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