Comments

To Mikako
Thanks for answering my question! I'm happy to hear that you spent a great time dancing with your club members. I can easily imagine how wonderful your high school life was. Will you join a dance club in this university again? Anyway, I hope you will enjoy your university life and make lots of memories in Aogaku :) Next, I'll answer your question. Singing, having a break, and listening to slow music make me feel relaxed. I think it is important to be relaxed when we are under stress.

To Sayaka
Wow, you're great! I wanna listen to your songs someday! lol Btw, I hadn't known your favorite song, "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson, so I listened to it on YouTube right now. Actually it was amazing! Even though I listened to this song for the first time, I was really moved and came to love it! Thanks for recommending me such an amazing song :)

To Brianne
Never mind about that, you're not noisy at all :) Rather, you're so nice! It seems to me that you always join discussions with self-confidence. I sometimes can't do that, so I really respect you. I wanna join discussions more actively just like you are doing every time.

To Saki Akiyama
I joined a welcome party for freshmen yesterday, which was so much fun! I talked a lot with students in other departments. I've already joined a cappella club, but I wanna join other clubs as well, so I'm looking for the ones which suit my taste :)

Thank you.

My New Computer!!!

Finally, my new computer came! I'm just so happy I'm typing this blog on it.  My computer is super light, I can carry it everywhere, and I can type with a keyboard. I hated typing with my tiny screened iPhone. I couldn't install the Windows Office today, so I'll go to the student network service.

My Book

I've started reading…




  This!!

Confessions of a Shopaholic

It's about a girl, Rebecca Bloomwood, and she's shopaholic. She just loves shopping and can't stop! She's a writer for a finance magazine so it's kind of ironic. I really loved the movie. I've only read a few chapters, but it's super funny and interesting.

And thanks to my friends that taught me how to post photos! I was really having trouble, thanks.

It all depends on me.

I'm in trouble. I lost my reading book in my room or living room. It is a catastrophe for me because can't start reading it. However I'm really excited to finish readying the book "the adventure of hackberry Finn". I was given this book by my American friend before I leave America who is a little book need. I have read "the adventure of Tom Sawyer" it was really good book!!!! I recomend you to read them someday!(: anyway I have to find my book tonight....:/

responses and a question

Good morning!
I'd like to comment on the questions from Sayaka, Mikako,Kentaro and Brianne.

Sayaka's question was about my favorite singer.
I practically listen to any Japanese songs.  These days I am influenced by my friend and listening to a group called SEKAI NO OWARI.

Mikako's question was what I do to reduce stress.
I often listen to music or talk with my friends.  Both of those things makes me relaxed and help me reduce stress.

Kentaro's question was about my special memory in high school days.
I used to be in the cheerleading club which was one of my biggest parts of my high school memories.  I practiced doing many things with my club mates and it was very fun cheering on stage at school festivals.

Brianne's question was how to comment on other's blog.
I read on Shin's blog that there is no way to comment exept for writing a comment on your own blog post.

I have a question for everyone!
What is something happy or fun that you experienced lately?

Caught cold

 Good morning!
Yesterday, I had a fever. It's been a long time since I had a fever last time, I think.  I'm feeling better  this morning but I still have headache.
 Oh, don't worry it wasn't an influenza so I'm going to class today.
 See you later!

WELCOME CAMP

Hello everyone it is me again.


I am sorry for posting again.


Since I was extremely busy last week i didn't have chance to post so I am posting now.


What did you all did last weekend?


I went to a welcome camp with ESS( a club called English Speaking Society).

We all went to a island by riding a ferry. The sea was so beautiful and I had so much fun feeling the wind on the roof.

After we arrive at the island we went to the sea and enjoyed the spring bey.

I thought it would be too cole to enjoy the sandy beach but the weather was beautiful and i had no problem enjoying the beach.

At night we enjoy doing fire works at the beach.

I woke up very early with my friend and decided to walk along the sea.

The sound and the view and the ear was all so relaxing and those are very hard to experience now since our school is located in Shibuya.

I wish I can show you all the pictures I took.There are still a lot more.

The best part about this camp is that I was able to meed many more people and get to know each other, I have more friends now than i used to thanks to the camp.

I would like to thank all the sophomores and seniors for working very hard for us and being very kind to us.

thank you.

Brianne

I HAVE A QUESTION

My first question is about this blog.

Can anybody tell me tomorrow how to interact with my class mates in this blog?
Dose anybody knows how to comment?


My second question is about book report.


I went to a book store in Shibuya with my friends last Thursday with my friends  and i couldn't find the book but instead I find a book that looks quite interesting.

I have started to read the first part now.

Dr. Armstrong.   May I use this book for book report?

What do you all think about this book?

About class,  I have started to actually enjoy  classes in IE3. Actually i find it quite more interesting then other classes. I guess I seem to like studying English than other subject such as British Literature. I feel very sleepy in the classes that don't uses English at all. I have to do something about this bad habit.

In the class we did last week, I really enjoyed asking question to my partner. I learned a lot of new things that i didn't know, and I enjoy speaking English with my friends.

Do you think I'm noisy during media discussion time? I want to know because every time during discussion time, i always notice that people in other groups are watching and laughing and sometimes I find my self discussing the same topic with other groups. I find this very enjoyable and exciting because If i could I just want to talk with everyone in the class at the same time. ha ha ha

If you could tell me i would adjust myself.

How are you all doing with Really English?

I am very lazy and i don't want to do it, but i know that I don't have a choice. I was very confused because even though I was doing the task for listening, all the question was about vocabulary. I guess I have to have more patience. I will try to finish it as soon as possible.

thank you.

Brianne.

last week end

   Last weekend, I went to the party for the freshmen of the circle activity with my friends. The good thing about participating in those events is of course able to know about each circle activities, but also able to make many friends in other departments and I think that is really important thing. It is difficult to remember all the peoples name at the same time since there are so many people participating in one events, but we can keep it touch with those people through SNS. 

   It was a great weekend, and I am also going to participate the activity tomorrow, and I guess it would be a great one too. 

part time job

     Today was my second day of my new part time job. I work at the restaurant, which is 5 or 6 minutes far using train from my house. It was so busy today and my legs are really sore; however all the people working there are so kind, and I like my work place. I also like the meals that they prepare for me and its really good.
     I have many things to remember,  it is hard for me to remember all the menu and also to carry many heavy things at the same time. This is my first time for me to work at the restaurant, so there are so many things that I don't know how to do, and it takes me time to do many things, but I want to get use to the jobs as soon as possible.

