I'm in my home now. I am so bored... I know I have a lot of things that I have to do.

Oh I wanna talk with my friends in English and Chinese.

I am really afraid that my English skill is gonna be very bad!!!

Today, I read a text book which I have used when I was a junior high school student.

I found 3 famous English songs.

Take Me Home, Country Roads

words & music by B. Danoff, T. Nivert & J. Denver
Arranged by Suzuki Yumi


Almost heaven West Virginia Blue Rigde Mountains Shenandoah River

Life is old there older than the trees, yonger than the mountains grow in' like a breeze

Country Roads take me home to the place I belong West Virginia mountain mom ma

Take me home Country Roads


All my mem'ries gather'round her miner's lady strager to blue water

Dark and dusty painted on the sky, misty taste of moon shine tear drop in my eye

Country Roads take me home tto the place I belong West Virginia mountain mom ma

Take me home Country Roads

I hear her voice, in the morn-in hours she calls me, the radio reminds me of my home far away

And drivin' down the road I get a feelin' that I should have been home yesterday yesterday

Country Roads take me home Contry Roads take me home Country Roads



Imagine

Words & Music by J. Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try.
No hell below us,
Above us only sky.
Imagine all the people
Living for today.

Imagine there's no countries,
It isn't hard to do.
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too.
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say I'm a dreamer,
But I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one.

Imagine no possessions,
I wonder if you can.
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man.
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world.

You may say I'm a dreamer,
But I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one.



Top of the World

words& music by R.Carpenter & J Bettis

Such a feelin's comin' over me
There is wonder in most everything I see
Not a cloud in the sky
got the sun in my eyes
And I woun't be surprised iif it's a dream
Everything I want the world to be
Is now coming true especially for me
And the reason is clear
it's because you are here
You're the nearest thing to heaven that I've seen

*I'm on the top of the world lookin'
now on creation
and the only explanation I can find
Is the lov ethat I've found ever since
Your love's put me at the top of the world

Something in the wind has learned my name
And it's tellin' me that things are not the same
In the leaves on the trees
and the touch of the breeze
There's a pleasin' sense of happiness for me
There is only one wish on my mind
When this day is through I hope that I will find
That tomorrow will be
just the same for you and me
All I need will be mine if you are here

** repeat

Translation of my Chinese Blog

Thursday, December 28, 2006

My Home

Now, I am in mu home. I am so bored~~!!!

It is snowy outside today. It is so cold!!!

My Older brother came back to my home yesterday. He loves Russian.

His girlfriend is Russian girl. He always makes fun of me because I am studying Chinese.

He wants me to study Russian but I love Chinese lol

Sorry Brother~~~hahaha

My younger brother doesn't like studying foreign languages.

He is really good at math.

I talked with my Chinese friend this evening. He is my Chinese teacher. lol

He is nice to me. Thank you.

★☆Merry X'mas☆★
~Good-bye and Nice to meet you~

Actually, It was the worst X'mas day in my life.

However, I thought and thought and thought...


What is love,

What is life,

What is Friends and so on...


Saying Good-bye is really hard for me.

I was a bird that cannot fly because I couldn't say "Good-bye" well.

A person goes. A person stays behind someone who is really important for him or her.

Which person's situation is the most hardest to put up with??

A person loved someone. A person was loved by someone.

Which person was happier??



I will say "Good-bye" to 2006.

I will change myself by coming 2007.

I will leave all of my weakness and bad things and....this heart of mine here, 2006.

Please Never Come Back.

Please Be A Part Of My Past.

I decided.

Be srong.

Be adult.

Let live and Let live.

Forget and Forgive.

Thanks for everything. But I will go.

To go ahead, To protect,

This was the Fatality.

Good-Bye. Bye-Bye.


If we meet each other in 2007, I will not be same as now.

So I will say "Nice to Meet You"

I have a littie pain in my heart, But it is not continue.

I will be bigger and bigger.


Let's meet in the future.

Then, I will talk to you with smile and say

"There was nothing that I lost."

The 20th Century: What’s Worth Saving?


I think it is interesting to know things that people want to save for our future. When I see the title of this article, some ideas that I want to save for my future popped into my mind. Actually, I found those things in the text book. Those are Internet and clean energy. These days more and more people are using the Internet riding on the trend toward internationalization. It enables us to communicate with people all over the world. I think it will help us to make world peace. As for clean energy, it is also important for us to survive in the future. There are a lot of environmental problems because of burning fossil fuels. I hope some clean energy would be used instead of fossil fuels and nuclear fuels in the future. I want to pack them into a time capsule to save for our future.

No Laughing Matter

Laughing is very good for our health. It makes people happier. I have watched one TV program about laughing and smiling before. A teacher showed some tests to Children. He divided children into two groups. One group just ran short distance with all of their strength. The other group also ran with all of their strength but they were asked to smile while they were running. The result of this research was that the latter group was faster than the former group. Besides, in same TV program, a doctor recommended one patient who had a serious lung cancer laughed loudly everyday. The patient tried to do that. Then about 3 month, surprisingly the cancer disappeared. I learned that smiling and laughing are very powerful.

Lectures vs. Laptops


I was so surprised when I read this essay. I couldn’t believe many students use their laptops not to take notes but to play Solitaire or Minesweeper during classes. I think it is rude to a teacher and other students who really want to study. There are no students who use their laptops during classes around me, but as Matteo Capone mentioned on the page 203, Cell phones have problems as well as laptops. Sometimes someone’s cell phone rings during classes. Every time I hear the sound, my concentration is disturbed. I live on the campus, so I don’t need my cell phone actually. So, I don’t take my cell phone to classes. If I need it, I would turn off the switch. That is because, at least I, I don’t want to interrupt other’s concentration and teacher’s lecture. I think we should consider how to use cell phones.

Kill Your Television

I think that Television has advantages and disadvantages. We can get a lot of information through TVs. However, as Bill Duesing mentioned in the text book, all of that information is passive. TVs influence people are thought very much. Sometimes they can brainwash people. I have read a book which a researcher examined how many children watch violent animations by the time they reach 17, and how their personality would be. I don’t remember the result clearly, but I remember that children who watched many violent TV programs became more aggressive and sometimes violent. I was so surprised at that fact. I think that present children need more real experiences.

Translation Of My Chinese Blog

http://meimeitu.blogspot.com/

This is my Chinese Blog address. If you are interested in this, Please check. Thank you.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Invocation written by Xi Mu
I know there are no perfect things in the world.
I also know that there are good-by and aging.
However, I want to have only one chance.
Oh god please grants my wishes.
Please give me a long long summer,
Give me a perfect memory,
Give me a tender and soft heart,
Give me a beautiful love,,,
Coz, I can't live twice in the world... so please give me a beautiful name...
Then he can call the name in a small voice at night.
And, we can remember our love forever.

