Now I'm Test-free!

Hello, everyone~!

As I told you on the previous posts, the semester has just finished and I'd taken all of the exams that I had to take. However, there's been an exam that I haven't talked about on this blog... The exam of the training program I mentioned previously, which is CCNA.

The exam that I had was a practical exam to see whether or not I could type in several commands, I could make a setting, and I could write lists to permit or deny infomation that goes through routers. I'm not really sure if you're familiar with these kinds of things, but I hope you can imagine what I've learned by taking a look at the picture I put on the previous post!

In the exam, there were so many tasks that I had to deal with that I actually took the exam three times to pass! So, it felt like I still had an exam to be taken, and I literally did even though the exams of my department were over.

Anyway, now I finally can relax!
I'm so glad that I made it. ^^

That'll wrap up today's post!
See you soon~

P.S
The beginning of AGU 2007 is finally approaching, and as I said, I just can't wait to read blogs of this year's participants!

A New Thing I've Been Learning Through The Semester

Hello, everyone~!

As July is about to end very soon, I recall the exciting feeling that I had last year about going to AGU 2006 program! I presume this year's participants are already excited about it, too! Even though I would not be there, I'm already looking forward to talking to you through the online chat, reading what you guys do in the US on blogs, and hopefully meeting you guys face to face in Japan after coming back!

Well, I would like to talk about the thing I've been learning lately, CCNA. Have you heard of it? It's a training program conducted by Cisco Systems, and the word "CCNA" stands for "Cisco Certified Network Associate". Some of you might wonder why on earth I'm learning about this kind of thing because the department I belong to(which is International Politics, Economics, and Communication) and the things I've studied have nothing to do with IT or something like that. However, contrary to people's expectation about what I've learned, don't you think it's great for me to be able to have knowledge about networking?

As more and more people have realized how important it has been and will be for us to always connect with each other, I think it would be useful to have knowledge about how we can get connected with each other. That's why I decided to take the class. I would not get a credit when I finish the class, but I absolutely think it is worth learning not only because it's for free (Yay!) but also I have given the opportunity to meet the people from the departments such as Integrated Information Technology and Electrical Engineering and Electronics. Some of them are graduate students. They are the people I wouldn't have encountered if I just go and attend the classes in Aoyama campus, so it's quite interesting for me to talk to them and I'm really grateful for their knowledge about what we do. Most importantly, every time I have difficulties doing the tasks and resolving the problems, they always help me!

These things are the devices and the cables I deal with in the class. There are personal computers, routers which helps information go to the right places, and the cables which connect the devices physically. What I learn is to connect them with each other properly, and to learn about how to operate them through the software. These days, being connected through the Internet has been taken for granted, but we won't be able to get connected unless the infrastructure for it has been properly developed. So, I think not only engineers but also the people who connect to the Internet need to learn about this kind of thing. ^^

I'm a bit sad that many of my friends had no idea about what I talked about today on this blog, but I guess that's how students with majors in the school of humanities would respond because in my opinion they basically don't need to know the thing like that. Moreover, they are likely to regard the people who are familliar with computer as "Otaku" (In English, I guess it's "geek"). So despite the fact that they usually get connected through the Internet, they don't think that having knowledge about computer is cool or useful....I just don't know why. As for me, I definitely think that being good at using computer is great and very fun!

Anyway, I've enjoyed what I'm learning and that's all that counts!

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

Urawa Reds vs Manchester United

Hello, everyone~!

As I've talked on the recent posts, I had been preparing for the exams which I just don't remember what I wrote any more(just kidding! Hahaha...), and writing the papers. That's for sure. But while doing so, I actually went out a bit to escape from the reality.

On July 17th, I went to visit Saitama Stadium to watch "Saitama City Cup" with my friend. It was a friendly match, but I thought it was worth watching because Manchester United came to Japan just for playing the game! Sounds exciting, right? These days, the number of people in Asia who watch soccer games constantly, such as me, has been increasing so much that the clubs in Europe are now impossible to ignore that. Moreover, the team's visit to Japan not only made the supporters happy but also let the Japanese professional soccer players know what it felt like to play the game with them. As for me, it was really awesome to be able to watch the game of the team that won the British premier league! The Japanese team, Urawa Reds is one of the Japanese famous clubs and it is called "Red Devil". As you can guess from the picture which I put below, it was the battle between the Japanese red devil and the British red devil!

Anyway, most importantly, one of my favorite soccer players in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo was there!! Thanks to the early reservation, my seat was so close to the field. ^^ I want to share what I saw there with you guys, so if you're interested, enjoy the video which I updated on Youtube and the picture I'd taken at the stadium. I hope you like it!

Just see what he did! That'll tell you who he is and what he can do. ^^


It was rainy and a bit cold, but I enjoyed being there.
(FYI:The result was 2-2, yes it was a close game!)
This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

After watching them play, I would like to go and visit UK to watch a game at their own stadium someday!

Alright, that's all for today!

Oh, by the way, I came across Uchida sensei at Aoyama campus! He was on the way to the conference and we talked about how each of us has been. Thinking back, I just can't remember the last time I met him. So it was nice to be able to talk to Uchida sensei!

See you soon~. ^^

Wearing Kimono!

Hello, everyone~!

Many of AGU 2006 members are now preparing for the exams. Well, I've actually finished taking them because I wrote 8 different kinds of papers instead of taking exams!(I did take 3 exams anyway...) It almost seemed to be endless at first, but I was glad to find that I somehow managed to finish it.

By the way, I enjoyed the chat on Saturday! I was pleased to talk to some of the participants of AGU 2007. There would be another opportunity to talk to them through the internet after the program starts, so I'm looking forward to it!!

Alright, let me move on now to what I want to talk about today. On July 15th, I went to my relative's wedding! As you might guess, I should have studied for the papers but when it comes to the thing like wedding, don't you think it is okay to escape from the reality? Hahaha....

When I heard about the wedding, the first thing that came to my mind was what to wear becaues it was the first time for me to attend the wedding, and I had no idea how I was dressed. However, I realized that I've got the Kimono which should be appropriate for the ceremony like wedding. So I decided to wear it. Some of you might be reluctant to wear Kimono because it's too tight. But as for me, I really like wearing Kimono because it always makes me feel special!

This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

The wedding was interesting and beautiful. Moreover, I enjoyed eating the dishes even though I felt the tightness of Kimono, and it was really nice to see my best friend because we couldn't see each other for a while.

As always, I put the pictures on Bubbleshare!
So enjoy~!

That's all for today!
I can't wait to "see" AGU 2007 through the next chat!

See you soon~
Take care.

Coming of long-awaited season!

Hello, everyone!

I've just joined the group "AGU in America", and it literally brought me back to the memories we shared last year. They still remain so fresh in my mind that I feel somehow strange to mention it as the event of last year. Also, reading the blog of AGU 2007 made me want to update my blog! Anyway, I really hope that this year's participants will have as much fun as we had, and learn something that helps you enrich your life in many ways!

Well, the beginning of AGU 2007 means that summer vacation is just around the corner. In Japan, the rainy season, known as "Tsuyu", has just begun recently and it does make me sick of humidity! However, it tells me summer is surely approaching and thinking about what to do in this summer definitely keeps me from concentrating on doing what I need to do right now such as paper, preparation of the exams and presentations. So I'm now trying not to think about it too much! Hehehe....

I guess there are many things I would like to talk about on this blog, the new thing I've learned through this semester, the book I've read recently, for example. But now I don't have time to do so... hmmmm.... :(

Anyway, it wraps up today's post!
See you soon. ^^
Take care!

Something to think about for my future...

Hello, everyone!
I can't help but be surprised at the fact that the half of this year is about to pass me by... is this because I'm getting older? Hmmm...