Book Report

Hello!
I'm very looking forward to everyone's book reports!
The reason why is since last year I had no time reading because I had to study for the entrance exam, I thought it was a good chance to read many English novels this period of time. Especially, I become to like English more than before because of the very fulfilled time at the IE classes we take at the English Literature Course.  I hope the book reports will become a good chance for me to meet new good books!
My book, ''The Graveyard Book'' was supposed to come to my house today but it didn't so I hope it comes tomorrow!

Excited for golden week

I cannot wait for golden week! I'm planning to go back to Shizuoka, dye my hair to lighter, meet with my friends and families, and to have great food:) I want to have so much fun without caring about things I have to do, so I will try to finish my homework before the GW!! 

I have to decide my part time job too.. I have a lot to do, but I want to get things done little by little.

Working on my Media Discussion paper

Right now I'm writing the evaluation for my media discussion paper. Tommorow will be the third time discussing with my classmates. However, I have to reflect on some points from the past media discussions. First of all, I should take a fewer look on my paper when I'm presenting my evaluation. Sometimes, I tend to look at my paper too much. It might be better for me to memorize the paper partly before I go to class. Secondly, when I try to speak an opinion or thought about my classmate's article, I occasionally forget how to say the word in English. In that case, I try use synonyms that I remember, but I have to increase my vocabulary and stop from forgetting them by using new words which I learned positively!   

Assignments assignments assignments

 Right now I am with four of my friends at Burger King in Shibuya doing our assignments.

Seriously, there are too much things to do!

 We kept talking at first laughing about stupid jokes but eventually, we started working on them!:)

I hope I can finish them by today!:(

Book Report

Hi,everyone!
Do you read the book for Book Report?
I chose The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck.
I knew it in the class of world histories.
It is a very famous book in the world.
I began reading it recently,but I can't go on reading steadily.
I can't maintain concentration on reading.
I will read it everyday by degrees.

Jumpei mistook "The Grapes of Wrath" for "The Wrath of the Grapes"!!!

Keep it up

 Yesterday, there was a piano performance. Not mine, it was my sister's. I didn't know the title of the music but she did really good, I think.
 My sister, she is 11 now. She started her piano lessons at 4 or 5. Her skill is getting better and better year by year. I hope she won't quit it so soon. I was taking piano lessons too when I was in elementary school but it didn't last 2 years. So I respect her keeping making efforts to improve herself.
 Maybe I need more strong will to continue my effort.

Finally a day off!!

Yesterday was the first day in a few weeks that I had my day off!
Everyday homework, studying, going to part time jobs...
I hadn't had my me-time for a while so I was pretty excited yesterday morning when I got up.

Ok first.
I made a promotion video of my high school which I had always wanted to make after I graduated high school. Well eventually I didn't finish making it in one day so I need to keep on making it.

Next I took my dog to a walk and refreshed my feelings.
It was such a good day...:)

At night around 6 or 7 I went to eat ramen with my friends from junior high school
Yummy:)

After that we talked at chiba station for about 4 hours and splitted up.

It was such a great day.
And today is Monday....;(

The busy day returns...

The grapes of wrath...?

I'm totally confused!!
The book Masato borrowed from the library was 80pages and the book I bought from Amazon was 535pages long....!
Somebody gotta explain to me!!!
Why!!!???

Well... I might just ask Mr. Armstrong tomorrow...
I'm too afraid to start reading...;(

Writing a blog at midnight...

This weekend, I was sleeping at daytime and being awake at midnight. Although I'm a night person and tomorrow's class (actually today's class!) will start in the afternoon, I realized that I should improve my lifestyle. My aim from tommorow is to go straight to bed after doing the study and a little bit of entertainment like TV. Also, I guess there is a need to wake up in the morning at once! I usually set the snooze function to stop myself from falling asleep twice, but I tend to stop the snooze function itself unconsciously, which it doesn't help at all. I will sleep as soon as I finish writing this!

Oh, and I would like to answer Mikako and Saki's question before I go to bed! When I feel stress, I watch TV, movies and read comics. I can laugh and reduce stress by funny TV programs. Also, by watching movies, I can forget my real life and concentrate at the movie's world.

For the answer to Saki's question, I think a part time job without a dress code will be a tutor although it is quite similar to a cram school teacher.

 

Things I want to do

Good evening!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

 There is so much things I want to do but haven't done yet!
 The first thing I really really want to do right now is to go see the movie call 'Frozen'. Almost all my friends have been talking and tweeting about it. I heard that the songs in the movie are also amazing. What surprised me the most is that most of my friends have seen the movie more than once! I also heard that it is better to see the movie in English language with the Japanese subtitle, than the Japanese version. If I have time I will definitely go see it by next week!

 Also, I am looking for a part time job. Since university has started, I have many opportunities to go out with my new friends and my old friends from high school then I had before. I am spending too much money and still not making any! I have done a part time job at a cram school before, but I guess it did not suit me so well. I am looking for a job that has many chances to communicate with many people, and if possible, I want to work at a place that does not have a dress code! If anyone knows or have any idea where I can work, please give my an advise!

Thanks for reading :)

Saki Nawata

summer holiday back to shanghai

Today I booked air plane return ticket to shanghai to spend my summer holiday. I really missed the authentic traditional Chinese food made by my mom.

Interview

Hello.
Did you guys have a nice weekend?
I had pretty much a good time.

Now, about the interview.
Through the interview I got to know the person better and learned how hard
it is to be a good interviewer. I thought one of the important things is keeping your
opponent relaxed. When they're relaxed it is easier for you to get more information.
Also, that way you can simply have a good time. Maybe it would be interesting to apply
interviewing techniques to daily and ordinary conversations.
 

Thanks & Sorry

Hey guys!
Thanks for answering my questions!
It helps me so much!

Before talking about songs, I have to apologize because I found that I had a HUGE spelling mistake :((
I wrote that "the shrine was only a place of player." I know it's a crazy mistake..LoL
I wanted to say "prayer" not "player"!!!
I'm so sorry for that..

I searched Shin's favorite band "Slipknot" up on YouTube and listened it!
There were some men in scary masks, and they yelled. I think it's kind of weirdo :/ But it's interesting! Thanks for telling me!

