Logorama

This short film that was created in 2010 was about a world that is made out of logos. The story is set in Los Angeles and it is about cops trying to capture the criminal. In this film the cop is Michelin Man and the criminal is Ronald Mcdonald. The conflict begins when the cops find Ronald. They try to capture Ronald while he involves other logo characters. While trying to capture Ronald McDonald, a huge earthquake arrives that ruins everything surrounding them.

From this short film I thought that the director was trying to message the viewers that logos are so important in our daily lives and it is at the same time influencing our daily life in a good way and a bad way.

Mirage

It was about a boy who needs water in his stomach. Although he is in the water, he tries to get water. He found a fruit which has water in it, and he tore it. There was a fish inside. The boy put the fish in his tank. This story was grotesque, but I think it taught me to look around carefully.

I found the comments option.

This is sort of like a test post to see if the comments option works. I found someone else enabling it while I was scouring the old blogs.

But then again, I guess we might not need this because we all have our blog posts to answer other people with in the first place...

My new family

A new part of the family came a couple of    weeks ago. He is a dog. He is a whitish chihuahua with big goggle-eyes and a weird underbite. We call him Koo. Although he is the most friendly sweet dog, he can be very evil. He brings things from one side of the room to the other, he would pee if were to get really happy so we put diapers on him, he bothers the other two dogs and so on. Still, i'm happy to have another member.

Mirage

The story is about a robotic boy who needs water to live. He passes out then water drops fall from a tower into his tank. He wanted the water so he went up the tower to find a plant with a fruit like thing with a light inside. The boy gets a pole and stabs the fruit to get water. A fish comes out of the plant which can't breath because it has no water. The boy finds many dead fish around the plant just like fish that is dying right in front of him. He picks up the fish and puts it in his tank. At the end the boy and the fish swims through the sea as a mirage.

I thought this was a very strange and weird story. It is a great short film that shows how precious life is. It made me feel that I shouldn't do things only for my needs.

Omotesando

I realize there are so many Japanese celebrities and famous people in omotesando and harajuku often. Just today I saw yukkina walking the streets of omotesando. Yukkina is a popular Japanese model which most of you may already know. She was with another friend and they were both pushing baby carriages. Many people walking by were look at her and wisphering to each other, is that really her ?? I personally like yukkina and recognized her right away. However she seemed busy and a little annoyed at why the baby carriage's wheels were getting stuck. I feel that even if they are famous they are human and want privacy.

Response to Umeka

Hey Umeka,  it's very kind of you to help your German friend.

well, about your question,

I don't really feel fear for traveling alone regardless of country and destination.

Guess it has something to do with our individual personality such as whether we like exploring new things or not. I personally love trying to visit by myself and experience the new world where I've never seen yet. Sometimes its easy stance brought me lots of troubles but still, I enjoyed all of them.

Including all kind of tough tasks like language, new people and environment where we can't expect what'd happen,  I would call as 'part of great journey' and I'm certain that they will get you so incredible and memorable moment^^

Once you try, you'll know how great they are!

So, don't be afraid for going to journey alone. As long as you are alive, everything will be alright, my advice;) hihi

Madoka

  

Saturday

 Last Saturday, I went shopping to Lalaport Fujimi with my friend Rachel. It was our second time going there. After we went shopping in Hollister for awhile, we went to eat lunch at Komeda cafe just like we did in the first time we came to this mall. We weren't trying to be mean or offensive, but we thought that the workers in the store was kind of creepy. The first man who came to take our order had unbelievably high voice. We could imagine him with a red and white striped clown costume with triangle hat on his head with a rubber to protect his hat from not falling from his head with tiny children's toy drum that is too small for him hanging from his neck. It was pretty creative what we imagined and we literally laughed till our stomach hurted. The second man who brought us our food was talking incredibly fast that we couldn't even hear what he's saying. He didn't even finish his sentence and it was very hard to recognize what he was saying. Then Rachel started saying that she wanted to have her part time job in Komeda cafe back when she was still in her home town. I literally don't know why, but it was so funny. It was pretty good weekend.

 Speaking of Saturday, on this Saturday, it's the 4th of July!! I don't know about you guys, but even though I'm not an American, I have American accent and I am more into American stuff, so I do celebrate 4th of July:) I was coming up with what hair, make ups, and outfit to wear and I am so excited!! Happy early 4th of July!!

Mirage

The main character of this short film is a robot. it seems that he cannot survive without water kept in his stomach. His appearance looks kind of grotesque but actually I felt his human-like emotion when he tried to rescue a soon-to-be-dead fish by taking it into his water tank inside of body filled with plenty of water he've got from a fresh flower.

