series podcast is # 37 in the top 100 list on iTunes. Not bad -- but let's see if we can make it # 1!

Today sees the release of our latest podcast "Beauty and the Beast". I play the part of the father, the prince and the beast. People keep saying that the beast role suits me best... :-(

Our eigoTown poll says that British accents are the sexiest -- but I'm not sure that people meant mine! Have a listen and tell me what you think!

play the part of〜 - 〜の役を演じる suit - 合う、似合う

A nice birthday surprise for Haruka on this morning's NHK drama -- and the surprise return of Masami! Great stuff! What really surprised me, though, is that I felt that I could understand about 50% of the program. Which isn't too bad, but I think it's mainly because of the acting.

"Kaze No Haruka" is mostly set in the countryside. In the boonies, in the sticks, or "inaka" as I understand it's sometimes referred to in Japanese. The countryside, of course, is the best place to learn Japanese. Many of the foreigners that I know who speak Japanese fluently were first sent to the countryside on the JET program. They were surrounded by people who didn't speak any English, and there were very few other foreigners around. (And a wild night out meant an extra cup of green tea before going to bed...)They had to learn Japanese to survive.

My experience was completely different. When I arrived I worked for an English School and everything was explained to me in English. Everyone around me spoke English and my students wanted me to teach them English. When I went out, it was with other foreigners, or Japanese people whose English was excellent or those who just wanted to improve their English. This was just fine for me!

Later on, when I started my own company here, I only employed people who could speak English and since then have almost never had to speak any Japanese. Most weeks, I only speak Japanese to taxi drivers. I'm quite good at "migi", "hidari" and "kono hen de ii desu", but the rest of my Japanese is terrible -- and I really regret that.

Well, that's going to change!

In addition to my 90-day purity drive (35 days to go!), I'm now going to get serious about learning Japanese! I might even frighten my staff and start speaking to them in Japanese sometimes. I'll tell you all about it next week.

Have a nice weekend!

countryside - 田舎、地方 in the boonies - 奥地で in the sticks - 片田舎で、辺地で refer to - 言及する a wild night out - 夜遊び in addition to 〜 - 〜に加えて frighten - 怖がらせる、ギョッとさせる、ドキッとさせる

A very strange episode of NHK's "Kaze No Haruka" this morning. I think I learnt some useful words at the end...

I'll write more about my Japanese learning activities (or sad lack of them) tomorrow.

strange - 変な episode - エピソード、一コマ learnt - 学んだ（learnの過去形） activity - 活動、行動、作業 lack of 〜-〜がないこと

Well, the answer to yesterday's quiz is: none of them are American. Nicole Kidman and Mel Gibson were born in the US, but grew up in Australia and started their film careers there.

Off to meet David Paul, author of Finding Out, the book that eigoTown's "Eigo No Shima" was based on. Then some shopping at the 109 department store in Shibuya... :-)

career - キャリア、職業 author - 著者

Some expected results in the BAFTA's (Britain's version of the Oscars). Brokeback Mountain won best film, which given the buzz that's been surrounding this "gay cowboy" movie, isn't surprising. I was happy that Wallace and Gromit won the Best British Film BAFTA. I'm a huge fan of Wallace and Gromit and will be cheering them on during the Oscars. ( I might even go to LA and cheer them on in person!)

Wallace and Gromit won't be the only British "actors" chasing an award at the Oscars. In fact, British actors and actresses are quite common in Hollywood. What is surprising is the number of people I meet in Japan that seem to think that ALL Hollywood actors are from America. Do you know which actors are American and which are not? Well, since I'm in such a good mood today, I've created this short quiz for you:

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Who's American?
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Sean Connery, Russell Crowe, Judi Dench, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Kate Winslet, Cary Grant, Mel Gibson, Alec Guinness, Anthony Hopkins, Richard Burton, Nicole Kidman, Elizabeth Taylor, Ian McKellen, Gary Oldman, Jeremy Irons, Hugh Grant, Ewan McGregor, Patrick Stewart, Michael Caine, Colin Firth, Ralph Fiennes, Bob Hoskins, Jude Law, John Hurt, Ben Kingsley, Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley

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Difficult? Answers tomorrow!

