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Welcome to Lesson 26 of ESLpodTV. In today’s mp3 only lesson I’m going to talk about elevators. Why on earth does he want to talk about elevators you might ask? Well, it struck me the other day what a big difference there is between Japan and England when it comes to this mode of transport. By the way, we call them lifts in the UK.

As you probably all know by now, I live in Japan and here machines of all sorts tend to work perfectly. If something breaks down it is repaired or replaced almost immediately. In addition, things in constant use, like elevators, are always clean and safe – though in places like department stores they are nearly always jam packed!

The only problem I have with elevators here is getting on one. Very often the door will open onto a small box that is crammed with people so you have no chance of squeezing on.

The one weird thing about elevators here – again in department stores – is that they often contain elevator ladies. This is a young woman, smartly dressed in uniform, who manages the elevator. Her job is to operate the buttons, greet people getting on and off the lift and make sure that everyone gets to their required destination. Why there is a job like this is a constant mystery to me, even after 20 years in this country.

On the other hand, my experiences with elevators in England have been a lot more interesting. I don’t know why, but I can’t seem to get on a lift there without something going wrong. The last time I visited was the worst. It started at the hotel. I packed my wife, son myself and suitcase into a very small lift and pressed the button for the fifth floor. After about two minutes the door opened and we popped out to find ourselves on the ground floor – the lift hadn’t moved. We tried again and the same thing happened. Eventually, we found that holding the button in for ten seconds would get the lift to work.

There followed a long list of elevator problems. From lifts that would shake. Others that would overshoot the floor so you had to climb down from them. Doors that wouldn’t open or floors that couldn’t be stopped at. Perhaps the one that struck me most was the shiny, new department store elevator we got on in London. We were the only passengers. The doors closed and in a very, very loud voice a recorded message said – ALL PASSENGERS FOR THE FIFTH FLOOR USE THE OTHER ELEVATOR. We got out and ran!

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