And I like Kentaro's favorite song. I think that's great that he sang a cappella version of the song on his high school festival!
I sang "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson with my friends on my high school festival, also. Do you know the song? That was one of the most exciting experiences in my high school life.

I love the song "Enchanted" by Taylor Swift, which is Mikako's favorite! If there is someone who doesn't know the song,  definitely you should listen it!!

Lastly, I've listened Azusa's favorite ONE OK ROCK song once because my friend in my high school loved it. I can't remember what the title was, but it was very nice :)

Again, thanks so much for answering my questions!!!
I'm looking forward to seeing you in next class!
Good night ;))

Study Abroad

Hi,everyone! How was your holiday?
I had a very very very good time today!

By the way, I'm thinking of studying abroad while in college.
I want to go to Britain. So, I have to study for IELTS test.
But there are few study aids for IELTS test in the bookstore.
It seems that IELTS is not famous in Japan.
I have to prepare for the test.
If you know good books, please tell me about it!

Responses

Hello! This time let me answer 2 questions from Sayaka and Mikako.

Sayaka's question is, "whose your favorite singer?".
Well, I like most singers because they are singing in their own style and each singers have a good voice. However, ONE OK ROCK is my favorite artist(Japanese band music group)! I love the song titled 'Nobody's home'. This is so nice song so please check it out. It's about family and future.

Mikako's one is, "What do you guys do when you feel stress?"
When I feel stress, I always try not to think about that stress. I hang out with my friends and talk, and sometimes go to Karaoke! Also, doing some sports will be good for me. but now I'm too lazy...  Swimming and playing tennis used to help me to avoid feeling stress.

What rotten luck!!!!

Last Thursday a welcome party for freshmen that a lot of university students took part in was held in Shibuya. A dance club at Aoyama Gakuin University that I'm really into participated in it and senior students danced there. I really wanted to see their dance so I decided to go there with my friend.

Before we went there, we had dinner at mos cafe standing in omotesando. I ate a hamburger. It was yummy.

After that, we went to the welcome party. We had thought it takes 5minutes or so to go there, but it took half an hour! My feet was soar...
What's worse, No sooner had we arrived there than the dance performance I wanted to see ended. Lol

We felt frustrated, so we took it out on food! We ate a crepe at Shibuya Hikarie, and said goodbye.

Today the senior students are going to perform again in Shibuya. Yes, of course, I'm going there to see it now. Haha

Have a good day :)

Answering the questions

Good morning. Today I'll answer Sayaka and Kentaro's questions.
 First ,I'll answer to Sayaka's question "whose your favorite singer?". My favorite singers are Taylor Swift and EXO. I like Taylor Swift's songs because I like her nice voice and the lyrics. The song I like this moment of her' s is the song "enchanted". The song is pretty long ,but the lyrics are good.
 I believe that most of you know who Taylor Swift is, so next I'll introduce EXO. Exo is a Korean singer. It's a group of 12people. 8 are Korean and the other 4 are Chinese .They dance , they sing, they are just awesome !! They're really popular in Korea right now. If any of you are interested or never heard of them ,look them up on YouTube !
 I'll move on to the next question. "What's your specially memory in high school days?" My specially memory is going to the All Japan Junior and High School Dance Competition. Known as"zenkoku taikai" in Japanese . I was in the dance club and the practice was hard ,but there was always something you can earn. We had practice everyday so I sometimes felt stress. Whenever I feel stress, I go outside and have a walk. What do you guys do when you feel stress?
Bye!

train

The day before yesterday,when I came back home from the clam school I work for,there was one thing which annoyed me. On the train,there were two girls having very very long hair and wearing loosely.They were sitting on priority seats. At that moment,I could endure the situation. But,then,they started talking loudly with each other and on the mobilephone! I was so irritated because I thought there were a lot of people being refrain from doing so.However,I was also ashamed of doing nothing against it...I wanna be more mature.

My favorite song

  Hi everyone, how are you doing? Today, I'll answer to Sayaka's question.

  Her question was like this: "What are your favorite artists or songs?" Actually I have no favorite artists, but I listen to a variety of songs such as J-POP, English songs, chorus songs, and so on, so I'll introduce my favorite song to you guys.

  There're lots and lots of songs that I really like and listen to again and again. Above all, "I Just Called To Say I Love You" sung by Stevie Wonder is the best one for me. The song is a little bit old, but it has been loved and sung by many people in the world for years. I like the lyrics, the melody, and his soulful voice, but these stuffs are only a part of the reason why I like it the best. Let me tell you about it more in detail.

  As I said before, I performed a cappella at the school festival when I was in high school. I did 2 songs in a cappella style, one of which was "I Just Called To Say I Love You." There were 6 members in my band -- a lead vocalist, a vocal percussion, and 4 chorus members -- and all of us loved this song. Of course the song itself is amazing, but the one we sang in a cappella style is the best for me, because it contains heaps of precious memories that we six had made together. Whenever I listen to the song, I can't help but recall those happy high school days. That's why I like this song the best.

  Do you guys have any special memory in your high school days? Please let me know about it!

  Thanks for reading, and see you again soon!

Response to Ms. Sayaka Hayashi

Hello! 

How is it going?

I actually asked Mr. Armstrong about making comments on the blog last Tuesday

and apparently you can only ask questions and respond by posting.

The answer for the "What's you're favorite artist or musician?" is Slipknot.

I mean, I have a lot of bands and singers that I really like but at this moment I have to

say that I like Slipknot. And plus, the less you know about my taste of music the better,

believe me.

Anyways, I hope this post helps you and I also hope you have a good night.

See ya!

 

 

Memorizing

Yesterday, we had an IE III Listening class, and my video presentation was about how to improve one’s memory.

I prefer memorizing by ear. For instance, when I memorize English words, I listen to pronunciation and example sentence, not just looking at it.

I don’t know the reason why it works. But for me, learning by ear worked better than other methods. I think children who acquiring their native language are also learning in this way.  

The other classmates preferred method like, looking at it over and over, writing it again and again, a lot kind of different approaches.

The video said that to improve your memorizing ability, First, you have to decide to remember it. Then, use creativity and imagination and make an association to something on your mind. Finally, you practice them. 

I didn’t know the method of making an association, I think it’s interesting idea.

