When I was in Boston about ten years ago, I spent New Year's Eve in New York with my friend. It was first time for us to visit N.Y., so I remember that we were very excited about that. First day, we stayed at Carlton Arms Hotel because it was fairly cheap for New Years. My friend, Hiroko found the hotel in Chikyu-no-Arukikata and reserved it. I didn't expect how unique and strange it was, so I was shocked into silence as soon as I came into the hotel. Everything displayed in the hotel made me frightened. However, I didn't say to Hiroko that I wanted to change the hotel, because she kindly arranged for the hotel. For some, it could be artistic, but for me, it meant nothing other than weird. In addition, we had to ask the caretaker for the room key every time we went in and out of our room, so it was quite inconvenient!! Moreover, to our surprise, we saw a mouse in our room!!! We couldn't stand anymore and decided to leave the hotel as soon as possible. However, every hotel was crowed with tourists coming to celebrate New Years at that time, so we couldn't find another hotel easily. However, we finally found a hotel which was located in Korean town and were totally released from the nightmare experience. Next day, Hiroko and I could fulfill our mission that we joined the countdown at Times Square in N.Y. We were just overwhelmed by many people there. Personally, I found it not that exciting and thought just one time was enough...
This is a image of 2009's countdown in Times Square. Just feel the atmosphere!!
Today, I got up early in the morning and helped my mother with washing windows. This is our annual event which is harder than you think! After that, my mother and I were chatting for a long time and then my father joined us. My father is over 70! He looks young for his age, but has become hearing impaired recently. My mother and I are sometimes irritated about him, but everyone is aging and so be patient!! My mother is a typical housewife who is always busy doing house chores. However, she has interested in drawing pictures of flowers since last year. As soon as I come back home, she always shows me her collection. It has increased in number since I last saw it. I can see that she's improving her skills little by little. I'm glad that she found something she became really interested in!!
I have two paper assignments during winter vacation. One is for a Jurisprudence class and the other is for an Education class. I managed to finish these papers within today, so I was stuck in my room all day. I finished them all and so feel totally relaxed now. Tomorrow, I'm going back home to spend New Year's Eve with my parents. I have to clean my room before leaving though... And, I'll have to buy a birthday present for my father. His birthday is January 1st, so we celebrate his birthday together with New Year's coming. I haven't decided yet what to buy for him, but maybe a muffler will be fine!
“Temple defaced after torch refusal” The Japan Times 21 April 2008
Summary: According to this article, between Saturday night and Sunday morning, Zenkoji, the 14,00-year-old Buddhist temple in Nagano was defaced by someone with white spray, for Zenkoji decided Friday not to serve as the starting point of the Beijing Olympic touch relay for fear of the impact or the reflection of the riot in Tibet. According to the police, they are investigating the relationship between this incident and the temple’s refusal to host this event. In addition, Zenkoji official deplores the crisis of the national treasure as a guardian of cultural property, however, it was still unsolved. Some still support this event and others don’t. There should be the opinions of both sides in this issue.
Opinion Statement:
It is deplorable to hear that national treasures are vandalized no matter what reason they have.
Discussion Questions: 1. What do you think about this issue? 2. Do you agree or disagree to Zenkoji official’s decision? 3. Why?
I went to my sister's place after I said good-bye to Keiko. I stayed there that night. Next day, my sister and her daughter and I went to Odaiba to buy something on sale. I got a white sweater which was 10% off the price. My sister got a pair of gloves with a discount of 50%, but I was happy because I liked it so muchll!! This is the sweater I bought.
Tonight, I took my friend, Keiko, to Brazilian restaurant I often go to. The restaurant is named Ilha Branca and located in Minami-Aoyama. When I was working at an automobile company, I used to go there with my co-workers because I was in charge of exporting cars to Brazil and Argentina. Everything we ordered was delicious and we could enjoyed various kinds of tastes because of the house's original spices.
Keiko and I met in Boston and kept in touch even after we came back to Japan. She lives in Yokohama, too, so we sometimes hang out together.
It was freezing outside, so we were shivering from cold. However, we were filled with happy feeling after having such a good dinner.
This is Duffy I bought at TDS. Take a look at the marks on the bottom of his feet, they're cute, aren't they!? I named him Chris and keep him at hand when spleeping!!
"Office snack stands tempting hungry staff” The Yomiuri Shimbun 12 July 2008
Summary: Employees working overtime use “snack stands” to keep their hunger away with some chips and chocolates. Several food manufactures including Ezaki Glico Co. operate the stands and apply an “honor system” in which workers put money in a box whenever they buy a snack. Some use this service to overcome a desire to smoke and to satisfy the hunger they feel after they quit smoking. According to company managers, they appreciate the security benefits of the snack stands which help reduce the number of employees leaving and reentering office buildings. In this way, this business has grown rapidly and is said to reach 3 billion yen in a year. Convenience store chains also raise their hands to gain a share by promoting their snack food vending machines including rice balls.
