FreeRice

Hello, everyone~!

Christmas Eve has gone so fast... In Japan, this day is more important than the Christmas Day. I just don't know why! It's definitely one of the things I found interesting about how we, the Japanese, have spent time in this time of year. If I would say one more thing, that would be the Japanese thinking that the Christmas Eve is the day when couples spend time together. I have no idea how the idea of Christmas has been imported to Japan, but I can't help but wonder how many of us really understand the meaning of Christmas! Maybe, it's been commercialized so much that we aren't really able to comprehend anymore... :(

Anyway, I enjoyed Christmas Eve with my family and lots of yummy foods. ^^ I was thinking that I would go shopping, but my guess that a place like a shopping mall or something would literally be crowded kept me from going there. So, I enjoyed a quiet Christmas Eve! ^^

After eating dinner, I was surfing on the Internet and I visited the blog created by Nina. It's called "English Power" and Nina has introduced the websites or tools that will definitely enhance your skills of English. I'd heard of the website from Nina when I enjoyed talking to her and the others through the online chat.

As I scrolled down to the bottom, I found the link to the website called "FreeRice". I wondered why the website has been named that way, and at the same time I was interested in how it would enhance my English skill. The website said that the English words I would learn enabled the campaign organizer to give rice to those most in need. The idea itself interested me very much, and what's more, I enjoyed the word game as well. ^^ The more I enjoyed, the more I could contribute! It sounds really great, right?

Because of the department I belong to, I've paid much attention to the campaigns which try to solve the problems throughout the world. And I've seen many people really act on those. However, to be honest, these efforts looked meaningless to me even though I understood that acting was better than doing nothing, because what the ordinary people can to solve the problems that hurt many people around the world is just a little. So, I rarely get the feeling that I'm a part of the solution or something when I acted somehow. It's easy for me to think that "This has to be solved." But I didn't know what to do and had no time to do something that would take some time.

After I've been looking around the campaigns' websites, I think this website, FreeRice, gave me a solution for that. One of the reasons why I thought so was that it produced a win-win situation. I can help the organization while I'm learning the words. And it's even fun! ^^ So, I would like as many people as possible to give it a try!

Alright, I wish you a very merry Christmas!
See you soon~

Happy Holidays!

Hello everyone~!

I'm so glad that I've been able to update this blog as much as I want now thanks to the vacation! Also, as I said, I've slept so well without an alarm clock~! ^^

Anyway...

All I want to say for today is,

H a p p y H o l i d a y s !

H a p p y H o l i d a y s !

Do you think that someone turned the Christmas tree upside down? Or do you think that I photoshopped the picture and that's why you see the Tree turning upside down? The answer is...NO! This Christmas tree has been displayed at the metro station which is located near AGU.

You're guessing why this tree has been displayed like this, aren't you? Yeah, the Tree is located at the METRO station which is, obviously, underground. You see? So, the Tree tries to convey the messages such as "Don't you think I look like a Christmas Tree?" and "It looks like roots of Trees, doesn't it?".

A place like station tends to be plain and sometimes even boring, but seasonal decoration like this has made the station more special and fun!

Alright, I also wish you a Happy New Year!
I hope I can add some posts before 2008 begins! ^^

See you soon~!

The UM in the Film!

Hello, everyone~!

I've come all the way here now... I'm finally on vacation! Yaaay! Even though it only lasts for about 2 weeks, it allows me to clean up what I've wanted or needed to do such as going shopping, sleeping without an alarm clock (It sounds amazingly good, isn't it?), and finishing the applications for the companies I've been interested in.

Anyway, I'd like to talk about the movie I've seen which is called "National Treasure: Book of Secrets". As some of you already notice, it's a sequel to the movie "National Treasure", which was released in 2004. I saw the first one after I visited Washington DC for the first time, and I really liked it not only because the story that the main character looked for treasures fascinated me, but also it really made me feel as if I were in Washington DC. So, I'd been looking forward to seeing the sequel of the movie.
At first, I was thinking about watching the movie "I Am Legend". But I found that the sequel of "National Treasure" has been released, and I couldn't help but think that I definitely would enjoy watching this movie. So, I decided to watch it. ^^ While deciding to watch "National Treasure: Book of Secrets", I wonder what "I Am Legend" would be like. Has anyone already seen it?

I really enjoyed watching the movie, and this time, it seemed that a variety of locations were selected as places for filming, Washington DC, Paris, and U.K., for example. Additionally, the scenes taken at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Park were really impressive and it did make me wonder how the human faces had been sculptured. It even made me want to visit there!

As the story went on, the main character called Ben and his dad visited the university where his mom were teaching because they needed someone who could translate the old language to get clues for treasure hunting. And surprisingly, the university was University of Maryland!! At the moment I found that, I almost felt like starting to introduce the university I visited to the other people in the theater...! Hahaha. It was really nice to see the UM again like this, and the buildings reminded me of the time we had there.

Moreover, I found the article on TERP magazine. The link will bring you to the top page, and scroll down to the bottom of the page. And you'll see the title "Lights! Camera! College Park!". I hope it helps you imagine what the movie would be like. Hopefully, you'll see the movie and share the experience I'd had in the theater with me! Hehehe... : )

Alright, see you soon~

I don't know where to begin with...

Hello, everyone~!

I'm now being at my school in Shibuya, right after the seminar I belong to. After writing this post, I'm going to go to a welcome party for the new people who'll join the seminar from 2009! So, I really am excited to meet them and imagine what it would be like to work on something with them next year.

Well....I don't know if you're interested in what I've been up to these days, but as you might have imagined, I had been busy! I've been working on the two project and the one was done today! Yay! (But there still is the other one. :() Also, I've been doing job-hunting, and as the end of the year nears, everyone starts to move such as doing self-analysis, looking for the information about job-hunting, and so on. So, just watching the other people move makes me a bit nervous. Anyway, screening stages have not begun yet, so maybe I should not be so nervous about it. I'll try my best to have fun looking for the job! ^^ I guess it should be because selecting the job that is the best for me is one of the ways to seek for my future, right?

Alright, I've got to get moving now!
So, please take care!

See you soon~

Discover NAA!

Hello, everyone~!

First of all... I'm glad that I finally have time to update this blog! I really am! As you can imagine, not being able to add a post for the blog means that I'm busy. Though I always try as much as I can to update this blog to keep all of you updated, there hasn't been enough time to actually do so.

Anyway... I would like to tell you how I've been up to these days. I don't know where to begin, however. So, let me talk about what I did on Monday!

As many of you already know, I've been working on job-hunting and I've visited various kinds of companies to know what each of them does as a company and how I would be able to contribute to a company if I were to be an employee. So, as a part of the efforts, I visited Narita International Airport today.

Being a Japanese, I've had to go to the airport if I would plan to go somewhere foreign. Also, this has been a place where I've seen my friends off when they'd gone for studying abroad, and where I've waited for them to come back to Japan. So, for me, it always makes me feel something special when I'm at Narita Airport because being there itself remind me of a lot of memories that I've treasured very much.

So, I haven't thought about working there. That was why I participated the tour for job-hunters that I thought enabled me to see what it would be like to work at the airport. While I was on the tour, I could visit the places that weren't open for public and it was quite interesting for me to go there! ^^ Moreover, I had a chance to talk to the people who work at the airport and it helped me to understand what they do, and at the same time, it makes me think about what I would be able to do if I were to work here.

