038 New Years

In this episode, we talk about a few American traditions with New Years, as well as a few random stories about life as always. Happy new year!

Bookmark Chapters:

00:00 Intro
02:18 TV Interview Story
11:02 New Years Resolution
23:10 What we did on New Years Eve

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 2:18 TV Interview Story
• 11:02 New Years Resolution
• 23:10 What we did on New Years Eve

Transcript

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Kuli English Podcast. It's me, your host, Chris. So in the last episode, well, first of all, if you listened to the last episode, thank you, but in the last episode, we talked about Christmas and we talked about Christmas Eve, which by the way, Christmas Eve is December 24th and Christmas is December 25th. 

And we also talked about Santa Claus and a lot of like stories about, you know, where Santa Claus came from. And there's like those parts of the story that are true. And then the parts of the story that are just kind of fiction, it's kind of made up, it's a story for fun. 

And I should also mention that I haven't really recorded a podcast in a while. And you might be thinking, wait, but you just recorded a Christmas episode like last week. 

But the truth is, when I record these episodes, I usually record them ahead of time. So for example, if I have an episode coming up next week, then sometimes I record it like a little bit in advance. Sometimes I record it like the day before.

But I really did notice that if I don't really talk and like record like a podcast episode, then the next time that I record it, if it's been a long time, I usually do a pretty bad job. And so what ends up happening is I just spend a long time like trying to record it. And then if the recording is like, okay, then I kind of delete it and I have to redo it.

But anyways, I haven't recorded a podcast in a while. So if this episode isn't so good, I'm sorry, but I'll do my best. But anyways, in the last episode, we talked about Christmas stuff and Christmas Eve. 

And in this episode, we're going to be talking about New Year's and New Year's Eve. So it's like really similar to Christmas, right? Because Christmas is December 25th. And Christmas Eve is the day before that on December 24th. 

And then New Year's is January 1st. And New Year's Eve is also kind of like that's the day when most people kind of do big stuff in the US. And that is December 31st, the day before New Year's. 

So I'm going to be telling you about New Year's, I'm going to be telling you about some other stories that I have. But first, let's take a short little music break.

Okay, so I'm excited to tell you about New Year's stuff.

And I should also mention that I've already tried recording this episode like four or five times. And it's getting pretty frustrating to mess these things up. But you know, we'll just go slow and kind of enjoy the process. 

So anyways, let me go ahead and start out by telling you the story of about New Year's that I kind of experienced maybe like one or two years ago. But I you know, I currently live in Japan, but I grew up in the US. And then in Japan, like I used to work like this English teaching job at this cafe. 

And at the cafe, once there was like a TV guy, so like a television program. So somebody that basically makes like a TV program came to like the place where I worked. And he wanted to like record like these little interview videos. 

So of course, he asked the staff, which is like me, and then maybe, or maybe someone else that's like managing the staff. And then they say, Oh, is it okay for you like record a couple different interviews with people? And then you know, I got to double check with like the owner and stuff. And then it's like Oh, yeah, sure, that's fine. 

So the guy was taking a video. And he wanted to interview like different people. So people that are not from Japan, and that's me, right? I'm not from Japan. 

And so including me, and then maybe some other people, like the dude wanted to interview a bunch of people. And in the interview, he asks, How do you celebrate New Year's in your country? So how do you celebrate New Year's? So New Year's, again, is January 1, or maybe New Year's Eve, December, sorry, January 1 is New Year's, December 31 is New Year's Eve. And so he asked, How do you celebrate New Year's? Do you do anything weird? And then, you know, the kind of answer that he wants is like something that is like kind of crazy, like someone's like, Oh, yeah, like I, I like to peel potatoes, and then juggle them. 

And then I throw them on my family or something like these are the kinds of answers that he wants. And then that kind of answer, like you get a little clip, you get a short little video. And then it goes on Japanese TV.