Option Statement: If snacking falls into a habit, I worry if health problems such as obesity and metabolic syndrome have increased as a result. In think that some can stop themselves from snacking or try to finish working as quickly as possible if snack stands are out of reach. I wonder if there is another option.
Discussion Questions: 1)What do you think about the situation in which snack stands and snack food vending machines in office buildings have increasing?
2)Do you think that this service is good for security purpose?
3)What do you feel about eating food at work and when working overtime or when seeing someone doing the same thing?
I like Takeshi Kaneshiro as I said before in my blog. Do you know that he's appeared in Japanese Drama, "Kamisama mou sukoshi dake"? I think this is one of the best dramas I've ever seen! This is also famous as Kyoko Fukada and Yukie Nakama's debut drama.
One day, Keigo (Kaneshiro), a talented but depressed music producer picked up a high school girl whose name was Masaki(Fukada) after the concert he produced. He was empty since he had lost his ex-girlfriend, but he soon found Masaki was someone could help him out. They became close and slept together. Masaki tried to leave a memo with her name and cellphone number but she decided not to tell anything about herself and left there. Few days before, Masaki had sex with unfamiliar guy just one time to make money to go to his concert. Soon after Keigo came back from the world tour, he called Masaki though the memo she was supposed to throw away in a trash box. She became so excited about meeting him again. However, when she realized how happy it was to love someone, she knew that she was already infected by HIV virus. Later, she found out that she got the virus from the guy she didn't know well about... Masaki told Keigo that she was HIV-positive and asked him to get tested for HIV. Keigo was negative as a result. Masaki was relieved about that, but felt isolated and alienated from her friends, family members and Keigo as well because she doubt he pretended to love her from compassion. However, she found out that he was not. Keigo became only the man that she could trusted and their love became the only thing she could believe in. Keigo decided to live with her and take her to the U.S where he found his new workplace. However, Kaoru (Nakama), a singer who was produced by Keigo and also a younger sister of his ex-girlfriend loved him and tried not to let them go together. Keigo and Masaki was separated from each other by misunderstanding. Three years later, Masaki lived her limited life with all her energy. Keigo became successful and came back to Japan. He still loved Masaki and visited her place to see if she was fine. Her friend, Osamu, was there and Keigo found out from him that Masaki thought she was dumped by Keigo but she still loved him. They made up their relationship and came together. Masaki expected a baby and gave birth to a girl. They named their baby Sachi, wishing for her future happiness. However, Masaki was close to the end of life. During their wedding ceremony, she passed away in peace in his arms. Keigo and Sachi were determined to live with Masaki's memory for ever...
I think this drama was focused on the atmosphere in which there were high school girls who tended to engage in prostitute for money. AIDS was also a grave issue at that time. I think this dram must have discouraged those girls to do such a thing. Kaneshiro was so cool to the end and that I would like to share the feeling with someone!! So, I already recommended Hikari to watch it via YouTube. Unfortunately, it misses the last scene with climax, so try to rent the rest on DVD sometime!!
My friend and I arrived at Tokyo Disney Sea around 4 o'clock. It was as crowded as I thought. We got starlight passports which cost 4,700 yen. First, we were intended to try Actpia, but we waited in a wrong line for Storm Rider. In addition, it took us one and a half hours and so it already got dark outside. I thought it was unworthy having waited for such a long time!! After Storm Rider, we tried Actpia and then Sindbad Story Book Voyage. They were all we tried. However, we totally enjoyed Christmas decorations for a limited time and the atmosphere which was different in each section. Everything in there made us happy and excited. I felt as if I were in a dream world. Especially, Hotel Mira Costa was very attractive for me, so I would like to stay there sometime. Unfortunately, we missed fireworks because of a cloudy sky. I got Teddy bear for myself and a can of cookies for my classmates. I'll bring it to my writing class tomorrow!!
My neice is 14 years old and has taken ballet lessons since childhood. She had practiced ballet so hard for these few weeks because she was expected to play a main part at a concert. Actually, today was the day that she appeared on stage. Unfortunately, I couldn't go there because I had a class until after 6pm. Instead, my parents must have been there. So, I'm looking forward to hearing from them about her performance soon.
By the way, I'm going to Disney Sea with my friend after class tomorrow! ! I have never been there, so I'm very exited about it!!
“2,800 warned on first day of new traffic law” Written Summary: On the first date of the enforcement of the new traffic law, nearly 2,800 drivers in Tokyo were warned by the police that it required passengers in back seats to wear seat belts and elderly drivers to display a sign called “Momiji Mark” on their cars to reduce traffic accidents. According to Metropolitan Police Department, there were more than 1,000 cases of people who failed to fasten seat belts and more than 1,500 cases of elderly drivers aged 75 or older who failed to display a sign while driving. If passengers in back seats violate the new law, they are subjected to punishment as follows. -On express ways -One-point penalty -On tourist buses or in taxi -Imposing punishment on drivers -In the case of passengers in pregnancy -They are exempt from punishment. However, according to National Police Agency, they told officers not to crack down on them strictly during road until this road safety campaign ends because it takes time for the public to get used to the new law.
