12/31 After study abroad

After I did study abroad, I wrote this essay about a year ago.


On the way to go to B.C., the workshop place for 2 weeks, I was so excited to meet my host family in Comox.

My host family was supposed to be 2 little children, parents, and a big dog.

But my host family turned out to be a eighty-six-year-old grandmother!!

My host family was only the old lady!!

What with the 1 day’s delay of the airplane and changing host family, my Canadian life started unusually. ha-ha



I don’t know for the plane but it was the luckiest thing that I could get a chance to meet her.

She is such a wonderful lady.

I love her so much and really liked the stay with her.

I just couldn't help feeling her love. She is so kind enough to send me letters frequently.








I had really good time in M.B. too.

My first day of school when I was so nervous was great day.

Because I could make many new friends, some of who became my best friends!

I have done my best at school work so that I could receive a prize of an honors achievement as well as a school diploma at a ceremony of graduation.

But, you know, I couldn’t have done this without teachers, my friends, and my host family.




Especially my host mother, a teacher of my school, helped me all the time when I had some trouble in school works.



My life in Canada was so different from what it was in Japan.

I was so surprised that I couldn’t get accustomed to living there at first.

It was not only bad things, but also good things. For instance, the cold weather, minimum of 40 degrees, I didn’t like that cold, but I really liked sundogs, snow
frost, and northern lights, which impressed me a lot.



Once or twice, I had a little quarrel with my host mom because of the differences
between my sense of value and hers.

She persuaded me not to try everything that I want to.

Though it was usual thing for me to try anything in which I interested, it wasn’t for mom.



I talked over with her and I could find that she tells me because she loves me and
she just didn’t want to make me tired.

I can tell that I became a talkative girl in their house after that. lol




It is certain that it was so inconvenient to go anywhere even to town or to meet my friends.


If I go to somewhere I have to think to find rides to go and back.


But I wasn’t disappointed because my house in Canada where I miss so much now was
always full of laugh and smile.

I was at home with my 3 sisters most of the weekends.

One of my sisters, Maria (17), is also my best friend.

We were so busy everyday after school, with talking, doing homework on a trampoline, making dance for a team, taking hot tub at midnight, going out for shopping, and doing everything together just like real sisters.


Yes, I am the fourth sister of them!!



The time had flashed by, I had hard time to say goodbye to everyone, which I didn’t want to say.

I’m sure that I will go back to M.B.soon though.

I cried a lot with my friends and my family like crazy.

It was so difficult to express how much thankful I felt for the kindness I have received.




My purpose of this year long program was to learn English and to have more choices of my job in the future.

Standing on my own two feet was also my goal in Canada.

Through this program, I met so many people and learned many things especially about myself.


How much I depend on everyone especially my parents in Japan!!

I keenly came to feel that relationships with others are most indispensable for me



These pictures show that I am the luckiest girl in the world.

I can never thank this family enough for having me as a true member of them.


I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Labo and my family for making such a great opportunity.

I’m certain that I will make the most of my ability which comes from studying abroad.




I owe what I am to everyone who supports me. Thank you so much.

12/30 Talking of Ryuusei

Talking of shooting star, have you watched "Ryuusei no kizuna" ?

I really loved that drama, became my favorite one!!!

Here is the theme song fot this drama. Beautiful days by ARASHI!!

嵐　新曲　「Beautiful Days」 流星の絆主題歌 PV

Convert »»  PC/iPod - 3GP/3GP2 - MP3 - IMG - Podcast

Powered by TubeFire.com

So, last night, when I saw the shooting star, I felt as if i was SHIZURU. haha

that's all lol

12/29 Shooting star!!!

Today, I had nothing really to do so that I was so idle at daytime.
At night, my old friends called me to drive.

My friends came to pick me up at 10 o'clock and then we went to the sea.

5 of us were at the beach, and were watching sky because many star were visible that night!!! so beautiful!!!


At the very moment!!!!!!!!!




We saw same shooting star!!!!! like this picture!!!!!


We were sooooo impressed that we screamed so loud together!!!!lol

I have seen shooting stars before but never seen the same one with other people sharing deep emotions!!!


