Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Ninja.....but...


I really want to write about ninjas......but tell you the truth, I don't know about Ninjas. So I decided to write about the most surprising thing in my life which was happen to me.(sorry lu-chan) It was happened after coming to America. I'm really interested in cultures and languages, so I was taking religion class for two years in my university. However, I always fall asleep or didn't take the class seriously except when my teacher showed us videos. He showed us a lot of videos about Islam, Catholic, and Christianity. Then I was moved and had gooseflesh when I watched video about Ialam. In the video, I watched so many people are praying in the Mecca, and I heard they are praying all day(sorry.I'm not sure). I don't know how to explain my feeling, but it was so beautiful and so cool. Also, I learned there is a custom of fast. I've never believed about that culture when I was in Japan,and I was thinking this is a culture existed for a long time ago. It was happened in America when I came to class and talked with my classmetes. I heard that two of my classmates was fasting. I asked them about it so many times, because I could not believe it. It was the most surprising thing in my life, and I came to interested in religion more and more. In addition, almost all Japanese don't care about religion, and I'd never met Muslim or Cathlic people. I thought this time during in CESL is the great chance to learn religion, so I asked many questions to my friends. Every things were new for me and attracted me. Before coming here, I didn't know how important the religion is. But now I have learned a lot, and I have talked with people who are belong to different religions. I'm really glad to have opportunity to talk with them, because I can get answer in one second if I have a question about culture, which is amazing. CESL is not only for learning English but also for learning cultures.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Why did I hate eating?????


If I were 5 years old now, I would say everything that people can eat are terrible. I used to hate eating until around 10 years old, so I always sit in front of dinner for several hours. My mother made me to eat, but I didn't want to eat at all. My longest record was 5 hours sitting on the chair and looking at food. Can you guess how to escape from dinner?? That day, I was sitting for 5 hours, because my father came back home late. My father is so kind, and he helped me a lot. If I keep food in my mouth for a long long time, he took me to a restroom and made me throw them up. Still now, I don't know why I hate eating foods. However, I love eating now. It's difficult for me come up with strange food, because I can eat American super sweet foods and Korean super spicy foods. Althought I like to eat many kinds of foods, I can't believe why people made mayonnaise. This is because mayonnaise is almost oil. It is made with oil and eggs, so I felt sick when I learned how to make it. Mayonnaise is very popular, so people put it on many kinds of foods. This is so terrible for me, because I have to say "without mayonnaise" so many times in my life. For now, mayonnaise is the most strange food that I've ever eaten. There are many countries that I've never been to, so I want to find more strange food than mayonnaise. Also, I want to become to like mayonnaise, and I hope the day that I don't need to say "without mayonnaise" would come soon. Before coming to America, I avoided to eat very colorful food. However, I eat pink cakes, blue doughnuts, and red candies without hesitation now.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Words of Me


In Japan, there is no custom to write words on a gravestone. People only write their family name, but there are several ideas which I like to put if I have my gravestone. One of them is "smile," because graves are always sad and dark. Also, I really think "smile" is very important to be happy. Nobody will be sad and feel uncomfortable if people are smiling. This is the best expression to show happiness. Moreover, I want to write "good things that you did will come back to you." I heard the story from my friend. ( it might be from bible.) She told me everything will come back to you whichever you act badly or well. Then I could try everything which I think good and nice to other people if I believe all actions that I did will come back to me. After hearing the story, I could change my way of thinking. This is because I tended to avoid boring and hard jobs, so I became to be able to except any jobs that I was asked. Also, it could be small actions, like clean dishes or help my friends. I believe that this way of thinking will create a great person. The most favorite words is " do what you want." I always act and choose what I want, because this is my life. I think this is the best way of thinking for me. These three words influence me a lot to my life and my way of thinking. In addition, the story which my friend told me moved me a lot and made me want to tell all my friends. To tell you the truth, I was thinking I don't need to keep my words after death. However, it would be amazing if someone find my grave and read my words. It make my life worthful.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Girls!!!!!!!




There are many types of people in Japan, and people make a name of the group. Most of girls was called "Gyaru"( "frivolous girl" in dictionary) when they were in junior high school or high school. There are several stereotypes about Gyaru. First of all, these girls tend to wear a school uniform. It is for going to school, but they wear it to go out with their friends after classes. Also, they are thought that they wear too much make up on their face.These girls try to be cute and beautiful, but people sometimes think their make up is very dirty and messy. Moreover, people think they are very rude because of not only fashion or make up but also language they use. Young girls creat many new Japanese words to communicate each other. These words can not be understand by adults. In addition, they are good at following the fashion. These girls love fashion, so they check fashion magazines so many times. Althought they got ideas from medias, they make new trend by themselves. It could be new style of clothes, new hair styles, or new ways to make up. One of negative stereotypes is that Gyaru tend to sit down on the floor in the train, and talk with their friends with loud voice. As you can see, there are many negative stereotypes of Gyaru. However, they like to being Gyaru. This is because they enjoy their life a lot, and they do many things that they won't be able to do when they get old. They know it is the only chance; therefore, they don't care about what people say. When I was called Gyaru, my friends go out almost everyday, but they started study very hard for entering university. However, many adults think Gyarus are just people who don't think about anything, most girls know what should they do.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Japanese Flag that I Know


In Japan, there are a few opportunities to see the national flag. I seldom see the Japanese flag in my life. For instance, I could see it when I graduated schools, because schools tend to hang it on the wall during the graduating ceremony. Also, I see a few flags hung out at the front door of houses on national foundation day. Therefore, I’ve never thought the national flag is important and just a sign of the country. Although most Japanese don’t care about flags, people who believe conservatism regard as important. I found it on graduation ceremony of my brother. At that day, the right wing people came to the school and act demonstration in the school. This was because they thought school didn’t hung the flag. All students and teachers were surprised and scared, because they were violent and self-assertion. Some teachers were hit by them, but the police helped them. From that day, I started thinking the importance of the national flag. Yet it’s still not so important for me. I was taught about the flag when I was an elementary school student, so I know the red circle represents the sun. Still it’s the only one information that I know. I asked about the flag to my friends, but they didn’t know about it, like me. Finally, I wondered whether Japanese people are patriotic or not. After I came here in America, there are many chances to see foreign national flags. Also, it’s not only on the national day but also in my friend’s room. I felt that flag have meaning, and also show the culture from the ways of using it.