Memories in N.Y

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!!

My Parents

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!!

Homework

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!

Tonight, I prepared Nabe for dinner....

IE 2 Newspaper Article Discussion #1

“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?

♪Bargain Sale♪♪

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.

Brazilian Cuisine

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.

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ILHA BRANCA イーリャブランカ

http://ilha-branca.com/

TEL:03-3401-2737

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My Duffy

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!!

IE 2 Newpaper Article #4

"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?

神様もう少しだけ・・・

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!!

Tokyo Disney Sea

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

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!!

IE#2 News Paper Article Discussion

“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

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!!

♡♡Die-Die's Birthday♡♡♡

Die-Die came up to 5 on December 13th.
She was like this as usual though...

IE3 News Paper Article Discussion #1

Summary:

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

MY FRIEND'S BABY

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!?

SHINJYUKU'S CHRISTMAS ILLUMINATIONS

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.

THE GIVING TREE

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 !!!

IE2 Writing #3

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.

DEAT POET SOCIETY

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.

IE3 Writing Assignment # 1

Should Euthanasia be Legalized?

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.

Work Cited:
“安楽死の法的扱い” Wikipedia／ 安楽死：
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%89%E6%A5%BD%E6%AD%BB

“安楽死と尊厳死” 生命倫理 倫理の公民館：
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/village/good/ethics.html

Christian Views of Euthanasia and Suicide/ Modern Christian Views on Suicide- Euthanasia and Christianity: Religion Facts：
http://www.religionfacts.com/euthanasia/christianity.htm

IE3 BOOK REPORT #1

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.

EBISU

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!!

PREPARATION FOR CHRISTMAS

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!!

RUSSIAN CUISINE

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!!

HEALTHY DINNERS

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!?