Thursday, November 30, 2006
November 30, Last Day of November
This morning, I was not able to go to a class, because I had a bad headache!!
It is December from tomorrow!! I am looking forward to coming X'mas!! I love Xmas!!
Ah~ Chinese is really difficult!! I cannot speak Chinese well. There are a lot of difficult things....(sigh...)
Yet, I love Chinese!! So, I will do my best!! lol

Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Snow Ball Fighting
Yesterday, we played a snow ball fighting. I played it with my classmates and my teacher.
I was so tired because of it, but I really enjoyed!! lol
I love my classmates!! Thank you everyone★
A little while ago, I ate fried Chicken lol. T'was soooooooo Delicious!!
One of my classmates, Eriko bought those Chickens for us.
International students are holding a X'mas party in the lobby lol
I don't want to drink~ sorry Devin hahaha!!
Coz, I want to watch TV lol
It is "14-year-old Mother"

Saturday December 23, 2006
★☆Ｘ’ｍａｓ　Ｅｖｅ☆★
HAHAHA~Today is the X'mas Eve!!!I am really excited lol.
By the way, From yesterday, a winter vacation was started★☆
The result of TOEFL-ITP...hmm it was SOSO lol
It was soooo cold outside yesterday!! BUT I went to Karaoke with my Japanese friend.
I had really good time with her!!
I will study Chinese and English very hard everyday!!

2N Independent Learning　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

I really enjoyed and learned a lot in the Independent learning class. Indeed, I found that using English every day and to enjoy it is the best way to improve my English skills though the independent learning class. Reading English was my weak point. So, in the Independent learning class, I set my goal “to improve my reading skills and vocabulary”, and I chose my material and considered what strategy was the best for me. Actually, these processes were really helpful for me because I had not realized what the week point on my reading skills was. Yet, finally I found them through these steps. I found that I didn’t have a lot of vocabulary. I decided “CNN English Express #7” as my material. I chose CNN text book in spring term and I thought using CNN was really suit me. I used only CNN English Express #7 in this term. I didn’t change my material at all. So, I could concentrate on my learning. There were 3 steps in the text book. I tried to do step1 and step2. Step 2 was more difficult than step1. There was no slow speed available in step2. Yet, strategies were almost same. I made 7 stratedies for step 1 and 6 strategies for step2.I will write strategies for step 1 as an example. 1st, I just listen to MD in natural speed without the text book. 2nd, I check some krywords and listen to MD in natural speed again. 3rd, I read and listen to MD in slow speed and understand the sentences. 4th, I listen to MD in slow speed and immitate them with the text book. 5th, I listen to MD in slow speed without the text book and immitate them. 6th, I listen to MD in natural speed and read them aloud. 7th, I make a vocaburaly npte book. First, the strategy 1st was very fast so I felt it was really dofficult. However, after I did the strategy 4th and 5th again and again, I could find that I was able to understand those fast English. I think all of my strategies worked best for me. However, especially the strategy 4th and 5th worked really best. It was really helpful because I could memorize some English expressions and words more clearly. In addition to this, I found I could read English sentences gradually faster and faster. Difference of my complihension between the strategy 1st and 6th showed my improvement. I really loved to feel them. I also used special pages of CNN text book. It was for building up vocabulary. I made flash cards and vocabulary notes. I always carry them in my bag, and sometimes review them. It is very easy to carry and to review.
What was more, I tried to do my own independent learning in my room. I watched TV; NHK in English. I could understand about 70 to 80% of their English. I think their English was easier than CNN. I listened to CNN radio on the Internet then I could hear some word or sentenses. They spoke very fast but I tried to listen. I also tried to dictate some English music and I really enjoyed it. I communicate with my friends in English everyday as much as I can, not only with international students but also with Japanese friends. I found that my reading ability is getting higher and higher compared to spring semester. I feel I can read writing text book or other English books easire than before. As for vocabulary, I found a lot of words in the writing text book that I already learned in the independent learning class. Whenever I found those words I felt really happy even though there were a lot of unknown words in that article. I found that my listening ability became really good even though I did not set the improvement of listening skill as my goal this time. I felt much easier to listen to Contemporary topics in the focused listening class than before. I loved sharing our opinions and strategies of our materials in conferences!! I am thinking that I will try to do some strategies that I learned from my friends during winter vacation. Now I can enjoy communicating with international students very much!!

Intercultural Dating

There are many different opinions about dating a person who is not from my culture. These days more and more people date across their cultures, riding on the trend toward internationalization. Generally speaking, many Japanese people long for intercultural dating. In my opinion, I can date a boy who is not from my culture because I have dated outside my own ethnic group before. However, there are a lot of problems involved in going out with a person who has a different culture than yours.
I had a boyfriend who was Chinese. He came from the northern part of mainland China. We were both Asian, so we looked like we were in the same ethnic group. I couldn’t speak Chinese at all at that time, but he could speak Japanese very well. So, we communicated in Japanese and sometimes in English. At first, we always had fun together. It seemed that there were no problems between us. Yet, there were a lot of differences in our values.
I have many friends that live in Hong Kong and Taiwan. I like them very much but he didn’t want me to have contact with them, especially with my Taiwanese friends. I had heard of a case that a Chinese boy and a girl who came from Taiwan had broken up just before they returned to their homes. The reason why they broke up was because of the serious conflict between mainland China and Taiwan. So, I knew that my boyfriend disliked Taiwan. However, I couldn’t agree with him, so we often had big arguments and discussions.
What was even worse, was that although my parents didn’t care about my boyfriend, my grandparents and my older brother hated him because of his ethnic background. My older brother said if he and I get married, he would not attend our wedding and he wouldn’t acknowledge that my boyfriend had become one of his relatives. I felt very sad but I never changed my mind and I still keep in touch with him even though he is not in Japan right now.
There can be a lot of problems with intercultural dating, not only between us, but also around us as I mentioned above. If you have a boyfriend or girlfriend whose culture is not the same as yours, there will be many difficulties experienced while living together. If your countries are different, there will be more problems we have to consider, such as history, languages, relationship between your countries, and so on. However, I recommend you have a girlfriend or a boyfriend who has a different culture from you. It will be good experience for you to have a different point of view, even though you might have a lot of problems. I believe if you truly love each other, you can get over those problems. Make sure you have a lot of time to discuss your problems together. Try to know your partner’s culture and thoughts. These efforts will help you if you date a person who is not from your culture. I am studying Chinese by my self now to understand him more. I had a very hard time but I’m very happy to be with him.

