I trained with a coach back in England and so I wanted to continue doing so in Japan. However there is literally no information on coaches online around the Kansai area compared to Tokyo which was really frustrating. So I asked someone from the club if they knew a coach that could take me and initially they thought of a coach who usually teaches at Hyogo Prefectural Ice Arena but also coaches in Kyoto when the rink is open. They referred me to her and said she would be good since she knew a bit of English. LOL That was a lie. Somehow I'm managing to still learn even though I don't understand what she's saying sometimes but through watching her and how she does the movements I can somewhat catch on.
The downside is that when Kyoto rink closes from April, it would mean I would have to either go all the way to Hyogo which is a good 2 hours away from me. Or I could find a new coach. The next closest rink would be either Osaka Naniwa Ice skating in Namba or Shiga Prefectural Arena but Osaka is much more convenient in terms of transport because Shiga is pretty much 田舎. Therefore, I settled for Osaka but somehow people are more reluctant to give out coach information here, I don't know if it's because I'm a foreigner or what but I asked my friend where he went and how he found his coach at Naniwa ice skating.
Then, I decided to check it out but when I first asked for the information, the staff wasn't really helpful at all and just referred me to group lessons and blah blah blah... I know that usually coaches are self-employed but surely they'd know their names or seen them right? But hey my first time it didn't really go well, so the next time I went I took the document my friend sent me and showed the staff the information and told them about the coach my friend was under. I was afraid that I wouldn't get through to them but you know what? They asked for my friend's name which they recognised and asked where he was from! Then it seemed to all work out from there. His name basically saved me lol then they called over the head coach whom I spoke to and conversed and I gave him my contact details.
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