Well, the other day I received the score of TOEFL. Some of you might be familliar with TOEFL, and it stands for Test of English as a Foreign Language. In short, it's the test for the people to measure how much one can use English in terms of reading, listening, speaking, and writing. I hadn't taken the test before, so this time I decided to give it a try. I've always thought about studying abroad as you can easily imagine, but whether or not I should go for it actually remains undecided in my mind because I'm not sure how it turns out when it's time to get a job, which is about to come. Moreover, I just didn't expect to do well on the exam because it was the first time for me to take it, and the test has been renewed in a way which some of the Japanese might be overwhelmed. That is, introducing a new section, speaking.

However, after taking the test, I guess it was not that hard as many people in Japan said as the first impressions. Rather, I even had fun writing my opinion in the Writing section. It made me feel as if I'm just updating my blog! Also, listening to the lectures used as a measure to solve the problems actually fascinated me even though it was not the main purpose to do so at the time.

Then, about 3 weeks later, the score came to me. I was surprised to find that my score was enough to apply for the program of studying abroad conducted by AGU.(But Getting accepted would be whole another story!) It does let me rethink about studying abroad, and even seek for further information.

Some people say that I don't need to do so because the main purpose of studying abroad for undergraduate students, which is to learn the language, has been achieved somehow. The other say that I should do so because what you can experience now is priceless. So... I'm confused!

Well, it looks like the outpouring of my mind!
Any suggestion, please?

That's all for today!
See you soon.

The Book I've read recently...

Hello, everyone~!

Today, I'm going to talk about the book I've read lately. The title of the book is "The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them".(The link brings you to Amazon.com for further information.) To tell the truth, I finished reading it about a month ago. However, I've been busy coping with the school things, so I kind of waited for this time because I finally had a chance to write a comment about the book!

This book is about how a teacher in high school can make huge differences on students' future by reading and writing. One of the authors of the book, Erin Gruwell was the teacher in high school where the troubles caused by guns, drugs, gender, and people's races have been taken for granted for a long time. In her class, the students were suggested that they use the skills of writing to change the environment surrounding them and to change their future, instead of relying on the power of violence. So she encouraged them to write their own diaries just like Anne Frank did when she hid the secret house. She thought that writing diary would help students escape from the reality they had to deal with on a daily basis. She also let the students read the books she recommended. At first, the students were confused because they hadn't been expected and respected by someone like her. But as they got used to the way she taught, they gradually started to think that studying would help them get out of the situations they were in, and to have hope for the future.

Living in Japan, I rarely have a chance to know what they'd experienced. Generally speaking, the rate of students who drop out high school is lower than that of the US. Moreover, according to the Japanese government, the people are given equal opportunity to study. So it was surprising for me to see what happened to them such as friends' death by guns, drug abuse, rape. These facts made me realize how fortunate I have been to be able to receive my education and what I have now. We all are likely to forget what we take for granted because it's so hard to see.

Also, the passion they have to move forward really motivated me! It was as if they made me able to move forward as they used the power of writing to get better education or live better.

If you have time, I encourage you to read it!
It definitely will give you the sense of how a little thing can make a lot difference, and tell you the importance of reading as well.

Alright, that's all for today!
Thanks for reading. ^^
Take care.

How have you been?

Hello, everyone!

Well...right now I should really be preparing for the presentation for next week, but I kind of feel like escaping from the reality by posting something on this blog before starting to work on the presentation. I also thought that some of you have been wondering what I've been up to recently...haven't you?

As you can imagine, I've been busy attending the classes, doing homework which seems to be endless, and hanging out with my friends. In short, I'm just doing fine!

I do have a lot of things to talk about, but I guess it really is time for me to focus on preparing the presentation!

Alright, that's all for today. ^^
I hope everyone's doing fine just like me!

The Painting Flew From Italy

Hello, everyone!

I've wanted to add a new post as soon as possible even though I almost had nothing to post about... But no matter what was on my mind last week, I just needed to stick to my schedule which really seemed to be hectic again and get used to it. Well, I guess I can manage to spend my time better when I have lots of things to do. So now it's time to adjust to it, isn't it?

Today, I'd like to talk about the small trip I took to the museum in Tokyo, where the famous painting in Italy stays right now! It's located in the place called "Ueno", and it takes about 20 minutes from Shibuya to get there. The name of the museum is "Tokyo National Museum", and the exhibition is called "The Mind of Leonardo". Some of you are already guessing who I'm going to talk about today. Yes, it'll be Leonardo da Vinci! The purpose of the exhibition is to rediscover what he had done when he was alive without exaggerating them too much, so that means it would deal not only with his painting but also with the things he observed and wrote down on notes.

His famous painting, "The Annunciation" is right here in Japan now. Since I've been recently interested in Italy very much because of my enthusiasm about the professional soccer played in the country, Serie A. I know there's no similarity between him and the soccer, but I just wanted to feel something the painting told me before my eyes.

The painting must be exhausted after the unimaginable long hours flight from Italy (Ha-ha), and it was the only painting shown in the first site of the exhibition because the other site was dedicated to what he discovered in many different fields. So at the moment I entered the first site, I thought that the painting would have looked somehow lonely or sought for other paintings to stay with just like they do in Italy. To my surprise, it definitely had a dominating presence at the center of the room, and it drew every one's attention. To take a look deeply at what he drew or what he did was just like talking with him through his work. It's awesome to comprehend what he had been interested in by reading what he left, and it showed surprising amount of curiousness he had on his mind which never seemed to disappear. That's something I've liked about him, and I'd like to learn from it.

It's amazing to be able to pay a visit to the exhibition like this, and visiting there made me want to go to Italy some day to see more paintings, cultural buildings, and more importantly the soccer! Since the soccer is not so famous in the US where some readers of my blog live in, I will not talk about it here, but if I do it'll last forever! Hahaha.... (To be honest, watching the soccer in Italy is enough to make me want to visit Italy. )

As I've got to know more and more about Shibuya and Tokyo very slowly, I began to realize how fortunate I am to go to the university which has a campus surrounded by a lot of different interesting places! I am looking forward to discovering more in the area. ^^

As always, I put the rest of the pictures I took on Bubbleshare!
This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog
I hope you enjoy!
Alright, that'll do for today!

The First Week

Hello, everyone~!

The very first week of the new semester finally finished. It seems that the city where the campus is located has become one of my favorite places in Tokyo already, it's always crowded though. As I expected, I can feel something interesting and exciting going on all the time! Also, most importantly, there's a lot of book stores around the city. It literally keeps me from going straight to my home after school! I can go to 5 different book stores on each day of my school days if I want to, where the overflow of the books overwhelms me a little, and the same time, inspires me a lot.

Inside the campus, I've shopped around to see what the classes I'm interested in are like and it now almost has come to an end, so it's the time to make a final edition of my time table.

I wasn't sure how my senior year might be, because the location of the campus has changed, and the level of my study has gotten deeper. However, I'm now ready to adjust to the atmosphere of the campus, and I've even got excited about the seminar I joined! The fact that the location of the campus changed this year added the excitement of learning new things, and rediscovering a lot of new things about my home city to my university life.

Alright, that's my quick report for you to let you know that I kind of survived the first week in the new environment(Hahaha!), and I hope you can now grasp what it's like to be an AGU student in Shibuya. ^^

See you soon!

Casting a Vote

Hello, everyone!

I'm feeling that I'm still on vacation even though the new semester has just started, because classes hasn't begun yet actually. However, I've already got the syllabus of the classes in this semester. So I'm now planning to make a time table which adjusts to my daily schedule outside the campus. Well, compared to the last year, it's so much more enjoyable for me to make it because I can choose almost whatever I want to take as long as I have time to do so. But the more choices I have the more complicated it becomes... Anyway, that's how it goes in terms of new semester! I'll handle it. ^^

What I want to talk about today is that I'm now given the right to vote! It's kind of sad to face the fact that I'm now 20 years old(!), but I'm glad to be able to vote because it makes me feel that I'm a part of the society I've belonged to.