Behind the Counter
Elisa Zamot worked at McDonald’s and had a very hard time. It was long hours working but the lowest wage. I have had a part-time job which was a nursery school teacher. In Japan, part-time job workers have to be paid at least 630 yen per one hour. I earned 650 yen per an hour at that time. I really enjoyed to take care of children and to get money. That was my first time to have a part-time job. 650 yen per an hour was enough for me even though the part-time job was very severe one not only physically but also mentally. I used the money which I earned by my self for the first time in my life to buy Sushi for my grandmother’s birthday. Next year, I want to have a part-time job in Akita.

Decisions about my education
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Every decision about my education was made by me in my life. However, before I make decisions by myself, I listen to others opinions or advice.
For example, when I was a 2nd year high school student, I wanted to join the English circle of my hometown. That circle had some events to communicate with foreigners. I wanted to communicate with them so I decided to join the circle. Before I decided to join in that, I asked my parents whether I can join or not. They said I should join if I really wanted to, and if I found a chance to communicate with foreigners, I should actively join. Then I finally joined the circle and I had really good time in the circle for 2 years.
Let me take another example. When I was a 3rd year high school student, I had an ideal university which I really wanted to enter. Yet, I wasn’t able to pass the university’s entrance examination. There were two choices at that time. One was to take the other universities’ exams, and then to enter the university which I scored the highest for. The other choice was to enter a cram school and to study one more year. Then, I would take the entrance examination of the university I really wanted to enter. I listened to a lot of advice and opinions from people such as my teacher, friends, my older brother and my parents. I considered my parents’ opinions and advice carefully because they paid the money for my education and have always supported me. They said they wanted me to choose the path that I wanted to take. So, I chose to go to cram school and finally I could enter AIU which was my ideal university.
Listening to others’ opinions and advice made me objective about my life, so I could choose my future for myself intelligently. This means I have to have responsibility in my life, so I can enjoy it as my own.

The Transition of Life
　　　　　　
I have experienced an unusual transition once in my life. I am almost twenty years old now, that means I am I year older than other classmates. Generally speaking, people enter a high school when they become 16 years old in Japan. Almost all people enter university straight from high school. So, they become college students when they are 18 years old. However, I didn’t enter this university straight from my high school. I went to a cram school for one year and then entered AIU. Some people around me said I was a looser, and I once thought I would not be able to enter any university. Yet, I don’t think so now. The one year gave me a lot of things such as wide knowledge, wide insight, and confidence in myself. I think that to have unusual experiences are not always bad.

Kids Talk about Dating across Cultural Lines

There are many different opinions about dating with a person who is not from my own culture. Actually, I have dated outside my own ethnic group. There were a lot of problems to go out with him. There were a lot of differences on our values. My parents said it is OK to date with him but my grand parents and my older brother hated it. They disliked him because of his ethnic background. My brother said if he and I get married, he would not attend our wedding, and he wouldn’t acknowledge that my boyfriend had become one of his relatives. I felt very sad but I never changed my mind that I can date a boy who is not in my own culture. I had very hard time but also I was happy to be with him.

Ambulance

I have a disease which I often have heavy headache. I have been to many hospitals and I was given an MRI and CT scan and some blood tests many times.However,doctors couldn't give me effective medicines. I have ever had a very very terrible headache spell when I was a HS student. Since then, I heve been afraid of the big headache spell. Nov, 23 thursday, in the afternoon, I felt light headache as usual, so I went to bed very early. Yet, around 11o'clock, I felt vomit and around 1o'clock, I called Mayu to ask her help. She called a dormitory man, then he called 119 and an amburance took me to the ER of Red Cross Hospital. I took CT scan test and blood test. Then, I was put on a drip which contained anodyne and soporific.So, I got over the spell somehow. I have to go to another hospital again. Doctor said the disease would never gone away from my body. I have to test some drugs to look for the drugs which at least make my headache spell stop. These days, I feel my body condition is getting worse and worse...I have to live with the fear of my disease. I hope the new drugs arrest the growth of my disease. Anyway, I really appriciate Mayu, and my friends and Kitaichisan, the emergency services, staffs in the hospital.

Hope Emerges As Key to Success in Life

There is not always a means in the place there is a will. If you want to achieve your goal, you have to have hope and a way to accomplish your goal. People with high levels of hope believe in their ability to find the ways to reach their goal, and they have strong will to do so. According to this theory, I will be able to attain my goal. That is because I have a strong hope which is to master at least English and Chinese and this is one of my goals. I also have ways to master these two languages. I am studying Chinese and English everyday. I believe that I can reach this goal.

The Working Women in My Family History

The women’s working situation and environment have changed from generation to generation. People’s thoughts and common sense have also changed. How are they different? The women in my family are my grandmother, my mother, and myself. I think that looking at my family’s case of working women and the case of my generation is very interesting.
My grandmother used to work at Yonezawa Fabric Company. At that time, it was common for women to quit their jobs when they got married in Japan. So, my grandmother also quit her job after she and my grandfather got married. In traditional Japanese society, a woman had to live with her husband’s family after she was married. Women stayed in their houses, brought up their children, did housework everyday, and so on. My grandmother has always been at home. She raised two children and did housework. My grandfather didn’t help her with the housework. There was a large amount of discrimination between men and women at that time.
My mother works as an elementary school teacher. She has insisted that women and men should be treated fairly in the workplace. She hates the idea that women are inferior to men. She always says her opinion very clearly and sometimes has arguments with male teachers. She gave birth three times and she was able to have a break each time. It is said that women teachers shouldn’t teach Physical Education classes, but from about 6 or 7 years ago, my mother has been teaching Physical Education classes. In addition, my mother has to do housework but my father helps her and they share the housework.
A friend of mine, who already has a job, says that she doesn’t want to get married and have children. She knows that there are some laws to protect women’s right in society now. For example, a law rules that not only women but also men can take a break to raise their children. However, there are no penalties if a company doesn’t use this system. My friend is afraid to lose her career. More and more women have jobs and don’t want to get married in my generation. It connects to a lot of contemporary social issues, such as decreasing child population or some insurance difficulties. Thus, I believe we should consider our problems more seriously. I think women’s working environment and views about women’s work vary from generation to generation

War on Disease

There are a lot of fatal diseases all over the world. Influenza, HIV/AIDS, Diarrheal Diseases, Tuberculosis, Malaria, and Measles, these six maladies are especially famous for its cruelness. I have 　had Influenza before, but it was like a little bad cold and about in 2 weeks, I recovered from it. The good way to prevent us from having influenza is to take an Influenza vaccine which is predicted as a type that will be prevalent a year. These days, Bird flu is well known in the world. I heard that a Japanese researcher has developed a quick and easy test to detect the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry and in humans. The test came after the researcher found an antibody that reacts with H5N1. The test will be used in facilities such as airports.