I would like to share what I saw with all of you!
So, as always, I put the pictures I took on Bubbleshare. ^^
BubbleShare: Share photos - Print Christmas Coloring Pages.

I hope you enjoy it and see what I saw there!

And also...

I had a chance to see the moment when the airplane made a landing. I've really liked to see it go up to the sky and land at the airport since I was a little girl.


At first, it looks like nothing happens in the video. But...please pay attention to the sound you'll hear. The voices come from the control room.

Hmmm....finally, it turns out that I would really like to go somewhere! Hahaha.

Anyway, that's all for today!
See you soon~

Long Time No See!

Hello, everyone~!

How have all of you been these days? I'm sorry for not being able to add a new post! I hate to say this because it looks like an excuse, but I've been quite busy lately getting ready for the new semester, and most importantly, working on job hunting, which I hadn't been familiar with! However, I've tried having as much fun as possible through the new experiences. So, right now I've kind of enjoyed the job hunting because listening to stories of companies' employees interests me, and helps me imagine what it would be like to be a member of society in terms of employment.

Anyway.... you probably figure out that I'm doing just fine!
So, let me now move on to the school's topic.

I saw some of AGU 2006 & 2007 in the Fuchinobe campus. I saw Hiro, Yuiko, Eriko, Seri, Miki, Tetsuya, Nobu, Ryo, and Ai from AGU 2007! Since we all had been on vacation, so I think it really was a nice opportunity for each of us to know what we've been up to recently. I'm glad to know that everyone was doing fine! ^^

Sophomore students, who are going to come to the campus in Shibuya soon, now have to decide what kind of seminars they'll belong to. So, junior students visited Fuchinobe to introduce the seminars we've belonged to and sophomore students got to know what the junior students learn and how to apply for the one you want to go.

Now I'm junior and fortunately I was able to belong to the seminar I'd wanted to join. Thinking back, however, I was overwhelmed by the information I got at the time and what friends of mine talked about just like the sophomore students do now. So, watching them shop around the rooms to decide where to go literally brought me back to the days in Fuchinobe. Also, it did make me feel old...Ouch! Hahaha....

Alright,
I promise I will update more often! ^^
The temperature here has suddenly dropped.
So please watch out for cold, everyone!(including me!!)

See you soon~!

It's still kind of hot, but...

Hello, everyone~!

It's been a little while, right? As the title says, it's still kind of hot here but I'm sure that summer has gone already... Well, I couldn't update this blog because I'd been busy these days especially participating the internships I'd applied for. At first, It was a bit strange for me not to write a post in a day, but once I'd gotten used to it, it surprisingly becomes an ordinary thing. The days without blogging enables me to realize how hard it would be to keep doing something regularly. ^^

Anyway... what's encouraged me to write a post for today is the fact that my academic grade for the previous semester came out finally! I surely remember talking about this last year, and how it makes me feel remains exactly the same. So, I felt so nervous to log on to the website of AGU that I even thought about two different ways to deal with the possible results that would make me feel happy or sad. To my relief, it did turn out to be the happy one! Yaaaaay! Though I've fully enjoyed the vacation, I've felt a part of me subconsciously cared about my academic grade. So, I was glad to finally be able to see it. ^^

Alright, I hope you'll see how happy I am right now! Hehehe....

That's all for today!
See you soon.

Typhoon

Hello everyone~!

It's about 11:30 PM here, and a typhoon is coming to the Kanto area! Now, I've listened to the sound of the wind that seems to get louder... I don't know how long it'll be staying here, but I'm surprised at the force of the wind! I hope it'll be gone tomorrow because I have another one-day internship to go!

So, I'll update more about it tomorrow! ^^

See you soon~!

*A_R*_A*_S*_H*_I*

Hello, everyone~!

I talked about Backstreet Boys yesterday, and I'll talk about the boy band in Japan called "Arashi"! Ahhh... it seems that I just can't help but be attracted to these guys! Though I've liked Backstreet Boys since I was 14 or so, I hadn't been interested in the boy bands in Japan for some reason. Maybe it's because too many of them have been out there. So, I might end up getting lost and giving up to catch up!

But... after I went to the concert of Arashi, I've been into them sooo much that I even went shopping today just to get their new single! Hahaha.... A friend of mine who got the tickets and went to the concert together was really surprised because she thought that I wanted to experience what the Arashi's concert would be like! And since then, I regularly check their TV appearance. ^^ Before going to the concert, I had no idea why she's loved them sooo much that she skipped classes to participate recordings for their TV shows as a spectator. Now I totally can understand what she did. I imagine it was like a dream come true for her!

And I decided to put some of their videos I found on youtube. By doing this, I'll be able to see them whenever I want without logging on to youtube! Hahaha....



The boy who dances on the stage is Ohno-kun! The song is called "Song for Me", and it's his solo on their album. (Arashi's members are Ninomiya-kun, Ohno-kun, Matsumoto-kun, Sakurai-kun, Aiba-kun.) Though it looks like he's lip-syncing, I like his dancing! It really is awesome. ^^



This one is performed by Ninomiya-kun, and it's also a solo work. The name of the song is Niji, which means "rainbow". Fortunately, the lyric is translated! ^^ So, I think you'll enjoy listening to the song. The lyric is written by him, and sooo sweet!

With everything being said, I now started to feel that I'm actually getting younger... Hahaha~!

Alright, that's all for today!
See you soon. ^^

Is this because.....

Hello, everyone~!

I happened to know that Backstreet Boys will release the new album. After hearing that, I found myself visiting their website. Yeah, I know some of you say they've become the people of the past. However, I still can't help but follow news updates about them! I'm actually writing this post while listening to the sounds of my favorite tune, "I want it that way".

I feel sooo old when I think back about my junior high school days, and how passionate I'd been about them. Ouch! (Hehehe.) However, their songs absolutely have kept helping me improve my English and learning the expressions that aren't on textbooks. I think that's why they've been the band which I keep coming back to from time to time. ^^ Their songs definitely bring me back the memories I had with my friends from the junior high school. As the songs go on, the feelings I had and what we did start to be recalled specifically.

Is this how getting older makes me feel?
It also makes me want to see one of my best friends who went to the junior high school with me! Ahhhh....I'm certainly getting older! Hahaha.

Alright, that wraps up today's post!
See you soon. ^^

Soul-searching?

Hello, everyone~!

Lately, I've been working on filling out applications for the internships that I hope to be accepted. It's called "entorii shi-to(entry sheet)" in Japan, and sending it to companies is the very first step for those who want to participate internship programs. Whether you're required to write this really relies on companies' manners. And I think the definition of internship in the US is not always suitable for the Japanese version because some companies in Japan have introduced the internship programs for letting students know more about companies by giving us seminars and chances to talk to the employees, not for working experience. I like both styles of internships because each of them has different positive and negative points.

As I've been thinking about what to write, I can't help but start thinking about who I am and the path I've taken so far. I personally don't think that I can see something objectively in the true sense of the term because the part of me that tries to be objective and the other part of me that doesn't will never be apart. And I still think so. However, I realize that the environment that embraces me allows me to have a kind of objective view about myself. The environment includes my parents, my friends, and the things I did. Needless to say, I've been greatly affected by my parents and my friends, and they always encourage me to go the way I am. At the same time, they make me realize I'm the only one and so is each of them.