The election was conducted to choose a governor of Tokyo. Choosing the person means a lot not only to the city itself, but also to the country because Tokyo is regarded as some kind of a country. The concentration of the capital town's power is so hard to break up that the things done by Tokyo have a big influence on the administrations of the other parts of Japan.

We, the Japanese, are now making a transformation to make what candidates think and want to do more understandable by making a manifesto. However, I think we've got long way to go because the law of how elections should be done is not ready to make specific rules for now. Even if the candidates can make one, the number of copies they can distribute to voter is limited. I've seen some candidates go online, and they posted their manifests on their websites, but it's still uncertain that they're read by everyone who has a right to vote.

I guess the fact that candidates have started making their own manifestos is a good sign because they now feel that what she/he is going to do if elected needs to be addressed to make voters understand who she/he is, and doing that leads to votes. It's just started to occur, so some candidates misunderstood how it should be written and ended up criticizing other candidates. I think it's ridiculous to write a manifesto as a way to offense instead of addressing what she/he will do, but there's lessons to be learned before it works out well.

As the number of the people who don't have any particular party to vote suggests, the disconnection between politics and real life has gotten worse. Many people say that voting can't change the present situation, and they don't even go to vote. But I still think that voting is one of the important roles as a citizen, and it has a power to send a message. Also, people don't realize how the government has protected their rights and given opportunities until it's out of their hands. There's a possibility that what they've taken for granted will be suddenly gone if you don't show your opinion by voting.

Well, I hope you understand how excited I'd been to be able to cast a vote!
That's all for today!

Take care.

How have you been?

Hello, everyone~!

It's been like forever since I added a post last time. I've been busy doing other stuff, and honestly I was lazy! Well, the new semester has just started, and I'm now shopping around to choose what classes I will take for this semester. As you can see, I'm doing fine and excited about going to the campus in the center of Tokyo, Shibuya!

Also, being able to say that I now go to the campus in Shibuya means that I advanced to the third year successfully! Yaaaay! The letter which told me how I did in the last semester has been sent to my home while I was on the trip to San Francisco, so I'd been extremely nervous about my grades until I opened the letter! But thankfully, what the letter told me was that I could now go to Shibuya! ^^ Sometimes, there's people who still have to go to the campus where they used to go because they failed the classes which they can't retake in Shibuya. It takes about an hour to go to the campus in Kanagawa from Shibuya's, so it would be exhausting. So now you can see why I was so nervous about whether or not I passed the classes.

Last year, one of the things that I decided to focus on was to improve my skill of writing in English. So I spent plenty amount of time practicing how to write correctly, how to attract readers, and how to say what I want to say in a proper way. I guess all the work had been paid off. I got "AA" on that class, the highest grade of all! It surely was hard for me to write in English even though I've updated my blog as much as possible, because I couldn't always write about what I want on the assignment given by the teacher. But it finally led me to the realization that writing in English could still be fun!

Well, I guess some of you wonder how the rest of AGU 2006 people are. I met some of them who advanced to third year at the campus in Shibuya, Hiro, Maiko, Yuki, for example. And they looked excited about the new semester!

By the way, I enjoyed talking with Nina, Yuki, RitaZ, and YiRen about an hour ago on Tapped In. It's always nice to talk at a place where I'm allowed to speak only in English, because it definitely helps my English improve!

Again, I'm sorry to keep you waiting for my new entry! But now I remember what it's like to write here, which is really fun! I promise I'll post more often!

Alright, that's all for today.
Take care!

My Trip to JASDF (Part 2)

Hello, everyone~!

I'm going to talk about the rest of the report of the trip to JASDF. I've been reviewing the experiences I've had and what I've seen there, I came to think it really was a nice opportunity! It was not only interesting but also the chance to get closer to the things about public service.

After getting off the helicopter, I got on the bus to go to the dinning hall for lunch. There are two kinds of dinning halls, and the place the people eat is decided by the military class they belong to. The one I visited was called "曹士食堂"(sou-shi-shoku-dou), and it means that sergeants and soldiers can eat there. Actually, those who are qualified as sergeants and soldiers have to eat there because it's a part of their obligations, and what they eat is paid by taxpayers. So they can't waste it. To my surprise, The base has a unit which is taking charge of just making meals every day. What a self-sufficient! Talking of food, you're wondering if it tastes good or not, aren't you? So I put the picture of the meal I ate on the day! It looks classic, and it did remind me of the days I enjoyed eating school lunch when I was a junior high student. It was well-balanced and low-fat meal, I think. In addition to that, it was delicious! I just didn't expect it to be that yummy, so I was almost impressed. Ha! Ha!

There's actually one more thing I enjoyed doing while I had lunch there. I had the chance to talk with the women who has served there as a general member of the Self-Defense of Forces. The number of women who serve there is still small, but I think it's been on the rise. The woman I talked with has joined the Force after she graduated from her university. She had thought about working as a person who contributes things she's good at to the world, and decided to take the exam to be where she is now. She said that she will be sent to Kuwait as a part of the mission conducted by the Japanese government. I just hope that she'll be safe there, and do what she needs to do. Even though I already knew that the government has been making efforts to help the situation of the Middle East improve by sending our people from the Force, I was surprised to know that the woman next to me who enjoyed eating lunch with me will soon go there. The fact that she talked about it so casually also surprised me. However, it somehow shows that she is ready for the mission, and that we don't have to worry about it because she seemed to be just fine.

After the tour, I started thinking about the defense of my country deeply and differently from the past. It also adds a new perspective to the issues of the Middle East where the Japanese government has gotten involved as an ally of the US, and contributor to the international community. Finally, I think I was able to find that everything we do as a country would all be connected globally by touring one of the national government places in Japan.

We rarely have an opportunity to think about our own force of defense because our troops are only intended to defend our country. Also, we tend to have an atmosphere which does not allow ourselves to talk about it because mentioning about the Force could be taken as an implication of wanting to go to war. The issues of the Force are really complicated in terms of politics. The tour, however, made me realize the importance of listening to the voices of the people working there, and getting to know the reality.

I put the rest of the pictures I took on the day on bubbleshare. Enjoy!

This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

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

My Trip to JASDF (Part 1)

Hello, everyone~!

I've been slacking with my entries a little bit, haven't I? Well, it seems that I have something to post about today. Yaay!

I took a small trip to Saitama prefecture to pay a visit to the base of JASDF. Can you guess what JASDF stands for? What do you think? It stands for Japan Air Self-Defense Force. The reason why I visited there was to participate the program made by the PR department called "JASDF's Tour for Women". I happened to find the information on its website, and I decided to apply because I thought it would be a good opportunity to know about its roles.

As I mentioned, the base I went to is located in Saitama prefecture, and it took an hour or so to go there from my home. Since there's US Yokota Air Base next to my home town, I could imagine how the base would look like. But still, it wasn't the US's. So I was excited about visiting there. On this blog, I've decided to divide my report into two parts because I think it's going to be too long to read at a time if I make it into one part.

I saw and learn a lot of things about our Self-Defense Force, and it has drawn the nation's attention every time the argument about the definition of "self-defense" has come out. However, after I visited there, I thought it's also important for us to think about the people in the Force who do what they need to do because just discussing the definition or the ideological thing is likely to end up ignoring the voices that we should listen to. It's unfair to judge the people who work for the country without knowing about the truth, I guess.