Gladiator

I considered what is love through this movie; “Gladiator”. Maximus who is a main character in this movie loved Marcus Alilius who was a Commodus’s father. He also really loved Rome and his family. He fought and lived and died for things and people which he loved deeply. I am sure that his honor came from his love. I respect his strong love and principle very much. Not only Maximus but also other characters loved someone as their own. Commodus loved his real sister as if a symbol of tragic. His sister loved her son and her father and Maximus. She also loved Commodus who was a Cesar after Marcus Alilius as a sibling. I felt sad at the end of this movie because Maxmus died after the fighting with Commodus. Yet, I also felt happy, but I don’t know why. I strongly recommend you watch this movie. I learned love makes people strong from this movie.

Song For…　　　　　　　　　

If there is a meaning on our meeting
It is only now that I have a pain in my heart
This pain shows how much I love you
If there is a fear to love, you can get over it, right?
There is no place that this love can go,
But I cannot return like a clock, Look
Now toward you, only to you, I love you.

Days we cannot meet are piling up. Also Days I cannot sleep do.

There are a lot of difficulties in our love, so even though we both love each other
very much, we can never be one.
Yet, I will wait for the day you can be an adult.

Although there are so many people all over the world,
I met you, I fell in love with you, I could have same feeling with you.
Can’t meet you. Wanna meet you. Now I want to meet you, now

I want to go to you. But I have to beyond the sadness which I cannot go, and
I must be strong, stronger.

If you say you love me to me so often, we never know our future.
I cannot stop worrying about the future.
Wanna meet you. Wanna meet you. Now I want to meet you, and then please hug
me with all of your strength.

Although there are so many people all over the world,
I met you, I fell in love with you, I could have same feeling with you.
Can’t meet you. Wanna meet you. Now I want to meet you. Just wanna meet you.

Just wanna meet you. Now I wanna meet you.

Translating for Parents Means Growing Up Fast

Many immigrants come to depend on their children because they can’t understand the language of the country which they moved to. However, there is a downside to this custom. When children are their parents’ interpreters, the dynamics of the typical family become inverted and the duties can bring very big strain to these children. I have never experienced such a situation which parent’s and child’s roles are reversed. Yet, these days, I felt kind of a same feeling as these children. Last weekend, my parents came to see me. I introduced them to a friend who came from America. He can’t understand Japanese yet and my parents can’t understand English well. So, at the moment, I was an interpreter and I felt I was not a small daughter who is controlled everything by my parents anymore.

Women and Work:
Around the World, Women Earn less

The survey in the Newsweek magazine “The Status of Women Around the World” was about women’s present situation of earning money all over the world. Every survey showed women are in severe situations compared to men. I was so surprised by the fact that 70% of more than 1 billion people who live in poverty are females all over the world. I know that women cannot work on equal terms with men in Japanese society yet. I think some law which supports women should be made and men also should think about women more. I think it is unfair that only women bring up their children. Those problems are connected to other problems such as the declining birth rate. I want to study about these issues more and improve our future.

Life is like a boat

Nobody knows who I really am. I never felt this empty before and if I ever need someone to come along. Who’s gonna comfort me and keep me strong? We are all rowing the boat of fate. The waves keep on coming and we can’t escape. But if we ever get lost on our way, the waves would guide you thru another day.

I am breathing in far far away. I feel like I became transparent. I thought it was dark but it wasn’t. I was just blindfolded. I give my prayers and wait a new day. See the vivid ocean and go to its end.

Nobody knows who I really am. Maybe they just don’t give a damn but if I ever need someone to come along, I know you would comfort me and keep me strong. People’s hearts vary and I wanna get away from it all. The moon takes the boat in a new revolution again. And every time I see your face the ocean heaves up to my heart. You make me wanna strain at the oars, and soon I can see the shore.

Oh, I can see the shore. When I will see the shore? I want you to know who I really am. I never thought I’d feel this way towards you. And if you ever need someone to come along, I will follow you, and keep you strong.

The journey still keeps going. Also in calm day, the moon illuminates the boat in a new revolution again. I give my prayers and wait a new day. See the vivid ocean and go to its end. And every time I see your face the ocean heaves up to my heart. You make me wanna strain at the oars, and soon I can see the shore.

We are all rowing the boat of fate. Weaves hit us one after another but it is also wonderful journey. Every thing is wonderful journey.

Believing in the True Self

There are a lot of types of people in the world. For example, there are people who are very sociable. On the other hand, there are people who are really shy. There are people who are good at languages, while there are people who are good at mathematics. Some people are talkative but some are quiet. I think I am sociable and talkative person and learning languages is suitable for me. I think it is very important to know what I like is. That is because if I don’t know myself, it would be difficult to adjust society around me. So, it is necessary to know myself to lead a comfortable life.

The Search for Identity

It is a challenge for teenagers to search for their identity. There are a lot of conflicts on the way to develop their identity. I remember that I have confused when I was a adolescent. My friends and I behaved differently in different situations.The way to show our feeling to others doesn’t always reflect how we actually feel inside. I hated this kind of way to behave, but this was the only way to avoid conflicts between me and my friends and to adjust our friendship. Besides, I also had conflicts with my family, not only with my brothers but also with my parents. I always had arguments with them. I think that through these conflicts, however, I have looked for my Identity.

Smoking

Smoking is a big problem for teenagers. It is influenced by genetic functions but the main reason why teenagers smoke is their environment. Especially their friends’ or peers’ smoking influence teenagers strongly. Some smokers will become addicted to nicotine. Lectures about smoking by adults are not effective way to stop teenagers’ smoking. I do not have close friends who smoke around me now. However, when I was a junior high school student, one of my friend smoked heavily almost everyday. She became addicted to nicotine and her ability to concentrate on something became very bad. So, she was not able to pass the entrance examination for high school which she wanted to go. I think smoking causes not only one problem but also a lot of problems. So, teenagers’ smoking should be forbidden more strictly.

Native Americans

An Act of Courage

SuAnne was a Native American. There were a lot of discriminations against Native Americans in Pine Ridge. For example, some people used violence on Indian drunken person. Some played a hoax on Indians. Although there were those kinds of discriminations, SuAnne joined the Pine Ridge basketball team. In the fall of 1987, she succeeded her playing. Her play was the coolest and bravest achievement at that time. Almost all the people on Pine Ridge know her story and they always talked about it cheerfully. I think there are a lot of discriminations in the world yet, and there are many people who are doing resistance movements. They are very brave about their life. I think I have to consider those problems more deeply.


Honoring Warriors from Both the Past and the Present
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
This article describes about Crazy Horse who is the great Sioux chief. There was a riding horse event which people crossed that rolling prairie by using horse from Nebraska to South Dakota. It was called Crazy Horse Ride and this had been held every year. Many riders came from the Pine Ridge Reservation. This event was held in order to show their honor to Crazy Horse. Riders reflect Crazy Horse’s courage and strength and they really proud of him. Horse was killed in 1877 at Fort Robinson. He was buried in Hay Springs, Neb. Riders camped near this place. His grave has been kept secret.


