Question 1

I usually visit my family every two years, but I haven't been able to visit the United States since 2019. It's possible to go, but it would be a lot of trouble because of the coronavirus. Plane tickets are also extremely expensive now. I suppose this counts as cancelling plans.

Question 2

Last month I was supposed to meet with a friend for coffee at the park, but she felt a little sick and decided to cancel our plans. I was a little sad, but I understand that it's important to take care of your health first.

Question 3

I almost never cancel plans. I always try to be early to any meeting with friends or appointments. I think it is very important to keep your plans. If I get sick I have to cancel, but that is rare.

Question 4

Since the pandemic I stopped going to restaurants, cafes and crowded areas, so my regular routines were interrupted. When I lived in Osaka I used to enjoy visiting Umeda on the weekends to visit the shopping centers and play Pokemon Go. I would often relax at cafes and restaurants with friends there. I haven't done that since.

Question 5

I love going to social events, but a long time ago I was invited to a dinner and I declined. I didn't want to go because a lady who was unkind to me would be attending. I hated to say no, but I wanted to avoid trouble, so I told them I already had plans. I actually stayed home and watched TV. It's not an honest excuse, but it helped me avoid an awkward situation.

Question 6

It may be strange, but I really don't have anything that I want to avoid. I always enjoyed events and even meetings because I could see everyone. The only thing I remember wanting to avoid was when I was a kid. My parents made me go to church on Wednesdays and Sundays, but I wanted to play at home and with my friends in my free time.

Tough Vocabulary

Question 1

Last May, I scheduled a trip to Awaji island with my husband. I wanted to see some museums there and also drop by my friend's house. She lives in Hyogo so I thought it would be worthwhile to catch up with her. Unfortunately, there was an urgent change of plans when my husband was requested to go to Tokyo, a day after our supposed trip. We decided to cancel our travel plans since he had to leave early the next morning for his business trip.

Question 2

I rarely meet-up with anyone nowadays since all my friends live in the Philippines or in other countries. We sometimes schedule video calls though. Deciding on the ideal time to start the video call is a bit tricky since we live in different time zones. Sometimes we have to cancel it last minute because they have to work overtime or a business meeting is running late.

Question 3

Since the pandemic started, I don't think it's a noble idea to push through with plans if you are feeling under the weather. It's best to be cautious and just politely cancel ahead of time.

Question 4

In 2020, my friend's father died from a heart attack and I was apprehensive whether I should visit the funeral since it was during the peak of the pandemic. It's a 3-hour bus ride to visit their house and all public transportation was restricted that time. There were also a lot of check-points set-up since local travel was limited. My friend was very understanding and agreed it was best that we don't visit and risk ourselves of getting exposed to the virus.

Question 5

I have a friend who consistently shows up late in any event or even a casual meeting that we go to. We used to make jokes about it. At some point I confronted her that it's getting on my nerves because I'm getting the impression that she does not value other people's time. She apologized and promised to arrive earlier next time. She was still late in our succeeding meetings and we just decided to be more tolerant of her behaviour.

Question 6

When I was a practicing architect, we had monthly seminars with other architects. In this seminar, we have product demos of new building materials from suppliers or we review revised building codes. It is generally educational but in most cases, I get nervous socializing with key players in our industry.

Tough Vocabulary