And then everyone's like, Oh, wow, well, that person's crazy. They do like crazy things. Wow, it's funny. 

So then like the guy like kind of wants these kinds of answers. And then so I was one of the people being interviewed. And then so the TV guy comes and asks me and this was sometime in like December. 

So it's actually pretty close to New Year's. And then he's like, Okay, I'm going to start recording now. And I say, Okay. 

And he asks, How do you celebrate New Year's in your country? And how do people in your country celebrate New Year's? And then my answer was like a really plain answer. Because I guess I think this is like the best answer to like a lot of different things. But I just said, Oh, it depends on the on the person. 

You know, and that was it was like a really dry answer. dry answer, meaning like it's kind of boring. And the guy probably he wanted something really good, right? He wants the story where someone's like, I peel potatoes, and I throw potatoes at my family members. 

And then we all like jump on a trampoline or something crazy. That's what he wanted to hear. But instead, what he heard was like, Oh, it depends on the person. 

And then, you know, if you think about like funny TV shows on TV, like you never hear people give like such simple answers that are like, Hey, what do you do like on New Year's? Someone's like, Oh, I think it really depends on the person. And then I didn't even really explain like what I do. And so the guy was kind of like, he was giving me this face that was kind of like, yeah, that's not an answer that I want.

And then I was thinking, Oh, I'm so sorry, like, you probably want like a crazy answer, right? And I was like, Okay, I can give you a crazy answer. But you know, like, I, I thought about like lying like a crazy lie, like telling the Oh, yeah, I peel potatoes and throw them at my family or something. But then I was like, Okay, actually, that's not good. 

Because if this goes on TV, then this is actually like not good. And people might get like a bad image of the US or something like that. So then I just I decided not to lie. 

And then I was like, Oh, okay, I can tell you about something that's kind of like famous, like most Americans know about it. But probably people outside the US might not know about it. And that's what I'm going to tell you about now.

So let me go and tell you the answer that I told, which is, I talked about the Times Square ball drop. Okay, so let me explain what that is. Again, it's Times Square ball drop. 

So Times Square is like the name of a place in New York City. And it's a really famous area. So if anyone has ever been to like New York City, you probably know where like Times Square is. 

But in Times Square, there's this giant ball. And I don't really know what the ball is made of. And I've, I guess I've never seen the ball like in person. 

But it's a really famous thing because because it's it's always on TV around New Year's. So even people who don't live in New York, people who've who grew up in the US but never have been to New York, they probably know about the Times Square ball drop. And that's because that ball, when it drops, that is like the New Year's. 

So you know, the exact second that it turns into New Year's. So again, imagine it's like, you know, December 31. So it's New Year's Eve, it's December 31. 

And then it's like, almost midnight, like that day's almost over. So it's 11:59pm. And then in the last 10 seconds, what happens is like, there's this big countdown. 

And this is this is like the cultural thing that's like kind of like a festival kind of like a celebration. And there are like a lot of people on the street, like watching this ball slowly drop. And then that ball in the last 10 seconds that in the last 10 seconds of the year, like that ball like slowly drops. 

And then when it finally drops all the way, that is like the ball drops. And then everyone goes, whee and then there's like, you know, fireworks or like a lot of like music stuff. And, and then everyone's just like, yay, and celebrates.

And not only that, but there is another part of that culture, which is when it turns to New Year's. Now this one is it's, it might be hard to believe. But like when it turns to New Year's, there's kind of like this cultural thing where you just basically kiss anybody nearby.

And it doesn't have to be like, you know, like a romantic kiss or anything like that. It can just be like a whatever kiss. I mean, it's a kiss that's coming from like, you know, oh, I'm kissing because it's a festival, not because you want to kiss them. 

But I talked about that on the thing. So I was like, okay, so, you know, there's the there's the time score ball drop, which I explained. And then when the ball drops all the way, then there's kind of like this culture, like you can do it, but you don't have to do it. 

