Sushi

On Sunday, I went to Toku sushi with Shiori to make a pod cast :>

We have to shoot craftsman ( shokunin ) in this time and the sushi ya is a shop which my relative's friend runs, so we can shoot it. Here is a homepage of the shop.

The master looked like so strict, but he answered to our questions willingly:) And, at last, he made sushi for me and Shiori. It was nice! Thank you (^^)

After shooting, we went to Hirakata station and then I met Shiori's boyfriend first! I did not talk with him, but he looked like so kind !:> Shiori, please take him to a Christmas party!

AJISAI

Today,I will introduce one of my favorite artist, AJISAI.

They are minor band and not so famous without kanto area. The reason why I know such band is that two of them are my cousin's friends. So he recommended them to me when we were driving and looking for music to listen.

I like 'theater' and 'orange'(^^) They have their homepage, here.
If you have a time, check them! :>

Beautiful !

Hello,everyone :>

Today is 3rd December ,and 8months passed when we entered Kansaigaidai in this spring. It is very fast !

Christmas will come soon, which is one of my favorite event in a year! :> I went out to Shinsaibashi on last Sunday to buy a new bag( some people know that my old one was so shabby...), and I saw many colorful illuminations there. They were so beautiful !! One of the reasons why I like Christmas is illuminations.

However, there were a lot of couples on the street, so I felt lonley... ;> I recommend not to go out alone in December...

BIRTH DAY

I became 19 years old on last Thursday.

When I was in a high school, I could not imagine that I become a college student. I feel that the time passes so fast! My freetime has been filled with assignments since I entered this university and I could not often hang out with my friends... but this is the last year I can be a child. I want to enjoy my last teenage before I really become an adult :)

On my birth day, I received many mails and presents from my friends. This is a chestnut cake that Hitomi Tsuchida gave me. Hitomi, this was really delicious! and I received some bath goods of LUSH from one of my friend. I love LUSH and it smells so nice! I enjoy my bath time.

Thank you so much, everyone ! :>

Response to "Protect the whales off Australia"

According to “Protect the whales off Australia”, Japan will send this year’s whalers bound for Southern Ocean, Australia in less than a week. The aim of the action is to hunt and to do scientific research of a whale and the whalers are planning to hunt in all 60 endangered whales for their research. Then Australian have formed ‘Sea Shepherd’, an organization which tries to stop antiwhaling action and saves whales, has named Japanese whalers ‘Migaloo’, and Craig Stringer, the author of the article, disagrees with Japanese whaler strongly.

The article includes a lot of emotional appeals. Craig describes how whales will be captured and how they will be killed and researched, and tried to make the readers feel sympathetic and want to save whales. The descriptions are vivid and the readers can imagine the scene that whales are suffering easily, so probably most people will feel pity for them and agree with him.

Also, he mentions specific names of endangered whales such humpback whales and fin whales. It is easier for the reader to realize the situation and the word, ‘endangered’ can makes the readers want to save whales (because they are endangered), and make Craig’s opinions more convincing.

US-VISIT of Japan

New law that foreigners have to be taken their fingerprints and photographs every time when they enter Japan will carry out on November 20th by justice minister. A part of foreigners such people with permanent or children who are under 16, but this law is sure to become a annoying procedure for most foreigners.

This law does not work under a situation that the government does not have a database of fingerprints of terrorists in advance. If a member of al-Qaida entered Japan now, no one could notice that, because there is no data about him or her. So the government can not even suspect him or her and will overlook a person who may commit a crime.

Therefore I think this law will be effective to catch people who have already committed a crime and already be known their fingerprints by the government, but be unable to prevent terrorism.

Views from the street

Today’s articles are about discrimination in Japan.

Six people suggest their own opinions about discrimination in Japan in first article, “Which minority groups face the worst discrimination in Japan”. They are differ in nationality, sex or job and their opinions also various.

In second article, Mike Dewood, the writer of “Ebb and flow of discrimination” suggests his idea with his experiences. In his case, he lives in Nagasaki and is annoyed about harassment from local people because he is American. So, he says the question which minority groups face the worst discrimination depends on where you live.