I could not make a wish to the shooting star, but I am sure that year of 2009 are going to be great happy year for me and my friends!!


I hope you a happy happy new year!!!!

12/28 year-end party★

Today, I had year-end party with a part of WILL member!!


We went to "Katsuo", the bar.

I joined this circle "WILL" recently, like 1 month ago.

so, I did not know almost all members at today's participants.

But they are so kind and funny that I could take kindly to the situation.


Haruna is the member of this circle too!!



I made this object at the second bar we went.

My friends ordered so many grapefruit sours that I made this one.

cute eh?lol


Time flies so fast. crazy eh??

I cannot believe that I am going to be a sophomore soon!!!omg

I feel as if I entered this university yesterday.

how valuable the time is!!!!

We cannot buy time of course, we should enjoy everyday life!!!

12/27 illumination!!!

in Shinjuku



in yokohama



from land mark tower in yokohama



in machida near my house!!



in Roppongi it shows many colors


In Roppongi Garden place (maybe lol)



in University cute:)




In Narita air port when i went to Honolulu




Tokyo tower!!! I went to there with my exboyfriend. hahahahahah

12/19 Yuma's birthday party!!

Omg! I wanted to show you some pictures from today's party, but it seems my camera has been broken.
So, I will put purikura on this blog. haha
Four of us were so drunk at that time, after eating dinner and drinking birthday champagne!!

Yes, 12/20 is Yuma, my best friend,'s birth day!!

We went to a restaurant and had course (it was so good).

We could drink as much alcohol as we want. NOMIHO-DAI!!!lol

After that, we went yusuke's house to continue drinking. crazy!!!

what character are you going to be when you are drunk??

I am a happy happy person when I am drunk. lol

We did many games such as twister, do you know??

blue, red, green, and yellow are on a big sheet, two people have to obey another person who have roulette. Then, they have to touch the colors by using their hands and legs.

I think that you guys have done before.haha

you should try that when you are drunk.


Yuma was crushed that night even though she was the leading character. lol


Happy birthday yuma!!

luv you so much xxx

12/18 Hawaii2

no more about the marathon. haha
This pic tells you how tired I was!! I did not have any energy to go out to eat the next morning, so that I ate a precooked Chinese noodle at a veranda.




Christmas tree!!!! Christmas trees were everywhere even the weather is hot.
Look more closer!! the harts looks like flowers!! so cute!!




I ate half of hamburger and fried potato sharing with my dad.


Of course!! Desert!! Oreo flavor ice cream!! I loved it!!



I could not walk as usual. I could feel sorry for old people who have pain in their body.
Although I have terrible pain in my legs, I gotta go shopping!!!!lol
Because of a strong yen these days, I could get big-name brand products so cheaper!!


I got a bag and a purse for me, four bags for my mother and my grand mother, a watch for my brother, a T-shirt for my grand father and so on...


I love shopping, I can shop as far as time permits!!! lol
But, it was still school days, I did not have much time, I did not get a feeling of satisfaction for shopping. haha


Dinner for the night was great stake at Suntry!! That is why I have gained wait a lot in Hawaii....omg
But you know, it was SO good. so tender!! I love rare meet.haha
And alcohol!! It was good too.

Many university students in Japan love drinking alcohol. Especially AGU, they drink all night frequently.lol As for me, of course, love to drink.lol
Drinking alcohol with friends is so fun. I like to try talking with my friends who get drunk. so funny thing eh??
One of my old friends, Yuma, she can talk by herself when she gets drunk. lol
She sometimes lecture something at no one. haha

Do you like drink alcohol?? What kind of drink do you like the best?



Good bye Hawaii!!

Can you see Mt. Fuji??
Because of homecoming rush, We could not touch down right away, we did convolution for a while.
That is why I could see Mt.Fuji!!
Lucky eh??ww

12/17 Hawaii

I went to Hawaii from 12th to 17th in Dec.

you know what? I went there for Honolulu marathon!!

yes, I ran 42.195km with my father.




Every runners gathered at 3:30 in the midnight because starting time was 5:00 in the morning!!!!

So early...omg

I was so nurvers because it was my first time to take part in that marathon.