I think memorizing is important for all of us since we’re forced to memorize something everyday. What’s your favorite method? 

My interview with a great friend

I really loved last class's friend interview with a great friend, Saki Akiyama.

When I was a younger child, I had have judged someone by looking at them, their knowledge, and by their past. I didn't accept the difference However, I have realized that I didn't enjoy myself at all. That was wrong.

What I want to say that making new friends teaches what I should keep in mind knowing people is unlimited and very various!!! The key is to have a open-minded to everyone and everything else.

Lazy day

Hey everyone! How was your day? :)
For me, today was lazy day. I had no plan for today, so I woke up at 10:00 am, ate pancake for my blanch, watched "Planes" which is my favorite movie, and cleaned my room with listening my favorite songs. Talking to songs, as some of you guys already know, I love Justin Bieber! I know he is not good boy these days and most people frown their face when I tell them that, but I love everything about him.
He visited Japan last a few days, so I walked around Harajuku after classes to catch him, unfortunately, I couldn't though ;( It was so sad for me when I saw his tweet "Bye Japan" with picture of him with two crying girls in the airport, but I hope he had great time in Japan...
He was criticized by media while he was in Japan about visiting Yasukuni Shrine, which is controversial place, but he was just mislead to think that the shrine was only a place of player. I thought he should not blame for, but I also think you have to know at least some important things about other countries such as customs or culture when you visit the place.
Oh I was going to talk about my day, but almost all of this blog is about Justin Bieber!!! Should I change the title?lol Anyways I hope he doesn't cause trouble anymore and come back to Japan soon!
Thanks for reading, and I want you to let me know about your favorite artist or songs!

Fun day!

I hang out with one of my best friend for the first time in one month. We can't really get together because she lives in Saitama now.  We were always together, so not seeing each other for a month is very hard for us. We went to cafe in omotesando and stayed there for so long talking about our new life. It was so much fun!! We won't be seeing each other until the summer vocation, it's long way to go but I'm excited about it!!!

How to write a comment

  Hi everyone. Do you know how to write a comment on someone else's post? Or is there no way to write a comment and we have to answer someone's questions by posting a new blog? I've been trying to write a comment, but I can't!! If there is someone who knows how to do that, please tell me!!

Class Reunion

  Hey guys, it's Kentaro. Today, I'm gonna talk about my class reunion held last Sunday night.

  The class reunion took place in Shinjuku and my classmates in high school, who came to Tokyo, Kanagawa, and Saitama to enter university, participated in it last Sunday night. In short, it was awesome!

  I talked a lot with my classmates over dinner. Even though it had been only a month since we last met together at school, we had heaps of topics to talk about, and we shared our own latest news with each other. I was happy to hear that most of them were enjoying their new life in the university. Some of them seemed to be tired from doing lots of homework, though.

  After dinner, we went karaoke and sung together for one and a half hours. Time passed very quickly and it was high time we must say good-bye. I really wanted to talk with them more and more, but I'm sure that we will meet together soon. I'm looking forward to meeting them again!

  Looking back over the past, my everyday life in high school was always filled with lots of happiness and smile. Once someone in my class said something funny, everyone laughed at him or her. That moment was really common, but now, I think it was a treasure. I hope our strong bond will last forever.

  How about sometimes looking back over the past? Looking at your graduation album again will also give you an opportunity to look back on your high school days.

  Thanks for reading.

Yesterday

How was your day today? It was pretty warm and I liked the weather.
  I had a really nice time interviewing my partner yesterday. We've got to know what we didn't know about each other. Some of my partners answers surprised me. There are still some people whom I haven't talked in class. If I have a chance, I would like to talk with them. Talking with people and getting to know them better is just fun!

answer for how to upload picture

because my blogger is Chinese version, please find theses bottons on your screen accordingly.

Interviewing

Hi everyone! Did you guys bring an umbrella today?

I guess some of you didn’t… It was too sunny day in the morning, isn’t it?!

It’s been raining for 2 days, but here comes good news. The weather cast says it’s not going to rain tomorrow, and may be cloudy. Yeah!

Anyway, today we had an interview about the person who sat next to you. This was really fun. As I didn’t know so much about what IE classmates are interested in, I’m happy to have an opportunity to know about my classmate. Today we had only an interviewee for each person, but if it’s possible, I’d like to interview others as well.

 

Comments

>Brianne

I’m also interested in ESS! See you at the freshman’s meeting.

Media Discussion #2

Today, we had a second media discussion. What was it like to you?
This time, I prepared some questions which were supposed to ask for classmates.
That worked well for me, because the last time, when I finished reading my evaluation,
I couldn't come up with great questions immediately.
But this time, I made questions beforehand so I was able to activate discussions and make it better.
In addition, the MLA style made my paper better looking and easy to read.
I thought that ideas and thoughts are important. But making a report in proper form is also important too.

To Jumpei
I think when you aren't feeling well or sick, that's when you're "under the weather".

How to paste pics

Some people don't know how to paste photos, so I wanna explain how to do it.
If you wanna paste pictures by your mobile phones, first of all, you should download an app, "Google＋" . Then add photos you wanna paste on your blog to the app. After that, when you write a blog, click a picture's icon. Next click a word, "cell phone". Finally, photos you posted to "Google＋" , appear! Click the pic!
If you wanna paste pictures by your computer, at first, send the pictures to your computer. Next when you write a blog, click a picture's icon and then click a word, "web album". Finally, photos you sent to your computer, turn up!
If someone knows a better way to paste photos on blogs, tell us.

To Jumpei Imasato : have a hunch means feeling something did, will, or should happen.

Photos

I can't find a way to paste photos to my blog. How do you do it? Someone please help me!

unusual

Yesterday,my grandmother cooked a chees cake.It looked so delicious and smelled good! It seemed that I saw such a sweet food for the firsttime in ages because I was busy with study last year. I wanted to eat it,but I couldn't because of flu... I am going to eat today.So my brother had a slice of the cake alone.But,as soon as he had a bite, he drank water. I asked,"What's the matter?"He said ,"a littel sour..." " I mistook sugar from salt!" my grandma said smiling.It was very unusual that she mistook because she is very good at cooking.

