We went to Cebu, Philippines to celebrate 13th anniversary of RONDHUIT’s birth during April 15 to 19, 2019. We had English lessons there. Here are the short reports from the participants.

Feeling something is going to happen by Koji

Whenever I go to Cebu, there would be consequences. When I went there three years ago, it was my first trip to Cebu, I stayed in a hospital because of food poisoning. The second incident was a criminal case in last July. Why I went to Cebu at that time because I was invited to a wedding ceremony by an ex-English teacher. So I went there and immediately after I exited from the new airport terminal building, my wallet was taken by a pickpocket. Unfortunately, I had 100,000+ yen in my wallet at that time because I just got cash from the bank the day before. And so to this trip, I had to be very cautious. However, it seems that the jinx was inherited by one of our consultants. I had mixed feelings because I was in good shape and I could avoid being a victim of a crime during this travel but he was diagnosed as pneumonia in a hospital. He couldn’t have his speech because of his illness but as he has a strong sense of responsibility, he did it in our office. It was very nice because his presentation had a big news which we really wanted to know, sadly, the English teachers couldn’t attend his presentation though.

As for another English presentation, I was very impressed by the one which was presented by our new member, Kaya-san. Not only the contents of her speech, but how she gave it was excellent because she could entertain the audience.

As for my presentation, I could share my idea regarding our new search service. I’m excited about the new service and I hope all of the audience could enjoy it.

Thoughts after the 4th training by Issei

What I discovered about myself from the 4th English training is that I tend to get very lazy. Looking back at my situation, this is my 4th year mark since joined the company, and I can no longer give a fresh look at the day-to-day tasks and training themselves, and as a result it has become clear to me that I have been lazy in every possible aspects.

Every time I go to take English training I strongly feel to deepen what I learned from it, but I have never really sat down to study English harder for real. This can be applied to my normal work as well.

In this presentation, I reviewed what was accomplished in 2018 and what I would like to accomplish in 2019. During this process, I understood how I did not achieve much in 2018. This is a critical issue as an engineer.

I will make 2019 a year to update myself and my company. To realize this goal, I will share it with my colleagues. Furthermore, we will influence each other to accomplish this update. By the next English training, I believe I will be a new and updated self.

My presentation by Hisashi

April is our last month of the business financial year and I gave a presentation titled “Sales and Marketing Activity FY18 Analysis” in English. We do not disclose accounting information to outside company and I’m not financial specialist nor accountant but I thought it is good opportunity to briefly explain about our company’s activity from visible sales statistic point of view to my coworkers.

[Marketing Activities]

These are our notable marketing activities in FY18

• Seminars
  
We had our original seminar on September and February renting bigger room near Kanda-station. Number of attendees are jumped up almost 2.5 times compare to the last year.
• OSC Enterprise conference
  
 We had our own exhibition booth and had our session to introduce our company, product and services.
• Web page renewal
  
 I made a new contract with the web design company and updated our top web page and others.
 In our new consulting page, visitors can easily understand what we are doing and who we are.
Please visit https://www.rondhuit.com/services/consulting.html

Most important KPI in my marketing activity is “Number of new prospect informations” and it increased 66% compared to last year.

[Sales result]

I mentioned about our FY18 sales tentative results based of invoice base numbers. Bad news is I could not reach the hight FY18 target but I overachieved the number compared to FY17. Good news is I know the reason why. Our number was strongly depend on one top customer in FY17.
 We were able to recover from other companies in FY18. More good news is I almost get big FY19 deal from these important customers.

Thanks and Regards
Hisashi Nakayama

Good English lessons both in- and outside of the class room By Yasufumi

This was the 3rd time for me to have English lessons in Cebu. This time, I had big news that our colleagues and English teachers might want to know, but some troubles kept me away from reporting it to them.

Followings are troubles during this stay.

In first day, I tried to withdrow money from my credit card in shopping mall, ATM ate my card. So, I needed to deactivate my card to avoid unauthorized use, and this made it impossible to me that I got money without the other’s help because I had no enough Japanese Yen to exchange.

In fourth day, I was so bad, and it turned out that I had pneumonia in local hospital. After that, I kept sleep in my room till I returned and all English lessons were canceled.

But facing these trouble were quite good English lessons to me because they forced me to understand expressions not used in business scene.
So, I had business and non-business English lessons during this stay.

I had thought that English was a tool for developing services and learning technology, but now I think that is also the tool for surviving in overseas.