I agree with Mike. However I think a situation also become factors when you judge the question. For example, in case of Yuko Furusawa, she has a brother who has a Down syndrome and it is difficult for him to find a job, and the government does not give him chance, so she thinks minority group which face the worst discrimination is the handicapped. She takes a priority over them because of the situation that she has a handicapped relative. Conversely speaking, if her brother was not the handicapped, her opinion might be changed.

Each opinion that six people and Mike suggest is very convincing for me because they suggest them by showing their own experiences and these discrimination are actually happening in Japan. However, I think all discrimination are serious and we cannot make light of them. Therefore I think we cannot decide which minority group faces the worst discrimination in Japan.

Response to "Don't judge marines too fast"

Regarding the article" Don't judge marines too fast", Sandoval mentions that the occurrence is the woman's fault and she should have be more careful about going with the four marines by showing his experience when he was assigned to Tachikawa Air Base. He also says that women who work in a bar have to count a bad situation such a rape as their works. This idea looks down women who work in a bar and shows the readers that he has a thoughtless notion about women. Being raped is not a work of women who work in bar at all and the woman who raped by the marines is a victim even though she might behave a bit carelessly like that she went out with men who she just has met. He must take women's feeling into account.

Furthermore, there are some military bases of U.S. in Japan now, however, it is not saying that soldiers have a right to do whatever they want to, as Kevin Egan, the writer of " Disgusting outlook on women", says. Sandoval is stating his opinion regarding U.S. as a center and does not care about others at all. His opinion is self-centered, so it may be unaccepted by Japanese.

Why ?

Today, I will talk about why I am in IES.
I have never been exposed to English before I entered Kansai gaidai and IES, because I had not studied abroad and stayed long time in foreign country. Also I had not an opportunity to meet foreigners in my hometown. So when I was in a high school, I always became quiet and nervous when I was spoken by in English and I could not express my thought in English.

I knew IES program when I came to Kansai gaidai to participate in an open campus in August. IES was attractive for me because all professors are native speakers and I can learn English in English. I thought the program would help me to overcome my shyness about English and I can communicate with a lot of people in English, so I chose IES. However, little did I dreaming of that I could be IES-a because my TOEFL score was not good. So, I was really surprised at that.

Now, as you know, we have a lot of assignments everyday and we have to expend much time on doing them. The campus life I had thought before I entered Kansai gaidai is different from now. I do not have enough free time to do what I want to do. However I think I am not nervous now compared to when I was in a high school. I can more express what I want to say in English now than before. Assignments are a lot and really hard, but I think they are useful for me. I want to stay IES and develop my English skill !

Kafka

Hello. It is getting colder today. The season of flu will come soon, so be careful not to catch a cold!




I will introduce my favorite novel today.It is " Kafka on the shore" which was written by Haruki Murakami and I was recommended this novel by my friend.
I read this novel in the train bound for my hometown in a summer holidays. It takes 4 hours to go to my hometown, so I thought it must have been boring. However the time was gone in a flash because I was absorbed in reading this novel.





This novel was written from 2 angles, a boy called Kafka and an old man called Nakata san. These two stories from different angles have nothing to do with each at a glance, but gradually I can see that these two stories are mixing.
This is a mysterious novel , so I can not sum up its main points. However, try it :D

I want to read " Norwegian wood" next time.

Joan's soda

Hi.

I saw the news that Joan's soda sold sodas with a flavor of sweat and grass. Can you imagine the flavors? I do not want to imagine...(^^;)

These sodas were sold for the fan of Seahawks which is one team of NFL( National Fooball League ) , so the flavors are related to American football such sweat the players perspire.

Joan's soda sold soft drinks with a flavor of turkey and mashed potatoes. This is a photo of them. The appearance is very normal, but I do not want to drink them......

I do not know whether the drinks of the company are sold in Japan.

If you found it, ..........try it!

A language in a state of flux

I think we do not need being so pessimistic about a flux of katakana words and loanwords between everyday conversation and advertisements. It is a kind of a Japanese culture the present generation made and we communicate with others more or less using them. Especially in the case of advertising, we sometimes can feel more clearly what an advertisement wants to say from the atmosphere of katakana or loanwords using in the advertisement. Japanese, kanji, hiragana and katakana, is a language that we can create innumerable expressions if we use them mixed. However there are Japanese that it is difficult to express in foreign languages and there are foreign languages that Japanese can not express. So, I think it is not bad thing to make up for it using each languages because we can do more extensive expressions.