Cheerleading

Hello!
Sorry for the late post!
Tonight I would like to talk about something related to what I wrote on this blog before.
That is, I used to be in the cheerleading club!
We only had club activities twice a week so are club didn't enter championships and we just performed at school events.
However, it was very fun to heat up those events.  I enjoyed dancing, tumbling and doing stunts on stage.  I will probably not have a chance to stand on stage anymore but I sure feel that it was a very good experience for me that I will never forget!
My club was very friendly, diligent and got along very well.
People always doubt when I say this but I can do a backhand spring!:)
From the way I look perhaps, I guess people can't imagine me doing it. Well, I can!

I may not do cheerleading in college but I hope I can fing a club or circle that fits me:)
Good night!

My obsession

The time is pretty late now and I have to prepare for tomorrow, but I would like to share a little bit about my recent obsession.

I have recently, well almost for a few years now but have been obsessed with EDM! EDM stands for Electronic Dance Music. I pretty much listen to any types of music, from pop to country, but my absolute favorite would definitely be EDM.

 Every morning the very first thing I always do is turn on my iPod. I would play songs on the car speaker as my mom drives me to the station. I can not handle going on train for half an hour without music. One morning I accidentally forgot my earphones so I had to buy a new one just to use it on the train!

 Music always helps me in many ways; it would make me happy whenever I am feeling down, calm me when I am overwhelmed, and it motivates me more than anything.

 I would love to know if anybody else likes, listens or are interested in EDM! If you are, please let me know! 

Media Discussion

Hello! This is Momoko.
Did you finish your media discussion paper? I know you already finished it. Me?

I just finished right now! For me, I heven't written such an English report, so it's a little bit tough work.
However, I want to be good at English. There is no way to improve my English skills but to just read, write and speak English. It's so fun talking with you in English :)

Last week I didn't have confidence to speak English, soI want to do good discussion tomorrow.
I'm looking forward to listening to your media discussion.
See you tomorrow!

Tiring....Sorry mom....

After I have started my life as a university student, the time I get back home is getting later and later.
There are various reasons to this but the biggest reason is the part time job which I am doing at a tennis club.
I practice almost everyday from 10 o'clock pm to 1 o'clock am.
This is so tiring and I'm really sorry for my mother....letting her eat dinner alone.....
I must do so something to this situation....

Precious memories in my diary.

Have you all written a diary? I strongly recommend to keep your thoughts or any events on an actual paper. Dairy makes me remember what I have done on that day, and even reminds me how I had a lovely day. ( you can also keep a secret on it such people who you like.) it is a conversation with you! It's wonderful, isn't it????? 

I have kept a diary since I was 6 . I have two older sisters. When I was in elementary school, I really loved to write anything on my diary with my sisters at every single nights. It was very exciting for me to write down Thanks to them, I could keep it constantly almost every day however busy homework was. When I was in america, I wrote it in English. I could learn writing ability in Japanese and English at the same time. Now looking back my diaries, they makes me cry because those days I had spent were really precious and they won't come back. The most exciting part of keeping a diary is to cry in the future, I seriously think so. I am sure I keep it going in my future and my hope is to do this with my new family as well! 

See you'll tomorrow and have a good night.

Choosing books for Book Report

I am wondering which book to choose for my Book Report.
I limited my target to a few books, but I still can't make up my mind.
I think it would be interesting to choose a book that was made into a play or movies more than one time, which means a remake. Actually, watching the play or movies will help me understand the book from a different point of view. Even more, comparing the first movie and the remake might have a variant message depending on the director and the age it was made. I would like to decide it before I go to bed today.

Media Disucussion

Tomorrow we have an IE class.

I'm tense before the Media Disucussion.

I don't have confidence in my English skill.

I envy skilled classmates very much.

I want to be a good English speaker who can enjoy discussions with everyone.
In tomorrow's class I will participate in discussions actively.

Origin of my name

 Good evening, this is Momoko.

 Today, I was cleaning up my closet which was so messy for quite a long time. Then I found a small album. It was an album I made in 2nd grade. I flipped the page and I found a picture of myself. Me in the picture was a new born baby. Next to the picture, the origin of my name was written in my mother's words. 

 "Momo(which means peach in English) is a tree that bloom beautiful flowers, momo is a fruit that is sweet and delicious, momo is a tree that grows medical herb leaves. I want her to be a person who can be helpful to others, and be loved by others, just like peach tree."
 I really hope to be a person like that.

 It is quite interesting to know the origins of your names.
What's yours?

5th floor of building 17

Today I had classes on the first period ,but had nothing on the second period so I decided to read the book for the book report. I was looking for a quiet place to read, and found it on the 5 th floor of building 17. I sat on one of the bench. It was a nice place to concentrate. If any of you are finding a place to concentrate, I recommend  that place.

taiwan local specialities

today my taiwanese friend returned to tokyo, and brought me the well known taiwanese  local specialities whose name is pineapple pastry,  it's very tasty. thanks a lot.

influence of a TV drama

Recently, I started watching a TV drama that was very popular several years ago.
 I first saw it on the afternoon TV programme, which was a rerun of the drama. I realized the story is interesting and soon after that, I went to TSUTAYA to borrow the drama DVD.
It is called "Nodame Cantabile" and it also became a series connected to movies. The drama's theme is classical music and through it, the characters of the story overcome difficulties and develop their skills of instruments and conducting. Before knowing this drama, I had no interest in classical music at all. I didn't know the title of  music even though I had heard it before.
However, as I continue to watch, not only that I get to know the name and the composer, but also I learn the meaning of each music. Now, I enjoy listening to them while studying and it also refreshes my mind.
I have heard that this drama increased the sales of classical CDs which I think is a great thing. I am amazed by movies,books or TV programmes that have power to make people more familiar to things that are hard to approach.
    

My high school

 Hello everybody!

 I went to my high school to see my younger club members this Saturday.

As we also have welcome parties to new students in Aoyamagakuin University, at my high school we do a welcome party to the new junior 1 students (my school was a combined junior and senior high school). 

 I was in the cheerleading club.  I was happy to see me younger club members cheering on stage at the rehearsal.  I was impressed with their performance! 

 

I felt that I haven’t been to my high school for long and it was nice to walk in the green with my peers like the old times.

 

 

 I hope to go again in the summer to have a look at the school festival.

 

 

 

Discussion paper

Hello.

Two days ago I decided an article to write about in the discussion paper.
This weekend I've been working on it and I finished writing a draft of it.
This time things went relatively smooth, so it seems like I don't have to rush
at the last moment.