Even though marathon!!! I had never ran such a long distance before!!!!

and you know what??

I did not practice for this race......haha..ha


Anyways!

We started with big fire works!!

Wonderful!!




The weather was not good.

It was raining for about 3 hours at the beginning of the race.


I and my dad were running wearing rain coats at first.

It was so hard to find the way we can run because of the crowd!!!

20,302 people participated in this marathon this year.

I heared more than half of the participants were from Japan.



On the way, an army of volunteers waited with cups and sponges and medical supplies.

local people were serving out some kind of food such as dried bananas and cookies.

Companies of sponsor were handing out drinks such as water and sports drinks.

All along the race course, supporters with bullhorns, signs, whistles and clackers spurred on the runners.

Even when the rain pelted down they did so from under slickers and umbreklas.

Every people were cheering so hard for us and the runners!!

They cheered me up a lot!!!




Finally, we finished!!

Look!!

This picture tells you how hard to run with wetted shoes.
Oops!!

Just in case,

it is not my foot, it's my dad's foot.



The first finisher of women in this radce was Kyoko Shimahara of Tokyo, Japan.

Her time was 2:32:36!!! Amazing eh??

As for me and my dad, because of my dad's injury of right leg, we could not continue to run after 25km.

We finished like 6:10:00.

I could say that I had never had such an achievement before.

12/9 Newspaper Article Discussion

Newspaper Article Discussion

“U.S. plans to ban beef from sick cows”
Asahi Shim bun May 21, 2008


Written Summary:

According to this article, the U.S.

Agriculture Department has proposed banning from the food supply all cows that are too sick or injured to walk.


The new regulation would end an exemption (official permission) that allowed animals, known as downer cows, into the food supply if a government veterinarian (who connected with caring for the health of animals) examined the animal and deemed it fit for slaughter.


Edward Schafer who is an Agriculture Secretary said that while the exemption was rarely granted - it applied to fewer than 1,000 of the 34 million cattle that were slaughtered last year - it had nonetheless created confusion among consumers.


By the declaration, he said that "it will be the reliance for food safety, and the improvement in humane handling of an animal."


“It was just a small percentage, but a small percentage of 34 million is a lot of animals and a lot of suffering,” Pacelle said.




Opinion Statement:

I think that the U.S. was so slow to take any actions for cow problems that it is not amusing things if many people who infected with BSE come out.



Discussion Questions:

1. Nowadays BSE or mad cow disease is becoming serious problem in the world. Do you mind eating American beef? Why and why not?

2. What do you think about the import of beef from other countries into JAPAN?

3. What do you think of Japanese dependent on other countries for food and oil and so on?

☆★☆Types Of Media☆★☆

Nowadays people get much information through the mass media.

The mass media is the main way that large numbers of people receive information and entertainment, and now there are many types of mass media.

Each type has own characteristics. The mass media can be classified on the basis of the medium used.



The first type is called broadcast media. What is used for making this type of media is called TV.


TV has become a common information receiver in homes, businesses, and particularly institutions as a source of news and entertainment.

TV has very objective viewpoints. It is not influenced by personal feelings or opinions, considering only what is happening.

Also, people can get news not only in our country but also from all over the world.

Thanks to the images and real sounds of TV, people can feel affairs or events as if they were present on that occasion.

Because of their objective viewpoints, images and sounds, a lot of people have complete reliance on TV and radio.

The influence on human behavior of this media is very big.

It extends to a sense for not only the information but also the right and wrong and outlook on ethic.



Another type of media is print media. Newspapers are very common in people's society.

Because of a sales system, people can buy it through a monthly sale by delivery to home from each local newspaper store.

There are many cases where the morning edition and the evening paper are published.

The new paper also has objective viewpoints too, so that the news from it can be called very reliable.

Japan is one of the countries where newspapers are read most.

As a result, it is said that it is likely that a news paper gives big influence to the information of the public opinion.

However, "Many newspaper around the world launched online editions in an attempt to follow or stay ahead of their audience." (Quoted from Wikipedia)




Phone line media has suddenly become very common these days.

Computers are machine with which people can get much information from all over the world just by sitting down in front of them and accessing the Internet.