But you basically just kiss someone around you. And you see this a lot on TV. Like, I think a lot of cultural things, culture things. 

It's not even that I experienced it personally, it's that I see it on TV, and then other people see it on TV. And then because everyone has seen it on TV, then everyone kind of knows about it. And then that that's like, that's enough. 

That's, it doesn't even matter if that thing is kind of like, not that common, because since everyone knows about it, then it already counts as something. So like, that's the thing. And then a lot of people know about it. 

And I don't actually know. Actually, I think I really haven't talked to my friends about like, like my American friends about have they ever kissed someone on like New Year's for New Year's? Have you ever kissed a stranger? Okay, so it's not even that you have to kiss someone that you know, like, you know, your like spouse or like your significant other, your boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever, like, on TV, they always show people kissing strangers. So like, they count like, you know, 10, 9, 8, and they count all the way down like 321. 

And then and then like, you know, everyone's like celebrating and the people are kissing. And sometimes strangers kiss and sometimes couples kiss. And then I don't know, it's just, that's just the thing. 

So I talked about that. And, you know, that didn't actually make it on TV. I think the guy was just kind of like, I don't believe you. 

Because at first you said, you know, like, it depends on the person, you gave a boring answer. And then you saw that the TV man was making a face that was like, I want something interesting. And then you like said this interesting thing. 

So it sounds like you're lying. And then I don't know if he actually like believed me. But in any case, like I said that, and it didn't go on TV. 

And then that was it. And then my boss was kind of like, hey, like, did you give a good answer? And I was like, well, I gave a really accurate answer, which is what, you know, what do people do on New Year's Eve? Oh, it depends on the person. And then and then my boss was like, Oh, that's that's dumb, dude, you gotta, you gotta give a good answer so that we can get on TV. 

And then this place can get famous. And I was like, Oh, sorry. But anyway, so that was the short little story about the Times Square ball drop. 

And let's take a short little break here. And then we'll continue talking about New Year's stuff. 

All right, so now let's talk about this next part of New Year's stuff. 

So New Year's, usually when there's a new year, like it just feels kind of like, oh, it's like a it's like a new chance, you know, it's like if you play like a basketball game, and then you don't really do that well. And then like the game's over. And then after that, like there's a new game, then you have a feeling of like, oh, it's a new something, it's a new game. 

And for the new years, well, it's a new year. So you know, whatever you did that year, you can think about it as like, okay, so now this is going to become like the past. And so I think that's kind of like part of the feeling. 

I'm not saying that this is something that you have to feel. I'm just saying that that's how it feels to me. And but there is this part about New Year's called like a New Year's resolution. 

And so what is a resolution, a resolution is like a fancy way of saying like a goal. So New Year's goal is like another way to say it. But you always say it as New Year's resolution. 

And what that is, is when, when it becomes New Year, because you have this feeling of like, oh, it's like a new chance, then what you do is you make like a promise, you make like a goal. And then you say, okay, in this new year, you know, like I, I'm looking at the past year, this past year that already, already experienced. And, you know, I feel like I, you know, ate a lot of junk food, I ate a lot of fries, it's kind of true, I actually did eat a lot of fries. 

And then, and then if I think, oh, I ate a lot of fries, next year, I got to stop eating fries, and I got to work out more so I can be healthy, then maybe I can do something called make a New Year's resolution. And so again, New Year's resolution is just like a New Year's goal. So then what I do is I make a goal and I say, okay, I'm going to promise myself that I'm going to eat less fries, and I'm going to work out more.

And it's like a, it's a special goal. It's not just a normal goal. Because a normal goal is you make a goal at like a normal time of the year. 

But if you make the goal around New Year's and say, okay, this year, I'm going to, you know, XYZ, then that is a New Year's resolution. And so a really, really common New Year's resolution, and I actually have talked about this in my previous podcast, but the previous podcast is now too old. And so you can't really listen to it. 