Watching the "Mirage"

 The robot boy is collecting water from the plant in the sea to put into his body. He climbs up the stairs and sees big red bulb that contains water. He collects water from there, but the goldfish comes out. He immediately puts the goldfish into his body that is actually like a water tank. At the end, he swims away with the goldfish in the ocean.

 At first, I didn't understand at all why the robot boy would need a water in his body if he's already in the ocean. I literally still don't get it, but when the story got to the goldfish part, I felt as if the creator of the movie is trying to tell us to be nice to environment. 

New!!

Today, I got a new iPhone. I'm having a hard time moving the data from the old one.
I'm thinking of looking for a new iPhone case tomorrow:)
Last time when I bought an iPhone, I broke it in four days!!! I really need to be careful not to do the
same thing again!

mirage

The main character of this short film was a robot, which part of a chest is a hollow. The robot is looking for water from some reason. One time when he fell down, he spilled all the water he have collected. After, he found a fruit? or a ball filled with water, and got a lot of water by tearing it. Actually, a living fish was in the water-filled ball, and because the robot didn't know about and torn
it, the fish seemed to have died. Though when the robot  picked up the fish and put it in the water in
it's body, it became alive.

I think the message from this story, is not to behave only by egoism of human, and to behave considering the environment and creature. It was a difficult film for me.

Re: Traveling Alone

Unlike your German friend (Godspeed to him), I don't think I've ever traveled alone. Be it the United Arab Emirates, Norway, Mauritius, or Canada, I've always had company to go there with in the form of my family and classmates. Although I've had many one-of-a-kind experiences with my comrades and family at my sides while abroad, I sort of agree that having to do that alone would have a greater impact. A journey isn't a journey without any stumbles and giant rivers in the way, after all. And yet, it isn't one without people helping you up or ferrying you across, either.

Traveling Alone

Hello it's Umeka

Have you ever traveled by yourself? The son of my mother's friend who is German is studying in Korea and now visiting Japan. He's travelling by himself but he had some trouble here. Since he came here all alone, I'm the only one who can help him. Naturally, I will help him. However, this made me think of how dangerous it can be travelling alone, especially as a women. Still, there are many people who travel by themselves because of the replaceable memories and experiences they can make. I would travel not by myself because I'm afraid of being alone in a country which language I can't understand well. I would have more courage to visit foreign countries with friends or family.

By the way first time I've ever traveled alone a great distance was 
when I was 15 years old. It was the first time I have visited Japan. 

How about you? When was the first time you've ever traveled alone?

book report

I've not finished reading the book for the book report yet, so I'm very hasty now. “The Old Man and the Sea” which I read for the first book report was short story so it was easy to finish reading. However, this time, I chose a book thicker than previous one. It is difficult for me and takes very long time.

Mirage

This is a story of a robot who needs water to sustain his life. The robot was living storing water in the cup equipped with his body. One day, he spilled all of his water by falling down, because the cup didn't have cap. Then, he found red ball which was filled with water. Although he noticed a living thing was in it, he took all of water in the ball. The fish was deprived of its water and had difficulty in breathing. The robot saw the dying fish, and regretted what he did. Finally, he got the fish into water in his cup. He felt relieved to see the swimming fish.

There are indispensable things for each creatures to sustain their lives, so it is not allowable that human beings enjoy that privilege exclusively. We have to share limited nature with other living things. Many precious lives can be lost by human's selfish and greedy behavior.

Orchestra!

Today there was a recital held of the orchestra by the orchestra members for the orchestra members.
We all joined several groups, and one of the groups I joined, the groups of violin freshmen, did a Disney medley. We dressed up as highschool students. I had no uniform, so I used a skirt and blouse and one of the girls lent me her cardigan. It was a nice cardigan, but very hot. I would like to wear it during winter.
It was very fun, and although I could not play at all. Now, I must focus on my book report.

Debates

This two weeks was really tough but joyful in some aspects. I thought debate is just the stuff serious persons do and I don't care at all. However indeed it is nothing but great. If I joined the section, I wouldn't even be able to work because it's hard. But that was the first time I'm feeling studying , investigating something seriously spending way too long time. Cuz I  wanna be the person who is flexible so I'll join that. Maybe

Joint Monitor Festival

Yesterday, I went to see performances of older members in my club.
There were many students from 10 different universities.
Each university performs a radio drama or a film that they created.
Their works were all very unique and fun to watch.
It was a great experience for me to know about the image of how to create interesting works of radio drama.
I wish I could perform next year on the same stage that old members performed.

Kendo club

Yesterday, I went to my high school during the club time to see my juniors doing kendo. Their kendo was getting better than the last time I saw them. After they finished practice, we went to karaoke and talked a lot. It was fun!!!!! One of my juniors won the ticket to an inter-high school athletic competition last week, so I'm looking forward to go to Wakayama to see her match.