English Second Language Lessons In Cebu, Philippine By Kaya

“What should I talk about the presentation in Cebu?” this question had bothered me. In this English training trip, all employees were assigned to do an English presentation in front of co-workers and teachers. So, I had asked the question to my colleagues, Nishigata-san. He had advised me, from the bottom of his heart, “You should talk about marriage and work.” This was the moment I decided my presentation topic.

For every lesson, one-third of four hours were spent talking about marriage and work in order to prepare for the presentation. We discussed how Filipinos played two important rules, software engineer and married life, and found a good partner. One thing I thought interesting was, they used Facebook group chat, which an organizer gathered single people from both genders. This was the most popular way to find a partner in Philippine. I added the information teachers gave me to the presentation.

Two-third of the lesson was used for me to learn about Filipino history and culture. I have learned 3 interesting things. I showed two pictures to teachers. One picture was taken when I visited Mactan island. I saw a full-face mask on a side-road, wondering whose face it is. The teacher, Lovely, answered me kindly it was Lapu-Lapu, who was a hero of Mactan island because he resists imperial Spanish colonization. The other picture was Filipinos food I ate for dinner on April 16th, yes, the black stew. The taste was okay, I would say, but the ingredients were pretty unique: pig’s blood and intestine. “Intestine,” I learned new vocabulary. The last I learned about Filipinos culture was the way to heal cough and fever. In Japan, you could eat an apple or an orange to take some vitamins. In Philippine, they would drink a cup of Royal Tru (same as Fanta Orange) with an egg. Interesting. Interesting, but I wonder if it is really effective? Not only improving English but also I learned Filipinos culture in Cebu.

Finally, the presentation was succeeded. I have achieved one of my purposes of the presentation in the Philippines, “To make everyone enjoy.” This was fantastic! Most of my colleagues and the President Sekiguchi-san gave me positive comments on my presentation. It means to me a lot! I appreciate for this opportunity.

Sincerely,
Kaya Ota

Study English In Cebu By Ayno

I went to learn English in Cebu from Aplil 13st to 18th.It was my second time trip to Cebu.

The curriculum was to create a presentation on the last day of the training in English. The teachers taught me what kind of wording was inpressive in the presentation. Although, teachers and co-workers encouraged me when I felt nervous.

It was a really valuable experience and a lot of fun!!

Thank you for a great time, teachers !!I promise my English will be better by next time.

The Smile Of A Sorrowful Heart by Abby

There’s no denying that April is my most anticipated month of the year. Not because it’s the start of the summer season in the Philippines, but because it’s “RONDHUIT-is-coming-to-Cebu” time of the year. With my great excitement and anticipation was an unexpected plot twist that washed away the bright smile and excited eyes from my face.

Prior to Rodhuit’s visit in this humble Queen City of the South, a sad event shoke my family’s home—my grandpa being admitted to the hospital. Something that wasn’t a secret to Big Boss Koji anymore since I mentioned it to him during our class. Of course, I never wanted this sad incident to do away my planned matters for Rondhuit’s 4th visit but being genuinely happy is something I couldn’t fake.

April 14th, 2019 was Big Boss’ scheduled Welcome Party. I was really very excited because it’s “Karaoke Time”. I even listed the songs that I wanted to sing. Yet on that same day, I received a sad news from my sister regarding my grandpa’s condition. All the excitement disappeared. I just finished the task that I was asked to do for the welcome party which is the streamer and informed the other teachers that I won’t be with them. I couldn’t afford to be singing, drinking and laughing knowing my grandpa’s condition and knowing my entire family’s sadness.

The next day, April 15th, was the start of the Rondhuit staff’s English lesson. The day started so well. From the ice breaker prepared by Teacher Lovely to the lesson proper. Until one text message broke me down and I started bawling. That shoke everyone inside the hotel room yet everyone then realized the reason behind my tears. I honestly felt bad for that night because Big Boss decided to end the lesson. I felt like I ruined the moof and the lesson in some ways. The room was a picture of laughter but eventually ended up with an awkward silence. I went home with Lina not leaving my side.

The next day, I wasn’t able to attend the lesson due some matters to be taken cared in the house for my grandfather’s wake. It’s the first day of the wake and the start of our busy days and nights.

The teacher’s thought that I won’t be able to attend all my scheduled lessons but they are mistaken. I will be attending it. I have my personal reason but of course, I don’t want my loss to stop me from being productive. Nothing will actually happen to me if I just stay at home and cry and mourn. Doing so won’t bring my grandpa back to life. Also my grandpa won’t like it. So I continued my scheduled classes on Wednesday and Friday and spent it like a normal person should.