But in the previous podcast, I talked about it. And the most common New Year's resolution is something to do with going to the gym. Because you know, people like at the end of the year, they think, what have I done this year? And then like, I guess people seem to be maybe overall a little bit more like strict on themselves. 

So they like, they like see the parts of themselves that they're like, Oh, I know I shouldn't have done that. But I did it. And you know, I feel bad, I got to do better. 

And I think the gym is like a really common feeling. So people say like, Oh, I should have gone to the gym and worked out. And you know, I got to be like super macho and sexy and like, you know, skinny and stuff. 

But you know, I didn't do it last year. So next year, I'm gonna do it. And so what happened is a lot of people make a New Year's resolution to go to the gym a lot. 

And what that means is in January and December, then a ton of people sign up for like gym subscriptions. So you know, to go to the gym, you have to, you know, pay money to some gym. And then it's like, I don't know some amount of money each month. 

And then, and then you can go to the gym whenever you want, you can like take classes, you can work out. And then so so January becomes like basically the gym month, because a lot of people start a gym subscription in January. And then the funny thing is like a lot of New Year's resolutions, a lot of them just actually end up like not, not happening, like not following through. 

So people make a goal. For example, for me, I said, Oh, I ate too many fries this year. So next year, when it's the new year, when it's 2026, in 2026, I'm not going to eat any fries. 

And then what happens is in the beginning, it's so like strong and motivated. So I'm like, yeah, I'm not gonna eat fries. And then if I see all my friends eating French fries, I see French fries on TV, I'm like, Nope, I have a lot of willpower. I can resist this. I'm not gonna eat fries. 

And then I don't eat fries for like two weeks. And in mid January, then I think like, Oh, no, I want fries. Like, I love eating fries. 

And by the way, that's true. I do love eating fries. So then I feel like, Oh, no, dude, I really want fries. 

And then what happens is in mid, like probably the middle of January, maybe in February, then like I end up breaking the promise that I made to myself, I end up not succeeding in this New Year's resolution. So and it's kind of a fun thing. Like I think it's fine to make goals and then not reach them. 

But you know, just don't be too mean on yourself. First of all, if you want to make the goal, you should make a goal that is actually, you know, a goal that you can reach. So for example, if I like, if I really like fries, which I do, but I want to reduce the number of fries that I eat, then I should say, Okay, so instead of no, no fries ever, I should pick a goal that's reasonable. 

That's like, Okay, so at most, I will eat fries like once a week. And then I can't eat it twice a week. So if I had it this week already, then I can't have it again. 

And that's probably a bit more reasonable. Because that way, you know, if I'm resisting, so if I'm thinking, Oh, I really want fries. Oh, but I already had fries, like, you know, like two days ago, then I think, Okay, well, I can have fries again next week. 

It's not never like if I think, Oh, I can never eat fries again, that it's kind of like, it's kind of sad. And I think, Oh, no, like, I'll never eat fries again. Even if I do a good job and don't eat fries for like, you know, six months, I can't have any like zeros are really, really hard thing to do. 

Perfect is a little bit too hard. So I think what you can do is you can just settle for like, pretty good. So for me, if I only ate fries, like once a week, then I'd be fine with that. 

I think that's fine. That's a good balance. And then of course, you know, the best is like, I almost never eat fries, maybe eight fries, like, I don't know, once every three months or something. 

But that's not reasonable, because reasonable meaning like, I can't be like my happy normal self. And then like, keep denying myself the things that I want. So you know, if I want to eat fries, then I eat the fries. 

And then I tell myself, Okay, well, I ate the fries, make sure that I'm happy. And I appreciate it. And then for the next week, I don't eat fries or something like that. 

And I think that's fine. So you know, if there's any recommendation that I have for you, it's, it's, I'm not saying that you shouldn't make a new year's resolution for going to the gym. A lot of people do that. 