And if you're looking for an even tougher quiz -- don't forget eigoTown's eigoQuiz!

result - 結果 buzz - ざわめき声、うなり cheer - 応援する chase - 追いかける award - 賞 common - 一般的 in a good mood- 機嫌がよい

Peter Benchley died the other day. He was the author of the book "JAWS". I saw Spielberg's film version-- blimey!-- about 28 years ago. I can still remember the nightmares. (Sharks being dropped from helicopters into my local swimming pool, for example...) It didn't help that after watching the film, I read the book.

"JAWS" set up a life-long fascination with sharks that I think most men (and women?) of my generation share. Sadly, the main reason I watch the Discovery Channel is to get glimpses of Great White Sharks jumping out of the water or attacking seals... (And I'm still hoping that some strange circumstance will set up a duel between a Great White and a crocodile!)

Watching "JAWS" years later, I was amazed at what a great film it was. Spielberg was a young director then, and it was this film that set him on the road to stardom. He's done a lot since then! "Munich" is his latest and, whilst it is has caused controversy because of its subject matter, is being hailed as perhaps his best.

Time for a trip to the cinema!

blimey! - わぁ！　驚いた！ nightmare - 悪夢 fascination with 〜 - 〜に魅了されること glimpse - ちらっと見ること circumstance - 環境、状況 amazed - 驚かされた controversy - 論争 hailed as 〜- 〜として迎え入れられる

Busy day today. A presentation to make, plus a few agreements to write and about 100 bits and pieces that I need to review. Typical stuff.

Cigarettes were calling to me yesterday. I was doing a bit of recording for our next podcast in the Classic Story Series and the character required a very gruff, rough accent... probably the only time in my life when smoking could have helped!

BTW, what happened to the beautiful weather? See you tomorrow...

P.S. 111... and getting lower...

agreement - 契約、取り決め review - 見直す、再検討する bits and pieces - こまごまとしたこと、物 typical - 典型的な、よくある gruff - しわがれ声の、どら声の BTW - by the wayの略、ところで

Well, I didn't get any "giri choco"... *sob*... not a single piece. I think our office is too westernized on this particular issue... Still we are eigoTown.com, I suppose. Perhaps I should have sent some anonymous Valentine's Day cards as is the custom in England...I say it's the custom, but I only ever got one Valentine's card -- when I was about 17 -- and I'm pretty sure that it was from my mum...

Yesterday seemed quite peaceful compared to the days before, when we were working on eigoQuiz, Cinderella and the editorial test for our new dictionary. I even had time for a few games of table tennis with a couple of our staff here (whose names I won't say, to protect the easily embarrassed). I won every game, and I refuse to listen to those people who say they're letting me win because I'm the boss!

See you tomorrow. Feel free to write to me with any questions or comments.

Russell

P.S. OK... OK... On January 1st, 2006, after the Christmas and New Year's Eve festivities, I woke up and weighed myself. The scales didn't care that it was supposed to be a "Happy New Year" -- they told me the awful truth...123 kilos. Coughing, I vowed to go on a diet, give up sugar and refined carbohydrates, stop drinking and stop smoking for 90 days. It's day 46 now. So, how am I doing?

I'll let you know tomorrow!

sob - すすり泣き westernized - 西洋化した particular - 独特の、特別な anonymous - 匿名の custom - 習慣 embarrassed - 恥ずかしい、きまりの悪い refuse - 断る、拒絶する vowed - 誓った refined　carbohydrates- 精製炭水化物

Hello!

This is the first public blog I've ever written, so please excuse me if I'm a little nervous... I'm a stranger to blogging, but I hope to be able to interest you with what I write and keep you coming back, day after day. I intend for this blog to be informative, entertaining and amusing. I hope that you'll learn some English too. (And maybe I will learn more Japanese, as well.)

I'll be talking about my life as a British person in Japan, about eigoTown.com, and about things that are personal to me. One thing I'll be telling you about is my 90-day purity drive. As of today, I'm half-way through it. I'm hoping to lose weight and get healthier. Before I started this purity drive, my weight was a shocking... well, I'll tell you tomorrow!

Anyway, today is Valentine's day. I won't be eating any chocolate (if I get any, which is unlikely) -- unless there is such a thing as sugarless chocolate...

Have a happy Valentine's day! See you tomorrow!

public - 公開の stranger - （〜を）よく知らない人 intend - 〜するつもりである informative- 有益な amusing - 愉快な、楽しい personal - 個人的な purity drive - 心と体の浄化 shocking - ぞっとする、 sugarless - 砂糖の入っていない