Quality time

Since I had no part time job for this weekend, was able to do things I wanted to do these days. It was so relaxing doing things I've wanted to do. 

From tomorrow, another week starts😖

It's tiring to study but, I'll think about things I want to do next weekend and have my motivation kept high.

Mirage

The main character of this film is a robot who lives underwater but doesn't notice it.

First, it seems like he cannot move around without water inside his body tank.

He wanders around to collect even a tiny drop of water.

However, when he reaches out to an object filled with water and breaks it to fill the water into his tank, he realizes that there is a fish in it.

After that, he actually realizes that he's underwater.

I think the message is that we shouldn't be too greedy to get something but to look around and see what you already have and accept it.

Analysis on "Mirage": From stem to stem, an empty, unquenchable desire

A robot that looks like a young boy, possibly a cyborg, survives on water that he harvests from stems that grow around the water pipelines that stretch through his world, a dark, foggy and seemingly dystopian one. It appears that he is not aware that he's underwater. Also, his torso is open on the top and so he has to move carefully. One day, he sees a tower in the distance, which he climbs. He finds a glowing fruit-like object hanging from some tree there, which he deduces has water and a certain living thing. Ignoring the consequences, he pierces the fruit and a fish drops out. He sees the fish dying and suddenly feels a pang of sorrow and regret and thus puts it into his chest. There, he - probably - realizes the joy of coexistence, and swims with the fish.

I first thought that no loving creator would make a robot with such a faulty design and place him in such a dystopia. That changed after the story -  I realized that it was all meant to be. However, coexistence is not the only theme in the story, as it turns out; the author had something else he wanted to tell us about: the search for happiness.

In Youngwoong Jang's point of view, this is a story about people with endless desires, collecting things for their own wants and needs. Jang was a hard worker from a young age, working from goal to goal, never feeling satisfied with the results. From high school to university, then from university to overseas job, he kept going up and up, but not feeling the satisfaction he wanted. Suddenly, his father passed away when he was in the United States, which awoke him from his "endless desire to get [a] better life." Using Mirage as an allegory, his revelation was that although he was already underwater, he did not realize it and kept going from stem to stem.

mirage

The main character is a robot.
The beginning was similar to the beginning of the movie "Finding Nemo," and I expected it to be a story about fish. I was surprised to find that the main character was a robot, and that the robot was searching for ...water...

The upper body of the robot is like a cup, and the robot stores water in it. While watching the video, I felt that the structure of the robot was very inefficient as the top had no cover, and so whenever he trips the water would spill out.
Anyways, as the robot searches for water, he finds a bulging red plant which is shining. He strikes it, and water spills out of it. He fills his body with it, but finds that a fish had fallen out too. Both he and the fish need water. He takes up the fish and puts it in his body, and the fish swims in his body.
It can be said that the theme is about living together, or sharing what we have. 

In the end, the robot and the fish swim together. It is possible that it shows how the water was in abundance all along, but that the robot had only to realize it.

Mirage

At first, I was shocked at the content of the film. I think that this film has a beautiful theme. "Coexistence" I thought that this was the theme for this film.

The scene when the robot picked up the fish and put it in his tank was beautiful. I also got my heart beating fast at the scene when the robot pierced the red glowing ball.

Blood types and sun signes

I had an interesting talk with my sister about how people's personalities differ according to your blood type or sun signe. I am a cancer. Apparently cancers get a long well with capricorne, sagitarious, piciece and Taurus. When I think about most of the people I'm closest with tend to be capricorne, sagatarious or piciece. ( best friend, boy friend and so forth ) I believe that sun signes should not define us however they do affect our personalities. Furthermore blood types have an even greater effect on our personalities. I am B blood type and very slow and spacy. I have a hard time making decisions and I am too relaxed and easy going.  In fact my family are all B blood type. It takes forever to make a decision when we gather together as a family! Lol do you know what blood type you are? If you look it up it is surprisingly right on to your own personality.

Varmints

Plot:

In the face of overwhelming urbanization and recklessness, creatures so-called Varmints, struggle to preserve a remnant of the peace they once knew. Selfless acts of love plant the seeds of change that will ultimately prove the salvation of his world.

Reaction:

This film has no dialogue but teach us lots of things, we can also focus on the variety of colour use to distinguish 

Wednesday

On Wednesday, I met my friends from my high school. It had een a few months since the last time I saw them, I was very glad to see them not having changed that much. Expect, I was very surprised to see one girl having a short cut. We went to Saizeriya. Since we have become a university student, I thought we would go somewhere different from where we had been going in high school, but we all didn't have money so we decided to go where we always went. We didn't do anything special. We just talked and talked and talked until we were sleepy. I kept on laughing. It was very fun, and I want to meet them again. I think the next time I will meet them is my friend's birthday.

weekend

Good morning guys

Forgot blogging for last week so I'm trying to get remember what I did...

