Winter sports
There are several winter sports like skiing, snowbording, skating. But of all the winter sports, I like snowbording the best. I’m going to talk about snowbording.
Last March, I went snowbording for the first time. I couldn’t slide well at that time, but I wanted to go snowbording. It was the beginning. Winter was already over, so I could go snowbording only two times last season.
This year, I’m more addicted to snowbording. Last December, I bought snowboarding gear. I bought a snowboard, boots, binding (which is the metal part on a snowbord that I step on so that my boot fastens to the board), gloves, goggles and so on. I spent much money on these things. This season, I already went snowboarding five times, and I am going to go five times more. Of course, as I go snowboarding, I think I have gradually become a good snowboarder. For all the progress I have made, however, I still leave many things to be desired, and I want to become better than now.
Next winter, I have a plan to go to Hokkaido to go snowboarding with someone. It will be one year before I go to Hokkaido, but I’m looking forward to the trip.
Do you like skiing or snowbording?
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The Winter Olympics in Torino
I like playing sports very much. I play table tennis five times a week and play soccer in the physical education class. Playing sports is good for our health and for a change of pace, I think.
And I also like watching sports. Athletes who try their best always encourage me; I am impressed by their performance on such a big and great stage. Doing the same would be very difficult for most of us.
This winter, the Olympic Games will be held in Torino, Italy, from February 10 to February 26. The current Olympic Games program includes 35 sports and nearly 400 events, for example Alpine skiing, bobsleigh, figure skating, ice hockey, ski jumping, speed skating and so on.
Among all those many winter sports, I’m most interested in Snowboarding.
There are two reasons. First , Snowboarding is a new winter sport. For the first time in the history of the Olympic Winter Games, it was introduced at the Nagano Games in 1998. Second, two Japanese snowboarders are going to participate. Their names are Dome Narita, 20 years old, and Mero Imai, 18 years old. Because I am about their age, I particularly want to cheer them on.
Of course, to win the medals is important for players, but to take enjoyment in their play is important too, I think. All the players will do their best and give us excitement. I just can’t wait for the Games to start.
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Professional baseball in Japan
I watched a baseball game, the Hanshin Tigers vs Chiba Lotte Marines, which was the final game in Japan this year. It’s like a World Series game in America. I expected their power to be almost even, but the Marines beat the Tigers, and I am very disappointed at this.
In Japan’s pennant race, professional baseball has two leagues. One is the Central League, the other is the Pacific League, and they have six teams. The pennant race is about 140 games. After it ends, the two teams that won in the pennant race rival each other for the championship. The Pacific League has a special system that three team result was superior to any other teams play games again. But the funny point is that only the Pacific league has the system. Because Pacific play the game longer than Central, that is to say, Central championship team gain momentum. If this system is taken, both leagues should adopt it.
Recently, Japanese players have been entering the Major League in the US. Matsui Hideki, Ichiro and Nomo and others. Therefore Japanese baseball gradually loses popularity. I hope Japanese baseball will become more popular in the world someday.
I love baseball, therefore I am.
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Golf Club
I belong to the Golf Club at Mie University. I have never enjoyed golf before.
Golf is not a popular sport in Japan because it takes a lot of money to start playing it; it takes money to gather a set of clubs, to play a ground. Maybe this is the reason that Japanese golfers cannot win world-class events. If someone has great golf talent, he cannot start a career as a professional golfer. It should be easier to play golf for everyone.
I love Tiger Woods so much because he has the most beautiful swing in the world. Actually he is going to come to Japan, entering a Japanese golf tournament in Miyazaki Prefecture in November. I really want to see him, but there are so many people, it is very difficult to find an empty hotel now. He is very famous in Japan.
Now I have a big goal. By the end of the year, I want to improve my handicap to 28. This is not easy for me, but I want to achieve it anyway.
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Yakiyama
I play soccer at Yakiyama ground in Komaki every Sunday. Komaki is a city near Inuyama, and Yakiyama ground is a public park. We initially got together as friends to have fun, but now we make a team and have uniforms. I got number 7. We will search for football meetings and participate in them.
Recently we play with Japanese adults, high school students and junior high school students. Many people who will play soccer come to Yakiyama. We get tournament.
Many Brazilians live in Komaki and work there. I think most of them are factory workers. I’ve heard that Komaki is the Japanese city where the largest number of Brazilians live.
We do not understand their language when we play with them. They only speak Portuguese. Once in a while they shout SUSHI!! So I feel somewhat out of place with them.
But they are good players. They have very good technique, and they are also very kind, so I enjoy playing with them.
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Table Tennis
I belong to a table tennis club and have been playing the game for seven years. This summer we had a lot of games. The biggest game is Zennkokukou, a national tournament many universities participate in. It was held in Park Arena Komaki in Aichi, which was big and clean. My club has four female members, which is fewer than any other club, so it was difficult to win the games.
However, we got through the first heat. Next, we fought and won against Shimane. The team that we fought next was Okayama, a very strong team. We lost the game although we tried our best. We were frustrated and thought that we would practice harder and win the next game. Finally we won the third prize. We were very happy, yet next year I want to reach the finals! We must practice hard and recruit more female members.
Many English majors played together in the gym during summer vacation. We played tennis, basketball and table tennis all day long. I was happy to spend a good time and see everyone playing table tennis. Especially, Yu-san became good at table tennis because some guy who came to the gym to play table tennis taught him. It’s great to see everyone getting together and playing sports again!
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