shi_ho

01:13 pm

02:44 pm

A few days ago, I went to eat dinner with my old firends, Itsuka, Keiko and Masa.
I often meet Itsuka and Keiko at the station, but I didn't met Masa for a year though she lives near my house. (It takes about three minutes on foot from my house!)

We ate dinner in the Italian restaurant. The restaurant is popular so we had to wait about 20 minutes. We couldn't wait... because we were very hungry...
But it was worthwhiling waiting. The dishes were so delicious! pizza, pasta, salad, doria etc... We ate them too much, but Of course we ate dessert(^^)

We talked a lot while we were eating. Masa was very excited, so she continued talking. Nobody could stop her talking!! Itsuka, Keiko and I coudn't laughing at her because she did inconseivable experiences and these were very funny things.

I really enjoyed the day!
I hope that we will be able to gather again soon(^0^)

Current Mood: happy

12:52 am

I haven't update my journal for a long time. Now, I'm in the spring holiday! This holiday is about 2 months, and it's long(^^) Many students go to study or travel in this season. And I also went to Gold Coast, Australia, by myself last week! In fact, I have been to Australia twice (this time was three times), so I wanted to travel other places, but my sister is living there for working holiday, so I had thought that I wanted to visit her.

On 28th February mornig, I arrived at Gold Coast. First, I went to Dream World! People can see animals as koala, kangaroo, dingo, and wonbat etc, and get on ride. I could hold a koalas and take a photo! Koala's smell was not so good, but that was very cute(><)
On the night, I went to see "土ボタル" by the option tour. 土ボタル affect placese, which are humid, clean air and dark. They don't like light because their body is very small and if they bathe in light, they will dry up and die. The place, which I went to, was a good place to live them, so I could see beautiful blue lights in the cave!
After the tour, I went to a restaurant to eat dinner. My dinner was a pepper steak, French fries and salad. The steak was big, so I couldn't eat all og them...

On 1st March, I saw my sister after an interval of 3 months. After I visited her house, we went to Sea World. This is an amusement park like Dream World. People can see marine animals in the park. We saw two shows. (dolphins and sea lion)

On 2nd Mar, this day was a last day, which I stayed. We swam in the sea. The sea was very beautiful!! But their wave is a little bit strong, so you can enjoy more if you bring a body-board.
After that, we went shopping to buy souvenirs. I bought cheap things for my friends(^^;)

It was hard for me not to talk with someone when I got on the planes because I went by myself, the trip was a very good experience!
I like Australia(^0^)

Current Mood: excited

05:26 pm

Yesterday, I went to eat dinner with my two English teachers and my English classmates. We ate too much, drank and talked a lot, so I enjoyed(^^) I'm happy because I had nice teachers and classmates!!

Aaron, who was my English writing teacher, will work at the other university from April.
***Thank you very much for teaching me. I'll miss you(;_;)***

Current Mood: thankful

12:14 am

Please see the website. You can make friends around the world. I think that it is good for you to make friends because you can broaden your horizons, know about their culturs, teach and learn each languages if you want. Many people have registered this, so you can find some people, whom you are interested in. I made some friends in this website, and they tell me about thier culture, their lives, their family and friends and so on. It's very fun for me(^^) If you are interested in the world and making friends, please contact people!!

Current Mood: busy

08:48 pm - HAPPY NEW YEAR

2005 has come!! A Happy New Year(^^) I hope that this year will be a wonderful year for all of you.

During the winter vacation, I worked for my part-time job almost the days. My working place is a post office in my town. At the end of the year, Japanese people send many New Year cards for their friends, grandparents, relative, boss, senior, teacher etc, so post officers are busy in this season. I was always tired because of busy and luck of sleep. (My work stars from 8 or 9 o'clock.)

On New Year's day, I went to the shrine near my home with my parents. I wanted to go there in the midnight, but it was snowing then, so we decided to go in the evening. I drew a fortune slip, and the result was "中吉". It was pretty good! I hope that this year will be a nice year for me...

On 2nd Jan, my grandparents, uncle and aunt came my home and ate lunch together. We ate some special meals, but I didn't have enough time to eat because my work, so I could eat a little.