My memory span becoming shorter and not lastable as I get older lol

Friday, i and 2 friends from my college(not Aoyama uni) hanged out in Shibuya, then after having had dinner, we went to Hub to drink more, that was hilarious as I can recall 

Then friends came over my apartment and talk about relationship stuff 

That was friday

Saturday we slept over til 15:00 

They went home and I quickly prepared for my work; tutor.

Sunday,

I had a relaxable day talking over FaceTime together with my bf

Alright summing up my weekend, that was good. Hihi

See you all at class 

please don't care about my hair though it's kind of weird color today!

I tried to dye it pink last night and completely failed. I needed more bleach.. i hope it's gonna fade soon

Varmints

I thought this story is representing our world. One day, a beautiful nature were destroyed by the construction of buildings. And by that, the clean air started to be polluted. Today, our world is facing a serious air pollution.
I thought that the  author is optimist against the upcoming world. It is because in the story at last, the vermints were saved. This is a message to us that we can still save the world. However, it can't be saved by just watching. We all have to cooperate with each other and do everything that we can.

Please accept my apologies

These days I'm in terrible condition. My head feels heavy because of a slight fever, and also I have a sore throat which makes me hard to talk.
I have been sick in bed since last Fryday. Moreover, I stayed at the house placed near by the riding grounds where my club is using. We have to stay there in turn to take care of horses at night and in the early morning. Last Sunday was my turn. How dry the air was! It just hit my throat and knocked me out. Also, the fatigue came from the unusual workload may have appeared as such symptoms.
Anyway, it is very hard task to go to university for me now. I feel very sorry to my friends in the same group to work on the presentation. I wish I could be there. Plese tell me what you guys decided.

The Mighty Dollar

The other day, I exchanged 100 U.S. dollars into Japanese yen at an exchange center in Yokohama station. I earned about 11500 yen, with no fees applied. The exchange rate from USD to JPY was about 126 yen per dollar. 

I earned a lot!

Summary and analysis on varmints

Summary:

The main character and the other varmints are living happily on the prairie when some sort of industrial revolution happens and the entire place is covered with concrete skyscrapers and thick smoke. The main character takes care of the last surviving tree, which releases seeds into the city. Then, those seeds grow into aliens with a biome within them. The varmints then continue living inside the aliens.

Analysis:

I believe this film was trying to show us the true horrors of environmental damage and destruction through the eyes of small creatures. 

Horror

I recently don't have that much time to watch horror movies, but I love them!
The new insidious 3 is sounding good so I'll definitely watch that! I also want to watch the classics. For example, It, nightmare on elms street, childs play, hell raiser, and a couple of suspence movies. I get weird when it comes to horror!!!!!!

Varmints

A rabbit-like animal had respected nature, but urbanizaton pretended him from doing it. He spent a nature-less life without only one pot plant. One day large jellyfish-like things appeared and began to take residents inside of them. The inside of their body was a wide stretch of grasslands which the animal once loved.

I think the theme of this story is, However we try to get rid of nature, it is our instinct to need it.

Varmints

Summary :it is about a kangaroo sloth looking amimal that likes to sleep under a tree with nature around him. One day, a group of those animals brought buildings and concrete there distroying the nature. The animal that is the main character had a part of the tree and he grew it. Out of the plant came a light which eventually becomes giant jellyfish with nature inside.The people in the filthy city became sick and the main character and his girl that he likes went into the nature that is inside the jellyfish.

Reaction : I was embarrassed that I knew the word varmints. I thought it is a good story that shows environmental values. The nature looked very beautiful with the green. I like the part when the people think the jellyfish would attack but they actually saved them.,

tired

I am very tired recently. The main reasons are homeworks from university, and my part tome job.
I want to take a rest, but I need money for summer.
This is a hard decesion, though I think I need to work a little more…

Varmints

Summary: The main character of this story is a little creature which looks like a rabbit. One day the city which it lives starts to crash, and a jellyfish-like object (looks like a spaceship?) rescues the creatures from the seriously polluted world.

 

Opinion: This short film was full of messages to human. The most plain theme was Environmental destruction and pollution. The contrast of the beautiful nature and the polluted city was very persuasive. The seen which the creature coughed painfully made my heart hurt.

Varmints

Summary: An animal live in a nature with peace. However, one day tons of buildings appeare and pollute everything. He/she survive there with growing one plant which end up with creating the new world. 

Reaction: I think the author wants us to recognize how greatly the environment around us change in a bad way and think the way to get back the nature once we had. 