Opinion Statement: I think that it is necessary for the elderly aged 75 or older to inform other drivers that they are at the wheel in some way because I have read the article that there is a case in which the elderly suffering from dementia causes accidents.
Discussion Questions: 1. My father aged 76 feels stressed about the new law, but I think it is a necessity. Do you agree or disagree with my opinion. And why? 2. If you have a driver’s license, have you urged passengers in back seats to wear seat belts? If you don’t, have you been asked to wear seat belts when you are in back seats?
Fried Green Tomatoes was one of my favorite movies and was released in 1991. The reason I found this movie so impressive was that I received some significant messages from it. Especially, I was moved by cross-age interaction and real friendship among four women and interracial friendship between white and black in the south of America. However, this movie also led me into knowing the existence of a deep-rooted racial discrimination and of KKK. After I met this movie, I came across two other movies with the same theme. One is "Amistad" and the other is "A time to Kill." Both are much more shocking than Fried Green Tomatoes, but I think they are worth watching. If you are interested in these issues, pls try them out!!
With the increase of the nail salons and do-it-yourself nail goods in number, the number of troubles over artificial nails has also increased in nearly a decade. According to officials, some complained that their fingers became infected and swollen using glues for nails. Others suffered from fungus growing in the gap between their artificial and real nails. The officials noted that they occurred due to the lack of warning on nail products about composition and possible dangers and suggested consumers learn the correct way to keep their nails clean and healthy.
Discussion:
1) Are you interested in artificial nails? Do you want to put them on? 2) How do you feel about someone wearing the artificial nails? 3) After you find out that wearing nails has some troubles, would you like to try them on?
Vocabularies:
l Do-it-oneself: 自分でやる l Adhesive: 接着の l Fungus: 菌
After class, I went to Sagamihara to visit my friend's place. Mayumi and I have known each other since junior high school. She had a second baby in September and recently moved from Niigata to Sagamihara. We had a good time chatting for a long time. Her three-year-old daughter was so sweet and her baby boy was so cute as well!! Mayumi looked busy with two children but was cheerful as usual. This is her baby's hand's photo. It's adorable, isn't is!?
Yesterday, I went to Kinokuniya book store at the south exist of Shinjyuku Station. The book I'm reading now for a book report was an abridged edition, so it was less than 100 pages long. Therefore, I was trying to get the original version. Though the store was almost closed eight at night, I barely arrived there in time. However, unfortunately, I found that the original version was over 600 pages long, so I couldn't help giving up reading it. Getting out of the store, Christmas illuminations around Shinjyuku Takashimaya came into my sight. It was so beautiful and made my disappointed heart worm. Before coming to Shinjyuku, I stopped by Omotesando to go to the dentist, but I couldn't find any Christmas illuminations which used to be there before. As far as I remember, we could enjoy them this time of the year about 7 or 8 years ago. I believe that the timing of Christmas illumination was delayed due to saving money and I agree with that but miss them at the same time. In this sense, Shinjyuki could be a limited place to be able to enjoy Christmas illuminations.
I attended my school's regular church service today. Through the lecture, I came to know a book called "The Giving Tree." This book is recommended to read especially for Christmas time because we can learn the real meaning of Christmas. I have never heard of the book, but soon found that it was worth reading. Therefore, I would like to let you know how wonderful the story is !!!
Asia Asia can be distinguished from other areas such as Europe, America and Oceania because it has not only a complete non-white culture but also other unique characteristics. Asia occupies 80% of Eurasia continent and has 60% of the world population. Therefore, it also has a variety of geography, history, people, culture and society. In this sense, it is difficult to describe Asia as a whole, so let me divide it into six regions –East Asia, South East Asia, South Asia, North Asia, Central Asia and West Asia so as to explain the difference in each characteristic.
East Asia is the first of these regions. It accounts for 40% of the whole of Asia and includes Taiwan, Japan, Korea, China and so on. They have the same ancestor called Polynesian Mongoloid. They also share a temperate rainy climate, so people can easily adjust to the environment. China had a great influence on the culture of other East Asian countries in many ways. For instance, character, religion, architecture and the custom of using chopsticks all came from China and still exist to the present day. After World War ∐, Japan and other countries in this region have achieved high economic growth. Especially, China has become developed for the past decade and so many wealthy businessmen can be found in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
South East Asia is the second region. It is made up of Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos and so on. Most of this region has the tropical climate with annual rainfalls. Moreover, thanks to monsoon, rice-growing is the leading industry in Thailand and other countries on Indochina. As you know, they used to be European colonies until the mid-20th century, so they fought for independence with European powers for many years. Thailand is the only country that maintained its freedom. Religious diversity can be found in this region. For instance, Islam is popular in Indonesia and Malaysia, and Buddhism is common in Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar, and Christianity is believed in Singapore and the Philippines.