Black Elk

Black Elk is the great Sioux elder. He was over 60 years old and almost blind. He reflected on the invasion between 1863 and 1980. He said that he can’t forget the Wasichu‘s (white man) massacre against Buffaloes. When he was 10 years old, he saw white men for the first time. Before they came to the land in which he lived, humans and animals lived together in perfect harmony in his home land. However, Wasichus made little islands for Native American people and for their animals, and then they made those islands smaller and smaller. As for the massacre, Wasichus killed so many baffaloes to get their hides and tongues, or just because they wanted to kill then.

A reflection on my English learning History

Indeed, I found that using English every day and to enjoy it is the best way to improve my English skills though the independent learning class.

Actually, I already recognized the fact that English ability would be bad unless using English everyday, when I was a high school student.
However, I haven’t understood the deep truth of my thoughts. Surely, I tried to use English in daily life when I was a high school student. Anyway, I just tried to speak English. However, it was not enough. That is because there are few people who can speak English correctly. What is more, I had to use a lot of Japanese with my friends and family because they were not able to speak English and they didn’t have any interest in using English. Thus, my English ability got really bad.

I am not good at reading English. So, in the Independent learning class, I set my goal to “read novels and short stories fast”, and I chose my material and considered what strategy was the best for me. Actually, these processes were really helpful for me. Because I had not realized what was the week point on my reading skills. Yet, finally I found them through these steps. I was not used to read English sentences so I couldn’t concentrate on reading English sentences.
I chose “Harry Potter” as a first material. Because I have a same story book but it is written in Japanese so I thought it was easy for me to read the book in English. However, it took so long time to read one chapter though I did my best. Through this material I learned a lot of things, mainly two things.
One is the fact that I didn’t have much vocabulary skills. During the reading, there were so many unknown words or some unknown expressions. That is why it took so long time to read that book.
The other is comparison is really fun. As I mentioned above, I have a same story book but it is written in Japanese, so I tried to compare some English sentences with Japanese sentences. There were some interesting differences between them. I think those happened because of some grammatical and even cultural differences, but actually I am not sure. I hope I can study such a difference.
At the end of this material, I found I could concentrate on long English sentences at least for one hour and half.
Anyway, I decided to change my first material into “CNN English Express”. There are also a lot of unknown words and difficult words in the text book. But the good point of this material is that it’s MD has two types of speed; natural speed and slow speed. I tried to do shadowing and reading aloud this time. It was really helpful because I could memorize some English expressions and words more clearly. In addition to this, I found I could read English sentences gradually faster and faster. What is more, I tried to make flash cards when I found some useful English expressions. I always carry them in my bag, and sometimes review them.

I think that it is obvious that my mother language is Japanese. So I have a clear perception on Japanese. Yet, on English, it is very difficult to have such a perception. It is said that we never forget our mother tongue, but as for foreign languages, we do. So, I thought that I should use English in daily life as much as possible.

Now I understood the deep truth of my thoughts. Using English is not only Speaking but also thinking in English and so on. My teacher always said “speak in English”. First, it was so difficult for me to use English for Everything. But now, I really love to speak English and to think in English in the class and even in daily life.
I was not used to using English so I didn’t know what my weak point was. However, finally, through independent learning class, I could find it.
I want to continue to use English everyday. Of course, I will do my best on my TOEFL test. Yet, I want to enjoy using English in daily life and in classes. In fact, I think that is the most important thing to learn English.

Vocabulary Learning Method

The post it note method is a really quick and effective way to master a lot of vocabulary words. When I was in a cram school, the biggest weakness of my English was my lack of vocabulary. I had tried many methods to improve my vocabulary. For example, I made a vocabulary note book and cards. However, they were not very effective and it took a long time to make these materials. I decided to try to use post its to learn English vocabulary because a friend of mine said that using post its makes it easy to remember things.

I used yellow post it notes; 7.5 cm long and 7.5cm wide. I wrote down 5 to 6 words on each one. I wrote down the categories (noun, verb, adjective and so on), phonetic writing, and Japanese translations for each word. In addition to this, I wrote down the names of the text books in which I found the words and the pages on the back of each post it note. I put the notes on walls such as the wall in front of my desk, the bathroom wall, bed side wall, and sometimes on doors. If I had to write a word down twice, I would highlight it in my notes. It was easy to review these words often because I would always see the notes around my room. After I had mastered the words, I put them in my file. Thanks to this method, I could learned many vocabulary words.

Protect Yourself

Since there are a lot of crimes in society nowadays, it is necessary to take precautions if you don’t want to be a victim of crime. There are people who could be harmful to your safety or steal your personal belongings. One of the precautions you should take is not to walk outside alone late at night. That is because you be vulnerable to criminals who will single you out if you walk alone in the dark. These people could be harmful to your personal safety or steal your personal belongings.
For example, in my hometown, which is located in a rural area, a boy was killed by a group of juvenile delinquents. They were not acquaintances of the boy. The boy had a big argument with his parents that day and he stormed out of his house at midnight without saying anything. The group of juvenile delinquents targeted him because they wanted his money. Once they had found out the boy didn’t have any money, they attacked him for a long time and finally killed him. Because of the darkness, nobody noticed the incident and therefore nobody could help him. So it was easy for the group to get away with committing the crime.
The other precaution is that you should walk with at least two people you know if you are going to walk outside at night. That is because it isn’t easy for criminals to target many people at once. You should take care of yourself by taking proper precautions to prevent being a victim.
from my writing class assignment

The Atomic Bomb

In 1939, the World War II started. Axis countries; Italy, Germany, and Japan, and Allied countries; the USA, Great Britain, and France etc had been fighting with each other until 1945. In 1943, Italy surrendered, and on May in 1945, Germany surrendered. And Japan was the last country which surrendered to the Allied countries. Two atomic bombs ended the World War II with a lot of victims. That was the biggest bombers of the war.