The other thing I can think of in terms of the environment I've been grown up with is English. I hadn't noticed that English has had a big influence on me until I've got over with being worried about making mistakes, and improved enough to be able to write in English. I now feel like I have another room in my mind where I can visit quite casually when I feel like getting out of the room I've got already for Japanese. I'm supposed to have a switch button to decide where I'll be, and I guess I am. Sometimes it doesn't work that way, however. I feel the little part of me is left at the Japanese room when I think I stay at the English room, and vice versa. That's one of the reasons why I feel I'm a different person when I write in English, maybe?

Anyway, I like writing in English because it allows me to express myself differently and I've been able to feel something that left sealed in the Japanese room being turned into words, which is visible.

So...the conclusion is that I'm going to keep writing!

That's all for today.
See you soon!

Oshiri kajiri mushi...!!

Hello, everyone~!

Today, as I was surfing through the Internet, I happened to find the music video that's been getting popular in Japan. The song is called "Oshiri kajiri mushi". The translation would be "An insect that bites butts". Yeah, I know it sounds really strange, and even ridiculous. First time I'd heard of the character, I completely had no idea what it looked like... Finally, I had a chance to see it and I liked how the character has been described! So, why don't you see it moving and what it's singing about?



Though I'm Japanese, I just don't know what the lyric wants to say! But I guess it's okay because it's a song for children and the primary purpose of the song is, I suppose, to make people dance and smile!

I hope you enjoy the video and hopefully dancing! Hahaha...

That's all for today!
See you soon.

ARASHI : Happiness

Hello, everyone~!

I was finally able to see what I've been waiting for! It was the Arashi's music video. ^^ Do you remember I talked about their concert which I enjoyed much more than I'd thought previously? Their new single will be released on September 5th! Yaaay! So, why don't you watch and listen to their new song called "Happiness"!



Even though I'd known that they've been out there for years, I didn't pay attention to them very much because it seemed to me that they were just one of the boy bands. However, after one of my friends who have loved them since she was much younger took me to their concert, I completely changed my mind! Their performance went much beyond my expectation. ^^

Since then, I've kept checking their TV appearance. I assume their schedule must be crammed, but I can see that they always try to do their best! That's one of the things I've liked about them, and also that's what I learn by looking at what they do. ^^

And a friend of mine who introduced "Arashi" to me, Mao, just left Japan to study in China. So, every time I see them sing or dance, it definitely reminds me of her! For now, I just don't feel what it'll be like not to be able to see her for a while because the new semester hasn't started yet. But as time goes by I'll slowly miss her and I guess I actually do a bit right now. Though the fact that we're apart remains, we still can talk about them throught the Internet! So, I'm looking forward to talking to her again soon! Also, I'm deeply grateful for the technologies that enable us to communicate with each other. ^^

Alright, I hope you'll like the video I updated. ^^
That's all for today!

See you soon.

The way to Go Green

Hello, everyone~!

September finally has come! As I've got used to the way I've spent time on vacation, I just felt that August would last much longer than it'd been. I guess the extreme heat that's been active lately seems to be taking some rest now. I'm not sure whether or not it'll ever wake up and keep me from going outside, but I definitely feel autumn coming closer. I always feel a hunch that tells me the coming of autumn at this time of year, and I like how it makes me feel. ^^ Also, that's one of the things I've liked about Japan because I can see or feel every season coming closer!

But I worry that it might change in the near future because of global warming... Talking of global warming, there's been so many opinions out there that we often end up having no idea what to believe and getting lost. I've read several articles about the topic on this week edition of NEWSWEEK (JP edition), and I came to know that the things that need to be discussed have been trapped unfortunately by political ties. So, as long as opponents exist, it'll be hard to do what we need to do to restrain global warming.

Thinking things like these, I was surfing on the Internet.
And I found the article that definitely gave me some hope!?

How about this? I happened to find the article on the blog called "Funny and Stupid Ideas". You can see that the relationship between electronic products and plants is actually much better than we've thought, isn't it? We want them to live happily ever after...right?
H

O

W

E

V

E

R
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Things don't always go the way we want them to be, do they? (FYI: This is not MY keyboard! Hahaha...) I just can't believe how strong the power of the plants could be! It seems that they'd grown so much that the person who did the experiment wasn't able to type anymore... At the present period, everyone and everything tries hard to go green. However, I guess there's something that should be left as it is. So, that might mean we've still got a long way to go! Hahaha...! ^^

I hope you enjoy the picture I updated!

Alright, that's all for today.
See you soon~!

My Friend's Blog (2)

Hello, everyone~!

Today, as usual, I was surfing through the websites that I regularly go and read. I've written about a friend of mine who have started blogging recently on the previous post, and she left the comment saying that she was glad to see her blog introduced on my blog! In return for what I did, she did the same thing on her blog which was to introduce my blog.

I was so glad not only because she talked about my blog and our friendship through the training program at the Fuchinobe campus, but also the post was written in English! I've seen a lot of people who kept saying "I want to improve the skill of writing in English", but it's likely to turn out that they do nothing. So, I was literally impressed by how much she wrote and the effort she made! Though it's a bit strange, it's always fun to communicate with the people who usually speak Japanese in English! I just don't know why...it's because how sentences in English are structured, maybe?

I hadn't thought very much that the language each of us speaks has something to do with who he/she is. By speaking and writing both in Japanese and English, however, I now started to believe that it matters more than I'd thought. For me, it's like having two different personalities on my mind, but they are inseparable. So, it's sometimes better to communicate in English with the people who speak both Japanese and English, and vice versa. It's really interesting, isn't it?

For those who are interested in reading my friend's blog, I put the URL for the blog! She usually writes in Japanese. But don't be discouraged! The post that talked about my blog is written in English! So, I think you'll be able to enjoy reading it. ^^　→http://blog.livedoor.jp/a_canq2i/archives/161295.html

Alright, that's all for today!
See you soon.

Evangelion...

Hello, everyone~!

Today I went to a CD store to buy Hikaru Utada's new single "Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry". As I've listened to the songs over and over again, I started to feel like talking about them here!

The first song, "Beautiful World" is the theme song for the movie called "Rebuild of Evangelion". Some of you might be familiar with the TV anime version of "Evangelion" because its popularity has been spread throughout the world. Some of my friends have talked about the movie version, and they just don't seem to stop talking when I ask some questions about the episodes and the characters! Their passion for "Evangelion" has even inspired me to go and watch the movie. ^^


The song you hear, "Fly Me to the Moon" , is also perfomed by Hikaru Utada.


In this trailer, the theme song is "Beautiful World".


The other song is called "Kiss & Cry". What the name of the song means is that it's okay for you to express how you feel more. How so? Well, Do you know what will happen after a figure skater finishes his/her performance? You might recall the emotional expressions that he/she made there such as kissing, hugging, and crying. That place is called "Kiss & Cry". So, in my opinion, what she wants is to make the world be the place like "Kiss & Cry"!

I hope you enjoy watching the videos!
And I just can't wait to watch the movie version of "Evangelion"!

Alright, that's all for today.
See you soon. ^^

1 0 0

Hello, everyone~!

Finally.....
I DID IT!