South Asia is the third region. It includes India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Bangladesh and so on. They have long rainy season and three fourths of the total amount of the annual rainfall concentrates this time of the year, so more than 100 million people totally depend on agriculture of this season. On the other hand, small amount of rainfall keeps them from food and water. Therefore, 50 million people suffer from starvation every year. In addition, they have a bunch of serious problems such as poverty, growing population, infectious disease, the low penetration rate of primary school education and so on.
North Asia is the fourth region. It is made up of Mongol and Siberia, the Southern part of Russia. Most of this region has cool-temperate and dry climate, so it is not suitable for agriculture. Therefore, people have continued a nomadic way of life from a distant past. They totally depend on domestic livestock and caravan trade for a living, so productivity of this region is lower than that of agrarian society. However, Turpan which used to be a vital ground of Silk Road is still prosperous as an important oasis town. With the exception of nomadic culture, Mongolian sumo-wrestling has become a part of popular culture and many have come to Japan to become professionals.
Central Asia is the fifth region. It includes Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kirgiz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and some parts of China such as Tibet and East Turkestan Autonomous Region. Most of these countries used to make up the former Soviet Union. After they became independent with dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, this region was classified into “Central Asia.” This region has played an important role as a main artery linking Europe and Asia for thousands of years. Ancient Chinese, Greek and Roman and Indian culture met here and influenced one another. For instance, Gandhara art was created mixed with Hellenism style of art and Indian Buddhist images.
West Asia is the sixth region. It is made up of Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Unite Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Palestine, Egypt and so on. This region is also called “Middle and Near East” or “Islam World”. Mesopotamia and Nile civilizations were born in this region. In this sense, West Asia has the longest history in the world. Egypt has a lot of ancient remains and has attracted many tourists. Most countries have been well off by receiving benefits from Persian Gulf oil, so world-class rich people can be found in this region. On the other hand, some countries remain in a constant state of war. Many people are killed at every single moment under these circumstances. In addition, the world is watching the situation and also worries over the reoccurence of terrorism.
In this way, Asia has various aspects of these six-divided regions. The atmosphere in Asia is very different of that of Europe and other Western countries and it is because Asia has an absolute non-white culture and its geographical and cultural uniqueness. From my point of view, South East Asia now represents the image of Asia because the expression of “Asian Taste” always remains me of Thailand or Indonesia. China also gives me a great impression from historical point of view. These six Asian regions have little in common this way, but share the feeling of unity one another as a member of Asia.
Let me introduce one of my favorite movies. "Dead Poets Society" was released in 1989 which was the time when I was a high school student. What I met this movie led me into knowing Robin Williams. He was playing well as a passionate English teacher, John Keating. One day, Keating was sent to Welton which was a private boy's boding school with a reputation for high enrollment rate in Ivy League. However, he was unlike in previous teachers in many ways. His way of teaching was so unique that his students were puzzled for the first time, but they became interested in his lessons and himself as well. Through his lessons, he tried not to teach Wilton standards, but would rather teach more extraordinary than that. "Carpe Diem" in Latin and "Seize the Day" in English were in the habit of his saying. Some of the boys began to look for something they could get really carried away. They made a circle in which they read classic poetry together. The circle was named "Dead Poets Society" because they liked to read dead men's poetry which inspired the passion they hided inside themselves. In the society, they talked about what they felt and thought. There was a boy who would like to be an actor and there was another boy who dared to ask a girl who had a fiancee for a date. The boy who would like to be an actor was Neil and he couldn't tell his father about his dream. Neal knew he had no choice to meet his father's expectations in which he would keep enough scores to become a doctor. On the other hand, Keating understood how Neil though and encouraged him to live his own life. However, his father tried not to let Neil go and finally lost him by suicide. Keating was blamed for the death of Neil and had to leave Wilton. Some students understood what really happened to Neal and that it was not Keating's fault... In this movie, Ethan Hawke was playing one of the students,Tod Anderson. Actually, I'm a fan of him. In his another movie "Taking Lives," I have never him playing such a bad man! I could find new Ethan in that movie and liked him better as an actor.
Euthanasia has been a controversial issue for many years. For the past few decades, euthanasia has been legalized in several countries such as The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Australia. On the other hand, Japan still maintains a cautious attitude toward euthanasia for ethical reasons. Even though euthanasia is not ethically justified, it should be legalized under certain conditions from a humanitarian point of view. Why is euthanasia unacceptable? In general, it is unethical to take lives intentionally for any reason. Once “voluntary euthanasia” is allowed, suicide and murder, in a broad sense, can be accepted. In addition, suicide and murder are considered sins for religious reasons. According to Religion Facts, “Christians are mostly against euthanasia. The arguments are usually based on the beliefs that life is given by God and that human beings are made in God’s image. Some churches also emphasize the importance of not interfering with the natural process of death.”