On 3rd Jan, I had no work. I wanted to relax, but I must write some reports, so I was sitting down in front of my computer all day long.

This is about my New Year holiday. What did you do on the day??

Current Mood: tired

11:53 pm

I learned about local dishes in the class today. Some students presented about their local's. I could know that there are many traditional foods in Japan. One of my English classmates, kf1984, told us about local dishes in Ehime. Ehime is one of the famous places for mikan (orange), and it has "mikan zushi". When I heard it, I was very surprised! I can't image the taste... I would like to try to eat it!!
What kind of sushi do you like??

Current Mood: busy

12:10 am - Strange Weather In Japan

Yesterday was a freak of nature because the temperature in Tokyo was about 25 degrees though it is on December now! I watched people, who were walking outside with half-sleeved clothes, on TV.
On the other hand, it was a heavy snow in Hokkaido. The snow lise about 59 centimeters in Obihiro, 42 centimeters in Sapporo and 37 centimeters in Abashiri.
I couldn't believe the difference of the weathers between Tokyo and Hokkaido!

Current Mood: surprised

09:31 pm - Obese children sleep problem fear

Obese children often suffer from undetected sleep disorders which could be affecting their performance at school, researchers have warned.
Many obese children have a condition called obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).
Obesity rates have been increasing every year.
Dr Ian Campbell said, "if children are unable to perform to their maximum potential, it is worrying for their future, not just for their health, but also for their social and educational achievements."

I think that people should make foods with vegitables as much as possible. In my opinion, people in the UK eat more meat than people in Japan because there are people of strong frame in the UK, but it is important to be of average build. Recently, healthy foods have become very popular in Japan, such as natto, tofu, konnyaku etc, so, I believe that Japanese healthy foods should be introduced and promoted in the UK.

This original article is here.

03:12 pm

Yesterday, my circle members and I went to Kyoto television station because we were asked to broadcast.
People, who did interesting perform in each university festivals, could perform on the TV, and my circle were chosen in my university.
Though I always play sanshin, I tried to dance this time. But I had many things to do, so I couldn't practice the dance... I remembered it barely, but I mistook sometimes during the rehearsal, so I was very worried(>_<) On camera, I was very nervous and careful not to mistake. When the recoding was over, I was very happy because I didn't mistake(-.-;)
I don't know whether I smiled or not while I was dancing. I hope that I can see my smiling face on the TV.

01:50 pm - Christmas

A month from today is Christmas! I like this event because we can eat special dinner and get a present. And also, we can see many illuminations as beautiful as big christmas trees!! I think that christmas makes people happy(^^)
One of my penpals from New Zealand told me that people in NZ start to prepare for christmas from November, so when I heard it, I was very surprised because it's early(@o@)
Recently, many things for christmas are sold in Japan, and, of course, I bought some cards to send my friends. A few years ago, my friend, who lives in Australia, sent me a christmas card. As you know, christmas in Japan is winter, but in Aus. is in summer, so its design was Santa Claus, who is baking himself in the beach. It's funny(^0^)
There are some different ways to celebrate christmas around the world. I would like to experience them!!

Let's enjoy Christmas!

Current Mood: good

05:12 pm - Classes resume in quake-hit Niigata Pref.

I read an article about Niigata.

Classes resumed Monday at 37 primary, middle and high school in the cities and towns hit by the Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Earthquake after an interval of 17 days. A few hours after the classes started, a pretty big earthquake hit in Niigata. Students, who were evacuated from Yamakoshimura, go to Sakanoue Primary School in Nagaoka. The earthquake occured about an hour after the students checked the evacuation route from the school.

Buildings at 28 out of 33 schools laocated in the earthquakes-hit areas were deemed dangerous. The ministry examined facilities including schools and gyms, and classified them into three conditions -dangerous, needing caution, or no problem.
A makeshift school building is planned to be constructed next to the current building within the year. Until then, the school will divide the gym with partitions and use the spaces as classrooms.

Niigata got very big damages by the earthquake. I saw a news, which is that students from Yamakoshimura looked their village from a helicopter. It was so awful, and they looked shocked and sad. I think that it is important to care for thier mind.

This original article is here.