Oh, you don't see what I'm talking about?
Okay...I'll tell you. ^^

I would like to tell you that this is my 100th post! I'm glad to see how far I've come in terms of experience points for blogging. To be honest, however, I don't care very much about how many posts I'd updated because what matters most is the fact that I've enjoyed writing in English!

Anyway, I'm going to keep writing and trying to be better!
So, I really hope that you'll keep coming to my blog. ^^

Also, THANK YOU SOOO MUCH for the comments you left on this blog!
I really appreciate it. ^^

Alright, that's all for today!
See you soon.

XOXO
Hiromi

Formula One!

Hello, everyone~!

This weekend, what I'd been looking forward to was... the Formula One Turkey Grand Prix! The races of F1 have been held at the places throughout the world, such as Japan, Malaysia, Bahrain, the US, China. A season lasts for 6 month, from April to October. The machines for F1 run so fast that ordinary people can't drive, and I guess that makes the races much more exciting!

I'd known about F1 races, and I'd seen them on TV. However, all I could think of at the time was that the noises annoyed me so much that I would like to switch to another channel. But eventually, I've started being interested in the races because of the influence from my friends who love cars! I even enjoyed reading several books about how F1 races have been operated , and how they attract people in the world through broadcasting and the Internet. Moreover, my friends have helped me a lot develop my understandings about how sensitive a machine for F1 can be, what needs to be done to make a team come at the top through the relationships between machines and humans, and how spectators can analyze teams' tactics by looking at everything you see in a race circuit. Once you realize these things, it'll much more interesting and exciting to watch races! For example, just looking at tires that a machine wears tells us a lot about what will happen next.

I've enjoyed not only watching F1 races itself, but also looking at appearances of machines! They always fascinate me because colors and labels for advertisement are so diverse. Sometimes, they've inspired me to create my own picture of imagined machine! Hahaha... Anyway, my favorite, right now, is from BMW Sauber F1 Team. I really like the combination of the colors, white and blue. ^^ Also, it's refreshing for me to see it running on a race circuit because the color of the machines I've encountered would always be RED!

If you have a chance, I encourage you to watch a Fomula One Grand Prix!

Alright, that's all for today!
See you soon. ^^

Lovely Weekend

Hello, everyone~!

Today, I went shopping to a home improvement store with my parents to buy household goods. On the way to the store, we went by the US Yokota Air Base. I happened to see the fighter planes (I guess they were F-14, what we call Tomcat) take off from the runway. The airplanes went up much faster than I thought! My dad has loved almost everything about airplanes. Thanks to that, I've been interested in airplanes since I was a little girl. So I enjoyed watching it happen before my eyes, and I was even thrilled by the sounds that the airplanes made. ^^

After me getting excited, we arrived at the store. The store was so gigantic that I didn't know where to go first... But at the same time, we could have so much fun shopping around thanks to the bigness. ^^ So, we enjoyed being there very much!

Then, we went to the Japanese restaurant to have dinner! The picture on the left side shows what I ate...! I really love this restaurant, and there's too much to choose from. Every time I go there to eat, I just can't decide what to eat! So, I always end up ordering everything that comes into my sight! Hahaha... I even had a dessert! It's called "Kuzukiri". It looks like thick noodles, but if you look closer, you'll see it's like jelly and a bit translucent. Noodle-like things basically have no taste, so we usually eat it with the syrup made from muscovado and toasted soybean flour. I think it really is the perfect dessert for summer! ^^

Alright, that's all for today!
See you soon. ^^

Temporary Farewell to My Friend

Hello, everyone~!

Today, I went to Shibuya to hang out with my friends who went to the US with me as participants of the program at American University! We actually got together on August 9th, but unfortunately the one we'd been waiting for, whose name is Mao, didn't make it at the time. Whether or not she would come has been really important because she's going to go to China for one year to study.

And finally, she made it! Even though the people who came up were 3 persons, I literally enjoyed talking to them about how each of us had been, and what they're going to do on the vacation that would still last about a month. ^^ I was so glad to see her not only because it's been a while, but also I could talk about the Japanese boy band that we've liked "ARASHI"!(I went to the concert with her, and since then I've been a fan of them! So, she's influenced my taste for music a lot! ^^)

After talking about the things we usually chat about, we moved on to girls talk which obviously seemed to be unstoppable! Since I talked thoughtlessly about one of my guy friends who's been kind to me lately, I was overwhelmed by the questions! Ahhhh.... I shouldn't have said anything! Hahaha...

Anyway, I had a lot of fun hanging out with them. ^^ Mao said that it would be unthinkable for her to think that we wouldn't be able to see each other as frequently as we did, she would miss me a lot. That was exactly what I thought. However, we still can keep in touch by using MSN messenger. (Sometimes, talking through it makes me want to meet the one I talk to face to face, though.) For now, I hope her stay will be a really good one!

Alright, that's all for today!
See you soon. ^^

My Friend's Blog

Hello, everyone~!

I'd wanted to add a new post, but all of a sudden I got sooo sleepy... I guess I was still recovering from the fatigue I got from the internship. I ended up sleeping for almost 12 hours!

Today I'd like to introduce my friend's blog! Her name is Akiko(I call her Aki-chan), and she and I have participated the program that I talked about previously in Fuchinobe campus. At the beginning of the program, I was a bit anxious about how I should get along with everyone. But after I met her, it turned out that there was no need to have the anxiety because she's been easy to talk to! And it's been always interesting for me to listen to what she's learned about, which is business economics. And It's not too much to say that she's made the program more enjoyable to me. ^^

She has created her own blog as a way to how it works, and she'll use it for her research. On her blog, she talks about the internship that she participated. To tell the truth, she was also a participant of the one-day internship by Cisco! I didn't know that she applied for the program and that she was chosen! What a coincidence! ^^ I was surprised to find out that she would be there, and glad to see her at the same time because it's been a while. ^^

If you're interested in her blog...
Go to http://blog.livedoor.jp/a_canq2i/
It's written in Japanese, but the pictures she updated will help you understand what she's talked about. ^^

Alright, that's all for today!
See you soon. ^^

One-Day Internship @ Cisco Systems

Hello, everyone~!

As you might guess from the title, I went to Roppongi to visit the office of the company, Cisco Systems, for participating "One-Day internship" program. I talked about me being chosen as a participant on the post I wrote about a week ago. Though I've been learning about constructing networks, I had no idea what I was going to do. So I was a bit nervous, but at the same time excited because I looked forward to meeting the people from other universities! Meeting them always makes me rethink about who I am and realize the plain fact that I belong to Aoyama Gakuin University! We seem to be the same in terms of age, but take into account the environment that each of us has been surrounded by, each of us can be so unique and different. Moreover, the company has its office at the area called "Tokyo Midtown", where many people come to do sight-seeing or chill out on weekends. So, as I went closer to the entrance, it made me wonder what it would be like to come here for work. Do you think it would be almost the same as going to a university in Shibuya? Hahaha.... Maybe it would.

The first thing I did after arriving the site was to fill my stomach in order not to starve to death during the program! So, after shopping around the cafes I decided to go for the Japanese style. I had an Onigiri (rice ball), and iced green tea. Hmmm... YUM YUM! One of the foods that energize me the most is rice, so I secretly devoured it! Hehehe. ^^

This is the entrance of the building called "Midtown Tower". As the name of the area "Tokyo Midtown" shows, there are many kinds of facilities here such as a hotel, parks, shops, restaurants, hospitals, museums, offices! The building I visited as a participant was mainly consisted of companies' offices. But I saw many tourists as well...

