2017, the year of changes Past year-end party (so called bonenkai) was held at Chinzanso hotel in Tokyo, same as a year ago. I can't say for sure yet but I feel like, probably, it was my last year-end party in this company. It's time to go forward, to take another important step. This year is going to be really full of changes and challenges. As always, I'm looking forward to them. And from this year I start studying at university in Moscow, the Faculty of Economics and Management. I just want to pick up some new knowledge and skills. Anyway, I wish a super-duper-pooper extra happy New Year to all of you, ladies and gentlemen! Cheers!

英語犬とお爺さん 最近、面白い出来事があって、本当に一生忘れられない。公園のベンチに座ってるところ、近くにいた犬の散歩をしているお爺さんを気づいたんだけど、まあ、何も珍しいことじゃないね。珍しいのはそのあとで始まった。お爺さんは犬と英語で喋り出したよ！話はだいたい下記の通りだった。 This way. Good boy. No. Let's go home. で、ずっと同じフレーズを繰り返して、残念ながら犬は一言も言わなかった。 「それってどういうこと？」僕は自分の耳を疑った。最初、そのオジイさんはボケているんじゃないかなと思ったけど、多分、そうではなかった。もしかして英語しか通じない犬だったかもしれないね。日本人って優しいねー。英語しか分からない犬と英語で話してくれるってすごいよね。ロシアからの犬だったらば、犬のためにロシア語を勉強してくれる人もいるのかなー。いや、恐らくいないだろう (笑)。

I'm going home I've decided to take a vacation next month. I'm going to Belarus to see my mother, brother and meet with friends. My father died two years ago while I was staying here in Japan. That time I had no opportunity to even go to his funeral. But this is the life, sometimes such things happen. So, I'm going to the country of Belarus. Belarus is a country in the central part of Europe. Although probably we are used to think that it's an East Europe country, geographically it is located in a centre of Europe, if we are considering Europe as a continent but not just as a bunch of countries composing the EU. But right, now it doesn't matter which part of Europe it is, just I'm going to Belarus and that's it. A lot of people actually don't even know about Belarus at all and I don't find it strange. Despite the fact that Belarus is a former Soviet Union republic and it's kind of poor country, I would say that it is quite peaceful place, as well as clean and beautiful. After the Chernobyl disaster some places in the southern Belarus are still struggling with relatively high levels of radiation there. Well, unfortunately nowadays Japan has the same problem. Be that as it may, I'm really happy to go to Belarus, especially in the middle of the summer, the harder season for me to spent in Japan. Summer time in Japan is incredibly hot and humid. Whatever the case, just one month later I'll leave Japan for a while, I'll meet with my mother, brother and the closest friends, I'll say them "hey, it's been a while isn't it!". And when I'm thinking about all of this, imagining in my head, I feel so happy. I wish I could describe my feelings in English properly but I'm afraid I even can't do it well in my mother language. Just one month later I'll go. I'm looking forward to...

On my way home My Friday working day finally came to an end. As always I rode the train and went to my home which is about one hour from Tokyo by train. Well, I can't say "my home" because it's actually not my home but anyway... the place where I currently live, in short "my home", it doesn't matter whether I am owner of this property or not. There are so many people in the train, some of them look tired, some not, a lot of them are just staring to their smartphones. And I feel so alone at this moment. But at the same time I feel kind of happy because it's end of Friday, I've got two days off, a good opportunity to relax and to recharge my exhausted body.