Well, let me go back to talking about the trip. The first thing I did was boarding a helicopter. It was actually the first time for me to get on a helicopter. It's basically used for transporting foods, commodities, and so on. It's also used for transportations of people whent the situation is urgent. When I was about to get on, it got windier and windier as I got closer to the helicopter. It can carry 55 passengers. I wondered if its people on board sleep here, and I asked. The answer was no. Its flight time is not long enough to fall asleep, and the seat will never let you sleep because it's not comfortable! After boarding the helicopter, I felt like I should be thankful for how comfortable commercial airplanes are! Ha! Ha! Then, the picture on the right side, which looks like Google map, was taken from the helicopter. When you enlarge it, do you see the mountain covered with the snow? It's Mt. Fuji. (Remember I talked about the trip to there?)

Well, I'm sure photographs will definitely help you imagine what it's like to get on a helicopter. But is it really enough? Is there any better way to do so? These questions occured to me during the flight, and I found that it would be nice if I try to shoot some videos.

So...Why don't you try this? (CAUTION:Noisy sound included.)

I shot this short video when I was allowed to walk around the inside of the helicopter. The weather was so clear that you can barely see anything from the window, but at least it proves that I was there!

This was taken when I stood close to the window. I have no idea where it was, but I hope it helps you get some ideas of what I did yesterday.

0

Alright, that's all for today!

But don't forget to stay tuned for part 2!

The Oscar goes to....?

Hello, everyone~!

The media in Japan are massively passionate about covering the news of the Japanese actress who have been nominated for the Academy Awards as best supporting actress. Her name is Rinko Kikuchi, and she appeared in a film called "BABEL" as a high school student student who communicated with sign language. I understand the fact that the Japanese actress got nominated for the awards is amazing and exciting.

However, if I could say a thing or two, the people in Japan like me haven't seen the film yet because the international release date for Japan has not come. So I'm a little confused about the fact that our media has been trying really hard to bring up the news of her to the viewers who have no idea about what the movie is like. I wish I would be able to see all the nominees on best pictures before the results come out, because it would help me watch movies somehow fairly and impartially. Going to a theater to watch movies labeled as "Oscar-winning" or "Oscar-nominated" is just too much information, I think... It'll definitely change the way I see movies intentionally or unintentionally.

Well, whatever I say about that, there's nothing I can do about it! So I'm looking forward to waiting "Oscar-winning" or "Oscar-nominating" movies to come here in Japan.

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

San Francisco

Hello, everyone~!

I hung out with a friend of mine from high school the other day, and she casually remarked that it would be fun to visit our friends who are studying in the US. We actually had 2 locations to choose from, which made us undecided. One of our friends study in Hawaii, and the other in California. Hmmm.... They both sound really good, don't they? Since we couldn't decide, we let the girls in the US decide where we go by asking their schedules in March. Then, California was selected! (I'm sorry it didn't happen to be Maryland!)

A friend of mine in the US studies in Foothill College. I found that the campus is located between San Francisco and San Jose.(But I also found they have 2 campuses, so I have to ask her which is the one.) I've already looked into what the place is like, and I've come to know about there a lot after I logged on to Google Map and I paid a visit to the website that contains plenty of information about the city.

Speaking of San Francisco, the name of the place does remind me of the very first trip I took to Colorado,Denver. I was a junior high student at the time, so the memory somehow have come to wither little by little, especially when it comes to the detail. However, one thing I certainly remember for good about the trip is that my baggage had been accidentally sent to San Francisco! Thanks to the kind assistance from my host family, I managed to go through the unexpectedly massive losses of my clothe and other things I brought from Japan for daily life. After that, thankfully my baggage safely flew back to where I was at the time, Denver.

So since then, I've wanted to visit that place for some reason. Something definitely attracted me after the incident. Though it was just my suitcase that flew to there, I was somehow envious of its trip! Well, as far as I see, it's likely to happen to me finally very soon!

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

Amazing Woman

Hello, everyone~!

I've recently been fed up with the news about Anna Nicole Smith's death... Why do so many people find it fascinating? I just don't figure it out, and even the anchors of the shows I watched wondered why. The death itself was sad, indeed. However, there's so much more interesting, meaningful, inspirational to talk about, right? Moreover, I'm not particularly interested in where she'll be laid to rest. I should probably think about following headlines on the Internet and try as much as possible to go to an Anna Nicole Smith-free zone, shouldn't I?



Meanwhile, I've found an interesting video on YouTube. I originally happened to know about its existence on CNN. The woman in the video, Amanda Baggs, is 26 years old and diagnosed with autism.I've heard of the name of the disease even though I didn't know what the symptoms were very much. So this video helped me understand what the disease was, and I felt that there's a lot of things out there I don't know about or I even pay no attention to. Moreover, it made me want to rethink about the definition of communication. The way she communicates and intracts with things around her is fascinating, isn't it?

Part 2: Review of the lectures

Hello. everyone~!

I'll review the rest of the lectures that I couldn't cover yesterday.

Part 4---"The Omnivore's Choices and the Corporation's Responsibilities" by Michael Pollan, Bob Langert

The first speaker, Micheal Pollan, talked about the complexities of our food choices. As he has traveled throughout the country's farms, slaughter houses and so on, he came to realize that it is actually hard for us to make right decisions about foods even though it looks like very simple. We have a lot more foods to choose from when it's compared to other creatures whose dietary patterns are plant or meat eating, and so on. He argued that what we eat should be not only good to eat but also good to think. His mention that we should go beyond "organic" let the audience rethink about the problems as a whole, and he also challenged the illusion that the term "organic" is the ultimate solution by noting the things about the energy we consume to buy organic and the people who are involved with the organic industry. The second speaker, Bob Langert, was actually a representative of McDonald's. I was glad that he attended the conference like this because these kinds of public meetings are likely to end up accusing the big companies like his, and never get responded from them. According to his presentation, the company has tried as much as it can to improve the condition of its animals and workers. However, it seemed to me that there's more they can do and I think they should be a leader to try to do so because the influences they have will be enormous. If the company can't change, then the industry itself won't change. I understand their struggle to make a profit to satisfy the shareholders, and to concern about the ethical and environmental issues while customers expect them to serve as cheaply as possible. But I think they need to realize the improvements they have to make as the most influential company in the US to let the others follow. After listening to his presentation, I pay a visit to his blog which he talks about the company's corporate social responsibility, and I surprisingly found there was a podcast to let people know how it contributes to the society!

Part 5---"Eating More Ethically at Princeton" by John Turenne, Stu Orefice, Bill Andersen, Katy Andersen, Anim Steel, Nathan Gregory

This lecture focused on the food choices that the students of Princeton have at the university. Moreover, it also mentioned how they made the whole operations at the dining hall profitable. It brought me to think about the dining hall at my university, AGU. I rarely thought about the foods it has because I don't go there very often, and I don't think the tastes are good.(Oops! I'm just saying my opinion!) Moreover, I was interested in what the other univesities in Japan serve at their dining halls. So I googled about it. What I've got from the quick research was that we didn't even care about that, which made me very sad. Though Japanese as a whole care about what K-12(especially, children at elementary schools) eat a lot, that doesn't lead us to consider rethining about what university students eat at their university. I understand the situation in Japan is somehow different from the one in the US, but it's a shame that we don't hear our own voices to act on the issue. I'm pretty sure that some of the Japanese do care about it, but the number of the people is not large enough to make an influence on what the dining halls of the universities in Japan serve. That's why quantity still matters a lot when it comes to the universities' dining halls here. Hmmm.... there seems to be something I can do about it though it probably won't have much impact. It's sad to see some of my friends who really care about the hunger, and the poverty in the world have no interest in making smart and ethical choices for their own meals, isn't it? It's as important as that, I think.

Alright! I finally finished reviewing the lectures, which leads me to think about what I'm going to post about next....

Anyway, goodbye for now!
See you soon~.

Review of the lectures

Hello, everyone~!

I've just finished listening to the last part of the lectures that I mentioned yesterday. So let me just review them here today.