Moreover, some are against euthanasia because they consider a person a social creature who has a duty to live as a member of the community, so he/she cannot treat his/her life selfishly. Others are against “involuntary euthanasia,” in which a patient’s family makes a decision to discontinue life-prolonging treatment, because they believe that no one can treat someone’s life freely.
However, if a patient who is in a terminal condition suffers from an unbearable pain or treatment, euthanasia, so called mercy killing, is emotionally understandable so as to remove not only physical but also mental pain. Some people say that quality of life is more important than living longer. In this sense, euthanasia is regarded as death with dignity.
Some possible cases of euthanasia have taken place in Japan before and the doctors in question have been charged with the commission of murder. However, according to Wikipedia, the latest judgment says that euthanasia can be taken into consideration under the following conditions: 1. “Death is getting near” 2. “Accompanied by unbearable physical pain” 3. “To remove and relive pain” 4. “Company with patient’s request”
In the fourth point, there is another question of whether only a patient has the right to take control his/her own life. If so, “involuntary euthanasia” could be unacceptable. However, when a patient is too young or in a vegetated state, how should the reality be handled in which some families suffer from anxiety, economic problems and fatigue from nursing.
Taking these circumstances into consideration, euthanasia should be legalized under the right conditions. First of all, “the above four conditions” should be clarified by law and “involuntary euthanasia” should be allowed in some cases. However, any further exceptions should not be allowed because this must be clearly distinguished from the encouragement of suicide or murder. It is desirable that a person fulfills his/her own life for ethical and moral reasons, but euthanasia is emotionally understandable form a humanitarian point of view.
BOOK REPORT NO.1 1) MLA CITATION: Author: Golding, William Book Title: Lord of the Flies City of Publication: Faber and Faber Ltd. Date: First Published in 1954 Pages: 225
2) RESPONDING TO THE PLOT: If I were Ralph who is a main character in this story, I am not sure that I would have kept a rational way of thinking and behaving as a leader in such as chaotic situation. Even if I disagreed with Jack, I might have given in to pressure and become a member of his hunters. However, the existence of Piggy and Simon would have encouraged Ralph to maintain a sense of justice and persist in his belief. If I were the author, I would not change anything in the story, but I would describe more details about how the choir members such as Jack and Roger became savages.
Quotation 1: “What can he do more than he has? I’ll tell him what’s what. You let me carry the conch, Ralph. I’ll show him the one thing he hasn’t got.” (page.189)
This is a quotation from one of Piggy’s statements. Piggy is the most sensible boy in the group but his existence is mostly ignored only because he looks clumsy. One day, his glasses were stolen by Jack and his hunters to make fires for game. Then, Piggy decided to fight against Jack who was much stronger than him. For Piggy, a conch was a symbol of rule and order. Piggy would like to show the importance of order which Jack didn’t have any more. I found this scene the most impressive because Piggy who was wimp seemed brave to stand up for justice.
Quotation 2: “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill. You knew, didn’t you? Close, close, close! I’m part of you! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?” (page. 158)
This was quoted from the word that the head of the dead pig called “Lord of the Flies” said to Simon. I could learn that the beast existed not as a real enemy but as a symbol of international human evil. In addition, I could also learn that Simon was the only boy that could realize the dark side of human nature.
3) ANALYZING 7 LITERARY TERMS Setting: It is the time when World War Ⅲtook place. A group of schoolboys trying to evacuate from England meets with a plane crash on an uninhabited island. Point of View: Omniscient Conflict: Ralph (a democratic leader) vs. Jack (a dictator.) There are always conflicts between these two different types of leaders because Ralph has respect for discipline while Jack is obsessed with the lust for domination and barbarism. Climax: After Simon and Piggy were killed by the savage, Ralph barely escaped from them and was finally rescued. Symbol: A conch means a rule, order and discipline because it was used to signal an assembly and the boys had the right to speak when they got it. In addition, the beast was a symbol of internal human evil as mentioned above. Irony: British boys who were accustomed to living by rules turned into savages who could kill people. Theme: People are inclined to go wrong in nature under the closed ircumstances. Therefore, we need rules. However, human morality is so fragile that it can be destroyed easily, so we need to have self-awareness as Simon did. 4) REFLECTING ON THE STORY What I found shocking was that such young boys became savages and killed people. However, I thought they might have been too innocent to make right decisions. If some adults were included in the party, I thought what would have happened. I doubt if things would have changed. I also found some appealing characters in this book. Especially, Piggy was described vividly, so I could imagine who he really was. Simon was described as a god-like boy who fought with human evil. The environment in the story is very different from that in my own country because it is an uninhabited island without any civilization, so they couldn’t help living a primitive life. In my country, we are surrounded by convenient technologies. The most apparent difference between the book and the film is that the boys are not English but American in the film. Moreover, the situation was little different between the book and the film because the author did not mention the derail about World War Ⅲ, but the war was referred to as a battle between America and Russia in the film. However, I could find no gap between the book and film about how Piggy was described. William Golding, the author of this book, participated in Normandy Landings during World War Ⅱ. This experience has inspired him to write this book appealing interior human evil which would cause cruel wars and a breach of peace. I agree with the author’s view of people and life because the Holocaust was a reality in our history. Through this story, I can learn that we have to take control of ourselves so as not to lose moral and reason in any situations. I have never experienced such chaotic situations such as wars, but I would like to keep the lesson in my mind. Ralph was finally rescued but Simon wasn’t as I expected. I had an uneasy feeling that Simon would die when I found the word he said to Ralph, “All the same. You’ll get back all right, I think so, anyway.” I thought that what he said not “We’ll” but “You’ll” would imply that Simon would die.