And a lot of people end up not succeeding in whatever goals they set. But what I'm saying is, when you set the goals, just pick a goal that's like reasonable for you. And then, you know, do your best to reach it. 

Because if it seems like the goal is almost there, then you can probably like, you know, try for it. But if it seems like you're not really getting close to the goal, then it's, it's kind of not good for your motivation, you'll feel like I should just give up. And I should also mention, I feel like I talk a lot about like random things in this podcast.

But another thing that I did say, I think in the previous podcast, I don't know if I mentioned it. But last year, I had a new year's resolution. I think I had the same episode like a year to two years ago. 

But I said, Okay, I want to make 100 podcast episodes. That was like my new year's resolution. So 100 podcast episodes means like, you know, in one year, I make 100 podcast episodes.

But then I didn't actually reach that because the previous podcast, I made about 20 episodes. And then after that, then I changed, I started making a new podcast, because I wanted to change a couple different things. So if you've heard like episode one of this podcast, and I talked about the previous one, and I talked about how in this podcast, I try to set the level, I set the difficulty level to be about the same for most of the episodes. 

And the way that I speak, I really control it so that it's supposed to be like the same level for each episode. In the previous podcast, I didn't really do that. So that's why I ended up making a new podcast. 

But again, so let me talk about this goal that I failed. So I tried to make 100 podcast episodes. And then in the middle of the year, so around like, I guess not even the middle, but in the first half of the year, in April or so, or actually, maybe in March, I decided, Okay, actually, no, I'm going to give up on this podcast. 

And I'm going to make a new one. So I want to restart. And then when I restart, then I want to change a couple different things. 

And this, it's kind of like a failure, I guess, because I set the goal to make 100 podcast episodes. And then I didn't make 100 podcast episodes, because I stopped after making episode 20. And then I didn't make more for that one, I made a different one.

But that one, it's like, you know, the goal, it's not that I failed the goal, I think the goal just kind of changed. Like, the goal is not make 100 podcast episodes, the goal is kind of like, oh, I want to work hard on this thing. And then it's like hard to measure working hard, I can't say I want to work level seven hard, or I want to work level 10 hard or something. 

So people just often just make up some number and say like 100. Or people like numbers that you know, are multiples of 10. So 10, or like 100, or 1000, or something like those sound really nice. 

No one's gonna say, Oh, I want to make 76 episodes. And people would think like, Wait, why? Why'd you say 76? So anyways, I just picked a number, I just arbitrarily picked a number just like whatever picked a number, okay, maybe 100 episodes. And then I tried to make it and then I didn't do it.

And then I ended up making this podcast. But I think for this year, I could make the exact same New Year's resolution. And for me, I don't actually take the New Year's resolutions that seriously.

Because the stuff that I want to do, I don't think it should relate to the year. Like if I want to do this thing, then I'd want to do it forever, not just because it's the new year. But I can go ahead and make that New Year's resolution. 

And that's like that way I can, I'm like participating in like this culture. But I can set a New Year's resolution where I say, Okay, I want to make 100 podcast episodes. But I do want to adjust it a little bit. 

I don't want to say exactly 100. Because like this podcast, like it's I've already decided that every week, there's like one new episode. And then each episode is around like 30 minutes. 

Like that's what I tried to target around 30 minutes. Sometimes if it's a little bit short, it's like 25 minutes. And then a lot of the time, it's just like, you know, like 45 minutes, or like maybe even 50 minutes. 

But again, if I really think about this number 100, I should, I should double check with myself, is that a reasonable goal? Is that something that I can do and like be happy with it. And the goal is something that I can reach. It's something that's doable for me.

If I really think about it, well, my podcast is one episode every week. And in one year, there are 52 weeks. So if I say 100 episodes, that actually means like almost two years, because in two years, that's, you know, each year being 52 weeks, that would be 104 weeks.