*Part 1---"Moving Beyond Fast Food Nation" by Peter Singer, Eric Schlosser

It was this part that interested me in listening to the series of the lectures. The reason why I chose this was that, as I mentioned yesterday's post, I found that Eric Schlosser spoke about his field as a journalist who probed how the fast food industry in the US has really worked deeply. I actually read his book called "Fast Food Nation" and I was terrified of the contents of the book. After reading, I came to realize that we need to think about what we eat seriously. In the lecture, he mentioned how unsustainable it would be if we keep depending on the eating style that we have now by giving us the idea of continual impacts on the environment which keeps being harmed by the big food chains like McDonald's, other companies, and most importantly our choices. The other speaker, Peter Singer talked about how we should treat animals that we eat humanely even though they'll get killed one way or the other.

*Part 2---"Eating Well and Eating Locally" by Marion Nestle, Gary Nabhan

The first speaker, Marion Nestle, spoke about the need for consumers to have critical views against the choices which the companies offer. She also talked about the tactics that the supermarkets in the US have introduced to encourage customers to buy more by letting them see more products, which means people tend to eat more. What I found interesting about her presentation was that she argued that the signs on the products that said "healthy choice" or "smart choice" didn't mean that they are good for you at all. The second speaker, Gary Nabhan, talked about how we could eat locally. At first, I was surprised to hear that the prices of local foods are sometimes lower than those at the large supermarket chain. Moreover, the fact that the movements for the food issues have become bipartisan made me optimistic about improvements to be made in the future. Then, he finished his presentation by mentioning that we are all nourished by the place we belong to.

*Part 3---"Concerns for Oceans, Climate and Animal Welfare" by Becky Goldburg, Gidon Eshel, Paul Shapiro

All of the speakers in this lecture were concerned about the influences that we have on the environment, and they also have looked into the impacts of our choices in terms of eating ethically. Listening to one of the speaker, Becky Goldburg, talking about the problems that the fishery industry have was interesting for me because the term "organic" often brings me to think about agricultural fields. I've heard a lot about over fishing because Japan is a country whose people have eaten lots of fishes, but I've never heard of the issue that fishermen sometimes unintentionally end up catching animals or fishes which they don't intend to catch. It was a nice opportunity to know something new about the industry, and to realize that we need to make an approach toward the industry differently from the agricultural industry. Then, Paul Shapiro talked about his organization's campaign to improve the farm animal welfare by pushing retailers to produce battery cage free chickens and so on. I didn't know much of the issue, so almost everything he talked about was new to me. I'm sure that we have several organic stores that allow us to make smart choices for eggs, meats, and chickens. However, I think the awareness of the issue like this still needs to be built more in Japan because we are likely to focus only on the nutrition, especially when it comes to eggs. The third speaker, Gidon Eshel, spoke about the energy that we consume by making dietary choices, and how the differences of the choices affect the generation of the energy. It was a bit hard for me to understand because he used the words that I wasn't familiar with. However, I was surprised how thoroughly this whole lectures tried to cover all of the issues related to the theme, and it made me think about how far I could go to eat ethically.

Wow.... now you see how much I've learned literally a lot from the lectures? The first thing that came to my mind when I heard the title of the conference was that the problems could be solved if we all would eat organic foods. However, I've found that eating healthy and ethically as a whole is about changing the society that we live today. I came to know that I wouldn't be able to review all of them on this post. So let me leave it unfinished, and talk about it again tomorrow!

Okay, I'll finish here.
See you soon~!

Princeton at Home?!

Hello, everyone~!

Well, as you can see by the frequency of adding posts here, I'm now on the spring vacation. However, I still have a kind of school at home! Can you guess what it is? It's "Podcast". I don't know how many people have heard of this and actually used it, but I think it's simple and useful. It's one of the functions of the software called "iTunes".

The first thing I got through podcast was the news materials. One of the reasons I did so was that I thought it would be helpful for me to improve my listening skill of English by listening to them as much as possible on a daily basis. Another reason was that I hoped the fact that I've been able to get the news from countries other than Japan would help me develop different views of affairs which are taking place today. As far as I can see, it's been pretty successful.

Then, let me move on to the main point for today's topic. Yes, Princeton at Home. No wonder you're doubtful. Well, Princeton university launched the program for podcast, and now evryone who has iTunes and an access to the internet can download the lectures. Though each file of the lecture comes from the public seminars conducted at the university. So strictly speaking, they cannot be called "lectures". But still, it's quite interesting to be able to listen to them. Moreover, fortunately, some of the universities in the US like UC Berkeley have given us the audio files of the lectures, surprisingly for free!

I've recently found a series of public lecture meetings held by Princeton univerisity while I was looking around the education section of podcast on iTunes. The program was divided into 5 parts, and each of them was about an hour and half long. The theme was "Food, Ethics and the Environment". Sounds a bit academic and difficult, huh? Contrary to my first impression, however, it was worth listening and I've learned a lot about food. At first, I intended to listen to only the first part, which featured the author of the book I read last year called "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser. But I decided to listen to all of the parts after I began to feel the presentations get more and more interesting as they went on. Also, through the presentation given by speakers, I came to realize how complicated the food industry in the US has been, and that what we eat is about the same weight as a vote. To my surprise, one of the speakers was from McDonald's! He participated in one of the lecture meetings as a representative of the company. I've learned that the company now has a department for corporate social responsibility. I just can't imagine how tough it could be to attend this kind of meeting!

I think the issues about the food industry discussed in the US also reflects those of which the Japanese one has. Many people including me have started feeling that we have to make a commitment(*1) to educate not only children but also adults about where the foods come from and the choices we have to eat healthy and smartly.

I'm planning to add an additional post here about the lecture just for me to remember. In fact, I still have a lecture left...so I'll work on it as soon as I have time to do so.

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

(*1)--The word I used here has been modified after Nina suggested changing it. Thanks!

A Classical Book about Globalization

Hello, everyone~!

I'd like to talk about the book I've just finished reading today. The book is called "The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization". I chose this because his latest book called "The World is Flat" really interested me, so I was interested in reading more of his works. Moreover, the way he describes something in English on the book is always easy to understand. It often makes me realize how many ways I've got to describe what I want to say by using the grammar of English that I learned in my junior high school. Of course, how many words I know still matters a lot. But at the same time, it's also important to be able to say what I want in a proper way.

Well, let's move on to my reflection of the book. I heard that the book is now regarded as a classical book that deals with globalization. I can even say that I wouldn't be surprised if it was on the shelf of history book. It's a bit funny to call the book a classical one, isn't it? However, it's still worth reading because it's happening right now and each of us should at least get some idea of what's happening and what will happen next. I don't like to admit that the technologies in this digital era will change everything fabulously, because while half of me has been benefited from the technologies that allows me to connect with a huge number of people, the other half still wants to count on something solid. Local communities, friends, and the culture that identifies myself, for example. Whatever I say, however, the trend doesn't seem to stop. So I'm going to try as much as I can to adopt myself to it in a way that I can keep myself from being lost!

Anyway, it was a good reading for me. I think you'll be able to enjoy the book if you want to grasp some ideas of globalization and how it affects us now and in the future.

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

A Cyber Friend

Hello, everyone~!

Today I'd like to introduce a cyber friend of mine to you. Her name is Mayuko. The reason why I do so is that she created her own blog in English! She already had one but it was a team blog, and she did it as a part of her English class activity in Kansai University. This time, however, she indivually has started a new one!