Then, we drove to Ebisu to buy some groceries at Mitsukoshi department store. Mitsukoshi is located in Ebisu Garden Place with European style buildings and gardens. On our way to Mitsukoshi, suddenly, something big came into my sight. It was a chandelier made of thousands of baccarat. The chandelier named "baccarat eternal lights" was so beautiful that many visitors gathered around it. It is 5 meters high and about 3 meters width. 8472 pieces of baccarat were used for it, so it looks gorgeous, doesn't it!? If you have a chance, pls see the luxurious chandelier!!
After lunch, we drove to Daikanyama to look for something for Christmas. My sister took me to the store which was selling Christmas goods for a limited time. There were many lovely things including cards, paper napkins, and various kinds of decorations which entertain our eyes!! My sister bought some paper napkins as a present for her daughter's home tutor. They looked so beautiful. I would like to buy a fake Christmas tree for my place, but it cost me more than 10,000 yen, so I gave up buying it. However, I bought some cute Christmas stuffs, instead. The clear ones are made of glass, so I have to treat them carefully. The colorful one was made of felt and has already been displayed onto the curtain in my room. By the way, I 'm planning to make sweets for Christmas, but I haven't decided yet what to make, but maybe chocolate cake will be fine!!
Today, I went out for lunch with my sister at a Russian restaurant, Rogovski, in Shibuya. We usually go there at dinner time, so this was first time for us to try lunch time. Then, we ordered lunch set menu with cheaper price than usual. We totally enjoyed the lovely courses as you can see in the picture below!!! Try them if you have a chance to go around there. The restaurant is located on the ninth floor in Tokyu Plaza Building. The lunch menu we ordered includes borscht, two pieces of piroshki, salad, and Russian tea and cost 1,360 yen. We added Siberian dumplings available at 310 yen to them. I think this is not that expensive because it's worth it or more!!
I have prepared healthy dinners for a couple of days because I have been overeating recently. Moreover, I plan to go out for lunch with my sister tomorrow and I know I'll eat too much then... I chose chicken sasami instead of thigh meat because it is less fatty. I cut the chicken sasami and fried them with no-cal oil. Added some fried scallops seasined with salt and pepper and some piece of persimmons as a dessert.I baked a swordfish (mekajiki in Japanese) seasoned with miso and sake in advance. Added tamagoyaki and tomatos as side dishes. they look so simple and healthy, aren't they!?
Anna and I joined the lighting festival in Sagamihara campus the day before yesterday. It was a very sacred and beautiful night. I have never attended such a Christian event until I entered AGU and I enjoyed the atmosphere with other students. I'm excited to attend Christmas Mass for the first time this year. I got the image from Anna yesterday. Maybe, you can see the same thing in her blog!!!
I cooked a lot of Oden yesterday, so I invited my sister to my place to treat her a nice lunch today. I added Tekkadon of my own making to it. I just put cut seaweed and shiso and preseasoned tuna on the rice seasoned with sugar and vinegar, so it was one of the easiest dishes I often make though... She ate them a lot too and Oden was almost finished!! Obviously, I ate too much today as I did yesterday, so I’m sure I've been gaining weight!!