So 100 episodes is actually that's like two episodes a week. So actually, this goal is not really a good number for me. What I would rather do is I would rather say, Okay, I want to consistently make an episode each week until like the end of the year. 

So then that's probably around like, you know, 52 more episodes. But also, like this podcast has already been like going since like April. So if you count those in the 100, then like maybe it gets kind of close.

So it gets kind of like vague. But what I want to do is I want to set a goal that's like reasonable for me. So I just want to say, Okay, well, I want to, this year, I want to make a new episode every Tuesday for the whole year. 

And then I think that's that's probably a better thing to do better than picking a number and saying like 100. And every day I'm measuring, I'm like, Oh, I'm not at 100 yet. I'm not at 100 yet. 

And even if I do a perfect job, it's not enough, because if I make a new episode every week, then in a year, it's only 52. It's not 100. So again, you know, you can make these goals for yourself, you can pick these numbers 100 and stuff. 

But you know, just put a little bit more effort and then try to make that number like a reasonable number for you. And it's okay if it's a weird number, like number 76 or something like that. Okay, so we talked about New Year's resolution stuff. 

Let's take a short little break. And then we'll have a last little section.

Okay, so let's go and get started with our last section here, and oh man, I've done this last section so many times, this is like the fifth or sixth time that I'm recording this. But first, let's go and review what we talked about before. So New Year's, New Year's is January 1st of the new year.

And then you've got the day before that, which is New Year's Eve. And remember, New Year's Eve is kind of like the bigger day. Like that's the day when people probably are celebrating.

That's the day when people have like parties and stuff. And we also talked about like the Times Square ball drop. So this is like a American cultural thing.

You don't actually have to know, and it's not really useful information, but it's just something that is, I think it's kind of interesting because like most people who grew up in the US, like they have seen it on TV. Maybe they didn't actually attend it in person, but they know about it. And now there's some other stuff too.

There's something called like the Macy's Parade. Macy's is like a store name, I guess. They sell clothes and then they're rich.

So what they do every year is they like have like a big parade and it's called the Macy's Parade. And then it's always on TV. So around New Year's, like I think a lot of people probably watch TV and then watch that.

And also they watch the ball drop. So the ball drop is like this big cultural thing where you have like the last 10 seconds of the year. And then you count down from 10.

Again, it always starts from 10, 10, nine, eight. And it's 11 59 PM. It's still like, you know, so this year it would be 2025 and 11 59 on December 31st.

It's the last day, the last 10 seconds. So you count down 10, nine, eight, seven, six. And then time is still 11 59, but then you keep counting six, five, four, three, two, one, zero.

And then the clock changes and it goes to 12. And then the year changes from 2025 to 2026. And then that's like the big moment.

Everyone's like, oh yeah, let's celebrate. You know, there's like fireworks and stuff, whee. And so let me go ahead and actually tell you about like, I guess what I and like my friend group does on like New Year's, I guess.

And again, when I say these things, they're all just like kind of like personal stories. So I don't want you to hear this and think, oh, all Americans do this every year on every New Year's. Because it's not true.

In the end, it really depends on the person. And it's not just that it depends on the person. Like some people do it sometimes.

And then some years they don't actually celebrate anything. So it really depends on a lot of stuff. I think the answer to almost everything is, well, it depends.

It's like, hey, you like pizza, right? And they're like, yeah. And it's like, do you eat pizza every single day? Like every day of the year? And the answer is no. Well, it depends.

Sometimes I eat pizza. Sometimes I don't eat pizza. Sometimes I forget to eat or something like that.

So remember that everyone's human, right? But let me go ahead and tell you about this like thing that we sometimes did, which is just people just gather at somebody's house. 

So somebody's place, so maybe their apartment, or maybe they have a house, and then they invite a bunch of friends and then everyone gets together. And by the way, in the US, I think when there's like a get together, usually you don't charge people money.

Like the person who's hosting just kind of pays for everything. And the people who come, they don't actually pay. They don't bring any presents even.

