Real English 52-rally

How many times did you rally this year?

I rallied quite a bit.  Or I should better say, I had to rally quite a bit.

That means, that I was tired or down or behind the eight ball (=in a difficult situation), but I didn't give up and found some energy deep down to try again the next day.

Sometimes the next day is better than the day before, sometimes it isn't.  It is impossible to know which, good or bad, unless you get to the next day and live it.  One thing is for sure, your luck, both good luck and bad luck,  can change in a flash, in a blink of an eye, in an instant!! 

Examples of "rally":

1.  In the beginning of this month, there were many election rallies.

2.  I didn't expect it, but the Tokyo Stock Market really rallied these last few weeks         of December.  Great!!! 

3.  Sometimes when I watch my favorite baseball team the Philadelphia Phillies, and they are losing late in the game, I wear a rally cap and hope they come back and win the game!

4.  He didn't feel too good in the afternoon, but he rallied and went out at night with his friends.

I hope everyone rallies together and 

helps each other out in 2013.

Happy New Year and Thank you!

Below is my favorite photo of 2012!

Real English 51-good to go

This is the 51st Real English post of the year.  Do you remember my New Year resolution?  Well, so far I have kept it!!  And after next week, the last Real English of the year, #52, I will be able to say "I kept my new year resolution for 2012.  How about you? Did you follow through and keep you new year resolution too, or did you break it?"

Many people are busy recently with End-of-The-Year Parties.  Some have them with friends, family members, clients...And many often sadly say  "I feel like crap.  I have a hangover" the morning after the festivities.

Last week, I had one of these parties with my friend after we both finished work.  My friend promised to call me when he was done, and then we planned to meet up in Kita-Shinchi.  Here is the dialogue of our phone conversation before we met .

Friend: Hey g, I just finished work.  I busted my tail and finished a little earlier than I expected.  

Glenn:  Nice going!

Friend: Are you ready?

Glenn:  Yep, I am good to go.  Meet ya at the usual spot!

Friend: Cool.  See you soon!!

Some advice:  

If you don't want to get a hangover and feel crappy the next day, 

DRINK IN MODERATION!!!

Real English 50-go through the roof

Mr. S had some flight trouble.  His was still furious, steam was actually coming off of him,  when he told me about the incident in class 4 days after the fact on Tuesday.  In fact, he said, "I was so angry I wanted to punch someone!"  The below is our dialogue from class the other day:

Mr. S:  Listen to this Glenn.  You'll never believe it!

Glenn:  What happened?

Mr. S:  I had to go to Hokkaido on a business trip last Thursday, and I wanted to get the most out of the day, so I lined up many appointments with various clients and booked the earliest flight out of KIX on a LCC.  

Glenn:  Which one?

Mr. S:  I am so angry that I can't even say the name....ahhhhhh!!  The Fruity one!  

Glenn:  OK, got it.

Mr. S:  The flight was scheduled to depart at 7am.  So I woke up early, and arrived at the airport around 40 minutes before departure, at 6:20am.  When I went to the check-in counter, the lady at the counter told me that the flight was canceled due to weather conditions.  I was like "What?!  When was this decided?" Then she told me that they informed all everyone of the cancellation by email last night around 7pm.  But I left my office at 5pm so I didn't see the email.  So I asked, "Why didn't you call me?" And she said "I don' t know...Headquarters is in charge of all matters related to cancellations. I am very sorry for the inconvenience..."  Then, she said the next flight was at noon, and if I want I can get a seat on that flight.  I said, "Noon!?  What are you kidding me?! I have an appointment in Sapporo at 11am!!"  And after that, needless to say, I went through the roof and went off on her!!

Glenn:  Take it easy Mr. S!!  Calm down and take a few deep breaths...So what did you do next?

Mr. S:  I went to a different terminal, and got a 9am flight with another airlines, a real one, ANA.  

Glenn:  That was lucky!

Mr. S: Yeah, but, In the end, I couldn't make my appointment at 11am, so I had to cancel it.  Other that that, everything was OK though.

