Chat at Tapped In!

Hello, everyone~!

Today, as I mentioned previously, I enjoyed talking to some AGU people at Tapped In! For those who came there tonight(this morning), thank you! And those who couldn't make it today, I hope I'll see you next time!

This time, Hiro(Ojichang) made it! Though Hiro and I are in Japan, and actually go to the same university obviously, we haven't seen each other for a little while. So, it was really nice to talk about what he's been up to, and know that he has been writing a paper for the class he's attended in our graduate school.(Students in Aoyama Gakuin University can attend the classes in the graduate school, and we can even get credits.)

And also, I would like to check and read Confucius Lives Next Door, by T. R. Reid. In addition to that, I will also read the article that Nina introduced at the chat, In Energy-Stingy Japan, an Extravagant Indulgence: Posh Privies. It's interesting for me to know a little bit about Japan from a view of outsiders. It gives me another perspective for ourselves, and a way to make a comparison between how we are being looked at and how we look at ourselves, right?

There was some conversations in Japanese, English-mixed-Japanese, and Japanese-mixed-English when I, Hiro, and Ji Won talked about lots of different things such as Hiro's selection of graduate schools and their requirements for application, Ji Won's precious cars that had sadly gone away, summer movies, and so on.

It's always awesome to talk to AGU people even though we virtually meet online! But hopefully, I'll see you face to face! Hehehe.

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. ^^

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.

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~

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!