English Learners Club(ELC)

By "go-to songs," I mean those reliable favorites you find yourself choosing again and again, depending on your mood or the situation.

For me, my choices highly depend on who I'm with. Generally, I pick songs that everyone knows. That said, there are fewer chances to go to karaoke with colleagues since the pandemic, and my mother and other family members are getting older. As a result, lately, I mostly just enjoy karaoke at holiday resorts.

I have a specific approach to choosing songs: I carefully observe the other guests—their backgrounds and age groups—as well as the atmosphere before making my selection.  Kind of like a private detective!

Two years ago, I sang Queen’s "Don't Stop Me Now," and the crowd got really fired up. Also, last year when I sang "Santa Lucia," performing the first verse in Italian and the second in Japanese. It was a huge hit not only with guests from Italy but with travelers from other countries as well!

Karaoke is originally from Japan and is somewhat ingrained in Japanese culture. When I travel abroad, I think people sometimes underestimate me because of my small stature. 

However, after I get on the mic at karaoke, I have them eating out of the palm of my hand.  I often bond with people from other countries following karaoke. They look at me with newfound respect, thinking, "Wow, that Japanese lady really knows how to get the party going!”

 One of the things I really enjoy about traveling abroad is connecting with locals, so I studied a little Italian before the trip. 

 I learned phrases like, “Vorrei un cappuccino e un cornetto, per favore.” It means “A cappuccino and a croissant, please.” When I actually used it at a café and the staff understood me, I was so happy. I also practiced simple words like “Scusi,” “Buongiorno,” “Grazie,” and “Mi dispiace.” 

 But the most useful word I learned was this: “Aiuto!” It means “Help!” 

 We took a high-speed train from Rome to a port city called Salerno. I went to use the restroom in the station, and there was an old man collecting money from people to use it. In Japan, that would be unusual, but in Italy, even station toilets aren’t free. I gave him one euro, and he let me in. 

 The women’s restroom was occupied, so he pointed to a handicap restroom, like “You can use that one.” I went in, closed the heavy sliding door, and locked it… The lock felt a bit shaky, but I thought nothing of it. 

 After, I was washing my hands, even humming a little, feeling relaxed. Then I tried to unlock the door… and—wait… what? It wouldn’t open! The lock just kept spinning, no matter how many times I turned it. 

 I started to panic. “Oh no, I’m stuck in here?!” 

 So I shouted, “Aiuto! Aiuto! AIUTO!!!” while banging on the door. 

 Then the old man from outside came and started shaking the door, and somehow forced it open. He was saying something in Italian, but I couldn’t understand. He looked happy when the door finally opened. 

 I was just so relieved. I said, “Grazie!” and even gave him a big hug. 

 That experience made me think—when I travel abroad, I should definitely remember the words for “Help!” and “Thank you” wherever I go! 

So, our bathroom faucet had been dripping for a few days, no matter how tightly I turned it off. 
My husband called a repair service, but since he had to go into the office, I was left to hold down the fort and handle the appointment.
 
The moment the repairman walked in, he completely ignored the leak and went straight into “full-on salesman” mode. 
He was like, “Hey, if you buy this brand-new, fancy shower set right now, I can give you a massive discount!”
 
I instantly got bad vibes from him and thought, “Okay, this guy is sketchy as hell.” I couldn't believe my husband had hired someone like this!
 
The energy in the room became incredibly awkward. 
To protect myself—and our wallet—I had to play hardball…
I called my husband right in front of the guy, demanding a formal quote, which I knew the guy couldn't produce. Then, as he was practically running out the door, I blocked his way and demanded his business card.
 
The best part? 

A week later, my husband called a different company, and they fixed it perfectly. He was so happy and thrilled with their service. 

But honestly?

Seeing him look so satisfied after leaving me with that nightmare made me absolutely furious!

We started sightseeing by taking the subway to the Vatican. The problem was, we didn’t have any coins or small bills, so we put a 50-euro bill which is about 9,000yen into the ticket machine. We didn’t really understand how to use it, and the moment my husband pressed the cancel button… the bill slot started flashing red, and the touchscreen completely froze. Of course, the money wasn’t returned either.

I was like, “Oh no, it’s broken!”

So I went to the staff member standing next to the ticket gate and explained the situation in English. But he just snapped at me, saying something like, “I’m not in charge of the ticket machine! You deal with it yourself!” — mixing English and Italian and kind of shouting.

I didn’t know what to do…

Then, suddenly, two really cool guys in uniform walked by. They had “ITAPOL” written on their backs. I asked them for help, and they were so kind. They listened carefully and even called the ticket machine company for us.