Glenn:  I am  glad to hear that. I have also had the unfortunate experience of flight trouble...It sucks, I know!

Mr. S:  Thanks for the sympathy. But let me tell you something. I will never fly any  LCC ever again!!!

Have you ever flied a LCC?  

If yes, which one? How was it? 

 What are the basic differences between regular airlines and an LCC?

If no, do you want to try it one day?

Now, let's all breathe slowly while looking at the beautiful photos below...

Take three deep breaths...One...two...three. That's it!

Real English 49-Play it by ear

Last Saturday night, I got a call from my brother-in-law out of the blue.  I haven't spoken to him since the summer of 2010 when I visited Kyushu so I was surprised when I answered the phone.

The following was our dialogue:

Glenn:  Hello.

B-I-L: Hey Glenn, It's HIG.  Long time no talk.  How have you been?

Glenn:  Alright, thanks. What's up?

B-I-L: Actually, I have a meeting in Nara on Monday, and I was wondering if I could stay at your place on Sunday night...maybe we could go out in Osaka in the afternoon or something...

Glenn:  Sounds great! I'd love to show you around Osaka.  Have you ever been to Osaka before?

B-I-L:  Yeah, about 10 years ago...

Glenn:  Well, a lot has changed since then.  How are you coming?  By train? Plane?  What time are you gonna arrive in Osaka?

B-I-L:  I am taking the Bullet Train.  I haven't made a reservation for the train yet,  but maybe I will arrive around noon.  Where should I meet you?

Glenn:  After you get off at Shin-Osaka Station, change trains and get on the Midosuji Subway Line.  Meet me in front of Exit Number 4 of Honmachi Station.  From there, we will play it by ear!

B-I-L:  OK, then I will leave everything up to you!  Really looking forward to it!  Ciao.

On Sunday, I gave him a special "Glenn Tour of Osaka" and we had a great time!!

And to change the subject,  for those of you interested in business/political English, the term "fiscal cliff" is a MUST KNOW!  "Fiscal Cliff" is in the newspaper and on TV, both American and Japanese, every day.  If you haven't seen or heard the term in English or in Japanese then I would be surprised.

According to the Atlantic Journal Constitution, "The fiscal cliff refers to a series of enacted legislation which, if unchanged, will result in tax increases, spending cuts, and a corresponding reduction in the budget deficit at the end of 2012."

If you separate the two words, you have "fiscal" and "cliff."

Do you understand the meaning of the words separately below?

1.  The fiscal year for ABC Company is from April to March.

2.  I was scared when I looked down from the cliff.

Some nice photos! Thanks e!

Al Sodo

My wedding anniversary is  November 25th.  To celebrate, we decided to go to a new place which I came across the other day when I went for a walk.  I told the boss about it and after she checked it out on the net, which she always does, she approved it and gave the go ahead!  It was our first time out together in a while, and we both had a great time and liked the place a lot.

So after dinner I said to my wife, "I haven't written a restaurant review on the blog in a long time so I think I will write an in-depth review about this restaurant..."  But she swiftly vetoed that idea and said, "You know what, I have to be honest with you.  You always write a review without any photos of the food or any pics of the restaurant's interior or anything...Let me give you a piece of advice!  Restaurant reviews without photos SUCK!"

So, I quickly changed my mind... and decided to write a very short review.  Simply put, I liked the restaurant, the food is delicious, the portions are big, the atmosphere is nice, and it is not perfect, but not many things are, so I recommend it!!  On a scale of 5 stars with 5 stars being the max, I give Al Sodo 4 stars!  

For more, check out the site: http://www.alsodo.com/

Below are some photos which are completely not related to the above text.  Ms. F is in the middle of changing jobs, so while in limbo, she decided to take a 10-day trip to San Francisco.  Actually, she used to live there for 10 or so years.  She went to a nice Thanksgiving dinner at her friend's house, ate some of the big turkey, walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, and ate something she was dying for...a burrito!!