It feels good to get things done ahead of time.
I think I'll make this my new policy.

Wild animals in Tokyo

 Yesterday I was going for my dogs walk, and guess what I saw!
A baby raccoon dog!

 I was walking around the park to see the cherry blossoms near my house. Then I noticed how my dog was sniffing the ground excitedly. I looked around and saw a small long-haired animal just a few meters away from me. First I thought it was a kitten or a dog left loose, but then I realized the way it walked was neither a cat nor dog. I knew my dog would be too excited and would chase it if he notice, so I could not get closer. I looked carefully and was sure that it was a raccoon dog.

 It was surprising that I would actually find a raccoon dog in Tokyo! I really hope to see them again around my house.

My friend from high school days

This weekend was for recreation of my heart.
Yesterday afternoon I enjoyed shopping with my friend.
He was a teammate of high school's soccer club.
We looked around tailor shop in Shibuya and Harajyuku.
I'm very interested in clothes, my hobby is window-shopping.
Last night I stayed at other friend home.
We enjoyed talking very much and I felt at ease.
I don't have any friend who I can speak to without hesitation in the universe yet.
Good time with my friends is my treasure.

Working like a dog Sleeping like a log

Do you know the song "A Hard Day's Night"? There's a part of lyric that says "it's been a hard day's night and I've been working like a dog. It's been a hard day's night and I should be sleeping like a log." Yesterday. Was that kind of day. I have a part time job in a restaurant In Shibuya, and I worked for about 9hours! It's my first job so it's kind of a hard job for me. I know I couldn't  ask the customers' orders very well, and the customers noticed that. Many people said "Keep trying your best" and "Thank you" a lot. These words made me really happy. Even though the work completely  exhausted me. I say my job is rather busy. It's also kind of fun too. I have work this Tuesday so I'll do my best again.

Can not wait till....

Hello everyone.
This is Brianne.

It's been about 3weeks since our entrance ceremony.
Are you all enjoying your life as an university student?

I am enjoying my university life lately despite the fact that there are a lot of things and reviews to do for classes. I still have to get my text books for certain classes.

Have you all decided which club activities your joining?
I have decided to join a club called, English Speaking Society(ESS). It's a club where you can have a opportunity to compete with other schools using your English ability.

I was looking for a club that is not only fun but also would help me in the future. I always wanted to learn how to speak academically with intelligence and ESS would give me an opportunity to debate with others in English and that sounds very challenging but I was always a kind of person who likes to push myself in order to improve myself.

Everyday, I am attending to a freshman's meeting held in the ESS and during that meeting you are only aloud to speak English. It is a great opportunity to improve your own speaking ability. You will be forced to speak about different topics for example, about your great memories in your high school, your dream, your ideal date or person, things you want to do in the university...and so on. It will make  you use your head a lot and by the meeting is over you feel very tired but it is very fun and interesting. You even get a chance to get to know with people from other grades or majors. Thanks to that i am starting to get along with many people everyday. They are also very kind and help you with many things such as how to take classes or give you advice about homework.

And this week there will be a welcome camp with ESS members which i am really looking forward to. I can't wait till this weekend,but first before i go, i must finish what i have to do......home work for next week, sine i won't have any chance to do it on this weekend. I also will have to be careful about my health because i am coughing lately and feeling very exhausted. I went to doctor to check to if i caught the flu or not since my friend caught the flu. Luckily, I was okay. You all must take care every day. Wash your hand and gargle every time. Eat a lot of vegetables.

Thank you.
Brianne.

PS Takumi O, I hope you get well soon.

At Kitamoto Camp

Today we had a camp in Kitamoto. There were about 20 exchange students. At first we gathered at Omiya station. Despite it was early in the morning; all of us were very cheerful maybe because we have been looking forward to meeting each other, and having this camp.

We walked to Kitamoto and there we had a lunch. We cooked Curry and Rice together! Sitting in round and eating lunch with joy gave us a wonderful time.

At evening we had a camp fire outside! It was kind a cold to keep standing outside, but the fire enabled us to do so. Some of exchange students haven't seen the camp fire, so they seemed very excited! (Are there any of you who haven't seen that fire? You should experience it!!) We sung exchange students' many national songs and danced during the recreation time. ...Unforgettable!

 

 

△A camp fire in the evening

 

 

△During the recreation time

Breakfast

Hello  everyone!

How is it going?

Have you ever had bred with cheese, olive oil, basil, and tomatoes?
I had some this morning and it was really good. Although, it was kind of hard to
eat and messy so I ended up eating a lot trying to discover the best way of eating it.

First, I recommend you let the bred absorb the olive oil so it doesn't keep dripping.
Second, put on the cheese.
Third, put on the tomato and basil.

This way, although it is still a bit messy, you can prevent your hands from getting oily.

If your interested try it out.  
  

About my pet

I have a pet. It's not a cat, it's not a dog. it's a goldfish.  I've been taking care of it over 7 years . It doesn't have a name. I enjoy taking care of my goldfish but there's a problem. It's over 20cm long!! It's so big that it looks like a carp.

I hate this sick feeling

Having a serious headache for half the day. My body is warm but cold as well. Fortunately I could post blogger on my bed even though I have a cold. You know no homework is done like media discussion  paper and reading the textbook on reading class. What's worse is that tomorrow is one of my fav days of the year; Easter. I'm very excited for it. Easter is the day people morn/celebrate Jesus' death. Anyway I wanna get to work soon. Hope everyone has a great weekend!(:

unlucky...

I am suffering from influenza now. I feel tired ,
 have a headache,and have a sore throat.Besides,I am unlucky because I was going to take my favorite lectures on Thursday and Friday and participate in reception of ACM club on Saturday.I really was looking forward to them...I make it a rule to wash my hands and gargle everyday to prevent diseases.So,l don't understand why I got the influenza.I hope I will be well soon...

finally!

HELLOOOOOOO!
I finally figured out how to use this blog so here I am :)

since it's my first blog, I'm going to talk a little about myself.

my name's Kasumi Sadai, I've lived in the United States for about 5 years, in Canada for about 4 years, and I currently live in Saitama prefecture.

I can communicate in English but when it comes to school work.. blehh. I have poor vocabulary, I suck at grammer, I can't spell, and I'm a slow reader.