Varmints

Summary:

The short animation Varmints from year 2008 by Studio AKA is about the destruction of nature  through urbanization.

Rabbit like creature's living environment which is rich in beautiful nature, is destroyed when a big  city is build there. Luckily,  the creature had the chance to rescue a little green plant before the surrounding nature was destroyed. Having no other place to live, the creature works in the new built city like the others. With time passing by, it gets more and more sick due to pollution caused by the urbanization. One day however, the creature's plant   evolves and seeds become gigantic jellyfish like spaceships with vast nature inside. Soon the creature and many other migrate there to live in nature again. 

My opinion:

This video has a very important message about human impact on nature. Human are destroying nature in extreme and also the life of animals.I liked how this kind of extreme negative influence was illustrated through color contrast. The nature is illustrated with abundant colors and beautiful graphics , on the contrary the city is dark and monotonous. The creatures in the animation had human like features like going to work or living in the city. I think these animals are representing human since both are living creatures of the earth and dependent on nature. So, the message might be that human destroy their own living environment but there are some who try to save it like the one creature. It is important to  restore nature but as one could see at the end of the animation, once nature is destroyrd it cant be revived( dust and ashes of the destroyed city remain)

Contemporary Ballet

 Recently, I thought about my Contemporary Ballet life. I've been dancing Contemporary Ballet since I was 3. 

 I thought I was pretty talented till I was 10 until a shocking moment came to me. Every year, my coach picks one of her favorite dancer to put her/him in a competition. However, in order to be chosen in a competition, you need to be her favorite dancer in the whole studio, have an outstanding and extraordinary talent than anybody else in the studio, be flexible, and have special ways to express yourself. Until I was 10, I got picked up by her as a dancer for the  competition. Every year, I won somewhat kind of medals or prize even though it wasn't in the top three. Because I'm pretty competitive person and like to challenge my self, I still wasn't satisfied with what I haven't done even though my coach and my family were. So kept practicing and practicing 9 hours a week.

 However, when was 10, it was the first challenging year for me. That year, I didn't get picked up as a dancer to be in a competition. I was just a little girl and because I expected a lot on my self apt more and because I thought that I wasn't my coach's favorite anymore and she hates me now, I cried and cried. After that, I practiced harder than I used to, which was 11hours a week. At last, I was able to be her favorite again and get back into the competition. 

 This story of mine just came to my mind because I was watching "Dance Mom" recently on YouTube and Maddie Ziegler was experiencing the same as what I've gone through. Being someone's favorite feels great but tough at the same time.

Watching the "Varmints"

 This story is pessimistic about the future. The maker of the film wants us to think that we can still do a lot to be environmentally friendly and save the planet.

 The story starts from clear sky and beautiful nature scene. However, a huge dark things come and make the sky to be grey and all the place to be crowded buildings. At last, it turns out that the clear sky and beautiful nature was just what was in the white plant thing.

 In my opinion, I thought that this film is an interesting and great way to persuade people to think more deeply about an environment. I hope that more people will think deeply about this to be more environmentally friendly from now on in order to prevent something like this from happening. 

Varmints

This story is based on our current environment. This film is trying to tell us that we are living in a world with buildings which is running the environment. And because of all the things that are created on the earth, the earth is been polluted. The pollution is not only affecting the environment but is affecting the animals.
The message from this film is for us to stop polluting the world and get back the nature to the earth. From watching this film I recognised how everyone should be cooperating.

Varmints

It's a story about what's happening now in modern society.
Global warming increasing, pollution going on, meaning that the world is being destroyed badly by human beings.
People making big buildings, destroying nature, which leads to habitat loss of animals, in this case a kangaroo-like ”varmints”.
I thought the tentacle was symbolizing a offering of a helping hand.

Looking at this video, I understood the seriousness of what.s happening now on our world,and have to cooperate more on what we can do to stop the destruction of the world.

Analysis on the short film "Varmints"

Once upon a time, in some prairie far away, there lived a herd of "varmints", raccoon-like creatures, who lived in harmony with nature (albeit it was just grass and sparse trees, from my point of view). However, one day, the land is transformed forever as other varmints (burlier than the first ones) pull up darkly colored buildings on the plain, which turns the surrounding land dark and unlivable. One varmint, however, saves a branch from a dying tree and tries to keep it alive. The tree eventually seeds, giving birth to surreal jellyfish-like havens which evacuate varmints from the now-dying city.

I think the film is very properly named, considering that the word "varmint" means "an irritating or obnoxious person or animal". The true varmints in this story are, therefore, the ones who pulled up the dark buildings, but are only (ob)noxious to themselves; this I find to be ironic. One other thing that I would like to point out is a difference between the free-roaming varmints and the city varmints. We can clearly see that all the varmints in the countryside have free will and a sense of self, while those in the city fail to show any emotion, instead acting as a mindless team.