Have you seen the picture I put on the right side? If you haven't, what do you think it is? It's a two dimensional bar code called "QR code", and "QR" stands for "Quick Response." I don't know if it's popular outside Japan, but I found the article about it on Wikipedia.The way it's used is, for example, that a company puts a QR code on an advertisement page and customers who are interested in its product can visit the company's website by making a cell phone's camera read the QR code. So, you don't have to type URLs which are often too long to type. The one you see on the right side is the code for this blog. Oh, why am I talking about this? Because... that's what I used as a way to get through the entrance! Don't you think it's cool? For those who are interested in how it works, I put the picture of the gate on the left side. ^^ Each of the gates has a bar code reader that allows the people with registered codes to go inside. It was the first time for me to see the code being used like this, so I was fascinated! After getting through the gate, I got on the elevator to go from 21st floor to 25th floor.

Finally, the program started! The short lecture they'd given at the beginning helped me think about what systems engineers do. I could see that they've been proud of their job. Also, I had a chance to collaborate with the people of the group I was in through an experience program! The tasks were to make a network environment for a certain company. I enjoyed the program because the more I thought about how I would construct the network physically, the more I realized the needs to step into the customer's shoes. It really inspired me to rethink about the relationship between humans and computers. Plenty of information flows mainly through the Internet rapidly and heavily than ever, and I've seen a lot of people who said they didn't like the current situation. As for me, however, it seems like it'll be more interesting than ever to live the moment like this! Yeah, I have to admit that I sometimes feel it's a bit too much to grasp everything and I think that I might end up getting lost just like the people who don't like the situation. But for now, I'd rather look at the bright side! I don't want to waste time refusing to try something new, and it's better to enjoy!

The last part of the program was to have friendly talks with the employees whose age was a bit older than me. We talked about what they did when they were my age, and why they decided to be where they are today. I enjoyed talking with them because the way they talked about each of their college lives made me feel closer to them. ^^

Alright, I definitely have gone too far~~! Hahaha... But I hope you'll get the idea of what I've done there! ^^ Lastly, I put the picture of myself! I was wearing the suit I bought the other day. How do I look??

That's all for today!
See you soon.

P.S
As always, I put the rest of the pictures on bubbleshare! So please enjoy~. ^^
This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

Pocket Tissues

Hello, everyone~!

Today, my parents and I went to Tachikawa after my mom's work finished. Tachikawa is the west side of Tokyo, and a kind of suburban area compared to the cities such as Shinjuku and Shibuya. After getting off the car, we walked a bit from the parking lot to the store we'd hoped to go. While I was walking down the road, I saw a person who had a pocket tissue coming towards me. I just can't help but be predictable about what would happen next... He handed out the packet of pocket tissue to me just like I'd imagined on my mind. And since we walked down the same road to go back to the parking lot, I got another one! If it's round-trip, the number of pocket tissues you'll be given will be doubled!! Every time this happens, it reminds me of the remark made by a foreigner when he came to Japan for the first time, "Japan must be a good country because you can get tissues for free."

Interestingly, even though I walked down the road with my parents, they seemed to care only about my presence. My parents were surprised at the things happened while they were walking with me! Hahaha... I'm sure that I was their target consumer because what the information inside the packets said was about so-called "mizu-shoubai" in Japanese, which refers to the job at drinking places especially for men. In specific, girls are paid by men to enjoy drinking alcohol with them. Hmmmmm.... that's not something I'm interested in. Anyway, whatever they'd hoped to achieve, I got plenty of pocket tissues! Yaay. ^^

Then, I happened to find the article("Pocket Tissues") about pocket tissues handed out in Japan, and how it's become popular as a way to advertise. It was quite fascinating for me to read the article like this not only because I'd just received plenty of them(Hahaha...), but also because there was a lot of the things I didn't know about the industry of pocket tissues! (I didn't even know it existed!) Moreover, I think I'll be able to explain this to the people from foreign countries. I once was asked about this, and she also asked me why some girls refused to be given. Though I did answered the questions, but I don't think I explained why in a way she could fully understand. (I guess some girls don't receive pocket tissues because they regard accepting as a kind of insult.)

Alright, why don't you come to Japan and see it happen before your eyes?
Hahaha.... At least, I hope the article and my post will help you imagine what's happening here. ^^

That's all for today!
See you soon. ^^

Pastime for a Day Like Today

Hello, everyone~!

It's 14:50 pm here. My dad and I just came home after finishing the errand which my mom asked him to, and having lunch. Today's lunch was... UDON! Yaaaaay! I've enjoyed eating UDON more than I can count in this summer, but I never get tired of it. ^^ I just love it sooo much.

After enjoying Udon very much, we came home. And now, I've been watching TV just like a couch potato does! Hahaha... But I guess it's one of the best things to do among things like eating ice cream! The thing I've been watching was the baseball game, LA Angels vs NY Yankees. ^^ Watching baseball games like this couldn't be possible before, but now a lot of the Japanese baseball players have gone to the US. So, a lot of the Japanese people watch games on a daily basis. As for me, it's quite fascinating to be able to watch the games by Major League Baseball because how they play baseball is different from what I've seen in the games played in Japan. Also, in my opinion, the way the spectators in the US cheer the teams up differs a lot. We often play horns and sing to the sound of them, but I don't see that in the US. I'm okay with the sound of horns at the Japanese stadiums, but still I like the US style better because it enables me to concentrate on watching games and hearing sounds at the stadiums, especially the sound that can be heard when a ball thrown by a pitcher is held by a catcher's mitt!

The game has just ended, and the result is LA Angels 7, NY Yankees 6. Though one of the Japanese successful major leaguer, Hideki Matsui seemed to try doing his best, Yankees lost... :( But I guess it was an exciting game. ^^

I'm going to keep watching baseball games. But this time, it's a different kind! It's the High School Baseball Tournament at Koshien Stadium!

That's all for today!
See you soon. ^^

"SEVENTEEN" and Messenger

Hello, everyone~!

Today, I visited newsweek.com to see if something new has updated as usual. I happened to find the article that talks about the one of the famous magazines for teenagers in the US called "SEVENTEEN". Though I went to the high school in Japan and enjoyed being a so-called teenager, thinking about the magazine really reminds me of my high school days. Since I first encountered the magazine at the age of 16 or so, I'd loved reading it very much. I'd looked forward to reading it so much that I even subscribed the magazine directly from the publisher! I haven't had a chance to read it recently, and the price here keeps me from getting a copy. But after reading through the article, I feel like reading it again!

Well, one of the other things I did today was to chat through MSN messenger. ^^ Since I've installed the tool and someone to talk to, I can't help but be a kind of addicted to the fun I've been able to have while talking to my friends! I enjoyed talking with one of my friends today, and it was nice to talk to her because it's been a while. I think that each of us had a lot of fun talking about how we've been lately and plans to do in this summer. In addition to her, I also had a chance to talk to Ji Won. ^^ As you know, we're far away from each other, but thanks to the technology we have today, it doesn't make me feel we are! However, I've always ended up thinking that we are actually far away and wishing you were here after talking to the people who don't live in Japan through the Internet. :( It's something that can't be helped, isn't it?

