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Hi I’m Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.
Today’s guest is Katsue. She’s from 苫小牧 / tomakomai in Hokkaido and she’s been living here in Niseko for several years. In the summer, she works as a rafting guide and in the winter she works as a bartender at an Australian bar and she skis in her free time.
She’s also spent six months on a working holiday in New Zealand where worked for two different rafting companies. And she’s just got back from a trip to Germany.
The first thing I asked her was why she decided to live in Niseko.
THE SNOW REPORT
on Hanazono #1
with Vesa
Where are you from?
I’m from Finland.
How long are you in Niseko?
Ah, the whole trip is nine days. Tomorrow I leave. So I’ve been here one week. Great place. A lot of snow.
Is this your first time in Niseko?
First time in Japan. Yeah.
Which mountain do you usually go to in Finland?
Um, usually in Lapland. Lapland we have ski resorts and snow. Nowadays I live near Helsinki, there’s no snow. So I go to Lapland.
Are you a skier or a snowboarder?
Snowboarder. I ski, I ski with skis also but I prefer snowboard. Especially here. Many snow, use snowboard.
How would you describe the snow in Niseko?
It’s a lot of it. I love it.
conversations with sarah
#384 How did you learn English?
Step 1: Repeat Sarah’s lines.
Step 2: Read Sarah’s lines and talk to Katsue.
Sarah How’s the snow in Niseko?
Katsue 最初はニセコは全然知らなくて、で、日高のラフティングの会社に入ろうと思ったんですけど、そこはちょっとトレーニングするには難しいと言うのでニセコを紹介されて、それで初めて来ました。
At first I’d never heard of Niseko. And I was thinking of working for a rafting company in Hidaka. But I heard that that’s not such a good place to train. Then someone told me about Niseko so I decided to come here.
Sarah How did you learn English?
Katsue うん、全然やっぱり違うと思う。私、一回、群馬にいたんですけど、群馬のスキー場は、やっぱり雪がそんなに良くなくて、まあ天気はいつも良かったりして、でもやっぱりスキー場はけっこうアイシーだったりするし、全然パウダーは無いし、こっちの方が全然イイって実感しました。
Yeah, I think it’s completely different. I went to Gunma once and the snow wasn’t that great. Well, the weather was good, but the snow was quite icy and there was no powder. It made me realize how good it is here.
Sarah Where did you work in New Zealand?
Katsue 元々、中学校の時に結構がんばって勉強してたのと、まあ高校でも勉強してたし、あまりしてないけど（笑）、その後ラフトの会社に入って、まあ最初働いていたのは結構ネパール人が多くて、ネパール人も英語かネパール語しか喋れなかったから、徐々に英語を覚えていった感じ。
When I was at junior high school I studied pretty hard, and when I was at high school too, well not really that hard ... Then after that I started working at a rafting company and at the place where I worked there were a lot of Nepalese people. And the Nepalese people could only speak English or Nepalese so gradually my English improved.
Sarah Where did you work in New Zealand?
Katsue 最初の１ヶ月は北島のマンガウィカ、すごい小さな町、タイハペのちょっと下の会社にいて、そこだとニュージーランドのライセンスが取れないから、次は南に移って、でモーチェソンという町にあるアルティメッドUltimate Descents NZ という会社に3～4ヶ月居たかな、3ヶ月かな。
For the first month, I worked for a company in Mangaweka, a small town just south of Taihape in the North Island. But at that company I couldn’t get a New Zealand rafting qualification. So I moved to the South Island and worked in a town called Murchison at a company called Ultimate Descents for about 3 or four months. Yeah, three months, I think.
Sarah Did your English improve a lot when you were in New Zealand?
Katsue NZに居る間は、そんなに上達しなかったと思う。多分、ヒヤリングの方は上達したと思うけど、しゃべる方はやっぱりあまり上達しなかったと思う。
When I was in New Zealand, I don’t think it improved that much. I think my listening skills might have improved, but I don’t think my speaking skills improved much.
Sarah Why?
Katsue いた場所がラフティングの会社で、あまり女の人が居ない環境だったから、周りはほとんど男の人でしょ、そうすると、あまり男の人とラフティング以外でしゃべる事、まあ、話す内容とかが、見つけられなくて、まあ英語で作ることが出来なかったから、だたいつも聞いているだけとかだったから、常に聞いているのが多かったから、しゃべるって事があまりなかった。で、男の人ばかりだったから、私がゆっくり話すことを待ってられないのね。（笑） 聞くのを。あー、もう分かった、分かった、分かった、みたいな。だから最後までしゃべる前にストップをかけられたりとかするから。 うん。でも、まあ面白かったけどね。 いい人達ばかりだったから。
I was working at a rafting company and there weren’t many females there, there were mostly guys. So, apart from talking about rafting ... I didn’t really find much to talk about. Well, I couldn’t do it in English. So I ended up just listening most of the time. I was often just listening and I didn’t talk much. And they were mostly guys so they couldn’t wait and listen properly because I was speaking slowly. They were like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah”. They’d interrupt before I had finished what I was saying. Mmm. But I had a good time because they were all nice people.
Sarah Now you’re working in a bar, is that good for improving your English?
Katsue うーん、そうだね。 時々は。でもあまりお客さんと長いことしゃべる訳じゃないから。で、しゃべるとしても常に似たような会話になっちゃうから、そんなに上達するかって言われたらそうでもないかな。お客さん同士がしゃべってるのを聞いて理解しようとしてるけど。
Mmm, yeah, sometimes. But it’s not like I speak to the customers for a long time. And the conversations with customers usually end up being about the same things. So I don’t think my English improves that much really. But I listen to conversations that customers are having and try to understand what they’re saying.
Sarah Are you planning to stay in Niseko forever?
Katsue ニセコにはずっと居ないかな。多分、来年は歯医者で働いているかな。歯科衛生士の資格があるから、多分、その仕事に戻るかな。で、何年か働いたら、機会があれば、専門学校で講師をしたいのね。先生になりたいの。うん、それはずっと歯科衛生士の学校に入ったときからそう思っていたから。
No, I don’t think I’ll be here forever. Next year I’ll probably be working at a dentist. I’m a qualified dental hygienist so I think I’ll go back to that job. Then I’ll work for a few years and if I have the chance, I’d like to teach at a dentistry school. I want to become a teacher. I’ve been thinking of doing that since I started studying to be a hygienist.
Sarah How was Germany?
Katsue ドイツは素晴らしかった。あまり、それまでヨーロッパに興味はなかったけど、でもやっぱり建物とかね、古い建物とか見ると、歴史を感じるし、きれいな町並みが多いしね。
Germany was great. Before I went there I wasn’t that interested in Europe. But the buildings, when you look at the old buildings and stuff you can really appreciate the history. There are a lot of beautiful cities too.
Sarah Which country do you want to visit next?
Katsue 本当に一番行きたい国は、アイスランド、もしくはノルウェー。
The country I really want to go to is Iceland. Or Norway.
Sarah Why do you want to go there?
Katsue ラフティングに行ってみたいから。ノルウェーのラフティングに行ってみたい。まあノルウェーも自然が多い国だし、アイスランドも自然ばっかりでしょ。
I want to go rafting there. I want to go rafting in Norway. There’s a lot of beautiful scenery in Norway. Iceland’s a beautiful place too.
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