Swing States

Hello English Learners!   How are you?  Finally, the temperature in Japan has cooled down.  Let's enjoy this great fall weather before it gets any colder. 

Today, we'd like to discuss the upcoming U.S. Presidential election.  This year, the top 2 candidates are Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.  In America, the votes from each individual state are important when deciding who will win.  To be honest, most states are predictable and vote for the same political party in each election.  For example, California is typically a very liberal state and will probably support the Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris.  However, Alabama usually votes for conservative candidates and in this election, that person is Donald Trump from the Republican party. 

However, in 2024, there are about 7 states that are on the fence as to which person they will support.  Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylavia, and Wisconsin are called swing states because they sometimes vote for Democratic candidates and sometimes vote for Republican candidates.  The 2024 election will probably be decided by these states, so currently, both Harris and Trump are trying hard to attract voters there.  It seems as though Harris has a bit more support than Trump right now, but anything could happen before and on election day, which is on November 5th.  This is an extremely important election so everybody around the world will be watching the results to see who will lead America for the next 4 years.  

Please talk to your teachers about the election and share your choice for the next American president!

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Ohtani and the MLB Playoffs

Hello again!  How is everybody doing?  Let's all enjoy the cooler weather and beautiful leaves in fall this month!  

In addition, it is officially time for the baseball playoffs in both Japan and the United States!  As for the MLB, all eyes have been on Shohei Ohtani this season as he played another great year of baseball.  In fact, Ohtani did something this season that no baseball player has ever accomplished.  He hit over 50 home runs and stole over 50 bases in the same season.  People are now calling this the 50-50 club, and Ohtani is the one and only member!  Ohtani also set the record for the most stolen bases in one season for a Japanese player with 59.  The record was previously held by the beloved Ichiro Suzuki.  

Now, everybody in Japan is hoping that Ohtani can lead the Dodgers to the World Series.  They are currently playing the San Diego Padres, and the Dodgers are leading the series 3-2.  Last year, the Texas Rangers won the World Series, but it doesn't seem like they will be able to do it again this year.  Many teams look strong this year, so let's root for Ohtani and the Dodgers and hope they can bring home the championship.  

Thank you for reading and feel free to talk about baseball with your teachers next time you come to BRIDGE.

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Amazon Returns to the Office

Hi to all you English learners!  We hope you are doing well.  Fall is now here, and although it is still a bit hot in Japan, we hope cooler weather is coming soon.  Hang in there, everybody!

Today, we are going to discuss one of the biggest companies in the world: Amazon.  In 2023, the company made $30.4 billion in net income, which is more than the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of countries like Iceland and Jamaica.  

Recently, Amazon made a big decision with regards to their working style.  Starting in 2025, the majority of employees must go back to the office 5 days a week.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company allowed its employees to work from home and even promised to offer this new working style on a permanent basis.  

However, Amazon noticed that productivity was decreasing due to the new remote work policy.  Therefore, last year, they asked that workers return to the office 3 days a week to see what would happen.  This change worked very well for the company and saw a great improvement in the amount of tasks accomplished.  As a result, Amazon decided to go even further and require people to come to the office 5 days a week from the beginning of next year to increase productivity. 

Many Amazon employees are not happy about the big changes that the company has made in the last few years.  For example, since the beginning of 2023, around 27,000 have been cut, and due to the company rule to return to the office, many workers have had to move to a different city and/or dramatically change their lives in order to keep their jobs.  

What do you think about this issue?  Is Amazon doing the right thing?  Let's talk about this and other issues related to remote working the next time you come to BRIDGE.  Take care!

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