This kind of media is the biggest; a news reporter of Japan Times says that the number of users is estimated tens of millions of people in the world.

This mass media is also the fastest to get information about the world's affairs.

Moreover, because of the untold amount of information, people can get the one in which they are really interested.

Because anyone can send any information on the Internet freely, most of this information can be seen from a subjective viewpoint.

Therefore, people must not to take any information on trust at the first sight.




There is a large variety of media.

In order to get information correctly and usefully, it is necessary for people to know these characteristics of each media and try to compare more than one kind of media to discuss and get their own opinions.



Work Cited:

"Impact of Television and Internet" Wikipedia

BELL

I am going to introduce my pet.
I have a dog. His name is BELL.

He is 7 years old and he is a welsh corgy same as Airi's dog!!!
so cute.
Do you know what welsh corgy is?
They have long body and short legs.
Long time ago, welsh corgy was a shepherd's dog I heard.

So, Bell is a great runner too.

I love Bell because he is so smart and does many tricks.
For example, he sits down and shakes hands, of course, he sings and shuts doors.
Pretty cool, eh??ww

My End of Year Plans

Many of my friends are planning to go somewhere at Christmas eve and Christmas day with their boyfriends or girlfriends.
I am so envious because I do not have any boyfriend.
I feel lonely these days watching Christmas trees in town.

Anyways,lol

Although my end of year plans is nothing with boy, I am going to Hawaii next week with......


Guess who?




With my FATHER!!!!!


haha.


Have you ever heard Honolulu Marathon before?
Yes, I and my father are going to Hawaii to participate this event!!!
We have to run 42.195km. omg!!
I have never run those long distance before.

But, two of us are practicing at every weekend.
Last week, I ran 10km. Although not so fast, still hard work especially for me.
I have massle pains still.

Finishing the marathon is the goal for me, but also, making my father buy me new brand bags and purse are also my goal.!! Of course!! lol



Besides this trip, year-end party "Bounennkai" are also my plan at the end of year.
Drinking too much alchohol is not a good idea I think, but I like my friends who are drunk! so fun!! lol

my favorite song!

Hey! I used this song to dance with at the dance circle "NACK"

☆★☆TAKO & NABE & Birthday Party☆★☆

We had party yesterday!!! we made Takoyaki and Nabe!!
I had not drunk so much alcohol these days, but yesterday, yes....lol
I was so drunk that I do not remember about this picture...lol

I have no idea what i was doing!!lol
Anyways we had wonderful time that day.

Mali

I would like to explore Mali in this world. The landlocked West African country of Mali is mostly desert or semi desert.

This country gained independence from French in 1960.
In the 1980s economic woes worsened by drought and famine led to deregulation and privatization.
Desertification forces nomadic herders south to the subsistence-farming belt. With increased gold mining operations, Mali is becoming a major gold exporter.
The country has a population of 14million people with 46 literacy percent. French, Bambara, numerous African languages are spoken in this country. Life expectancy is 45 years old; much lower than those of Japan.


The other day, I read an article about people in this country do not even know the transparence of water. They take it for granted that the water is always cloudy things.


The reason why I chose this country is Mali is the one of the poorest countries in the world. I know how much I am helpless for them, but I think I will be able to change my way of thinking and living.

Picture Day for Seizin-Shiki!!!

These pics are from yesterday. yes, it was picture day for Seizin-shiki.
It took so long hours to finish everything. like 6 hours. omg

I was so exhausted after everything had done. haha

Anyways this is my family!!!Parents, grand parents, and my brother.
I am so exciting to see my old friends at Seizin-shiki!!!

After taking pictures, I went to see some of my old friends.Eri, Kana, Reina, Sayaka.
We went to a restaurant to eat Okonomi-yaki.haha
It was never ending talking about old things like what happen in junior high school days.

My friends told me that I changed a lot.
"You look like a Kireina One-san" they said. lol
It was so funny talking about me and friends in the old days.

Everyone changed a lot.
We talked till 2:00 at the restaurant of Okonomiyaki.

I am so exciting that Seizin-shiki is coming in about 2 months!!