Anyway, being able to talk to the people throughout the world itself is great! And of course, I'm looking forward to talking to you very soon at Tapped in. ^^

That's all for today!
See you soon. ^^

Living with Robots?

Hello, everyone~!

You might notice that I'm a kind of book junkie by taking a look at my profile on this blog, and I'll be glad to admit that I am. Now I even think that I love reading not only books but also anything printed in Japanese and English. I mean, magazine, newspaper, and articles on the Internet. Many people who are older than me have kept saying that young people in Japan don't read books for years. I always feel sad when I hear them say the thing like this because I think it definitely is a misunderstanding that doesn't need to be popular! :(

And today, I looked through the website of the famous magazine, Newsweek. I bookmarked the website because I like the website better than the website of TIME magazine. I like the way they write each article and most importantly, it's always easy for me to read. So, I just can't help but spend much time taking a look at the articles that interest me! I'd like to share some of them with you here. ^^

"Homemade Robots"
I found it interesting to read the article because I've been thinking about what it would be like to live with robots since I'd seen a movie called "i, Robot". (Have you seen it? If you haven't, I encourage you to check it out!) The movie I've seen recently, "Transformers"(Remember I talked about this on the previous post?) has inspired me to think about living with robots more. Technically speaking, we've actually lived with robots already in terms of assembly lines.

However, the same thing doesn't seem to happen soon at home, right? The reasons why it's taken so long to make that happen are that it would definitely cost you a lot, and that it would be difficult to fix problems by users who wouldn't be familiar with mechanical things. In this article, the writer talks about an experiment that might bring us one step closer to our goal. The main purpose of the experiment is to create "a series of build-it-yourself robots". According to the article, it'll be easy for everyone to make. Moreover, the price of a kit will be cheap enough for almost everyone to buy.

It also talks about their approach to develop robot's self-expression ability for communicating with humans. I've seen several robots on TV that walked with two legs and read our facial expressions before, like the robot called "ASIMO". (Do you know him? You can see him on the website) I've also seen some of them respond to remarks made by humans. Every time I see a footage like these, it gives me a message from robots that "I can understand you." However, that's not what I expect to see. :( What I want to see in the future is communicating with each other evenly. Is that too much that I'm asking for? Hahaha... It also makes me wonder if we ever need to make that happen in order to live with comfort because living in this world is never really easy and getting harder and harder, don't you think? But at the same time, that's something that enriches our lives. ^^ So, we might have to think about how we live while trying to make a robot!

Alright, I hope you enjoy reading the article! ^^
That's all for today.

See you soon~!

Going Shopping for a Suit ^^

Hello, everyone~!

Since the vacation began, I haven't let a day pass me by without thinking about updating my blog! At first, I thought that there would never be something interesting to talk about for every day's post. However, it's turned out that I've somehow manage to find one for each day so far.^^ It's made me think that interesting things definitely have happened every day actually, and whether or not you'll realize them happen matters! ^^ Maybe, I'm fond of seeking for something interesting by nature! Hahaha...

Well, I went shopping with my mom today. ^^ It's one of my favorite things to do, but the extreme heat which almost made me melt has kept me from going outside. Hahaha. So, it's been a while!

The main reason for shopping was to get a suit for my internship and job hunting. It's extremely important for myself to pay attention to how I look in terms of business situations. Why I think so is that no matter how much I try to brush up my internal aspects, it sometimes allows companies' people to judge me. So, from now on, I have to care about what kind of messages I send to interviewers nonverbally through what I wear, which I'm not very good at! :( But I'll try doing so anyway.

After shopping around the stores, I bought a suit. and probably I'll be able to show pictures of myself wearing it when I participate the internship program by Cisco Systems. ^^ So, please look forward to it! I'll definitely take pictures of the place where the office is located as well. ^^ So don't worry! Hahaha... :)

So, that's all for today!
See you soon!

Hana Yori Dango

Hello, everyone~!

Since the vacation began, I've been obsessed about a TV drama called "Hana Yori Dango"! The drama actually ended on January, and I've started watching it now as the episodes have been aired again as a rerun. I happened to watch it as I was being lazy in front of TV in the morning, but I found myself getting drawn into it! I'm really pleased with the fact that it's a rerun. ^^ Thanks to that, I've been able to watch it everyday! It's a sequel actually, but it doesn't keep me away from watching it at all because I've already read the original.

Yes, It's originally come from the Japanese comic and it now becomes the best-selling girls comic in Japan. With the popularity, it's been exported to the Asian region. As you can see by the picture on the left side, it's been translated into English as well. I clearly remember being addicted to them when I was a high school student! (In fact, I even enjoyed reading them at my high school. Oops! Was there the moment when you want to act a lit badly through high school days, wasn't it? Hehehe...)

It's a high school drama that could be categorized as "romantic comedy", "friendship". What's interesting to see is the relationship between Domyouji Tsukasa, who comes from a rich family, and Tsukushi Makino, who is a working-class girl. As you can guess, so many things which they can't take control get in the way. In addition to that, the moments they just can't understand each other make them upset emotionally.

One of the things I like about this drama is that even though love triangles appear sometimes, each of the episodes is always peaceful. So you can watch it without being worried about how many people will be dead in one episode.(Like the one I'd been addicted to until recently, "24"!) I've seen the short footage of the Japanese dramas that had been aired recently on TV, any of which didn't make me feel like watching. So, I haven't seen a Japanese drama for a while because I thought that the attractiveness of Japanese dramas has been disappeared. But now, It turned out to be sooo wrong!(at least about this drama. ^^)

Hana Yori Dango 2 Returns 03 Part 2/3
Uploaded by Blaice

For those who are interested in the drama, I put the video that I found on Dailymotion. It's the episode 3, so I don't know if you'll figure out what the story is like. But at least I hope it'll help you get some ideas of "Hana Yori Dango"! ^^ (I've already seen this episode, but it still makes me cry at the last half of the video!)

Alright, that's all for today!
See you soon~♪

What's inside my head?

Hello, everyone~!

To tell the truth, I don't have anything to post about today! But I just happened to think that it would be interesting to talk about a kind of game that has become popular among young people in Japan.

It's called "Nounai Maker". Can you guess what it means? "Nounai" can be translated into "inside the head". So, as you might see by the name, it'll tell you what your head is consisted of! You probably wonder how the result would be known, and how your head could be tested through the Internet. All you have to do is to type the Chinese characters of your name in the box on the website.

So, let's take "佐藤宏美" ("Sato Hiromi", which is obviously my name!) as an example. After typing them in the box, you can push the button to submit. And the result appears after you wait a minute. ^^

Here it is!

Well, you might not be familiar with Chinese characters. So I'll explain to you how each of the characters shown on the result would be translated into English.

• 食- the character whose color is yellow green. It would be read "shoku", and it relates to food. I just don't know how many "食" is in my head!!!!
• 友- the character whose color is blue. It would be read "tomo", and it means friends. I guess it's good to know that a part of my head is consisted of friends, but it's too few! Hahaha.
• 忘- the character whose color is white. It would be read "wasure", and it means "forget". Does it tell me that I'm good at forgetting the bad things and moving on, or just forgetting everything happened in my life regardless of good or bad? Hahaha.. Anyway, it tells me a lot.
• 負- the character whose color is black. It would be read "make", and it means "lose". Ohhh... I wish this told me when to lose! Hahaha!!
• 泣- the character whose color is light blue. It would be read "naku", and it means "cry". It appeared in my head probably because I've been easily moved to tears!