I encourage you to visit her blog when you have time.
→http://cookie--v0u0v.blogspot.com/

She lives in the region called "Kansai", which is the west side of Japan. Though I'm able to see the footage from there on TV, I have never been there before. So, I think it might be a great opportunity to share some sense of the region with people like me! But I have no idea what she posts about from now on, and that's why I'm excited about reading her blog. ^^

Meanwhile, this incident led me to the realization that the possibilities that we have to be able to do something that we've never thought of before on the internet are enormously high. The other day, I read the book in Japanese written by the man who have worked in Silicon Valley and the novelist. the Silicon Valley guy said that the differences between friends in real world and those on the internet have begun dissapearing. I just couldn't get it at that time because I hadn't experienced that kind of thing. However, I would definitely agree with him now after I encountered my very first cyber friend! After all, no matter how we come to know each other, the only thing that comes to my mind when I make friends with someone new is just "fun"! (So maybe I didn't even need to make a definition of a cyber friend, maybe.)

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

Something that we usually don't learn in a class room

Hello, everyone~!

Today I watched the TV show called "Eigo de shabera naito", which means that "You have to speak in English". As you can guess from the title, the show is about English. It's one of my favorite TV shows because it's so different from the shows I used to watch as a way to improve my English. What's so different is, I think, that the show really focuses on speaking. In Japan, people who learn English or teach English has tended to focus on grammer things. In result, they care about them so much that they don't try to communicate with people who speak English. Moreover, they can't feel the connection between the language they've learned and themselves. Even though the primary reason the Japanese people learn English is to communicate with people, sometimes the fear of making mistakes gets in the way. However, the situation has started to change after learners found the fact and the TV show like the one I mentioned here began.

On the show, a coach from the NBA league showed up and introduced technical terms and slangs used on live telecasts and by the players.

1. "from downtown"
2. "nothing but net (=whish) "
3. "money"

The first one, "from downtown" is the term used when a player hits a shot from the middle of a court. The word "downtown" usually means the center of the city, and for basketball it means the center of a court.

The second is "nothing but net". Can you guess what it means? It's used when a player makes a shot without letting a ball touch a hoop. The host of the show encouraged the coach to try to do it and he did it! Yes, it was literally nothing but net.

The last one, "money" looks unfit in terms of basketball games, but it actually does. We normally use it at economic scenes like currency. However, when it's brought to the court it means "scoring point". Money is something secure in our daily life, so are scoring points on the court.

I found it interesting to know these terms because we don't usually learn them. Also, I've learned that the day of the NBA all star game is now on the corner. So I'll tune in to the game and see if these terms are used!

Alright, that's all for today!
Have a nice weekend! ^^
See you soon~

Matsuzaka-San

Hello, everyone~!

Recently, I've seen a lot of reports on TV about training camps of professional baseball teams in Japan. Because of that my mother likes to watch baseball games on TV, I gradually became a fan of the team which she's liked since she was a junior high school student. Both of us is getting more and more excited as the beginning day of the season approaches!

In doing so, what has struck me the most is the fact that lots of the Japanese baseball players have gone to America to play with the players from MLB. I just can't count how many of them joined the teams in the US. These days, the player who has made headlines both in Japan and the US is Matsuzaka Daisuke. Have you heard of him? Maybe some of you have because he came in to pitch when the World Baseball Classic took place in the US. Though I was not a fan of the team he used to belong to, he has been one of my favorite players since he made a debut in 1997.

He is now in Florida to participate the training camp of Boston Red SoX. After I heard that he decided to go to MLB, half of me was really sad because we would lose one of the most talented players in Japanese baseball. However, the other half of me was glad because he finally had a chance to show his talent to the world. When he and his team's general manager had the press conference, he said that he knew he would be there because it was a part of his plan. So for him, it was not a dream. In this kind of situation, most people would say "It's my dream come true!". But he didn't describe it like that, and he could see what to come by believing himself and keeping to practice. Watching him say it in front of a lot of reporters from the US and Japan was so inspiring. I think that's why I like him so much even though he fought against my favorite team.

I just can't wait to see him play in Boston! I also heard that there's a possibility that he would have a game between his team and New York Yankees, which means he will meet Matsui-san in games!! That's so exciting!

That's all for today.
See you soon~

Happy Valentine!

Hello, everyone~!

As you may know already from the title, it's Valentine's day! I planned to talk about it on my page on a social net-woking website called "mixi", but the day is actually over in here due to the difference of time. However, I found that I still have a chance to do so on my blog!

The day of Valentine reminds me of the memories in my high school. I used to make some sweets by myself for friends of mine in my class, and so did friends of mine. It sounds a bit strange because girls exchange sweets they made each other!(The concept of Valentine's day comes from Western, and it became popular in Japan because the Japanese chocolate company introduced it as a day for lovers. Traditionally, giving chocolate to men from women is common.) I remember being excited about the coming of the day because each of the sweet was so delicious, and it was a nice opportunity to find that my friends were really good at cooking! Hahaha...

After graduating from the school, that ritual no longer takes place since each of my friends from high school has gone to different schools. So now I've just recalled it as this time of year came along. Honestly, I miss it soooo much!

This year, I'm not in the mood to take part in series of the things happen on the day, because I don't have girls to share sweets with anymore. Moreover, I don't feel like watching the day be commercialized too much by becoming a part of it.

Anyway, I hope all of you have a happy Valentine's day!

An Inconvenient Truth

Hello, everyone~!

On Sunday, I went to the theater in Roppongi to see the movie called "An Inconvenient Truth". I don't think I need to explain it to you in detail because you've heard a lot about it already. In short, it's about global warming.

Even though I thought I knew about the problem a lot as a person in the country which accepted "Kyoto Protocol", I was terrified of the fact that the situation is getting worse day by day. It was much more than expected. At the same time, I felt relieved to know that each of the state in the US has already started to act. It doesn't matter whether or not what each of us can do has an impact to change the situation. I think what's important is that each of us understands that our planet is at stake, and that trying to be hopeful by start thinking about the problem and acting something for the earth.

Also, I was impressed by how Al Gore interpreted the data that he had collected over the years in a way which everyone can understand. The reason why I think so is that to show the date to every generation in comprehensible and sometimes enjoyable way is much harder than to collect them. So his way of showing them in the presentation was something I could learn from.

The picture on the left side is the poster which provided the information about the electoricity used in the theater to play the movie. I was surprised at the fact that there was a term "green energy". I also found that there was a company which made certifications for companies' efforts to be eco-conscious. Then, the theater was approved by the company, and has been given the certification. It meant that the power consumed for playing the movie was produced by natural sunlight and wind. I found this interesting because I've never thought about the energy used in a theater. Also, most importantly, it's nice for us to be able not only to see the movie that mentioned global warming, but also to care about the energy that we consume to play the movie, isn't it? I hope the number of the theaters that introduce the system will start to get growing.

Lastly, though I saw lots of terrifying facts in the movie, the phrases of the credits made me feel hopeful for the future. My favorites are"Pray that people will have the strength to change." and "When you pray, move your feet."(I've learned that the latter comes from the African old saying.)

Alright, that's all for today!
If you have a chance, I recommend you watch this movie! ^^

See you soon~

The Flavor of Life

Hello, everyone~!
Today, I would like to introduce you the song that I've listened to a lot recently.

I happened to find that she has officially released her new song's video when I visited her official website. Her name is Utada Hikaru. I guess some of you remember her because I mentioned her on the previous post about her show in Yoyogi. I've been a big fan of her since I was a junior high student. She is so famous in Japan that she even made a debut in the US. What I like about her most is her choices of words in her lyrics. She happened to be born in New York due to parents' job, and it turns out that she became fluent both in Japanese and English. So I think that's why she always fascinates me about how she descibes something in a way that I've never thought of. I sometimes imagine that she may have a kind of different way to describe what she want to say in Japanese. Her new song is called "The flavor of Life". In order for all of you to understand what she sings about, I translated the lyrics.