However it, insistently, is only the case of conversation and advertisement. I do not think so in the case of news and politics. I often think, “why does this politician use a lot of gairaigo?” when I watch TV news. I can not understand what he wants to say because of a flood of loanwords. Too much use of katakana and loanwords causes a confusion and I can not understand what he says rather than he thinks (some maybe think so, too). Also, I sometimes wonder politicians really understand the meaning of loanwords they are using. I think they have to forbear using a lot of katakana words and loanwords in public.

Summer holidays

　　Hi, how are you?

Did you have a great summer? My summer holidays was easygoing. Today, I will introduce my summer holidays:)

I went back to my hometown, Oita , for only a week.( I could not stay there longer because of part-time job...)I had thought that my hometown must have be hotter than Hirakata city( because Oita is located on the south from Osaka) , however it was very cool and comfortable ! I was surprised at that.You can see a photo of my hometown. It is very old city, so there are many houses and streets like the photo in the city.

I met my friends and went a lot of place, yakiniku-ya, sea, mountain...... it was first time of this year that I went to sea! But, we did not swim...there were many jellyfishes in the sea after obon..!but, we enjoyed its atmosphere.
I met a lot of people during the week, however I have a regret. It is that our class did not hold a class reunion.I heard other classes held , but only my class could not...because almost all people of my class are athlete and they had practices even during obon. So I could not meet a big part of my classmates! I really regret it ...><>

After going back to Osaka, I hung out with some my friends.I went to Kobe with Shiori. I think Kobe is very beautiful )city! very nice* We went many place... and we spent almost all our time eating and talking. It was really fun for me. Shiori, I want to go to Himeji castle next time! I heard it is very beautiful. I want to look it.(^^*)

Also I went to shopping with Sae, she is a student of IESc, to Shinsaibashi. She is a really cute girl and interesting. We have a similar sence of fashion, so we went to shopping often. When we went to Shinsaibashi I found a nice place ` rossomusica` there, so I introduce. It is located on near shinsaibashi SOGO and I could eat delicious stew there!( I could not find the official homepage, so I introduce it using someone's blog ...sorry ) If you have a chance to go to Shinsaibashi, please call in there and enjoy meals.

Except for these events, I spent really restful and boring summer holidays. I also have worked at the dentist during summer, however I am not still accustumed to the work though I have worked there for three months. Recently, I mistook medicine for the other one , droped down instruments often and mistook an appointment for the other......it is really dangerous!! I wonder whether I am worth paying... umm. So, I have not used my salary yet. I want to be full-fledged as soon as possible! I do my best to stick out my chest to spend my salary~~.

Thank you for reading !(^^)

KYOTO

Hi! Today is 17th Aug and tomorrow is 18th, which is the end of 1st semester! ( I have tests yet...) It is really fast, isn't it?

By the way, I have the one thing I want to try. It is " Kyoto kentei". This examination is not very famous but I think some people know it. I heard it on TV.



The aim of Kyoto kentei is to understand Kyoto, culture , language and history well, and transmit it from generation to generation. If we passed the examination, it showed you are " Kyoto tu"! This is a kind of self-satisfactied test, however I want to try it because I like Kyoto and want to know the city well.

I will studay about Kyoto during summer secretly...

Have a nice summer holiday! (^^*)

My PLEASURE

The summer holidays are fast approching.

Are you planning to go somewhere? I think most of us will go back to hometown.I, of course, am looking forward to going back to my hometown.( however I can not stay there long time because of my part-time job...!)

Please look at the left picture. She is my friend in my hometown and we have known each other since we were in preschool( she has a venomous tongue, but really cute! I have a her purikura with her boyfriend on my mobile phone). We and a few friends always set off fireworks and drink on the fishing port near her house every summer holiday.It is our regulary event and it is really fun for me! We are in different place to go school or to work now, however we can assemble only during summer.So I am very looking forward to it.(*＾＾*)

By the way, this cat's name is " nyanko". She eats everything like a criket or " pudding rice"... it's horrible cat.

Dentist

I started part-time job as a front desk and an assistant at Kadokawa dentist at Kadokawa dentist. I experienced part-time job at the ramen ya and the service station when I was a high school student, so it is third times.