A few flaws I would like to point out: first of all, there was running water in the apartment (the protagonist washed his face with it) but why does he even bother trying to collect it on the roof if so? Wouldn't rainwater be more harmful, considering that the city pollutes everything it touches for no real reason? I hate the exaggerated message in this film as well and the way it's shoved into us. WHY did the city varmints decide to build darkly-colored, ominous buildings for no other reason than to advance the plot? Why did we need a bland, cliché love interest when we didn't need one? Although I'm alright with the idea that we need to save the environment, I don't think this film qualifies as an effective vessel for it. The animation was great, though.

new sandals

My mother bought new sandals for me, because that store was having a sale. I can restore my spirits and feel happy when I wear something new. I'm grateful to my mother.

Varmints

Animals were living in beautiful nature, but humans destroyed it, and animals lost their place for living. One creature which looks like a fox brought some seeds from the world of beautiful nature, and began to raise plants. Beautiful white balls were born from only a few plants and they were scattered to the polluted world. By these white balls, animals take back their beutiful nature for living.
I think the producer of this animation wants to tell us that we can get beautiful nature back by taking a small action. We have go into action as early as possible before it is too late.

Goodby Obachan, see you in heaven.

Yesterday was the funeral of my grandmother.
She died peacefully in the hospital.
She was cremated in the same place where my grandfather was 2 years ago. 
As we said goodbye to her for the last time, memories came flooding back.
I see her smiling, feeding the dogs, nodding on the couch...
I hear her chatting, calling the cat home, playing hymns on the piano...
She loved to talk, and she often spoke of my grandfather, and of the time she was a young girl. She was very patient with us moving in with all of our stuff, and tolerated our weird rules such as playing paper, rock, scissors to choose who could pick the sushi first.
I miss her very much, but the one good thing about the funeral was finding that quite a lot of people missed her too.
Goodbye Obachan, see you in Heaven. 

My weekend

Another week gone by! The days seem so fast. And I'm sorry I'm always talking about my weekends. Any how this Saturday I met my best friend Ayano. We went to kua aina a Hawaiian burger shop. I've known about the restaurant however, there is no restaurant in my home town so I was glad we could go. It was delicious, so filling, yet satisfying.  The burgers are tasteful 100% beef and the grilled onions and vegetables go so well with it. It is definitly an ideal burger shop! We walked around shibuya and harajuku and talked and laughed a lot. Its so strange how we have such different personalities, likes and dislikes and opinions and yet some how we are compatible for each other. We fight and things get ugly but I never feel happier then when we hang out. Thank you for being friends with a spacy slow person like me! Lol  it was an awesome day!
Sunday I had my part time job till 2:00. After that I met my Philippine friend who was in the area. We haven't met in a month or more. We just sat in a cafe and talked while drinking coffee.(it was raining) we had so much to catch up on it was an enjoyable talk. I hope we can meet again hopefully sooner next time. After that I came home made myself some dinner and did some homework. I will be going to my dance circle's midnight dance practice today. My back pack is so stuffed lol  I have change of clothes, towel, socks, dance shoes, girl accesories and freshen up stuff, text books for tomorrow, pencil case, home work, portable battery and the list goes on! Basically because we will be out in the studio all night I have everything I need for tonight and tomorrow. We usually have practice on Mondays ,Wednesday's , and Fridays however, days  where my team members  can all  gather together are very limited. This is why we have midnight practice. I hope I won't be too tired tomorrow at school and work. Well I'll do my best and hopefully get some sleep in between.  I hope you all enjoyed your weekend as well!

This Weekend

This weekend I went to tamagawa with the ESS people (like always) to have a BBQ. It was my first time doing it after I came back to Japan. The seniors were extremely nice and my fellow freshman friends seemed like they were having fun as well too. That was Saturday. Well today I don't know why but m body was aching like crazy so I had a neet day where I was only listening to music on YouTube and watching discovery channel on the couch. I haven't had these relax days after I entered college so it was good.

Solstice

The June solstice will happen next Monday in Tokyo. But what does this mean?

I'm sure everyone knows about the four seasons and how the system works. It won't hurt to review, though. Like how we learnt in elementary, middle, or high school (or what have you), the Earth is tilted on its rotational axis and this causes the Northern Hemisphere to lean towards the Sun during the summer and the reverse for the Southern Hemisphere. The solstices are when the Earth's hemispheres happen to lean the closest or farthest from the Sun.