And sometimes they bring stuff that's like, oh, hey, I got some chips. Or like, oh, I brought like, you know, some like snacks or something that I want to share with everyone. But usually it's just, the host pays for everything.

So it's free. And everyone gathers in the house. And then people just hang out and do stuff.

So hang out and, you know, maybe play some video games, maybe chat, maybe play some board games, or maybe you have like a little barbecue. So a barbecue would be like, someone has a grill in the backyard, or you do it at a park. And then like you grill some meat and then people eat stuff.

So I guess, you know, you gather at someone's house and then you eat food. And the food is usually like junk food. And you have drinks.

And the drinks are usually like sugary drinks that are not really good for you. Sometimes you have pizza. Sometimes you have like other stuff.

I don't know, like potato chips, soda. Actually, that's kind of nice. I miss that.

But the interesting thing is like, after I came to Japan, and then I've attended like a couple different like home parties and stuff. And usually people, I think they actually do charge like some money. And if you think about it, it's actually very reasonable because the host is like hosting, right? So they're like working hard on arranging the stuff.

They're like communicating with everyone and telling everyone, hey, I want you to come at this time, here's the address. And then they also have to prepare stuff, maybe like the cake, or like maybe some chips or something. And so I think it kind of makes sense to split the cost.

So like the total money, if you split it and have everyone pay a little bit, I think it's actually pretty fair. But it's just something that, at least for me, I never noticed, like people didn't really charge for home parties. And it's the same for like birthday parties too.

If someone had like a birthday party, and then you're like going to their birthday party, usually you didn't really pay anything. Like the birthday person is the one that pays. Like somebody has to pay, okay? It's not gonna be free.

You don't just go to some business and you say like, hey, you know, it's my birthday. And they're like, okay, great. We'll throw you a party and it'll be free.

No, no, no, no, no, it's we'll throw you a party, but you have to pay us money. And then, you know, they pay money and you invite friends and the friends come, and then the friends usually don't pay anything.

So that's that. And we still have a tiny little bit of time. So actually I wanna talk about like, there's something that I really often hear with Japanese people actually, where they speak English.

And again, so, you know, sometimes I teach English, like private lessons and stuff. And something that I hear really often is when people invite other people to do things, they ask with Japanese grammar. So Japanese grammar would be something like, I don't know, like, ashita sushiro de tabi ni ikanai? And then, so, you know, it's like, tomorrow do you wanna eat at Sushiro? Which is like the name of a sushi place.

And then you say, tabi ni ikanai? Which is like, do you not wanna eat? Do you not wanna eat? Is the way that they usually ask it. And that's really natural in Japanese grammar. But I think it's kind of weird in English if you ask someone like, hey, do you not wanna eat Sushiro? Then the meaning changes, okay? So if I say, do you not wanna eat Sushiro? Then it's weird because the center, the main point of that sentence is, do you not wanna eat Sushiro? Why do you not like Sushiro? Like, do you hate it? Do you think it's too expensive? Why do you not like it? And then there's also a slightly different version of that sentence where then it kind of becomes valid, but you're not sure.

Which is, and this one is the one that I hear absolutely the most, which is like, why don't we go, why don't we eat Sushiro? Which is like probably the English version of that Japanese grammar. Why don't we go eat Sushiro? Or something like that. And then again, this one here, it's kind of vague.

Sometimes it's okay, sometimes it might be weird. And it's because this kind of has two meanings. Number one, the meaning that they meant is, oh, let's go eat sushi.

Let's go to do this thing together. Like you wanna ask, you wanna invite people, and you wanna do it in a natural way. And that's fine, maybe you can use it that way, but it also has another meaning, which is like, why don't we eat Sushiro? And if you take it really literally, okay? If you really think about the words, then it actually ends up meaning like, why don't we eat Sushiro? Why are we not eating Sushiro? Like, why are we not there already? Is it because you don't wanna go? Or is it because you're waiting for someone? Or like, why are we doing this now? Like it really, that's probably not what people wanna say.