Many of my friends tried this as well! Every time a result comes out, it always makes me laugh because each of results is so different and unique!

So, if you're interested, go and get tested! http://maker.usoko.net/nounai/ (You might have difficulty visiting the website since many of the Japanese TV programs introduced this page! So please be patient if you want to try. Moreover, I'm not sure if typing in English could be tested. :( )

Now you see what I'm thinking? Hahaha....
That's all for today!

See you soon~

Cooking at Midnight....

Hello, everyone~!

Even though I'm not the one who is there with you guys, I'm also sad that the ending of the program is really near. I felt exactly the same when I had to leave there last year, and reading their feelings about departure reminds me of the feeling I had at the time. But as Ji Won said at the time at the airport, "It's just the beginning!". And now I started to realize that after one year has passed since last year.

Anyway, I've heard that some of AGU 2007's participants have IDs for mixi. We created the community for those who participated the program. I think it'll enable us to communicate with each other. So, if you're a mixi user and interested, feel free to join! ^^
http://mixi.jp/view_community.pl?id=1220785

Well, let me now move on to the topic I'm about to talk about today. It's about cooking! I was wondering if I could ever call it "cooking" because it was much easier than I thought, but since I don't know any other way to call it, so I'll talk about it as cooking~!

What I made was pudding. In Japan, a pudding is basically baked. So you need to chew when you eat it because it's hard. But the one I tried to make was different, and mine is called "Torokeru Purin". We, the Japanese, use "torokeru" when we eat something that melts in the mouth. And "purin" would be translated into "pudding" in English. I found the article about the product on the magazine, and it said it was one of the best-selling products in the first half of this year. Also, according to the article, one of the reasons why it was sold very much was that it was easy to made and even children could help moms make it. After I read it, I was interested in how it tasted and how easy it would be to make it actually. So I was glad to find this at the supermarket near my house! ^^ And I came to decide to make it in the middle of the night... Hahaha!

Even though the article said it was easy to make, there was the instruction on the back of the product's box. First of all, put the powder in the bowl. After that, pour milk in slowly. Then, all you have to do is stir up slowly with a whisk for two minutes. I guess how I describe the steps I took looks like I did cooking, but actually it was almost finished! Anyway, let's keep following the instruction!

This was how it looked after stirring up for two minutes. At this point, I began to realize that it was too easy to call it "cooking"! Hehehe...

Then, you divide the mixture into 4 glasses. After that, put them in a refrigerator for about an hour or so.

It's finally done!

Alright, that's all for today!
See you soon~. ^^

Cisco

Hello, everyone~!

First and foremost, talking to the participants of AGU 2007 through the Internet was sooo fun and exciting! I enjoyed being there so much that I even lost the sense of time. ^^ I really hope that they'll keep having a lot of fun through the rest of the program! Oh, needless to say, I've enjoyed reading each of their blogs as well. ^^

Well, as I talked here on my previous post, I've been learning about how the information on the Internet gets carried through personal computers in the world, and how to get computers connected physically in order to be able to move the information to where we want it to be. Whether or not you realize it, the technology of the Internet has contributed greatly to our convenient daily life that seems to be nothing special.

Then, as I've learned the field little by little at the Fuchinobe campus, where I actually don't need to go anymore if I'm not learning about it, and started to grasp what it's all about slowly, I applied for the program by Cisco Systems which is called "One-day Internship". Whether or not I would be able to take part in it seemed to be decided by the company today, and I got the e-mail that said I was the one who would be there! Yaaaaay!

It might look too short to know everything about what the company does in a day, but I'm already excited about it because I think it would be absolutely interesting for me to visit the company that looks unrelated to what I've majored in. Additionally, the place where the office is located is one of the coolest places in Tokyo now! It's called "Tokyo Midtown"(The link will bring you to the official website of the building.). It's located in Roppongi (it's a part of Tokyo) , where a lot of foreigners live in, and the symbol of the building which is called "Midtown Tower" is the highest building in Tokyo! Though the reason why I'll be there is to participate the program, I'm probably going to enjoy visiting the building as well.

I'll definitely write about it on this blog, so please look forward to it. ^^

You see how much excited I am now?
That's all for today!
See you soon~.

It's only love...

Hello, everyone~!

There's a song that I'd like you to listen, and I'll introduce it today! ^^ It's called "Beautiful World", and sang by Utada Hikaru. Mentioning her might remind you of the post about her live, and the fact that I've been a big fan of her since I was much younger than now, probably at the age of 13 or so. So, though I've already been able to listen to the song on Youtube whenever I want, I just can't wait to buy the CD! The song will be heard in the movie "Rebuild of Evangelion". I heard a lot about "Evangelion" from my friends because they've been obsessed about the animated version which were aired on TV several years ago, but I'm not sure what it is because I was not interested in it very much. But as the opening day of the movie approaches, more and more people talk about it and it makes me want to check it out! I'd like to know your impression about the series of the animated version if you've ever seen it. Well, I'll translate the lyric of the song into English for those who are interested in what she sings about.

It's only love

もしも願い一つだけ叶うなら
Moshimo negai hitotsu dake kanaunara
(If only one wish were to come true)

きみのそばで眠らせて　どんな場所でもいいよ
Kimi no soba de nemurasete donna basho demo iiyo
(Please let me sleep next to you, and I don't care where it would be.)

Beautiful world

迷わず君だけを見つめている
Mayowazu kimi dake wo mitsumeteiru
(I don't hesitate to look only at you)

Beautiful boy

自分の美しさ　まだ知らないの
Jibun no utsukushisa mada shiranai no
(Your beauty it's something you're still unsure about)


It's only love


寝ても覚めても少年マンガ
Netemo sametemo shounen manga
(Waking or sleeping, boys' comics)

夢見てばっか　自分が好きじゃないの
Yume mite bakka jibun ga suki janaino
(are what you're endlessly dreaming of, you don't like yourself?)

何が欲しいか分からなくて
Nani ga hoshii ka wakaranakute
(You're not sure of what you really want)

ただ欲しがって　ぬるい涙が頬を伝う
Tada hoshigatte nurui namida ga hoho wo tsutau
(You end up wanting to be given, I feel lukewarm tears running down my face)

言いたいことなんか無い
Iitai koto nanka nai
(I don't have anything to say to you)

ただもう一度会いたい
Tada mou ichido aitai
(All I want is just to see you again)

言いたいこと言えない
Iitai koto ienai
(I can't tell you what I want to say)

根性なしかもしれない
Konjou nashi kamo shirenai
(Maybe I'm gutless)

それでいいけど
Sore de ii kedo
(I don't care about it, anyway)


もしも願い一つだけ叶うなら
Moshimo negai hitotsu dake kanaunara
(If only one wish were to come true)

君のそばで眠らせて　どんな場所でもいいよ
Kimi no soba de nemurasete donna basho demo iiyo
(Please let me sleep next to you, and anywhere is fine)

Beautiful world

迷わず君だけを見つめている
Mayowazu kimi dake wo mitsumete iru
(I don't hesitate to look only at you)

Beautiful boy

自分の美しさ　まだ知らないの
Jibun no utsukushisa mada shiranai no
(The beauty that you have, that's something you still don't know)


It's only love


どんなことでもやってみて
Donna koto demo yatte mite
(Try to do anything you can)

損をしたって　少し経験値上がる
Son wo shitatte sukosi keikenchi agaru
(If you end up failing, your experience point will go up anyway)

新聞なんかいらない
Shinbun nanka iranai
(I don't need a newspaper)

肝心なことが載ってない
Kanjin na koto ga nottenai
(It doesn't tell me what's important)

最近調子どうだい？
Saikin choushi dou dai
(How have you been these days?)