12:26 pm - Last Weekend

A school festival was held in my university last Saturday and Sunday. My circle member and I performed some Okinawa songs and dance with some instruments. On th first day (last Saturday), the rain came down in buckets, so we couldn't play outside. We hoped that we could do outside next day! The next day
was cloudy and it just started to rain when we started to perform(+_+) But
we did there and people saw our perform and listened to our songs though it was rain. I was very happy and enjoyed very much!! At the night, we went to BBQ restaurant and ate too much. Of course, we talked a lot and burst out laughing each other(^^)
This is my circle, "Uminchu".

01:37 am - Save the Forest

A change is coming in the forest. We have to protect the fish, wildlife, and water quality. They have value, too. If people cut down the trees, many plants and animals disappear, the water level in the ground changes and it can even affect our climate. You should plant new trees when the old ones are cut. A good rule seems to be not to cut more than you grow each year.
I think that to save forest is very important thing. We need trees for global warming. If we cut down a lot of trees, the temperature will be higher and higher because of CO2. In addition, recently, I often hear that bears descend a mountain and attack people in Japan. This is concerned with cutting trees. They want something to eat, but people rob their foods by cutting trees.
In my living town, people can name cherry trees their name. For example, if your name is "Hanako", a tree's name is "Hanako". It is fun(^_^)
As this article was written, I agree that it is very important to plant new trees when the old ones are cut.

This original article is here.

11:26 pm - Typhoon "Tokage"

Yesterday, a big typhoon hit Japan! Much damage resulted from wind and rain. More than 50 people died and we have about 30 missing people. It was windy, so my house shook. I couldn't go to the university because trains didn't run...
23 typhoons have risen in this year, and we had 10 typhoons. In addition, next typhoon may hit Japan again.

Current Mood: uncomfortable

11:17 pm - Jinrikisha

My circle member and I went to Kyoto city and got on jinrikisha last Monday. We could get on about 10 minutes because its fare was little bit high, but a person, who pulled it, was very kind and nice, so we had a very good time. If I have money, I would like to get on long time!!

Current Mood: sleepy

09:04 pm - Year of Germany brings arts events to Kansai are

More than 300 events in the fields of culture, economics, and science will be held throughout the nation in 2005 and 2006 in honor of the Year of Germany in Japan.

The program will introduce not only traditional German culture, but also focus on contemporary aspects of the country, in cluding the diverse lifestyles of young people.

Wokalek, who took up the post of German Consul General of Osaka and Kobe in July, explained that the program also offered some events designed to help Japanese become more familiar with the German language.

This is the original article.

05:26 pm - Last Weekend

Last weekend was both bad and happy days for me.
First, I will write about a bad day. The Kyoto Intercollegiate Festa was due to be held in Heianjingu last Saturday, but a typhoon came to Japan, so the festival was canceled. My ciercle members and I had practiced playing the sanshin everyday very hard because we would perform it in the festival, so we were shocked when we heard the news...
Second, I will write about a happy day. Yesterday (Sunday), it was a nice hot day, unlike Saturday. A flea market was held in my living town. This flea market goes on every year, and I look foraward to going! I bought some clothes, a pair of shoes, a bag and a pair of pireced earring. These were very cheap, so I was satisfied with the shopping.
What did you do on last weekend??

Current Mood: hungry

03:50 pm

Now is autumn in Japan. What do you enjoy in this season? I think that to see that the leaves change the color, is one of the enjoyments in autumn.
This is called, "Kouyou", in Japanese. Many Japanese people go to see the scenery and enjoy the color's beauty. When we are seeing that, we can relax.
The leaves haven't changed the color yet this year, but we can see beautiful trees in this month or next month. I'm looking forward to seeing it!

Current Mood: okay

11:36 pm - Sports

Yesterday, a sports festival of my living area was held at a elementary school near my house. I couldn't go to watch this morning because of my part-time job, so I went there from afternoon. I hadn't intended to take part in any games (I would just watch), but I had to do a games. The game was fun, so I could enjoy! Anyway, my sister ran relay, and she was running beautifully. After she ran, I was said some people, "You did nice running!" They mistook me for my sister. We were often mistaken. People say, "You closely resemble your sister." My sister and I don't think so, but many people say so...

My team's result was bad. It was the second from last...

Current Mood: hot