I am very grateful and will be forever grateful for the bereavement support I received from the Rondhuit family. It was something I didn’t expect but it was indeed a very big help to my family. I am also thankful for all the concern I received from everybody. It’s always nice to know that there are people who care for you despite not being blood related.

The remaining two days I spent with everyone were special because I was able to draw a smile on my face and bring out a sound laughter despite the sorrowful heart I had. Well, I am a Filipino after all. Filipinos can still genuinely smile irrespective of the sadness and tragedies.

An Unforgettable first by Darel

April 2019, I had the privilege to be part of RONDHUIT’s English training in Cebu. It’s a great honour to be part of their annual activity. I was chosen by Koji-san to be one of the English teachers for their training. I didn’t really know why , but I was very grateful for it, in fact I was really excited and was looking forward to meeting new people and making new and great experiences.

We welcomed Koji-san at a Family KTV and we had a blast; from singing to eating and even to playing a mini game thanks to Teacher Jecel. We even gave our first impressions to Koji-san and it was quite an experience for me since I’m not really good in talking or giving ‘speeches’, but I think I did okay, well I hope. Overall, it was a great night, everyone was in a bliss and it was memorable. The next days were interesting. I met the first and second batch of staff of RONDHUIT. They were all very friendly and I was really glad to meet and converse with them. We all had a chance to know each other by playing games made possible by teacher Lovely who was the organizer. We played various games each day and what I really was enthusiastic the most was the guessing game. I think that was a favourite.

After each game, began the session, I was really amaze at how the staffs were eager to learn English and how they really want to improve it and how cooperative they were. By the way, they also shared some of their experiences in life and work and what they learned from it and what they want to improve. We had a good laugh talking about it and also I really learned a lot from it and vice-versa. Then, it was time for the presentation, they all tackle about their past goals and future goals. They all did an excellent job and it was entertaining as well. Dinner came next, everybody enjoyed their food and I had a feast . Overall, it was such a memorable experience for me and I would definitely treasure the memories made. Kudos to everyone for a successful and fruitful event!

Hoping for another successful year for RONDHUIT!

Treasured Moments by Frecy

One of the most valuable things any person can learn is the art of using the knowledge and experience of others.

When April comes, teachers are very excited and happy. Why? because we expected someone from Japan to visit and commemorate their anniversary here in the Philippines. Apart from that we are very lucky because few teachers were chosen and I was part of it.

Last April 14 that was the day when Koji-san came, we prepared a simple welcome party for him and we can see that we were really enjoying it. I gave him an assignment and I was very amazed because he was able to do his assignment despite from the fact that it was not as easy as we thought. I really admired him for that because everything for him was possible. Indeed, the celebration was so successful and everyone was very happy.

We had five day lessons with Japanese staffs which was very usual. Before we start the lesson we had an eye opener which was very interesting and everyone was enjoying. I had my first lesson with Ayano-san and everything was great because I knew her already and she was very determined to learn English. She’s very easy to be with and has a very friendly nature. ON my second day of teaching, I had my class with Koji-san….mmmm of course his our big boss and everyone respects him. Though it was tough because it was so complicated topic I was able to share my knowledge and vice versa. He taught me of what was business like and I really learned a lot of things from him with regards to his report. I support his thought about the new project that he wanted to pursue. I believe he will be able to do it with the support of his staffs. Just hoping for the best 🙂 ON my third day, I had my class with one of my favorite staffs Yasufumi-san. I was so happy when he told me about his success. Of course he was able to accomplish his goal and as a teacher I was very proud of him, though he wasn’t able to achieve all his goals but he was able to have the number one goal. I can see his determination and I know that he will be a very good and popular engineer eventually. Looking forward for his promise to me 🙂 and my last but not the least lesson was with Hisashi-san, as always he was very prepared, so no pressure for me 🙂 I knew him already so it was very easy to have a lesson with him and of course he’s one of the person that I idolized the most. I also met Kaya-san for the first time but it seems that it was not the first because she’s very friendly and easy to be with so do with Kam-san.

I was just very happy and proud when I observed their presentations. Everything was really good and I can see their potentials towards their goals. I know that whatever plans that Koji-san will have it will be a success because he has these staffs who are brilliant, very good nature and very supportive towards his goal.

Goodluck Koji-san and admins!! I know you can do it 🙂 Looking forward for more success of your business and meeting you here in the Philippines.

