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.