On Aug in 1945, atomic bombs were felled on the city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The difference of those two atomic bombs is what chemicals were used. Uranium 235 was used for the bomb against Hiroshima and Plutonium 239 was used against Nagasaki.
August 6, 1945 “Little Boy” dropped on the city of Hiroshima. It is the nick name given to the atomic bomb. It was in the morning, “Little Boy” was dropped from the Enola Gay, which is one of the B-29 airplanes that flew over Hiroshima on that day. After being released, it took about a minute for “Little Boy” to reach the point of explosion. Little Boy exploded at approximately 8:15 am when it reached an altitude of 6,000m above, the building that is today called the “A- Bomb Dorm”.
As for “Little Boy”, a nuclear fission reaction was caused explosively. Uranium wedge and Uranium target hit each other and generated an enormous amount of energy in terms of air pressure and heat. In addition to this, it generated a significant amount of radiation (Gamma ray and neutrons) that subsequently caused distractive human injuries. Distribution of energy released by the atomic bomb is like this. The energy of it is almost same as 15 kg of TNT gunpowder. Half of the energy generated Bomb blast, 35% of that produced heat, and 15% of that released radiation. The strong wind generated by the bomb destroyed most of the houses. And the wind bumped against a mountain and turned back. So, it gave more damage to the city. The wind influenced 3,200m radius at least. The speed of the wind was so fast; 400m per one second that is about 5 times as Typhoon. Many things melted because of heat produced by the atomic bomb. The heat reached 7,000 Celsius at the hypocenter.The radiation generated by the atomic bomb caused long-term problems to people who affected. Many people died within the first few month and many more in subsequent years because of radiation exposure. Some people had genetic problems which sometimes resulted in having malformed babies or being unable to have children. It is believed that the total number of people who have died due to the bomb is estimated to be 200,000 in Hiroshima.

Just three days after, the bomb was dropped to Hiroshima, the second atomic bomb called “Fat Man” was dropped to Nagasaki. The height was 3.2m and the diameter was 1.5 m and the weight was 4.5 t. That was significantly larger than that of “Little Boy” but the damage was slighter than Hiroshima because of the geographic structure of the city. It is estimated that approximately 70,000 people died by the end of the year because of the bombing.


I think we have to consider about those awful history. That is the reason why we learn history in school. These days, people all over the world are focusing on the North Korea. Because the country is insisting that they finally had nuclear power. Now, it is possible to send bombs from America to Japan within 10~15 minutes. The rate of direct hit is almost 100%. North Korea is a neighborhood country. Imagine if North Korea lunched the atomic bomb…. what is going to happen?? I think it is very serious problem. So let’s think about the Issue seriously not to repeat same sad history in our future. http://kids.s24.xrea.com/heiwa/sonota/negai/index.htm

Early Childhood English Education

Today, I will talk about the issue about “Early Childhood English Education”. Many of you know how big problem it is. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology mentioned that from 5th grade elementary, English should be become a compulsory subject. Now, English is regarded as international common language among of the world. In Asia, lots of countries started to teach English to elementary school students. There are a lot of opinions about this plan. A survey was done for 3005 Japanese people. It asked people “Do you think English should be become a compulsory subject from elementary school?” 52% of them said “No”, 38% of them said “Yes”, and 10% of them said “I don’t know.” There are so many reasons for this and it is really difficult to decide what is wrong and what is right. The famous person who agrees with that plan is Mineo Nakajima. As you know, he is the president of our University. I discussed about the Issue in my circle activity. Yet we couldn’t make an answer. That plan doesn’t start yet, so I think we are going to face to a lot of problem and we cannot predict all of them now. We must consider this issue more carefully because education is really important and necessary or children.

911

Today, I will talk about 911. It happened on September 11th, 2001. It was the multiple simultaneous acts of terrorism. It took the lives of several thousands people immediately and brought an immeasurable shock to all over the world.
This is the picture when two airplanes plunged into the World Trade buildings. When I saw this affair on TV in my house, first I thought that was some ironic movie or something. However, it was not. That fact gave me gooseflesh and I felt my blood frozen. I couldn’t believe my eyes at the first time. That was because my older brother and grandparents had been there and took some picture of the twin tower buildings from the Statue of Liberty. So, I still remember those buildings surely stood there clearly.
The next year of that year, I went to the United States of America by sister city program. The immigration formalities were so severe thanks to the affairs and it took long time to finish all of those procedures. This is the picture of the place in present day which the affairs happened.
I express deepest condolences and sympathy to the victims. In addition, I denounce those groups and individuals who planned or executed the terrorist act. I will never put up with such actions of indiscriminate terrorism that kill so many ordinary people as means to attain any aim.

Canada
I have two friends in Canada. They are not Canadian, they are American. I chat with them these days. I asked something about Canada to them. They live in Vancouver that is a at sheflourishing city in British Columbia. One of my good friends, Krystin said that she can see the Washington Volicanoe, Mt. Baker from her house. Here is a pictures that she sent to me. One is the mountain, and the other is a famous stutu, she said. That scenes are very beautiful, don't you think?
I heard that Canada just looks like the Noeth Europe from an International student. There are a lot of beautiful nature and he said the climate of Canada is almost the same as that of the North Europe.
Next, I will tell you about the National Flag of Canada. There is a Red maple leaf on the flag. Canadian flag is a symbol of Canadian identity. The Canadian Red Ensigh, bearing the Union Jack and shield of the royal arms of Canada, was lowered. And then, on the stroke of noon, our new maple leaf flag was raised. the crowd sang the national anthem , followed by the royal anthem God Save The Queen. The flag is the symbol of the nation's unity, fro it, beyond any doubt. represents all the citizen of Canada without distinction of race, language, belief or opinion.

Republic of Bulgaria
This time, I chose the Republic of Bulgaria. Maybe many of you know Kotoohsyu who is a famous sumou wrestler from Bulgaria to Japan. However, I don’t know much about him. I just know his face.
The location of this country is in the north of the Europe; Balkan Peninsula and faces on the Black sea. Donau River flow though this country. This is border line between Bulgaria and Rumania. Mountains cover the one-third of its area. Musara Mountain is the tallest mountain in the Balkan Peninsula. The height is 2,925 meter. The size of this country is 110,909 km/sq. This is as one-third large as Japan, that also means 1.3 times as large as Hokkaido. The population of this country is 8,100,000.This is as well as Kanagawa prefecture. Language of this country is Bulgarian. They use Kiril letter like Russia. I am really interested in this letter so I am studying it in Russian circle. Main industries are Aquiculture and processing industry. This country is famous for wine, yoghurt, and potato etc. As for religion, there are a lot of religions in Bulgaria. However, many people believe in Bulgarian Christianities. There was a communist government in Bulgaria, but now, it is democracy. Its national flag is three stripes.
The color of that are White, Green, and Red, in turn form above. The meaning of the national flag is depends on color. White means peace and friendship, Green means Farming and forest, and red means courage and perseverance of army. Bulgaria is one of the members of NATO, and it wants to join the European Union. Its currency is REF. Relationship between Japan and Bulgaria is very good.
Bulgaria has many problems. Unemployment is still high and living standard is still low. So they are trying to join the EU to spread their market place.
I had big interest in this country last year. That is because I read a non-fiction book. That name is “white rose of Sofia”. The story is so deep. It is my treasure but if anybody wants to read this book, I will lend it.