APRIL is the Hottest here! by Jecel

April is usually the beginning of the new fiscal year which usually ends by the end of March the following year, in Japanese business calendar. That explains why RONDHUIT has fixed their schedule to commemorate their company anniversary every April (random week) by conducting English lessons in Cebu. The set up is that, the people in their company are divided into two groups: group A arrives on a Saturday and they have to present on a Wednesday, and group B usually arrives on a Tuesday (as far as I was informed) and they deliver their presentations on a Friday evening. Dinner with the teacher follows when the presentations of one group are over. Each day from Monday to Friday, each person is assigned one English teacher with their respective lesson method. This year, Mr Sekiguchi scheduled the event on the third week of April, which unbeknownst to him, it falls on the Christian weeklong celebration in the Philippines, the Lenten season. It is a weeklong event in which Thursday and Friday are the most holy for us- which means most of the establishments shut to commemorate this religious event.

Since I just shifted my career in a new company, I am so sad to say that I was not able to meet group A in this RONDHUIT’s visit here. I had some appointments to deal with, but I do wish to see you all next year. I could not formally join with you due to my irregular schedule. Moreover, I am so sorry to know that Mizugochi San got ill during his stay here. If you happen to read this, I hope you are recovering fast and I do hope you still remember the advice I gave you then. By the way, everybody was really looking forward to your presentation. You better give two presentations next year (joke!). Anyway, CONGRATULATIONS for having achieved your first goal! Enjoy the married life!!! Greetings from all your English teachers in Cebu.

These are my advice to everyone who would like to come here in Cebu (or anywhere in the Philippines) especially during this season:

a. Please bring more or just T-shirts- NOT long-sleeved ones.

b. If you get your clothes sweaty, you better change to another clothes right away before it dries out. If you don’t, you might seriously get ill. Our atmospheric condition is quite different from yours.

c. I am so sad to say that our air is quite musty- which is opposite there in Japan. Your city air feels a lot more clean than the city air here. The Filipinos must still work on resolving this issue. (I must not buy a car, at least.)

d. Talking about cars or transportation, I recommend you download the Grab application before coming here. This is like Uber- they actually bought Uber about last year (maybe). This is more convenient or safer for you to go around here.

e. If you have any dust allergies, please do not hesitate to inform the staff in the front desk when you check in a hotel and ask for a room with better air conditioning system (not dusty or musty).

April is actually the hottest month here! Yet, I do hope that having good memories, better interactions with the people here are what will make your visit more fulfilling. Cheers to the new fiscal year, Rondhuit!!!!! Stay strong and more power!!!

POSITIVITY IS THE KEY!!! by Lina

There is nothing more special in April than meeting the RONDHUIT’s boss and his staff. It is actually one of the exciting and awaited events of the year since 2016.

This year marks the 4th year of celebrating the founding anniversary of the company(13th founding anniversary, to be exact) in Cebu, my very own place. This fact still never ceases me from feeling prouder and prouder of my homeland. As usual, this celebration is unique as it is not just enjoying talking over some gorgeous food, but everyone has a mission, including us teachers. This style has been practised for four consecutive years. Mr.Koji and his staff have to prepare topics to be presented at specific times during their stay. Teachers assist them on the preparation time(perhaps, lesson time). There are also some activities or icebreakers done before each lesson starts.

As for this year’s celebration, several things happened. Good and bad. To start with good things, I finally managed to sing that song Mr.Koji wanted me to sing two years ago. We successfully carried out the surprise party for him as well, and in turn, Mr.Koji also surprised us for singing several English songs. AMAZING!!! We did not expect it. As for some matters like presentation, everyone did a superb job. Every aspect of the presentation was well discussed. I believe that every presenter managed to entertain the listeners,thus making us to interact during the presentation. They are communicative. I felt completely satisfied. Although, there were some engineering terms ,equations, calculations included, it was all right. I and other teachers understood most them. After everyone presented, my heart was absolutely pleased. Why? I could feel the positive energy circulating in the room during the presentation. Everyone was very active and open to one another in discussion. Job well done everyone!

On the other hand,unexpected things happened that made us sad. Firstly, one of the teacher’s grandfather died. Then, Mr. Yasufumi was not in the right condition. It became worse that made him go to the hospital and was not able to do his presentation. In fact, before Mr.Koji and his staff arrived in Cebu, I had this feeling that something was not really good but I could not say what. Maybe that was only my false intuition, I thought.

I have come up with this title because I strongly believe that negativity can never win over positivity. When I tried to think back at the content of each presentation, I believe everyone will grow, especially now that you are about to introduce something in the business. Lots of things may happen that can hinder our goal and expectations, but we can surpass them through effort and hardwork. When something goes wrong, it does not mean we have no chance to smile and enjoy. Let us not waste the time agonizing because certain things happen. Reflections take place. I believe in cases like if something bad happens, it is just an eye opener to another good oppotunity. Optimism is one of the most important parts of success.