Before I started this job, I thought this job was easy because they can work in comfortable which have an air conditioner and calm, however it turned out to be not true. In the dentist, I heard many noise of machine and we also have to wear a mask, soI felt really worse... it is really hard mentally!

I want to be used to this job as soon as possible!

Mr Children

Today I want to talk about my favorite singers.

I really like Mr.Children! All of their songs and lyrics are very nice. I was always moved by their songs whenever I listen them.

I first met their when I was a junior high school student. I joined a track and field club, so I always felt tierd. Then, my underclassman rented me their album. It really cheered me up!

They sold their new album on May, but I have not listened it yet. I'll go to TSUTAYA and rent it soon.

TRAVEL

Today I'm going to talk my recent incident.

I have a old sister who lives in Bellevue, Washington, and is second-year student in college.I haven't seen her for about 2 years.So, I and my mother planned to go to see her during this summer holidays. However when I went to the travel agency to ask about the flight ticket yesterday, the clerk said to me, " I'm sorry, there are no bargain seats. There are seats which cost you about 200,000yen." 200,000yen......I can't pay such much money...! so, I gave my plan up. I'll work part-time,save much money and retry in next summer holidays!（・ω・）．

Baby Drop Off

Today I'll talk about " Baby Drop Off ".

" Baby drop off " is the system that to save unwanted baby from their parents. If parents could not bring up because of an economical problem and they faced an abortion or other problems something like that, they could bring baby anonymously to a safe place like a hospital and be cared from someone.

As regards the topic, there are a lot of approvals and disapprovals.

Letter one is arguing about the topic critically.First, author is telling about her opinion by using actual information based on her experience which she works with people who experienced hard separation from parents.She says we should not make baby do such an experience. Second, she supposed we need the agency organized by government and tax to help parents and baby.

Letter two is discussing the topic, if anything, taking the position of approval. The author is discussing using the factual information which we seem we need " baby drop off ", so it is convincing and tell us the significance of the system. She also uses emotional appeal to say baby hatch is not perfect way but one way to save abandoned baby's life. She focuses on baby abd baby's life and thinks the topic from user's angle rather than outsider.

I agree with the idea of letter one because of two reasons.

One is that I also think the government should make the system that parents can avoid abandoning their baby before making the system of " baby drop off ". I think abandoning baby will not stop though there are baby hatch. We need more fundamental plan to stop it. I suppose if parents who have an economical problem could get child benefit from the government, they don't need to abandon their baby and can grow up baby.

The other thing I want to say is a consciousness of parents as parents. Parents must have a responsibility and a consciousness as parents for their baby.If they depend on existence of baby hatch, they don't notice that. It is, in fact, important to save abandoned baby's life, however I suppose it is more important to think what we should do to stop abandoned baby.

Beppu city

Today I'll introduce my hometown Oita, especially Beppu city.


Have you ever heard Beppu? Maybe someone has, I think. This city becomes more famouse than when I was in childhood because of hot springs. Look at the picture. As you can see, in Beppu, there are many hot springs throughout the town and the town is coverd with smoke from them. I alwaysassociate the Beppu with this scene.

When I was in Oita, I often went to Beppu to soak in hot spring with my family. This is the map of them. If you clicked a name of hot spring, you could see details. I recommend " kiousen", which is located on the foot of mountain and very small spot. However, because it is a bit difficult to find, it seems rare! I like it.


Another recommend is "takegawara onsen". This hot spring is the oldest one in Beppu. At the end of year, a lot of shaddocks are floating in it. It smells citrus and it is good at blood circulation, so many old and sightseers visit there.


I also like the fireworks festival taken place in Beppu. I usually saw it on the roof of my house with my sister.( Because of traffic jam, we could not go to the place...) The following is the movie of it.











If you have opportunity, come to Oita, and enjoy Beppu!(・ω・)

Favorite Links

Today, I will introduce my favorite HPs.

One is this, which is the link to CONVERSE official site. I used to visit this site before to check new items( I can not accese there because my computer don't connect to the internet), however I also like the games in this site. I spent my free time to visit this site and play the small games. I want to clear " Block Cake",but it is difficult for me.