Today, let me introduce one of my favorite movies. It is Bridget Jones's Diary which made a big hit in 2001. It was the time when I was studying English in Boston. I bought VHS of this movie at that time and have kept it until now. In this movie, Renee Zellweger was playing well as a cute and funny heroine, Bridget. In preparation for the role, she gained much weight. Her efforts were approved by the public and so she was chosen as a nominee of Academy Award for Best Actress. I can't help laughing at her performance to the end of this movie. Hugh Grant and Colin Firth were also playing well the roles of guys who were fighting over Bridget. Hugh Grant whose role was Daniel. He was a chief editor and so called a cunny hunter who had another girl friend and broke up with Bridget all of a sudden. On the other hand, Colin Firth whose role was Mark. He was a once-divorced attorney and so called a square. After Bridget was dumped by Daniel, she made up her mind to change her job, lifestyle and herself as well. She started to make a career as a reporter, which made her shine and become more beautiful. Bridget and Mark first didn't like each other due to misunderstandings, but they were naturally getting close and realized they became drawn to each other... Daniel changed his mind and proposed to Bridget, however she has already found something more extraordinarily than that... Bridget and Mark became a nice couple at the end! However, I have one question about this movie because when Bridget's mother was talking about Mark's ex-wife who was Japanese and cheated on Mark with Daniel, she said "Japanese are cruel race." Therefore, I'm wondering if there is a popular belief in which Japanese are cruel race in England...
I think this movie is very helpful when you are brokenhearted or depressed because you can get a lot of energy from Bridget and become cheerful!!
I'll show you some of my VHS collections today. VHS is now old-fashioned, but it doesn't matter to me because everything with memories are special for me now and forever!!
BOOK REPORT #2 REFERENCE: 1) Author: Mary Shelley. 2) Title: Frankenstein. 3) Publisher: PENGUIN BOOKS LTD. 4) Place of Publication: London, England 5) Date of Publication: 1992 6) Number of Pages: 208.
PLOT SUMMARY: At the beginning, Robert Walton, an explorer looking for a new passage from Russia to the North Pacific Ocean via the Arctic, found a man who was weaken by the cold and told the man’s tragic story in the letter to his sister in England. The man named Victor Frankenstein was grown up in Geneva, Switzerland and moved to Germany to study natural science. With time, Victor became obsessed with the ambition that he could recreate a human body. After his experiment with electricity, Victor made the ambition a reality. He opened graves and gathered limbs and organs from the dead body and put them together so as to produce an ideal artificial human. However, after bringing the creature to life, Victor soon regretted it because he was not a human but a “monster”, and abhorred his ugliness and deserted him. While the monster was following after Victor heading Swaziland, he learned how to read and speak from books and gained intelligence and human hart. Also, he learned who he was from the experience that he was mistreated by others due to his ugliness. Then, he appeared before Victor and demanded a creature of another sex to make his own family. If Victor did so, the monster promised not to appear again. At first, Victor tried to fulfill the promise from sympathy with the miserable monster, but finally refused because he feared the further increase of monsters. The monster got angry about it and vowed revenge against Victor, and then murdered his brother, friends and wife. His wife, Elizabeth, was killed on their wedding night as the monster warned. Walton heard the Victor’s whole story and learned that Victor came here to kill the monster. However, Victor died on the Arctic Ocean without fulfilling his mission. Then the monster appeared before Walton and told him his side of the story, and disappeared in the darkness of the sea saying “I shall die.”
LITERARY TERMS:
1)Setting: The end of the 18th century Russia →The Arctic (present) Switzerland, Germany, England and Ireland (reminiscence)
2) Point of View: This story is told from omniscient.
3) Conflict: Victor vs. the monster who was created by him.
4) Symbol: The ugliness of the monster means the ugliness of Victor himself because he toyed with a human life.
5) Climax: When the artificial human became a real monster and killed Victor’s brother, friends and beloved wife.
6) Irony: Although his ambition to control human life became a reality, Victor finally met with a terrible misfortune. (Victor was revenged by the monster he created.)
7) Theme: Human cannot take control of nature including human life no matter how advanced natural science has become.
EVALUATION: This book is the most famous work among Gothic novels. Gothic novels are considered a prototype of Science Fiction or Horror novels. Around the end of the 18th century, people became interested in the world which they could not explain with reason. They were impressed by the ragged mountains and rude sea and enjoyed them in fear. In this book, I could find many descriptions about awesome nature. I think that Shelly intended to show the difference between nature and artificial illusion.
I thought Frankenstein the name of the monster before reading this book, but I soon found that it was the name of the doctor who created it. Frankly speaking, this book is much harder to read than I thought because it has not only difficult words but also some parts which require deep interpretations, so I also read Japanese version to keep better truck to understand the story. After reading this book, I felt sorry for the monster who had never been loved even by the creator himself. Through this book, I think that Shelly would like to warn that scientific advances might destroy humans if taken incorrectly. Especially, human life should not be controlled by human but should be only by God.
In summer, I went to Yokohama District Court to attend the orientation of a new Citizen Judgement System and to watch a real trial, because I had to write a report for my Jurisprudence class.
I watched the case where the defendant was tried for violation of narcotic law.
He bought drugs from foreign dealers and used them for two years. He got guilty and was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison with 3 years suspension of sentence.
After the trial, three judges and we participants started the discussion over the new Citizen Judgement System and the trial we watched. Two of the participants asked the judges the following questions:
Q1) What is the background that Japan decided to introduce the new system?