I love to shop, sleep, take pictures, and I absolutely HATE bugs and scary stories.

well.. that's about it:)

every thursday

my routine for every Thursday is that however busy and exhausted I am, I will put aside every thing and study with my part time job colleague. judged from the uniform my colleague was wearing, you can know what I am doing for part time job.  yes, that is Sagawa delivery service. that is my first part time job since I came to Japan 2 years ago.  also that routine has been kept for 2 years.
so, what do we study? since my colleague is interested in Chinese, so I teach him Chinese and he teaches me Japanese. the mutual learning is carried out in the form of chatting, while we are chatting, sometimes we can not express ourselves rightly in the language of the other side, so at that time he or I will teach what is the authentic way to say or the right word should be used.  that guy also has a great sense of humor and he applies himself to being a comedian. Chatting with him also makes my stress gone and make me feel relaxed. both of us think we will continue our friendship for a life long time.

My high school

The other day I visited my high school with my friend after finishing my classes.

Though it had passed only a month since I graduated from, I felt missing it so much.

We talked with teachers about our life in university, our high school experiences, and about the future. They were so nice and gave us some good advices, and we were encouraged.

And students were very eager to study for their entrance examinations, and encouraging them reminded me of my high school days. It was terrible. I woke up 4:00 am every morning and studied from morning until night. It exhausted me but I think studying hard in my high school days was good for not only me in those days but also now.

Somebody....

is somebody nice enough to tell me the meaning of these idioms?


have a hunch
get a kick out of
get mixed up
go down the drain
drop ～ a line
rub ～ the wrong way
under the weather
in the same boat
in hot water
without a hitch
a pretty penny
an old hand

morning

I really do not like clouded trains. It makes me feel sick and sometimes I can hardly breathe.
This morning, it was awful. I had class from the first period, so I had to take an earlier train than usual. When the train arrived at Ikebukuro, the train was already full of people. Many people were trying to squeeze themselves in or they will be late. As they squeezed in, I felt as if I have become a avocado in a California Roll. Really, I felt like that.
When the announce said that it is almost Shibuya, I was so happy to be freed. But then the train stopped for some reason. People leaned forward at once and a young woman (maybe about 20 or a little more) who was standing next to me stepped on my foot with a high pin heel!! It seems that I didn't have much luck this morning.

My brother

Do you have any siblings? I have one brother. Today I wanna talk about my brother.

My brother is 24 years old and a firefighter. He had played baseball from his childhood to university. He is so kind that we have never quarreled. He pull out all the stops when he really have to do something though he is kind of goofy and that makes me fun to hang out with. Haha
From the above, I respect and love him. He helps people as a firefighter. I wanna be someone like him.

Those who have any siblings, tell me about him or her :)

My Guitar :D

Hi! This is Momoko.

Do you play any instruments?

After graduating my highschool, I bought a guitar.

When I stayed at my friend's house, there were 2 guitars in her house. Then I got interested in guitar.

 She teach me some guitar codes and how to play the guitar.

I really wanted my own guitar, so I asked my father if I can buy a new one again and again.
Finally he allowed me! This is my guitar !!!↓↓

  I want to sing and play with the guitar, but it's so difficult for me to remember all the codes and to play along with it.

If you know how to play the guitar, please teach me!!

Thank you.

Media discussion

We had a first media discussion on the last class. Did everyone enjoyed it?

For me, it was challenging and fun to discuss something in English. 

I realized that to make the discussion active and lively, you need both english skills and ability to think a way to solve the problems that suggested by other people.

What I want to say is, of course you need to have a good English skills, but idea of what you say is more important thing. 

Honestly, I was focusing too much on just learning English. Not having enough trainings on how to form opinion and to express it to someone else.

Also, the media discussion involves a lot of social problems, so I thought that learning social problems in English is important thing to do.

By now, I’m not very good at discussion, but I’ll do my best in subsequent discussions, and trying to learn the way to make the discussion more interesting and active.

I’m looking forward to see all of you at the next class, See you next week! 

My hobby

  Hey everyone, it's Kentaro. This is the second time I post to this blog. Today, I'm gonna talk about my hobby, singing.

  I would often go karaoke with my friends when I was in high school. After finishing entrance exams for universities, I went there almost every week! Whenever I went there with my friends, I sang a variety of songs for over 8 hours per day! I've been so swamped these days that I can't sing for such a long time, though.

  I'm also interested in singing in a cappella style. Unlike singing alone in karaoke, we sing only with our voices, without any musical instruments at all. I've been captivated by it since I first watched the performance on TV when I was in elementary school. I was really moved by how beautiful it was!

  Last year in high school, some of my friends and I organized a cappella band and sang 2 songs in a cappella style at the school festival. Even though we all had been so busy that we had only a little time to practice them together, we did well at the stage! I'll never forget that moment when our band and the audience were in sync as one!

  If you have something special in your mind, I want you to put it into action! You will definitely see the new world you have never seen by taking actions.

  Thanks for reading.

Yakiniku!

Yesterday, Hazuki, Haine, Kana, Ayu and I went out to eat yakiniku in shibuya for dinner. We all went to different high schools, however we kept talking the whole time as if we have known each other for  a long time. Yakiniku  was great and we had a great time talking and knowing each other. I'm looking forward to meeting more and more new friends.

Media Discussion

Yesterday we had a Media Discussion for the first time in IEⅢCore class.

Discussions were very difficult for me since I had to talk in English, but classmates are very kind (as you know), and I could make effort to say my idea. Thank you guys!

The discussions we had were deep and long one. After having it, I realized that all of us are different and have different idea. That was such a great time widening our points of view and cultivating our thinking, not just practicing having discussions and talking in English.

This IEⅢCore will be very challenging for me, but I’ll do my best! Now I’m looking forward to meeting you guys and having the 2nd Media Discussion!

Today's class

Hi, everyone! Actually, this is my first time to write a blog.
On today's class, we had a lot of discussion about our Media Discussion Paper.
It was great for me to hear many aspects of view, which also encouraged me to try to think a lot more about particular issue.
I'm already tired from the college student's life (it means 90 minutes long per period, part-time job, and a lot of homeworks,) but I enjoyed this class so much.
In other classes, we have to listen carefully about what our teacher is saying for 90 minutes (which exhausts me,) but in this class, we can express what we want to say or what we think.
I'm looking forward to the next class!