So, the June solstice is when the Earth leans the most to the Sun in the Northern Hemisphere. That happens to be on this Monday, at 1:39 AM JST. Too bad that we Tokyoites won't be able to see the Sun at its closest. Yet, that's not all! Since the June solstice also marks the longest day(s) of the year, let's make sure that Sunday and Monday (both with the ultimate daylengths this year: 14 hours, 34 minutes, and 40 seconds) are not a single second wasted! We won't experience this anymore until next year!

Happy solstice!

About the animation film

    The main character is a cute rabbit and poodle like creature who lives in a peaceful field with a beautiful tree. One day a city of tall buildings is build and everything that was once beautiful dies. The landscape is dark and bare, the city smoky and and full of debris everywhere. However, the main character creature despite the dirtyness, darkness and gloomy world around him continues to grow a small part of the once beautiful tree in order to save the memory of life and beauty.
      I understand why this film won  many awards. It is dynamic and very detailed yet easy to understand. The characters are cute and likable. And it is a controversial issue about environment. The structure and music is expressed very well which over all makes it such an  integueing film.
 I think the main message that the animator, Marc Craste, wanted the audience to think about was global environment. It is said that if we don't stop pollution that one day earth will become uninhabitable. We may have to move to another planet or live in space if conditions become too sevire. Yes! I think it has a little bit of a pessimistic view on the future however, it may become true if we do not take care.  Pollution and over ravaging can ruin the inviornment and natural resources. We must be careful and learn to use them wisely.

Hurts Like Hell

Hey it's Umeka

Since Thursday I've been feeling sick and  my gum(歯茎) hurt. In the past, as a symptom of fever, I sometimes had gum pain. Eventually, I had a fever this time as well but what was different is that my gum pain continued. My face is swollen , my ears, nose , throat hurt as well.I'd never thought that it could be so painful! At first, painkiller pills didn't help at all but after my doctor gave me some antibiotics and stronger painkiller it got better though it still really is painful. I can only sleep in sitting position because otherwise it hurts more (it is a mystery to me why...because of blood circulation?? Idk) i hope none if you has to make the same painful experience! I felt that I need to make some change in my life style like sleeping enought, eating healthy and  doing more sports. 

But first of all, I'll go get some more rest !

Varmints

In the beginning, the varmints live in harmony with nature. One day, the nature is destroyed and a city is constructed. One varmint saves one branch of tree and keeps it alive. The plant grows seeds and the seeds fly away, eventually saving the world.
I think that the story was optimistic about the future. It shows how nature is strong, and can return to what it once was. However, it cannot do so alone. It needs help.  For I think that is what the snow like thing falling from the sky. The varmints were kept away until the earth returned to what it used to be.

One thing I felt while watching the short film was sympathy for the varmints who suffered from asthma. I once to had an asthma attack, and it was very frightening. The scene where the poor varmint was wheezing made that memory come back quite vividly. The harm pollution can do to one's health is quite terrifying, and I think that was one thing the animation was telling us.

Bbq

After debating all this night, we are going to have a bbq!! I'll be sunny so I'm really lookingk forward to it. Soon-to-be girlfriend will come stay at my house. I'm too busy these days but I'm enjoying. 

Laziness

This week I woke up all the night for five days in row. I slept like from 6a.m. To 6 p.m..  ASAP I wanna break this habit and go take classes.

Kasumi

I wanted to eat Kasumi's cake today, but she couldn't come to the class because she didn't feel well today. I hope I could eat her cake sometime. 

Varmints

The story was about a creature losing his(?) eden but gets it back in the end.

I thought that this story was made by the vision of an animal. There was a scene that the creature lost its eden. I saw this scene as a human invading the place where the wild animals live by cutting down trees, and constructing buildings.

I think that the director wants us to think about wildlife.

Embassy of United States in Tokyo

Today, I went to the embassy of the United States in Tokyo to reissue my passport. It was my first time to go there so I was excited. To enter inside, I had to go through 2 security checks! In the embassy, the atmosphere was just like the states. I was surprised that I only saw a few Japanese! 

Varmints

I think varmints was a story of the modernization from a perspective of the animal which lived in the same exact place that became the concrete jungle. I thought that the animation that showed the world atmosphere looked like the animation from ice age. At first it seemed like a very peaceful story but it really took a dark turn and made me realize the world we live in seems fairly clean and comfortable but its killing us and the surroundings at the same time. To me that jelly fish like bio-dome thing that appeared at the end chose which ones to let in so the varmints wont destroy the next frontier they arrive at. I watched it several times after in class but every time I appreciated a different aspect. I really enjoyed it.

evening campus

During the day, Aoyama campus is usually crowded with a lot of people.
However, when it gets darker, most of the students go home.
After that, the campus is cleared and almost empty.
It is very relaxing sitting on one of the benches located in the campus because the main street is surrounded by trees and bushes.
Also, it is very dark and calm because sunset is already over then.
Unless you have club activities, there is almost no chance to experience being in the campus at night.
It is fun to chit-chat over a cup of soda under the moonlight.
I recommend you to stay longer one day and enjoy the evening campus.
You should also try ramune soda which you can get one from a vending machine next to the seventh building.
It cost only 70 yen and it tastes very good.

