It goes without saying, Nozomu

Nozomu was a middle-aged, slightly seedy Japanese guy who used to come to an intensive class a few years back when I worked at a private language school here in Tokyo. I won't say its name but it started with an S and rhymes with pain, which is a good description of a lot of my time there.

Anyway, I sometimes would get students to write about what they did at the weekend, then I'd correct it for them at break time. I glanced over Nozomu's shoulder to take a look at what he'd written - he wrote about going shopping, watching TV, and, somewhat implausibly considering his general demeanor, that he'd taken up going to the gym. His last line is etched in my memory:

'And it goes without saying that I exercised spunkily'

Nozomo, I said, have you been using the dictionary again...?