But the company said they would come in three hours… which was impossible because we had a reservation at the Vatican. So, sadly, we had to give up on getting our money back.

The two cool guys felt sorry for us and even helped us buy two tickets for 1 and a half euros each using a credit card at another machine.

To say thank you, we gave them some Japanese rice crackers we had brought from Japan. We said, “Molto molto grazie!!” and everyone was smiling when we parted ways😊

Even though it was a rough start, Rome was absolutely beautiful. The whole city was just like the place I had dreamed of. We took so many photos!

At the Trevi Fountain, a tiny old lady handed me her phone and asked me to take her picture. I had heard that there are a lot of pickpockets around there, so I was a bit cautious… but honestly, I thought, “Well, I can probably handle this grandma if anything happens,” so I took the picture.

She gave me the sweetest smile, and when I showed her the photo so she could check it, she got super excited, saying “Grazie, grazie, grazie!” with big hand gestures. Then she joked, “I’m cheap, right?” and tossed a 10-cent coin into the fountain.

We laughed, and we also threw a 1-euro coin in for good luck, hoping we could come back to Rome someday.

For our trip to Italy, we booked everything with our smartphones—just tapping away. Cheap flights, hotels, tickets to St. Peter’s Basilica, even the high-speed train from Rome to Salerno. Honestly, I felt like all you need for international travel these days is your passport, a credit card, and your phone… And I think that’s what led to me getting a little overconfident.

I was thinking, “No problem, we’ll just connect to the internet with an eSIM as soon as we arrive. And if English doesn’t work, I can just use Google Translate to communicate in Italian. It’s all figured out! Piece of cake! I’m unstoppable!”

On the other hand, my husband is still very analog… He was like, “I don’t trust that stuff. We should have everything on paper, just in case.” He insisted we print everything out, so I did—just to make him feel better.

We arrived in Rome around 8 p.m. Okay, time to connect the eSIM and use Google Maps to get to our hotel… but no matter how many times I tried, it just wouldn’t work. I started to panic. I had heard the area around Termini Station wasn’t very safe, so the idea of getting lost there at night was really scary.

And then—my husband calmly pulled out a paper guidebook from his backpack and said, “I memorized the map just in case.” And I’m not even kidding—he started walking confidently like he’d been there before, barely even looking at the map.

And somehow… we made it safely to the hotel.

We were starving by then, so we went to a restaurant near the hotel that he had already researched. That was our first meal in Rome—pizza Margherita. The inside of the restaurant kind of looked like Saizeriya, but wow, everything tasted amazing!

Seeing my husband lead the way like that made him seem more confident and reliable than usual… and it kind of brought back the feelings from our honeymoon.

We flew from Australia to New Zealand, then took a bus from Auckland airport to Sky city which was near our Airbnb.

Google said it was a 10-minute walk on flat ground from the bus stop to the AirBnB.

We felt like that was manageable, so we started walking with our heavy suitcases.

Google lied!🤥

The city of Auckland is made up of steep hills except around the harbor.

As elderly travelers, were  huffing and puffing right away.  Some very kind locals offered to give us a lift, but I smiled and said we were fine.  To be honest, I was completely exhausted though.

Auckland is a very beautiful city where urban life and nature mix seamlessly.

In particular the yacht harbor is a sight to behold.  Over 2000 yachts are moored there.

I was surprised to hear that a building that looks  like a giant Japanese multi story parking garage is entirely for yachts!

We stayed in Auckland for 6 days, spending our time relaxing.  We went to some small islands using public buses and ferries.  We strolled around leisurely, stopping for tea whenever we felt like it.

Public transportation was cheap and very convenient as you could just tap your credit card to pay.

By the way, we celebrated the New Year in Auckland.

We heard that fireworks would be displayed at the Sky Tower and we wanted to see them…. But we got tired of the crowds and decided to just go to bed.  We fell asleep with the festival commotion outside as our lullaby.

My husband and I got married 30 years ago, back when Japan’s economy was still strong. For our honeymoon, we chose a Caribbean resort in Jamaica. To be honest, we were torn between seeing the historic sites of Rome in Italy and just kicking back on the beach at an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica.

My husband had already been to Paris and London when he was a student, and since Jamaica was much farther from Japan, he said, “Let’s go to Jamaica! Don’t worry baby, I’ll take you to Italy soon anyway.” So, we picked Jamaica, and off course, it was an unforgettable honeymoon.