元気にしてるなら
Genki ni shiteru nara
(If you're fine)

別にいいけど
Betsu ni iikedo
(That's okay)

僕の世界消えるまで会えぬなら
Boku no sekai kieru made aenu nara
(If I wouldn't be able to see you until my world disappears)

君のそばで眠らせて　どんな場所でも結構
Kimi no soba de nemurasete donna basho demo kekkou
(Please let me sleep next to you, anywhere is fine)

Beautiful world

儚く過ぎて行く日々の中で
Hakanaku sugite iku hibi no naka de
(Days pass me by fleetingly)

Beautiful boy

気分のムラは仕方ないね
Kibun no mura wa shikata naine
(I just have to admit that my mood swings)

もしも願い一つだけ叶うなら
Moshimo negai hitotsu dake kanaunara
(If only one wish were to come true)

君のそばで眠らせて
Kimi no soba de nemurasete
(That would be to sleep next to you, and anywhere is fine)

I hope you've come to understand what she sings about! ^^
That's all for today.

See you soon~!

Old Japan

Hello, everyone~!

First of all, I did enjoy talking to the members of AGU 2007 through the online chat! Though we hadn't met face to face before, it made me feel like I had. Moreover, I couldn't help but be grateful for the technologies that has allowed us to connect with each other internationally! I'm looking forward to talking to you again on Monday!^^

Well, what I'm going to talk about today is my visit to the American embassy. You might remember that I've talked about my visit to the American embassy with Hiro to listen to the lecture which had something to do with the collaboration between the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Armed Forces of the United States. This time, I went to visit there again by myself to listen to the lecture about the cultural exchanges that occurred between the Japanese and the American in the 19th century, and how the American discovered the things about the Japanese culture, and also how the Japanese rediscovered our own culture through these exchanges.

Though I'm not particularly majoring in this kind of field, I was interested in what the speaker would talk about because I thought that to know how the cultural exchanges were done in the 19th century hopefully would offer me some new perspectives for the cultural exchanges that I've tried to promote in my daily life. In addition to that, I've always been amazed by the power of a piece of work that has let us connect with each other, and inspire others regardless of linguistic barrier and historical background between each other's country. What matters most is what one says in his work, not who he is or where he comes from. You might see what I mean If you think about the influence of the Japanese animation and "MANGA", right? Lastly, as the Japanese rediscovered our own culture at the time, I also would like to rethink about my own culture by listening to the lecture by the American author whose name is Christopher Benfey. (The picture on the left side is the book he wrote called "Great Wave".)

While listening to the lecture by the author, it really made me realize how much ignorant I've been about the Japanese literature and I was ashamed of my lack of knowledge. However, I was glad to be able to face with the face because I'm now interested in reading the books that the author mentioned such as "And Then" by Soseki Natsume, "Book of Tea" by Tenshin Okakura. I didn't know that Tenshin Okakura wrote "Book of Tea" when he was in Boston, and to my surprise, it was written in English at first! It must be really interesting to read something Japanese in English, don't you think? Also, it would definitely make me think about who I am.

So, I'm going to buy the book and read it! Which do you think is better for me, the book in English or Japanese, or both at the same time?

Alright, that's all for today!

I hope you enjoy reading today's post. ^^

See you soon~!

Hello Kitty from Kinugawa

Hello, everyone~!

First of all, I've literally enjoyed looking at the picutures on agu2007.blogspot.com. Though I'm not the one who is there with you guys this year, reading the blog of AGU 2007 and the blogs of the participants makes me feel as if I were there again! ^^ Meanwhile, I visited agu2006.blogspot.com as well. As I started remembering what we did last year, I imagined you guys take the same steps that I took. ^^

Well, as you can guess from the title, today I'm going to talk about the souvenir I've bought while I was on the trip to Kinugawa several days ago. Do you remember that I added the post about the souvenir I got from Eriko, which was a kind of key ring of Hello Kitty? I've got another version of it, and I'd like to show you the picture! The first picture that you can see on the left side tells you that this is the version of Kinugawa Onsen (Do you remember what "ONSEN" means? It means hot springs which are Kinugawa is famous for.), and that you can get this only in Tochigi prefecture. Now, here she comes!

Don't you think it's kawaii(cute)~?
I think she is definitely enjoying to take a bath in Onsen with monkeys! I did almost the same things except for the encounter with monkeys. Hahaha.

I hope you enjoy taking a look at the new member of my Hello Kitty's collection!

That's all for today.
I'm looking forward to paticipating the online chat with the participants of AGU 2007!

Until then, Sayonara! ^^

The Trip to Kinugawa! Part 2

Hello, everyone~!

As I said on the previous post, I'm going to talk about the trip I took to Kinugawa! So here we go!

On the second day, the first thing I did was "Line-kudari" which would be translated into boat tour. I've experienced this at a different place in Japan before, so it was the second time for me. But I felt that this time was a different one, and I enjoyed boarding the boat with my friends! The picture on the left side gives you an idea of what it's like to be a passenger of "Line-kudari". Though I showed you the picture, I don't think it'll help you see the way I want you to... :( So, it sounds like it's time for me to use Youtube to share what I saw with you, right?

After boarding the boat, we got on the bus to go to the station to ride a cable car! By riding a cable car, we could visit the observation deck at the top and the place where the monkeys the Japanese deer have lived in. I just didn't know why they were there, and I was surprised how much they've got used to humans who constantly stand surrounding them! They desperately reached out their hands for the foods given by tourists! The video I put on below will show you how it's done!

After witnessing the monkeys being fed by humans, we went back to the hotel to do discussions about the topics we chose. What we talked about was that how you would accomplish a certain mission as a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer with keeping cultural conflicts from happening. In addition to that topic, we also talked about how you would promote the relationship between the company which introduces child labor as way to reduce costs and the children who are employed by the company. The topics like these might look like something we don't need to care about so seriously, but they actually require a lot of cultural understandings that help you imagine how the people from different cultural backgrounds feel about what you do to them. I enjoyed talking about these topics with the members of the seminar because though everyone was given the same tasks, everyone had different opinions about them. So it was really interesting!

After that, we enjoyed eating dinner! You can see the picture of the dinner I had on the second day on the previous post. ^^ We went outside to do something fun, it was Hanabi(fireworks)!

I hope you're now feeling that you are one of the participants of this camp! Hahaha~. ^^ At least, I think it'll tell you how much fun I had!

As always, I put the picture I took on the trip on bubbleshare!
I hope you enjoy taking a look at them. ^^

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Alright, that's all for today!

By the way, I hope I'll be able to join the online chat today!
See you soon~. ^^