"The Flavor of Life"

ありがとうと君に言われると　何だか切ない

(When you say "Thank you" to me, heartache just begins for some reason)

さようならの後も解けぬ魔法　淡くほろ苦い

(A magic that lasts even after goodbye, it's slightly bittersweet)

The flavor of life The flavor of life

(The flavor of life The flavor of life)

友達でも恋人でもない中間地点で

(In an uncertain relationship, neither friends nor lovers)

収穫の日を夢見てる　青いフルーツ

(Unripe fruit that waits for the day to be harvested)

あと一歩が踏み出せないせいで

(Because it's unable to move forward)

じれったいのなんのって　Baby

(It makes me frustrated)

ありがとうと君に言われると　何だか切ない

(When you say "Thank you" to me, heartache begins for some reason)

さようならの後も解けぬ魔法　淡くほろ苦い

(A magic that lasts after goodbye, it's slightly bittersweet)

The flavor of life The flavor of life

(The flavor of life The flavor of life)

甘いだけの誘い文句　味気のないトーク

(The phrases which sound just sweet, the talks that bore me)

そんなものには興味をそそられない

(I have no interest in those things)

思い通りにいかない時だって

(Even when life doesn't go the way you want it to)

人生捨てたもんじゃないって

(Life is not that bad)

どうしたのと急に聞かれると　ううん何でもない

(When I hear you say "What's wrong with you?" suddenly, I say "No, nothing")

さようならの後に消える笑顔　私らしくない

(The smile that disappears after goodbye, this isn't like me)

信じたいと願えば願うほど　何だか切ない

(The more I hope to believe, it hurt my heart slightly with bitterness)

愛してるよよりも大好きの方が君らしいんじゃない

(Saying "I like you" is very you, not "I love you")

The flavor of life

(The flavor of life)

忘れかけていた人の香りを

(The scent of the person who I seem to start forgetting)

突然思い出す頃

(The scent comes back to me out of nowhere)

降り積もる雪の白さをもっと

(The whiteness of the snow that lies thick on the ground)

素直に喜びたいよ

(Wanting to be gladder honestly about the color of the snow)

ダイヤモンドよりもやわらかくて　温かな未来

(The future that looks warmer and somoother than diamond)

手にしたいよ　限りある時間を君と過ごしたい

(That's what I want, I'd love to spend time with you even though time is limited)

ありがとうと君に言われると　何だか切ない

(When you say "Thank you" to me, heartache somehow begins)

さようならの後も解けぬ魔法　淡くほろ苦い

(A magic that lasts after goodbye, it's slightly bittersweet)

The flavor of life The flavor of life

(The flavor of life The flavor of life)

***

That's all for today! See you soon~

Dororo

Hello, everyone~!

I'm glad to be able to add something new here again. I'd love to tell you something interesting almost everyday because so many things happened since the vacation started.

Anyway, let me start with what I did with one of AGU in America mates, Yuki.

Yuki and I went to Roppongi today. I once talked to you about Roppongi the other day. Roppongi is one of the famous cities in Tokyo, and a lot of people from other countries live there. So you might see signs written in both Japanese and English if you visit here. Today, we watched the movie called "Dororo". This movie was based on the comic books written by Osamu Tezuka.

The story was really complicated, so I'll try as much as I can to simplify. It was about the battle between Samurai and monsters. The main character, Hyakkimaru, was a human. But he was abondoned by his parents when he was a baby, and an old man picked it up when he floated down the river. Then, the old man found that there was something wrong about the baby. So he tried to fix it by replacing the baby's body parts with the body parts which he got from dead soldiers. So for the baby(who grew into Hyakkimaru), almost all of his body parts were fake. Then, when he became mature enough to fight, he started a journey to look for his own body parts by fighting against monsters who changed their appearances like humans to deceive Hyakkimaru and to protect themselves. He had 48 parts to take back. It may sound strange to you, and I felt the same way before I saw it. After I saw it, I found it really fascinating to watch a movie like this because the way the original comic artist tried to tell me was thought-provoking. You can go to the offcial website by clicking this banner. On the website, you can watch the trailer.

Moreover, I witnessed the Japanese traditional event there. It's called "Okihiki". According to the handout I got there, "Okihiki is one of the traditional events in the ancient Shiki-nen-sengu rites of the Ise Grand Shrines held every 20 years. Okihiki is the traditional procession of the transportation of the sacred logs for reconstruction of the shrines. For the first time in the 1300-year history of this event, the tradtiton comes to Tokyo, and Roppongi Hills has been honored as the venue." At first, I had no idea what was going on at the scene. However, all I could thought of at the time was to take some pictures of the event so that I would be able to talk about it. Also, I found the website that has the footage of the event. I hope it'll help you understand this traditional event. I was surprised at the fact that this kind of event being held in Roppongi because the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about the place is "modern". Anyway, I think it adds the attractiveness to the place, Roppongi.

In additon, Yuki and I looked around the shops and ate lunch together.
It was really fun!

0

Okay....I'll finish here.

See you soon~

Marie Antoinette

Hello everyone~!

Today I want to talk about the movie I saw on Feb 1st. I went to the theater with one of my best friends. Her name is Mina. We've known each other for a long time. I never recall my childhood without thinking about the time we played together. We became separated when she went to a professional school, and I went to my university. However, we try to spend time together sometimes.

The movie I saw on the day was "Marie Antoinette". You might think of this movie as a historical one. But the director of the movie, Sofia Coppola made a different approach to this legendary woman who had ups and downs. If you remember your history's class, Marie Antoinette is famous for her wasteful spending. At the time, many people even called her "The queen of debt". But in this movie, the director tried to describe her as an ordinary girl whom we all can be related to. She liked to dance, stay up all night, gamble a lot, and so on. I was surprised at the fact that she was just 14 years old when she got married to her husband, Louis XVI. It was regarded as an alliance between France and Austria. Everyone at the Palace of Versailles anticipated the birth of their baby because whether or not they could have a son mattered a lot at the time, and they always tried to let her down by asking if they had a baby when they passed her by. So there was a lot of pressure on her, and she had no one to turn to.

Sofia Coppola is one of my favorite directors because the way she interprets something foreign always fascinates me. I've been a fan of her since I watched "Lost in Translation". So I was so excited that her new movie came out here finally! After I read the reviews, I found that some people didn't like the language that was used in the movie. The people in the movie rarely spoke French actually, they spoke English almost all the time. The words they said in French was "Au revoir.(Goodbye.)", "Merci.(Thank you.)", and so on. The French audience responded to the movie in the same way when it arrived in France. However, I thought it was okay! I thought that you might miss something important if you focused too much on the language. Admittedly, it looked strange at first. But I got used to it as the movie went on. I even liked the fact that they decided to make this movie almost all in English because it added a kind of unique taste in it. Hearing the casts make conversations in English at the Palace of Versailles made me feel like as if I was lost in somewhere. Also, the dresses were so beautiful that I wish that I was born in that century! Hehehe~.

Then, she gave me a souvenir from her trip to Osaka, the west part of Japan. She went to Universal Studio Japan there with friends of her. Listening to what she saw and did definitely made me want to go there! The picture on the left side is Spider-Man faced body wash. It made me laugh because it was cute and funny. Anyway, her choice is brilliant because I love taking bath. (I'm sure she knew it!)

I really had a good time watching the movie, chatting a lot, eating dinner. Also, I want to see "Lost in Translation" again. So I'll see it again at home.

Okay~ , that's all for today.

See you soon.

Twenty Four

Hello, everyone~!