Over the next 30 years, we raised two children and cared for my husband’s parents until the end of their lives. Our days were busy, and time just flew by. I would sometimes mention the Italy trip that he promised me, but there were always reason why we couldn’t go… he couldn’t take time off, or it was too expensive for our situation at the time. So when we did travel it was always to somewhere nearby. We never went further than Southeast Asia.

This year, when we were talking about our next trip, he asked me, “How about Vietnam?” …but I had waited long enough!

“When the hell are you actually going to take me to Italy!? With things like COVID and wars happening unexpectedly, if we keep saying ‘next time,’ we might miss our chance!” I said to him. That finally convinced him.

Now, after 30 years of waiting, we’re finally leaving Asia and heading to Europe. Our long-awaited Roman holiday, three decades in the making, has finally begun!

It’s surprising that six years have already passed since I started studying English again. I vividly remember my buried passion for English reemerging when I saw a YouTube video of a bilingual Japanese lady traveling around the world using English fluently and effortlessly.

Before I knew it, I was drawn in, and studying English quickly became part of my daily life.

In the first three years, I was obsessed with exploring all the new ways of studying that didn’t exist when I was a student, like taking online lessons, watching YouTube videos created by native speakers, and listening to podcasts.

There were days when I felt like I was really improving, but there were also days when I completely lost confidence. It was like an emotional roller coaster back then.

However, about four years into this journey, something changed. It felt like English was no longer something outside of me that I was trying to grasp. It started to feel like the language had been embedded in me.

I suddenly started to actually enjoy reading English books, and began learning more naturally rather than constantly seeking new learning methods. Now I don’t feel overwhelmed when I encounter new words or confusing phrases. I tend to get a thrill that there’s something new I can learn, and there is no shortage of these thrills!

Looking back, I feel like everything I’ve done was necessary, even though I felt I was not making any progress at that time.

Most importantly, the greatest treasure has been the unexpected gifts along the way, discovering what I love and meeting amazing people.

They mean even more to me than the language itself!

Thanks for tuning in to the English Learners Club. You know, learning English isn't just about grammar and pronunciation—it's about the wonderful people we meet along the way! Today, I want to tell you a story about respect, family, and a very special person. All right then, let's dive in.

Among the listeners of the 'GoGo Abe Kaiwa' podcast, there are many fascinating women. Today, I’d like to talk about one of them, who is a Japanese English teacher.

I first heard about her from one of the podcast hosts. He expressed great respect for her on the show. It all started with a message she sent him on his birthday: 'Happy birthday! Your birthday is also a day that reminds you to thank your mother for giving birth to you.' What a sweet message! I was deeply moved by her words.

Later, I heard her being interviewed on another program and I found myself hanging on her every word. After that, I started listening to a podcast she does with her friends, where they speak both English and Japanese. Her voice is charming, and I found her personality so intriguing—she sounds serious and responsible when speaking Japanese, but when she speaks English, she has a beautiful accent, and she comes across as incredibly sociable and cheerful.

I truly understood where she got her lovely character when I met her mother. Her mother was modest, refined, and dignified—the epitome of a quintessential Japanese mother.

Her posts on social media often show how much she cherishes her family. There are many other sides to her besides being a teacher. For instance, when she dances, she demonstrates grace and a vibrance that is captivating.

She’s quite a bit younger than me, but my respect for her grows every time we meet. We both have had ups and downs in life. My message to her is this… “Hey! Let’s make some lemonade from Hiroshima lemons, laugh, and chug it down in beer mugs!🍋🍺”

Thank you for listening! Keep learning, keep practicing, and always remember to have fun. See you in the next episode. Bye for now!

Last Christmas, my husband and I were in Sydney.

We left the cold Japanese winter for Sydney in midsummer.

It was late at night when we left the airport and the temperature was 28 degrees. We were excited about sightseeing the next day.

First we headed to Sydney University where Harry Potter likely studied.

Our hotel was close to Central Station, so we decided to take the train.

Central Station itself is old and beautiful.

It is huge and there are 25 platforms.  We had no idea which platform our train was, but a kind lady came and asked us if we were ok.

We finally got on the train.

Bu~~~~~~t it didn’t stop at the station we wanted to get off at!  It finally stopped several stations later and then we caught a train back again.

By the way, from that day until we left, the sun was shining brightly, but there was always a cool breeze that kept the temperature low.  The hotel staff said the weather was strange.

Some people wore tank tops, but others wore down jackets.

We felt very hot the night before, so we went out with light clothes.

My husband felt sick and stayed at the hotel on the third day.

As soon as I came back from walking alone with thick clothes,there was a loud siren and an announcement to evacuate.

Fortunately there wasn’t actually a fire.

This is how the journey started.

I’ll tell you more in the next monologue!