William Shakespeare
He was born in April 23 in 1564, and he died in April 23 in 1616. He was 52-year-old at that time. It is so rare that he was born and died the same day, don’t you think? His hometown is Stratford-upon-Avon. These days, you can see this house as a famous sightseeing spot. In 1582, November 27, He married Ann Hasaway. At that time, He was 18-year-old and Ann was 26-year-old. In 1582, He had a daughter named Susanna. In 1587, when he was 23-year-old, he moved to London and joined a theatrical company. As for scenario, there are 37 of his works. They can be classified into three categories; play of history, comedy, and tragedy. As for tragedy, most famous works are “Macbeth”, ”Hamlet”, “King Lear”, “Othello”. Many of you know “Romeo and Juliet”, I guess. Well, does anybody know that there is some King Lear’s line in The Beetles’ song? It is obvious that The Beetles is a really famous and popular English band. We can find his line in their CD album named “MAGICAL MYSTRY TOUR.” The name of the song is “I AM The Walrus.” This is those lines.　“If ever thou wilt thrive, bury my body”. “O! Untimely death. Death! “　This is really interesting!!! Don’t you think??

Learning from Mongolia
As you know, I watched the video about Mongolia in last class. There were a lot of interest thing in the video.
"Mongolia has no modern cities only wide meadows in there." This was my stereotype about Mongolia. However, there were so many modern buildings in Mongolia in the video. Of course, there were large plains covroed grasses. I was so surprised about this. I saw Yurts. I already have known the house. I had watched a NHK TV Program about nomads about 3 years ago. "Pao" is the name of them in Chinese, and "gel" is also the name of them in Mongolia. I have never known the special singing style. I don't know how I should spell it. A male performer produced harmonic sounds from deep throat, releasing several notes at once. It is really amazing!!
Yet, the most amazing thing was the performance that killed a sheep. It was so rare thing because we cannot see such a way of killing animal in Japan. Somebady thought that was a very terrible thing, I am sure. However, I thing it is very important to show such a thing to everyone, especially children. It'll teach a value of life. We can learn how precious lives are from it. I could learned a lot of thing from Mongolians.

KOREA
I like Asia because I am also Asian. I want to learn Asian languages. I am studying Korean little by little by my self. Today I will talk about Korean.
Surprisingly, there are a lot of similarities between Korean and Japanese. For example, both of them have Kanji idioms, honorific words, and postposition words etc. Well, “Shogakkou” stands for “elementary school” in Japanese, and also Korean say so.
People use Hangul in Korea. Hangul express sounds of Korean. There are two types of Hangul; one is consonant + vowel, the other is consonant + vowel + consonant. Korean are made up 10 basic vowels, 11 synthesis vowel, 14 basic consonant, and 5 double consonant.
I studied a few Korean words. For example,
*“an nyon haseyo” = “hello”,
*“anyo”= “NO”,
*”nee”=”YES”,
*“apoji” =”father”,
*“omoni”=”mother”,
*”tehakusenn”=”university student”
By the way, I found that there are some words that sounds like same as Japanese. For example,
*”Kasu”=”singer” # (in Japanese)Kasyu
*”Kyosa”=”teacher” # Kyoushi
*”Wisa”=”doctor” # Isha etc…..
There are a lot of interesting things in Korea. I want to visit Korea someday. I want to learn Korean culture more and more. Today’s blog was little difficult I think. If there are anybody who knows about Korea well, please tell me about the country. I think I can understand Korea although I cannot eat very spicy foods. Thanks for your reading!!

Prejudice about China

As you know, I really love Chine. Yet, actually I don’t know much about China. I learned China’s physical features, economy, politics, and environment, etc in CORE class.
I have been learned Chinese history for almost 6or 7 years. So I know about Chinese history, maybe. When I was a junior high school student, I was not interested in China and any other Asian countries at all. I had a lot of interests in western or American culture. So I had a lot of stereotype on China at that time.
For example, I believed that there are a lot of bamboo forests in China and many Giant Pandas live in there. There are no deserts and also no modern cities. People live in very big but wild area. Many people live with cows and no machine in there etc.
However it was strongly wrong!!!!! There are few Giant Pandas in China. They are so rare creatures that need to be protected. And there ate huge deserts and many modern cities in China, actually. Many people cultivate their farm and use many machines. I was so stupid fellow!!!!! I thought no knowledge is really intimidating.
Now I don’t have so much knowledge about China yet but I have a lot of Chinese friends in AIU. And I am learning about China and Chinese from them almost every day. I hope I can understand the country more and more. And I wish I can visit China someday absolutely!!

Good strategies for learning English!!


“?How do you think what the difference between EAP Level 3 students is and Level 1 students?”

One day, in the communication class, our great communication teacher Mr. Hemmi said to us. The answer is “vocabulary skill” I was so shocked at the facts. Because that is really true!! That is why I cannot speak and read and write and listen to English smoothly. Especially I am not good at reading and listening English.

So, I will think about how to improve my English reading and listening skills.

I think that reading “Timed Reading” and preparation of “Text book” are good way to improve my reading skills. I think reading English sentences constantly is the most useful strategies. Actually, I wasn’t able to catch up with “Timed Reading” However I will do my best from now!!

And communicate with International students in English is good strategies to improve my English listening skills. And why don’t we talk in English in daily life?? Not only in class!! When we talk in English we should pay attention new vocabularies which friends say. We also should use some new vocabularies or expressions that we learned in class. It is good review, I think.

Anyway, we have to get high score on the TOEFL test. It is so intimidating!! However I will do my best. And everyone please tells me your great strategies and shall we share them??

Suppose I lived in India now...

If I live in India now, how would I life be different from my current life? I there are a lot of big difference between Japanese culture and Indian culture, I think. I would not use left hand during eating. Because I heard that people in India think the left hand is dirty hand. Fortunately, I am not left-handed person so I think maybe I can use right hand very easily during eating.
What is more, I will go to Movie Theater to watch Bollywood movies. I am interested in India’s movies. And I really love to watch movies. India’s movies are so cheaper than Japanese.
And I also have interest in cloths. I heard that Women in India ware Saree because of their religion. I would ware that too!! And actually, I want to ware that.
As for food, I will eat curry a lot maybe. And I have to eat some spicy food. I cannot eat any spicy food now. I hope I can eat spicy food in India. But I have to pay attention to our food or water. Because I am not used to India’s food. So, maybe I would have stomachache or some bat things in my body.
And I will have a religion in India. I cannot write everything down here. But I want to live in India and experience India’s culture.