常識の違い 日本人の常識は世界の常識とかなり異なっていると思う。でも、世界の常識って一体どういうものなのか、私には分からないことだけど。多分、世界の常識というか、日本の常識と欧米の常識とちょっと比較したいと思う。 例えば年齢のこと。あまり知らない相手の年齢を聞くのは欧米では不常識で、場合によって侮辱にあたるから注意しなくてはならないことだよね。欧米では親しい人でさえお互いの年齢を知らないケースが少なくない。我々にとっては年齢ってそんなに重要なもんではないから。 日本人は結構、年齢のことだけじゃなくて、初めて会った人なのになぜか刑事のように色んな詳しい情報を聞きがちだ。仕事についての質問はまだマシだけど、結婚されているかどうか、子供がいるかどうかとかはちょっと… 失礼の上に、正直言ってうざい。 日本ではそういうことを聞くのは全然大丈夫かもしれないけれど、海外だと多くの国はそういうコミュニケーションがダメだ。なので、せめて外国人と接触する際に日本人にちょっとでも気をつけてもらいたいな。 あとはね、まあ色々あるけど、別にどんな国でも不思議なことは沢山あるよね。 日本人はちゃんと空気を読めるのに対して外国人の中は「ケイワイ」という人が多いと聞いたんだけど、賛成できない。僕の考えでは、日本人は日本の特徴な空気を読めるが、世界の空気ってあまりにも違くて、ごく限られた人しか読めないと思う。勿論、日本の空気を読める外国人も少ないと思うので、やっぱりお互いをちゃんと理解できるようになる為には日本人も欧米人も努力しないといけないかという風に思っている。

「人間年齢」 電車に乗って、土曜日だったからかもしれないんで、久々に座れた。隣の男性は本を出して、「人間年齢」というタイトルだった。まさかまた年齢のことだ、とふと思った。 もう、ネイション病気みたいな感じ。馬鹿にする訳じゃないが、やっぱり日本人って年齢で物事を決めすぎだと言っても過言ではない。 まあ、いいけど、他人のこだわり。どんな国でも何か面白いことも、なかなか納得できないことも必ずある訳だからね。

外見のこだわりについて。 外見ばかりを重視している人が非常に多いらしい。あの人「ブス」とか「デブ」とか「ださい」などを平気に言えるヤツも少なくないようだ。勿論、「美人」とか「かっこいい」などともよく耳にするのだが、結局、ルックスの事だけだよね。 僕は日本に来て、「イケメン」とか「人形みたい」の様ないい言葉は何回も言われた事があるのだけど、そう言われてもあまり嬉しくはならない。 「外面ばかりを気にする人は、信念がないゆえに、尊厳もない」というフレーズをインタネットで見かけて、まさにそれは事実なんじゃないかと思っていた。

A Foreigner Forever I live in Japan for about three years and managed to became fluent in Japanese, could find a good job here, married to Japanese girl and everything seems to be fine. Except the fact that it's impossible to be totally accepted by the Japanese, to be fully integrated in their society. I was told about this from people who already had some experience in living in Japan, I had read about this on the internet before I came here. But I didn't believe to anybody, I thought I'm different. Naive 25 years old guy without even slightest idea about how the world works. That is who I was. That's who I am still, maybe. We need to find compromises when we are living in another country, especially in a country which is so different from our motherland. Anyway, I can be fluent in Japanese, I can accept their culture and even enjoy it. But I will never be fully accepted by them. Here I'm a gaijin, it can't be helped. And the thing I realised is that I don't really need they to accept me or something like that. My wife totally accepts me, it's pretty enough to be happy, wherever I live, whatever I do. For some foreigners Japan might seem like another planet but... actually just a small part of our big Earth, a part where live wonderful people with the rich culture and history.

Grammar Or Speaking? Some language learners have tendency to focus too much on the grammar rules. The thing is that you still have a chance to be understood even when you use incorrect grammar. But, for example, if your pronunciation is wrong then there's no point to be a grammar guru I think. I've got a lot of chances to use English at my work recently, but still am struggling to pronounce some certain words. Sometimes I can't even figure out how it should be pronounced. I mean the way to pronounce it to be understood. But anyway, I'm not trying to say that grammar is not important, no. I think it's important to reach some kind of balance between grammar knowledge and the ability to speak properly, to be understood by other people.