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Duration: 10:15

Hey … WHAT’S UP???

Welcome to our fourth episode of English Teacher John’s ‘What’s Up? Podcast.’ This is John speaking and I am happy and excited and energized to be speaking to you once again from our home in Matsumoto, Japan.

Hey, what’s up??? Well, here’s what’s up on my end …

YES .. YES … YES! JAPAN HAS FINALLY WON A MEDAL IN THE TORINO WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES. A gold medal. Ganbarimashita Shizuka Arakawa, who won the gold medal in women’s figure skating last night. Good job!! I know that all of Japan is celebrating this moment!

You know what I think? I think we should celebrate and congratulate ALL OF THE ATHLETES. I’m sure most of them have trained, practiced and practiced and practiced and trained and practiced and practiced and sweated for many years to improve and perfect their athletic talents. I think it really takes an incredible amount of focus, perseverance, discipline and determination.

You know what I think? I think ANYONE who has a passion, and then focuses themselves, himself or herself, on this passion, and keeps the fire burning, keeps focused, and accomplishes a goal .. we should congratulate ANYONE who does this, not just our sports stars. I think that people from all countries, and from all walks of life are working hard and following their dreams.

Well, from sports to … ADVENTURE …
You know, I just can’t stop thinking about ADVENTURE – going on adventures myself, reading about adventures. And guess what? We’re going to create something called “AdventurePod English.” Maybe we’ll call it APE for short, and it will be a new podcast or maybe a part of one of my existing podcasts. On the AdventurePod English (APE) I’ll talk about adventures. I’ll talk about real-life stories from my friends and acquaintances, I’ll do research on the internet, and draw from my own personal experiences and books that I’ve read. And, hopefully, I’ll get some real-life stories FROM YOU, OUR LISTENERS. Yeah, it’ll be fun.

Okay, we’re going to launch the AdventurePod English with … ah … can you believe it? We’re going to kick it off with a VIDEO!!! Yes, a VIDEO! My friend Charlie is going on a cycling adventure and he’s going to tell us about it.

[[clip from Charlie interview]]
Charlie: I’m going to travel around Japan, by bicycle for a year. Starting from right here, Matsumoto, and stay at various hosts along the way, mainly organic farms and organic types of industries, businesses, and volunteer to stay there for a couple of weeks. Get some food, get some place to sleep, move on, cycle for a couple of days, get to the next place, do the same thing again, and slowly work my way up north for the summer and south for the winter, and come back.

So … stay tuned, check our website, and in the next few days we’ll have some video and probably some mp3 audio too. Stay tuned!

I think some of you know that I spent many years living in north India, and traveling around in that area. I went to Tibet four times (I met my wife-to-be on one of those journeys in Tibet), and I also traveled in Nepal, around India of course, and a few trips to Thailand, and a trip to the Philippines. For that period of my life, I was primarily an English and computer teacher, teaching and starting programs in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India. It was really a special time of my life, from 1996 to 2003. Well, here’s what I wanted to tell you about it: MY WIFE AND I ARE GOING BACK TO NORTH INDIA FOR A VISIT. You see, it’s adventure that’s always knocking at my door, and well, here we go again!!

Yes, we’re going to be away for the month of March, in India and Thailand. We’re planning to visit our friends and students in Dharamsala, India, then do some yoga in Rishikesh (that’s in north India and it’s a famous place for yoga) and then we’re going to go to Thailand and stay at a health spa.

My wife has talked me into doing a 7-day cleansing fast. Cleansing fast? “What’s that?” you ask. It means that we’re going to cleanse or clean out our bodies – clean out the toxins, clean out the poisons, clean out the things that are not good, the unhealthy things in us. How are we going to do it? Well, it’s a 7-day cleansing fast, and it means no solid foods. So, we won’t be eating solid food for about 7 days. Instead, we’ll drink some juice and vitamin mixes. I think we’ll do yoga and some other activities. It’s close to the beach so we’ll probably swim in the ocean. And well, I don’t really know! I think it’s going to be difficult but I think I’m going to learn some things in the process. Hey, I’m hoping that it will be both an adventure AND an educational experience … AND a healthy experience too.

I will have my mp3 player-recorder with me during my travels, so my plan is to record some audio and put it on our website as soon as possible, probably after we return. And also, of course I will have some photos.

Well, that’s about it for our ‘What’s Up? Podcast’ number four. Please remember, transcripts are available on the MY ENGLISH BLOG on our website. You’ll also find our Expressions and Idioms list, which I think is helpful. Also, our first AdventurePod English, featuring a video of the Charlie interview and Charlie’s adventure (that will be ready in a couple of days), and more at englishteacherjohn.com

We appreciate and welcome your comments, positive, negative or whatever’s on your mind. Send your email to p o d c a s t AT e n g l i s h t e a c h e r j o h n . c o m.

Thanks for listening. I am outta here! Bye bye.

Today’s music is from podsafeaudio.com and it’s called the “Red Hot Boogie” by Mofessor.