The other is the site called " Ochikyuu mi no oka yori ". I found this site when I did net surfing. This is the original music site I love. All songs are made by manager of the site and played by only piano. Listening to the sounds make me feel relaxed.

If you have a free time, please try them.

DOG

This is my friend's dog and her name is "choco"( stands for chocolate, I think). When I went to the friend's home,I took this photo unconsciously because she is very cute! She is always trembling by herself. She is a coward dog, however it is also the element that I think she is cute.

13,May

As you know, 13.May was Mother's Day in this year.
Did you do something for your mother ? Some people mailed a letter , others sent a bunch of carnations on that day.
I have wanted to and planned to do something to please my mother, but I could not. I forgot the day because of assignment... I'm impiety. I only called her and talked about each recent events.
So, I decided to celebrate her birthday on a large scale as much as possible instead of Mother's Day.
I want her to look forward to it.(・ω・）

Commercial

My talk about commercial is for softbank, which is very famous in Japan.

Please watch the follow video:




Target Audience

I have two opinion for target audience of this commercial.

One is the people who use a mobilephone or not.
The other is the people who like Brat Pitt or have a nice feeling for him.


Authority

This commercial uses Brat Pitt, who is very famous actor in the world.
When this CM was broadcast, softbank was not famous rather than now,so the company
might try to become famous using well-known actor.

It is not certain thing wheter Brat Pitt really uses this company's mobilephone or not,but
he contributes to softbank absolutely.


Emotion

I feel the image of cool, simple or polite from this commercial.

In this CM,Brat Pitt is only walking using a mobile phone and we can hear only
background music ,so it doesn't seem noisy or messy. It's simle.

And when two women pass him on the street, he fall into water.
People also might chuckle or think it humorous in this scene.


Logic / Imformation

Audience can know from this commercial that the company name is "softbank",
monthly price is 950 yen and this price is carried out from on Mar.1.
And people who want to know about it should go to the softbank store.

Evalution

I think this commercial is good advertisement to know the brand name, but
it is inconvenient for me to know what functions this company's mobilephone
have or what kinds of mobilephone this company have. Audience can not learn
details from this commercial.

So,on a scale of 1-10, I would rate this commercial a 7.

20 Questions

( The interviewer was Hiroki Ishiguro )


1. What is your favorite movie ?

" Amelie " This is a French movie. Audrey Tautou was very cute!

2. What is your favorite song ? / Who is your favorite musician ?

I like the songs of Mr.Children.

3. How do you spend your free time/holiday?

Usually,I go shopping and go to supermarket to buy something.

4. What is the most precious memory for you?

It is the days when I talked with my friends over lunch in my high school days☆

5. When do you feel happy?

When I have no things to do and eat something delicious!

6.Where would you want to go if you could?

I'd like to go the south China because there are many nice scenes.

7. If you could become another animal, what would you want to do?

......a whale. Because it seems very peaceful animal.

8. What is your most important thing?

Love and peace .....and,money?

9. What is it that you dislike?

The person who can't acknowledge his failure and mosquito!!

10. What is your motto?

It is all right if the result is good.

11. What do you think that your character is ?

I am ....... I have no idea (´・ω・)sorry,Hiroki..

12. If you could live a part of your life again,what would you do?

I go back to my high school days,and want to take a "center shiken"...☆

13. When did you think that you wanted to study English for the first time ?

When I was junior high school student and went to South Korea.
Korean spoke English fluently!

14. Why do you want to study English?

Because I like language , especially English.

15. Why did you decide to enter Kansai Gaidai University?

Because Kansaigaidai has varied program of study abroad. I want to take best advatage of it.

16. What subject are you interested in besides English?

Marketing and business administration. I want to work in those field.

17. What was your first impression of this IESa class?

"They each have their own unique characters! "

18. What was your first impression of Mr. Clark?

" He must be strict.....!"

19. What was you first impression of Mr. Duarte?

Tha same as above.

20. What is your dream?

To be a person who has a sense of responsibility.（*・ν・）

HELLO

I'm Mitsuko. I'm IES a student in Knsaigaidai. My hometown is a rural but very peaceful place in Oita.If you have opprtunity to visit Oita , please enjoy the flesh air!

I spend busy days studying English and a little French. I think those languages are difficult ...but very challenging. want to master both 2 languages during my university life..

thank you！(・ｖ・)