I've decided that I'm going to try to add as many posts as I can during this vacation to be a better writer in English, and to keep you informed about what I'm doing. ^^

I just finished watching the fifth season of the TV show, "24". I've been a big fan of this show since the very first season of the show came out here in 2003! (I even watched it at the hotel when I was in Maryland! Hahaha!) I like it because it has something that the Japanese TV dramas don't. Right now, I think the industry of the Japanese TV dramas are having a tough time making a good stuff. I used to watch them a lot some years ago and I loved watching them, I still recall how thrilled I was when I was in front of TV and waited for the new episode to come. But I stopped watching them because the plots are getting cheesy and boring. While I was thinking about that, I happened to find the series of 24 at the store, and I found it interesting! The reason I thought was that I never saw this kind of a show before. At the time when I started watching the show, all I focused on was to follow the story by reading the Japanese subtitle. But now, I can enjoy watching the show without it. I'm now glad to be able to do so because reading subtitle sometimes kept me from concentrating on what the actors/actresses were trying to say with their facial expressions. Also, I can understand the whole meaning of what each of the character says by listening to them directly in English. Yaaay! I'm happy about that because I think there's limitation of the number of characters they can put in the Japanese subtitle. So that fact made me wonder if all the things the casts said were really covered in the subtitle in Japanese.

Alright, I think what I talked about above tells you how excited I am about the show! Hehehe~. I actually watched "Tru Calling" and "Prison Break" as well. But I think that "24" is the best. It's still exciting to see it even though it's been seven years since the first season came out in the US.

Maybe, I should stop here....I've already gone too far? Hahaha~. ^^
Anyway, please tell me if you know some good TV dramas! I'll be glad to check it out.

That's all for now!
See you soon~

How do you like it?

Hello, everyone~!

I'm sure that you noticed my blog got a new look. To be honest, I was sort of tired of the old template. So I've wanted to change that but I didn't feel like doing it because I thought that doing it might make all of the things on my blog deleted. However, I finally had a chance to upgrade my blog to a newer version, and I found that I could change the template of my blog without worrying about the setting being deleted. I liked the way I could change the things on my blog because it was so easy! ^^ Anyway, I hope you'll like it.

One more thing..... my exams are over! (The date when exams finish varies according to what subjects each of the student in AGU takes in this semester. So some of my friends, including some members of AGU in America still have exams. Good Luck!) So I'm now on vacation. Yaaay! I don't have any plan to go on a trip, but I probably am going to go to a school to get my driver's license. Also, I think I'm able to add new posts more frequently. So please look forward to it!

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

P.S
Let me just mention my friend's new blog! It's Yuiko's.
Yuiko has just opened her new blog in Japanese. Even though the contents are written in Japanese, I think the pictures she put on it will help you understand what she talks about. I was there yesterday, and I enjoyed reading about what she bought and how she enjoyed hot chocolate! ^^ So why don't you visit there if you have time? →http://yaplog.jp/coconutscream/

take a quick break from exams...

Hello, everyone~!
Recently, I've been busy writing my papers and preparing for the exams. So it's been a little while. How have all of you been?

Though I still have an exam left, my exams are almost over.(My exams will be over on Jan 26.) So I'm now taking a break from preparations for the last exam of this semester, and writing this post to let you know how I am doing. Well, speaking of my blog, I was surprised and glad to see the comments on my previous post! I'm so thankful for the technologies we are able to have today because many people from all over the world can visit my blog. すごくない？(Isn't this awesome?) Of course, I want to thank all of you who left comments on my blog! As always, I really appreciate it.

On January 16th, I and Yuki hung out with Laura's brother, his cousin, and their girlfriends at Ueno.(One of the famous city in Japan which is known for the zoo, the museum, and lots of other attractive places.) We had a yummy Yakiniku(broiled meat) dinner, and Hiro joined us in the middle of the dinner. I really had a pleasant time eating with them. Also, I enjoyed talking about fashion, guys, and cultures with girls! It was a bit harder than usual because it was all in English. ^^ After the dinner, we went to a cafe and kept talking for an hour or so. We were even kicked out by the staff of the cafe! Hehehe~.

On the next day, all of us except Yuki and Hiro played bowling in Shibuya from 11 AM to around noon. It's been a while since I last played bowling. So I was too bad even though playing it was really fun! Hahaha~! No matter my score finally told me, the place we played bowling was awesome because the lighting was black light. Can you imagine it? I've been to that kind of place before, but it always fascinates me. I should have taken a picture of it! We ate lunch after that, and we walked around in Shibuya for shopping. While I was walking with them, I mostly talked with the girls about the Japanese TV dramas, movies, and so on. The fact that the information they had about them was much better than mine surprised me a lot! They even told me what dramas are now on TV. I'm so glad to hear them talk about the things like that because it means that they pay attention to the Japanese culture, right? Then, we went to Shinjuku by the crowded train to visit much more shops! It just took almost 10 minutes to get to Shinjuku from Shibuya. We went to the department store, and some shops. But everything we found there was expensive, which made all of us sad...So this time, we chose to go to Harajuku! (It took 10 minutes to go there from Shinjuku.) Some of you might have heard of the term "Harajuku" because No Doubt's Gwen Stefani wrote about the place in some songs of her solo work. Anyway, we did enjoy shopping there because everything was cheap! I didn't even remember how much times I said "It's really cheap!" that day. Then, I sent an e-mail to Hiro to see if he could come to where we were at that time because I knew he was in Aoyama. (This is the place where the main campus of AGU exists, and it's close to Harajuku if you get on a train.) After about 20 minutes later, Hiro joined us! He helped the guys look for what they want and they finally got what they wanted to buy. The girls enjoyed not only walking around Harajuku but also eating crepe. At night, Laura came to us and we had a dinner.

Thinking back, so many things happened actually! Wow! It really was an interesting experience for me because it was the first time to introduce some people from foreign countries to the famous cities in Tokyo! It made me realize that I needed to know more about the places because I wanted people who are interested in the Japanese culture to understand them fairly! It's never really easy because I have to explain about my country in English, but I think it's fun and meaningful because I can learn more about my own country and English at the same time! ^^

It was so fun that I completely forgot to take a picture! Next time I go there, I definitely will take a lot of pictures.

See you soon~!
I can't wait to see all of you on our next chat!

Coming of Age Day!

Hello, everyone~!
It's been about a week since my school began... I've been busy preparing for the exams and taking them. Today I just had the exam of my English class, and I'm so delighted at the fact that the exam is over because it made me so nervous. Anyway, I did finish that. So let's move on to the topic I would like to talk about today!

Here it is!

Coming of Age Day finally arrived!

One of my best friends and I took this picture before we attended the ceremony on January 8th. I was so glad to be able to attend it because it was like a reunion of my classmates in my junior high school. After attending it, I headed to my grand parents' house with my parents to show my Kimono. I was not sure if I could get used to tightness of Kimono at first, but I managed to deal with it somehow. I even enjoyed eating 2 mandarin oranges at my grand parents' house! Then, we went back to home. In fact, I still had some place to go.... Guess what?! To the party! I went there after I took off my Kimono, which took almost 20 minutes. I could see almost all of my friends from my junior high school at the party, so talking with them seemed to be unstoppable! We even went to karaoke after eating and drinking....

After I came back to home, I started preparing for the exam of my French class which was conducted on the next day! I was tired and didn't feel like doing any study, of course. But I got my homework and preparations for it done in the middle of the night. Hehehe~.

Anyway, I think that day became an unforgettable one in many ways!

You can enjoy looking at the rest of the pictures I took on the day here.

This album is powered by
BubbleShare
- Add to my blog

That's all for today!
See you soon~

A Happy New Year!

Hello, everyone~!
It's that time of year again! ^^
I still can't believe the fact that 2006 came to an end and three days already have passed since 2007 began...

Anyway, all I wanted to say to you is...

あけましておめでとう～！(Happy new year!)

I was just trying to think about my new year resolution just before I started writing this, and the first thing that came up on my mind was to do my best on the final exam which I will take in the middle of January! But for now, I've ended up having a nice long sleep and being lazy...どんまいける～

Lastly,
I hope that all of you have a great happy new year and 今年もよろしくね★