A1) It is to follow the system of other democratic countries.
Q2) Does the fact that the defendant had some criminal recordsaffect judgement on the verdict?
A2) No, it doesn't because it's been more than twenty years since he got guilty for the last case and it can be dangerous if he is tried with a prejudice that a person who has a criminal record must commit a crime again. In addition, we find that this case and the last one are different from each other, so we should try him for a new case this time.
When I went to the court, I found that most of the participants were housewives or pensioners. Therefore, I doubt that busy businessmen can contribute to the new system. If I were chosen as a citizen judge, I would provably accept the offer, anyway.
Claude Monet, one of the greatest impressionists, left many works including a series of “Water Lily” under the influence of Japanese woodblock prints called Ukiyo-e. This can be proved by the fact that he was deeply committed to collecting Ukiyo-e works by the grate Japanese masters, Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro and so on.
Ukiyo-e was first introduced to Europe at the international exhibition of London in1862 and of Paris in 1878. Then, there was a Japanese boom called Japonism in which many painters in the 19th century were influenced by Japanese prints and paintings. Like many others, Monet soon became obsessed with the sensation because the artists of the Far East were taking a completely new approach toward art. In particular, the flat and asymmetrical composition of Ukiyo-e was breaking the Western painting convention. As Monet later described, Japanese art shaped his style and the way he saw the world around him.
The best examples of his obsession with Ukiyo-e are his Giverny home and garden. Giverny is a suburb of Paris with many beautiful lakes and the place where Monet surrounded himself with the collected Ukiyo-e works and continued creative activities until he died at the age of 86. He planted water lilies and wisteria flowers and then built the arched bridge called “Taiko-bashi” in the garden to replicate Hiroshige’s world. To draw his inspiration from the garden, he gathered various kinds of trees, grasses and flowers and planted them by himself. He also created three greenhouses and hired six gardeners to keep it beautiful.
Moreover, his passion toward Ukiyo-e extended to the interiors like kitchen, dining room and even bathroom by coordinating the color of the interior with that of the Ukiyo-e works. Now you can visit Monet’s house in Giverny to see both his wonderful Ukiyo-e collections and his ideal garden. A series of “Water Lily” was born here in Giverny. Monet made every effort to express the color of the flowers subtly changing with sunlight and varying with weather and season, so his garden was often compared to a living canvas or a living atelier which focused on the very moment of the changes in nature. In fact, this was exactly the one that Monet would like to express. In this way, Ukiyo-e aroused Monet’s imagination and enabled him to leave many great masterpieces. Although he never visited Japan, it could be said that Japanese art significantly contributed to his works beyond the sea. Moreover, they still attract many admirers all over the world. Especially, Japan has a lot of Monet’s fans and it is because there is such a strong relationship between Monet and Japanese art.
After we moved to Hase by Eno-den , we walked to Hase temple and then to Kotoku-shrine. Hase temple is famous for the statue of the Kannon deity and for the beautiful command of Yuigahama. While watching the view, we enjoyed having Japanese cake with Matcha at the cafe there. Then, we visited Kotoku-shrine to see Big Buddha which was a symbol of Kamakura. I found many foreigners taking pictures of it eagerly. Maybe, the statue is very unique and totally different from the one in European style. We got tired from walking all day, but I think we also had a chance to get good exercise!!
Barack Obama won the American presidential election today.
I was very impressed by his victory speech and the fact that
many white people voted for him.
I watched the news all day and was excited to see the moment
when the African American first became the American president.
I believe that the United States has made progress for "New America" without racial inequality and hope that President Obama will make it possible to changethe country as he says " Yes, we can!!"
I went to Kamakura with my sister and niece on Saturday.
As it is called "Little Kyoto", Kamakura has many temples and shrines with a long history.
First, we dropped off the train at Kita-Kamakura station and walked to Enkaku-ji、Kencho-ji and then to Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine.
Enkaku-ji was erected by Tokimune Hojo and is famous for its magnificent gate. We had a lunch box I made there. It was fairly good.
Next, I took a picture of the gate of Kencho-ji, but we gave up visiting the temple for saving time. Then we visited Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine. It was the time of the Seven-Five-Three Festival which is held to celebrate children's growth and to pray for their future good health.
I very much enjoyed seeing many boys and girls wearing beautiful kimonos!! I also consulted an oracle (Omikuji) there. Lucky me!! I drew a good fortune (Kichi)(^0^)v
Tonight, I took my friend, Keiko, to Brazilian restaurant I often go to. The restaurant is named Ilha Branca and located in Minami-Aoyama. When I was working at an automobile company, I used to go there with my co-workers because I was in charge of exporting cars to Brazil and Argentina. Everything we ordered was delicious and we could enjoyed various kinds of tastes because of the house's original spices. 