CHINA

Ni Hao!!(Hello). Hai Hao Ma?(How are you?)Wo shi Tu-u Youmei.(My name is Tsuchiya Tomomi.) I will talk about China today. The capital is Beijing. It is in the northern east part of China. Its population is 1,273,300,000. Its land mass is very large and 9,572,899sq. Km. Major import and export are machinery. Language is Chinese but there are a lot of dialects in China. Its letters are Kanji and generally speaking, all of them have 4~5 accents. It is so difficult for foreign people. Chinese economics is capitalism but politics is socialism. This contradiction is one of the problems in China.
People use bicycles as transportation. But these days cars are increasing in urban area.
As for animals, ducks, water buffalo, giant panda etc are very famous, I think. Famous Chinese foods are, for example, Beijing duck, Chin jao rous, and nyu nai dofu and so on. Tea, Baichu(Very strong alcohol), silk, and pottery are also famous.
There many historical spot and Famous spot in China. Like the Great Wall of China, Shikinnjou, Kokyuu and so forth. These are connected to Chinese History so deeply. China has very long history and I want to study it. Because I think we can refer it to our future.
There are a lot of problems in China. The environmental pollution is attended its developments. And there are many gaps between the rich and the poor. Also, there are very complicated issues between Japan and China Because of many historical affairs. I want to study about China and I want to be a bridge between Japan and China and the world.

The Desertification

Do you know what is the “Desertification”? Its definition is the process by which useful land, especially farmland, changes into desert. The causes are farming and graze animals and other human’s behaviors. Anyway, the biggest cause is Increasing population. There are deserts along the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Some deserts are formed by sand. But mostly they are formed by rocks and gravel. Deserts cover 12 percents of the earth land. The biggest desert in the world is The Sahara desert, for example.
How does the Desertification spread the world? For example, farmers cut forests (This is called the Deforestation.) and many graze animals eat meadow. So, there will be less trees and grass in that place. Besides, Rain wash away and wind blow away the soil. It is called erosion as you know. So there will be less fertile land. As a result of that process, desert will increase.
It causes a lot of bad influences. For example, it destroys ecosystem in the forests. And droughts will cause. In 1968~73, There was a really big drought in Southern part of the Sahara desert in Africa. More than 100,000 people in that area starved. I think that if desertification advances in this pace, lack of forests and lack of foods will be more serious issues. It will be hard to survive for people in the world in the future.
What should we do to protect the world from the Desertification? There is some actions to do so. For example, Green the deserts that plant trees in deserts by NGO, some companies, government. Make irrigation system by NGO or ODA. I think there is something that we can do soon. We shouldn’t do waste of paper and we should do recycle waste papers. And I think we can also do a campaign to raise funds. I will try to do something to sustain Greens. 　　　　　　　　　　　　

Tropical Grasslands...Savannas

Tropical grasslands, often called savannas. These are licated inland at or near the equator. The bioms said so. Savannas are in Africa,Right? To tell the truth, I don't know much about this biom. However, this biom is really interesting for me. Because there are a lot of big differences between Savannas and Japanese biom.
Japanese biom is Temperate forests. Generally speaking, there are four seasons in Japan. But, we can see only two sesons in Savannas. That is the wet seasons and the dry seasons. The temperature in there is always hot so the seasons are dicided by rainfall. In Savannas, almost no rain fall during the dry season. This is amazing thing, don't you think??!! We have a lot of rains and snow in Japan. We even have rainy season. There are many words expressing the types of rain. Do you have any ideas? For example, Samidare, Kirisame, and Niwakaame etc. Actually I don't like rainy days. If I visit Savannas, I want to go there in the dry season. I think it is gonna be fun.
As you know, there are so many animals in there. Maybe you have ever watched some document VTR on TV, don't you? I saw many the story of Savannas. Like Lion's child raising and Cheetah's hunting etc. The life in Savannas is really severe...I thought. There is a very big ecosystem in there. If I have a chance to go to Africa, I want to see the real Savannas.

Ｓｈａｒｉｎｇ　Ｇｌｏｂａｌｉｚａｔｉｏｎ‘ｓ　Ｇａｉｎｓ
～What can you do to help spread the fruits of globalization more evenly around the world?～

　Everyone knows the fact that there are wide gaps between rich countries and poor countries in the world. However, how many people really know the reasons why these gaps caused?? I think that there are so many complicated reasons in poor countries. And there are a lot of vicious circles, I think. For example, wars caused lack of educations, lack of jobs and so on. And then, people in that area cannot learn any technologies because there is no place to learn them. And they must do some easy jobs and they have to depend on industrialized nations. Besides, they cannot get much money. So they cannot build any schools or factories. This is one of example of the vicious circles of poor countries.
I consider that peace is the most important thing to share globalization’s gains. Anyway, industrialized countries should do something to help people in poor countries or developing countries on educations. I believe that good educations will help these people. If we teach some technologies, they can produce their foods and some goods they need to live. And maybe they can get more benefits, I think.

"Think globally and act locally."

To think globally, we should have a lot of knowledge about the world, I think. There are a lot of is issues in the world such as wars.
These days, there are many activities to help other poor countries all over the world. For example, “White Band” is one of them. Do you know the activities? One person dies in three seconds in the world. Here is a picture of “White Band”. This is three hundred yen each one. They collect money and spend a part of them to help people lives in poor country. And there are a lot of fund-raising in many convenience store and so on.　If I find some fund-raising box, I always try to put some coins into the box.
And, whenever I read some books about war or some conflict, I always think what shall I do. I want to do some fund-rising activities with some friends in AIU. I want to collect a lot of money and send it to some poor countries.
In the future, I want to teach Japanese and Japanese culture in foreign countries. And I want to keep studying about other countries. Anyway, The most important thing for the saying : “think globally and act locally” is having a lot of knowledge about the world.

My Favorites/

Hi everyone!! Today I will tell you about my favorite things. I have many favorite things.
I really love pigs!! I have a lot of stuffed toy pigs. They are so cute. And I will show you their picture. The middle one which is a little bit dirty is the most important pig. She is same years old as me. My parents bought me her when I was born. Well, I am sorry this picture is a little hard to see.
And I love to read magazines. My favorite magazine is SPUR and VOGUE. Do any one know these magazine?? There are a lot of fashion models in these magazines. I like to see them because they are so beautiful!! They have individual faces and so slender body. I always think "Oh, I wish I were one of them." My most favorite fashion model is Gemma Ward. She has a pretty doll face and so slim body. She belong exclusively to BURBERRY. This is a very famous fashion brand. These days I cannot buy SUPR or VOGUE. Because there is no book store around aiu. I am so busy that I cannot have time to go to IEON. If I have free time, I want to get new one.
By the way, Other my favorite thing is tea. I like tea collection. I have a lot of tea in my room. My fvorite tea shop is LUPICIA in Sendai.I lived in Sendai last year and I went to LUPICIA many time. There are many kinds of tea. I love Jasmine tea very much. If you wanna try to drink them, Please come to my room whenever you want.