So let me go ahead and mention like, what I highly recommend as the most native way to invite people, which is a very direct thing to do. It's, do you wanna eat Sushiro? And so when I do this, like it sounds really strong, right? It sounds like, do you wanna eat it? Do you wanna eat it? And then you're like, you know, really interrogating, you're like strongly asking someone. But that's actually probably the most natural way to ask, I think.

And the true feeling, again, this is in the same situation. Let's say that I wanna invite someone to go do something. And the truth is I wanna go, okay? So like, I wanna eat sushi, and I want my friend to come with me, and I want us to go together and have a nice time.

And you know, I could say that directly. I could say, I wanna eat sushi, and I want you to come with me, and I want us to have a nice time and talk because we're friends. Like you could say that, but it's really, really long.

And it's kind of weird, I guess, to say like such a long thing for a simple feeling like that. So the most natural way to say it is like, hey, do you wanna eat Sushiro on Saturday? Or do you wanna eat Sushiro? And that one is very, very clear. But again, if you really, really break down the words, it means like, do you wanna eat Sushiro? And the true feeling is I wanna eat Sushiro, and I wanna invite other people.

But because most people use that form, then it's probably not something to worry about. So what I strongly recommend is don't ask the negative version, okay? So if you're like, do you, if you wanna go watch a movie with someone, and you're gonna invite someone to go to a movie, then what you don't wanna do is you don't wanna ask the Japanese grammar version, which is like, why don't we go watch a movie? That's fine, maybe it's fine. It's like a triangle, which in Japanese textbooks means like, it's maybe okay, it's maybe okay.

But the definitely okay one is, do you wanna watch a movie? And you don't need to worry because this is the most natural way that native people usually ask each other to do stuff. Do you wanna go rock climbing on Saturday? Do you wanna go eat shabu-shabu on Friday? My friend's having a party, but do you wanna go later? It's, do you want to? And just remember this as like, do you want to, like the image of you're like directly asking them. But it's actually nice because I guess like, from the American like grammar point of view, it's like, oh, it's nice because I'm asking about their feelings.

So I'm basically showing care for them. Do you want to do this? I'm not even mentioning that I wanna go. The truth is I wanna go, but instead I ask like, do you wanna go? And then it's kind of like, oh, I'm prioritizing you.

If you wanna go, then, you know, we'll take care of you. We'll make sure that you're happy. So it's kind of like that.

So maybe that's a good place to kind of wrap things up. But again, you know, it's not, why don't we go eat some French fries? Why don't we go do this thing? Because the why don't we something, something, like that one's, it's a little bit vague. It could be taken as like, you're asking actually that question.

So just be safe and you can ask, do you want to whatever? Do you want to eat cheesecake? Do you wanna come to my place and play board games? You can say these kinds of things. So maybe that's a good point to actually wrap up. And again, just to review, we talked about New Year's.

So New Year's is January 1st. New Year's Eve is December 31st. And you know, if you wanna set a New Year's resolution, if you wanna set a New Year's goal, my personal advice is that you set it to be something that you can reach.

Something that you think, yes, this is something that if I put in a little bit of effort, I can probably do it. You don't wanna do something too hard, okay? Set the goal easy. And if you reach the goal, then you know, you can celebrate and then you can set a new goal later.

But just set a goal at first that you can reach. Something that's reasonable that you can do and you can imagine yourself doing it and not trying too hard for it. Because if you try too hard, you're gonna burn out.

So with that, thank you so much for listening to this episode of Kuli English Podcast. And as always, if you wanna support me, you can follow me on YouTube or like subscribe or something, but you don't have to. And of course, if you wanna share it with a friend, that's something that I really appreciate.

But you know, thanks for listening and I hope to see you next week on Kuli English Podcast.