Minna-san! Let us have a more colorful year and more joyful celebration next year! MORE POWER TO RONDHUIT!!!

Wrap it up, April! by Lovely

At last! It’s the month of April. Months before, Mr. Koji Sekiguchi asked me to become the facilitator this year for their company’s annual celebration here in Cebu. I was surprised as I was not expecting to be appointed with such honorable responsibility. I grabbed this opportunity then and head on to preparing.

Totally excited & nervous, the welcome party on April 14th went well so far. Of course, we welcomed him by singing a jolly song, made him wear a necklace made of glow sticks tubes, had dinner after and sang songs randomly. We were amazed that Mr. Koji came prepared. He sang a total of 3-5 songs, perhaps. Please, correct me if I’m wrong. Mr. Koji had so much fun especially when he saw us competing to get the chocolates thrown in the air. We were really just having fun as that game was too familiar to us.

The following days were the expected English lessons for 4 hours in preparation for their much awaited presentations. Personally, it was a pleasure meet the newest member in Rondhuit- Ms. Kaya Ota.

I prepared lots of ice breakers and chose which one’s the best for each day. The first day was like an introduction and getting to know each other especially for the new teacher- Ms. Darel. The second day seemed fine not until when it was almost time to end the lesson, we received bad news from one of the teachers. We managed to end the lesson calmly. The third day was the presentation day of Mr. Koji, Ms. Kaya, Mr. Issei and Ms. Ayano. On the same day, the other members- Mr. Hisashi, Mr. Yasu & Mr. Kamu came to Cebu & were present during the presentation. A new teacher- Ms. Yam was also introduced to everyone. We had dinner right after. The bowling activity was canceled unexpectedly since at that time, only a few bowling alleys were left to play for maintenance purposes and it was already packed with busy players. We did not wish to wait for a long time.

The fourth day seemed fine as well not until the final day. We received news that Mr. Yasu was admitted to the hospital because of his cough. Fortunately, he was able to attend the presentation and looked fine, perhaps. We had dinner for the last time and then bid our goodbyes to everyone right after.

It’s a mission accomplished for me as I had hoped at the beginning. I was able to execute my plans. Seeing my list and checking them day by day made me happy and sighed at the same time. There may be unexpected things happening yet we were able to go through that 5-day journey together, successfully, safely and merrily.

On my opinion, the highlights of that journey were about the comparison between marriage & being a system engineer, the Long tail theorem, the KPI, the another jaw dropping (for other teachers) presentation of Mr. Kamu, the red car of Issei as was shown in the Rondhuit site and my conversation with Ms. Ayano during the dinner on Wednesday, April 17. Of course, hearing Mr. Yasu as a married man was, I think, the number 1 highlight.

Well, that’s a wrap! Keep rolling the dice until you get your desired target. This may sound cliche but always remember, LIFE GOES ON. See you all again someday. Mabuhay Rondhuit! Mabuhay everyone!

The Expedition 2019 by Yam

Many people around the globe are eager to experience learning the English language. Knowing the fact this language is used in different field of works, mainly to diversify each others economy globally.

As time goes by, lots of foreigners explore different places and study here in Cebu. As a matter fact, some of them prefer to come back again and again. One of the living proof would be Mr. Koji san RONDHUIT’s team from Japan. This team aims to acquire language acquisition through the use of the English language. Therefore, they were being told to make a presentation of their own choice and comfortability.

Honestly speaking, it was my first time to attend this kind of event. I don’t have much knowledge about it but teacher Lovely who happened to be the facilitator explained and gave me some details since she participated last year. So, I felt relieve.

When I heard that I would handle one of Mr. Koji san staff. At first, I was a bit hesitant because I thought Ms. Ayano san might not be comfortable towards me. Second, I was assigned to guide her on the third day which would be their presentation, but good thing Ms. Ayano san is kind, lovely and very much open- minded for corrections. Even if her skills in English isn’t so well like the other colleagues she did her best to simplify her report in front of everyone.

All in all, the presentation went well. Each one of them justify their own report. Even though it was just a glimpse of information about their main goal which is to produce a system engine in the future. I was really glad having the chance to picture it out.

After the event, I had gathered some realization that being as businessman is not that really easy as it is, making decision as well mustn’t be done ones but indeed a million times. Moreover, taking risks with proper precautions is better than anything else.

I hope all the achievement for the whole RONDHUIT’s Team. Keep on learning English and Don’t give up! Thank you very much.