Food Preferences

Today, I’d like to talk about the things that I found out on the other lecture.

I’m taking the Intercultural Communication Lecture taught by Mr.Dias.

At that lecture, I got an assignment like this, “Describe your satisfying intercultural experiences and unpleasant or uncomfortable intercultural experiences.”

For the satisfying intercultural experience, I wrote the experience that I had in New Zealand.

This experience is about the first time I communicated with foreign people, which made me very happy.

For the unpleasant or uncomfortable experience, I wrote the experience that I had in United States.

This experience was about food. It goes back to when I was a child. Our family went to United States for sightseeing. In Japan, I was regularly drinking a Japanese tea,

but at the US I couldn’t find out Japanese tea and all I found was some waters and soft drinks.  So, instead I went through with water while we were traveling. 

But the end of the travel, I find out Japanese tea at the sushi restaurant in the airport! I felt kind of relief to find out homeland thing on foreign country.

As I watching the other classmate’s experience, I found that many of them who went abroad also struggled with food problems, and most of them says that Japanese food is great.

I thought that, if they didn’t go to foreign country, probably they weren’t notice that Japanese food is great. Looking native country from other country’s view gives you many different perspective.

My high school days

How's it going, everybody? I haven't been used to life in Aoyama Gakuin uni yet. I'm glad to be able to study what I like in uni, but actually I wish I could go back to my high school days.

So today I'm gonna talk about my high school days. I went to Meiji Gakuin high school, standing in Shirokanedai, Tokyo next to Meguro and Shinagawa and belonged to the dance club. I did the club activity nearly every day. We not only danced but also did muscle training and went running. All the members of the dance club are my true friends because we had the hard times together. It was one of the best times of my life.

I wanna belong to the dance club in uni too, but also I wanna go abroad to study for a year and belong to a volunteer club or an international exchange club when I'm in Aogaku. I can't decide, so please advise me.

I hope I'll have friends like these in uni too, and everyone in IE3, please get closer to me!

Hello to my classmates in IE3

Hi everyone! I'm Anju and I have no idea what to post on this blog. This'll be my first blog in my life.
I wish to get close to all of my classmates and also want to be friends on Facebook!

How to feed the fish?

Hello everybody!!
I have a question about this blog. This is my second time to blog on, and I still don't know how to feed the fish. I usually type using my computer and on the top of the blog, it says to feed the fish. I managed to find a space where a fish is supposed to exist, but it just shows a white blank on my computer. Does anybody know how to feed the fish?

Answer to this Q:

The fish appear because of Flash. If you have a Mac or iPhone or iPad, you can't see it because Apple doesn't allow Flash . . . Try to access the site on a PC and you can feed them . . .

My first childhood story

Today was warm and calm day. Some stay home and relax at a garden, and others have a picnic under the tree.
Such a day makes me remember of the day.

On a sunny day in the spring, when I went down the street with my father, I felt something on my head. It sneaked into my clothes and that was so gross!

I screamed over and over, but it didn’t go away. After a while (It can be a moment. I don’t remember) my father helped me to get rid of this out. That was the first time to see a butterfly and the memory of the day sticks to me on a sunny spring day.

A mascot character

Hello!

This will be my second post.  This time I would like to talk about the school mascot character.

  Do you know the Aoyamagakuin mascot character?

I'm sure you know Eago!The green eagle with a bible in his hand.

  However do you know this character?  

This is hello kitty wearing an Aoyamagakuin t-shirt and a book that says "AOYAMAGAKUIN" in it's hands.

It is so cute!  So I bought it with three other friends.  We found it at building 1 in our university!

I put it in my room so that I could take a look at it everyday.

I hope I have more new findings at Aoyamagakuin!

Self-introduction

Hi! My name is Yumi Sawahira (not yumi but yuumi in Japanese). I lived in Canada for one year as an exchange student. But I'm not very confident about my English. I got into this high level class which have many of those who had lived in foreign country for many years, so I think this is a chance for me to improve my English skill on listening or speaking, reading like everything!
I like sports since I used to play softball, but I really love to go to cafe and have desserts like cakes and pancakes!! So I would be happy if you let me know any great places to eat desserts you find!!
I want to get to know you and enjoy IE classes!!

My second post

 Good evening!! This is my second post on this blog and I was searching for a nice topic to post on this blog for like 4 or 5 days. Then I realized that I haven't introduced myself yet! I should have introduced myself at my first post...

 Well anyway, I'm Momoko Moriguchi. My friends call me in several ways; Momoko, Momo, Morilyn(like Marilyn Monroe)and so on. You can call me whatever you like. I used to live in Maryland USA. I was 5 when me and my family flew to the states and we spent about 2 years there. It has been more than 10 years since I came back to Japan so my sense of speaking English is not as well as before, I think. 

 After I came back, I entered a public elementary school. Then, I entered a private junior high school and high school which is a mission school. Like Aoyama Gakuin, we had services every morning. When I heard the choir singing at the entrance ceremony, I was happy because I used to sing as a choir at high school and I knew the song!! 

 I was also a member of drama club. As I wrote about an audition for an English play in my first post, I love acting. I really enjoy it because I can express myself in many ways.  

 I guess this is all I can write about myself. Thank you for reading so long!

 See you in class!! 

Introduction

 Hello, my name is Saki Nawata.

 I live in Machida city with my mother, older sister, and my cocker spaniel dog. I love listening to music. I like any kinds of music from pop, hip-hop, country to r&b, however my absolute favorite genre is EDM(electronic dance music).

 I was born in Tokyo, but as soon as I left hospital my family and I moved to Seoul, Korea. After living in Seoul we next moved to Hong Kong and lived there for about six years. After that we moved to Singapore and lived there for three years. While living in Hong kong and Singapore,  my sister and I both went to an international school. Luckily, I was able to acquire my English skills and international way of thinking. My experience of living abroad has made me able to think from many perspectives.

 

 Since my goal is to become an interpreter I would like to study hard to gain my English skills.

I would also like to make a lot of friends and communicate with various kinds of people that I could not meet during my high school years. 

Thank you

Part time job

School started and it already passed a week. A lot of my friends are doing part time jobs now.  Bakery,cramschool, Starbucks and others. My friends have been doing part time jobs since before they enterd university. I want to start working, but can't decide what to do. Does anyone have  recommendation for me ? Thank you