Show 576 Monday 10 December

Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.
Today’s guest is Yo-kun.
He has been a professional snowboarder since 1999.
And he’s originally from Saitama and he moved to Niseko 3 years ago.
And he’s now the co-owner of Loaf Lounge, which is a bar here in Kutchan. Actually it’s not just a bar, they have a skateboard bowl and a clothes shop as well.

The first thing I asked him was:
What exactly does a professional snowboarder do?

ボードの開発、
Snowboard design,

あとはスノーボードを使って
and, while snowboarding

ビデオの撮影とか
doing video shoots

（写真）雑誌の撮影、
and magazine shoots

テレビの撮影、
and TV shoots.

あと大会に出て賞金を稼ぐ、
And going in competitions to win money.

あとメーカーの宣伝をする、
And promote the sponsor.

等々がプロスノーボーダーの仕事、かな。
Yeah, that’s pretty much what pro boarders do.

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, this is Stick News. On Friday, there was a major oil spill in South Korea. Government officials have called it South Korea’s worst ever oil spill.

On Friday the 7th of December a tugboat was pulling a crane barge near South Korea when the cable linking the boats snapped in rough seas.
The barge then crashed into a ship which was carrying 260,000 tonnes of oil.
Three of the five containers of oil were punctured and more than 10,000 tonnes of oil leaked into the sea.
By yesterday, it was reported that the oil slick was already 33 km long and at least 30 beaches had been affected.
The South Korean government has declared a state of disaster in the region. The cost of the cleanup has been estimated at 300 billion South Korean won.

And that was Stick News for Monday the 10th of December.
Kia Ora.

conversations with sarah
#350 Why did you move to Niseko?

Step 1: Repeat Sarah’s lines.
Step 2: Read Sarah’s lines and talk to Yo-kun.

Sarah Is it difficult to find a sponsor?

Yo タイミング次第、人と人との出会いの、つながりの場所なんで。
It’s really about timing, and connections ...

Sarah Do you still go in competitions?

Yo うん、もうね、大会には出てないんだけど、
I don’t go in competitions anymore but

今は雑誌とか、雑誌の撮影、
now I do magazine shoots

ビデオの撮影とか
video shoots

テレビの撮影とか、
TV shoots.

そういうのメインでやってます。
I mainly do that kind of thing.

Sarah Why did you move to Niseko?

Yo 最高だから。　
Because it’s awesome.

(The snow?)
(雪が）

Yeah, the snow, the mountain, the people.
雪が山も人も、うん。

Sarah Do you think Niseko is the best place in Japan for snowboarding?

Yo 一番、かは分からないけど、
I don’t know if it’s the best

自分が日本を旅した中では、
But out of the places that I’ve been in Japan

一番イイところ
It’s the best

Sarah Why did you decide to open Loaf?

Yo 地域に根付いて、こう何だろう、
I wanted to settle down

みんなと一緒に、地域に密着して何か形を残したかった、てゆうのがあって、
and start something here with my friends.

あとはこう、スノーボードやってて、プロでやってて、
And because I’m a professional snowboarder,

これから始める人とか、
For people who are just starting out

若い奴らとかに、
And young people

色んな（正しい）良いスノーボードの仕方とかを教える場を作りたかった。　
I wanted to create a place to foster a good snowboarding lifestyle.

そういうところっすね。
Something like that.

Sarah How long did it take to find this place?

Yo １年くらい探したかな。
We looked for about a year.

春前くらいから、冬から話してて、
We started looking before spring, in winter

あーでもないこーでもないって言ってて、
We looked at a lot of different places.

秋に見つかった、みたいな感じ。
Then we finally found something in Autumn.

Sarah Did you find it through a real estate agent?

Yo もう直接見てて、
No, we just saw it,

あっ、使ってないなココ、
and we saw that it was empty,

大家さん誰だ、みたいな。
And we were like, “Who’s the owner?”

Sarah What did this place used to be?

Yo ココはね、ショクレンさんって、
This used to be a place called Shokuren,

お米屋さんの倉庫。
a rice warehouse.

Sarah How long did it take to prepare before you opened?

Yo ２ヶ月くらい、
About two months,

１ヶ月半くらいか。
one and a half months ...

Sarah There aren't many places like this in Japan, are there?

Yo うーん、そうだね、東京とかじゃね、多分広すぎ、
Yeah, in places like Tokyo,

これだけのスペースは借りられないと思うしね。
you probably can’t rent a space as big as this.

田舎だから出来る、このシステム！みたいな。
You can do it here because it’s a small town.

Sarah How would you describe Loaf Lounge?

Yo そうですね、Loaf Loungeは酒も飲めて、
Well, at Loaf Lounge you can drink

スケボーも出来て、
skate

ビリヤードも出来て、
play pool

お洋服も買えて、
buy clothes

インターネットも出来て、
use the internet ...

夢のようなお店？
It’s a dream shop

何でもある、夢のようなお店ですね。
It’s a dream shop which has everything.

bonus question

Script:

Yo: メキシカン・ピンポン・ナイト。
Mexican Ping Pong Night.

Sarah: 今回は何回目？
This time what number is it?

Yo: 第２回目ですね
It’s the second ...

Sarah:五百 ...
The five hundredth ... ?

Yo:うー、じゃあ、第421回！
Oh yeah, it’s the 421st!

KNF: 言い直した、今！
You changed your answer!

Explanation:

Last year Loaf Lounge had an event called Mexican Ping Pong night (I talked about it on Show 229). It was the first time they’d had this event, but on the flyer they said it was the “420th Mexican Ping Pong Night” – which was pretty funny because they’d just had their first anniversary.

links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: Anawin
album: A glimpse inside the bubble
track: Little jazzy
from: Arles, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

the snow report start
artist: Olga Scotland
album: Scotland Yard
track: Absolute
from: Moscow, Russia
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

the snow report bgm
artist: OPRACHINA
album: The jazz farm
track: Torti
from: Roma, Italy
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
YouTube channel

cws start
artist: San Sebastian
track: Happy Sad
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: Groovetracks
tracks: groovetracks ending
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Silence
album: Encre
track: Plume
from: Bruxelles, Belgium
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.