Varmints

The film "Varmints" is a story about a rabbit-like creature who lives in a heavenly world with grass field and trees.

Then, the world starts to collapse and becomes distopian with garbage all over the place.
The rabbit-like creature tries to save a plant which he grabs when all the plants are being killed.

What I think about this film is that it looks similar to what is happening on earth right now.
It really made me think of environmental disasters.
Although the plants seemed difficult to survive in distopia, the heavenly world was eaten very quickly.
It shows how precious nature is and how easily the beauty is taken away.
It made me think that we should pay more attention to our environment and keep it as clean as possible.

Reunion

In two hours, Imma meet with my friends who went to the same high school. Pretty excited. Btw it's been a while that I am coughing. I just want you to be healthy. Don't drink and amok too much dude.

To Bryan regarding recent grammar post

My thought: "The boss wants to see you. . . I thought I'd tell you before you saw him." is incorrect. I agree with your thinking, Bryan, that it feels odd to use past tense here, since the event has not yet occurred, BUT remember that lots of wrong usage may still be commonly used, depending on age, education level, regional variation, cultural preferences (Ex. British English/American English conventions), etc.

Almost everyone agrees that "ain't" is nonstandard and wrong and an uneducated over-extension that attempts to fill the gap in English of a first person negative ("they aren't" . . . "she isn't" . . . "I amn't"???) but people use it constantly, either naively or ironically . . .

Also, if "wrong usage" gets used for long enough, it eventually becomes an "irregular" feature of the language. English is filled with these historical blips that defy grammatical rules . . .

British English: I've got to go. (have got to)

American English: I gotta go. ([have] got to)

Message: It's good to learn the conventions and rules of English grammar but don't be too worried if there are many variations. Grammar rules are made to be broken!

Good morning everyone

Good morning everyone! I know this is very last minuet and I apologize. Recently I had work and dance and I'd come home so exhausted however, home work must be done. Since last week I haven't been sleeping much and even if I did not a very rejuvenating sleep. Because of the lack of sleep and energy I haven't been doing well at school as well. However, the priority is my studies so I hope to balance my daily life with my school life and try harder to succeed in school.
 Another subject I would like to talk about is dreams. Do you dream when you sleep at night? I usually never dream. I have heard before that people dream in the subconscious part of the brain. This means you do not sleep deeply. Studies say it usually occurs when you go to bed with a lot on your mind  or when you are physically exhausted and restless. However, I feel like it's the opposite for me. I usually dream when I sleep for a long amount of time. When I'm restless or in lack of sleep I never dream! Ha! I wonder sometimes so many things are different or opposite with me. Maybe I am alien.

Circle activity

After going through three sections ESS has which are discussion, speech and pronounciation(they are guiding foreign tourists) the rest is debate I was looking forward to and it has just started yesterday.  We, freshmen just saw and wrote what senior were debating which was really complicating and tough to catch up with even though they were speaking Japanese, for starters.  So, today is the second day but, we are going to keep debating from like 9p.m.-5a.m. because we should be well prepared for the competion coming on 27th. Many schools will take part in that. Until that day it must be a really hard time, but I'm sure it would be great experience.

the notebook

This Wednesday, I saw a movie called The Notebook for the upcoming book report. I knew the outline of the story, because some people wrote about it in the previous book report. However, I was really moved by this movie. This movie begins where Noah, the main character, reading a notebook about a love story. I realised that the love story he was reading was his own love at the middle of the moviw. I was especially moved where Noah was so in to one girl called Allie that he never stays away from her even though she doesn't remember him. I liked this movie very much and I am lookig forward to reading the actual book.

shopping

recently I'm going shopping a lot, and buying too much clothes...
i know i shouldn't have bought them to save money....
but once i find a very nice one, i cannot just stand and watch them. I simply can't.
it's like girl's trait that guys can't understand.
 last 2 weeks, i guess i spent over 40000yen for clothes.
way too much. gotta save.
I don't wanna be a kind of person who are addicted to "shopping" to distract from pressure and stress they have.

so from now on,  I swear to god I will not buy anything but just necessary daily stuff.

anyhow, sleep tight everyone!
good night^^

In Miyashita Park

Hangin' with Yamada and Rei right now.

These guys are really cool and chill.

Yay

Cooking

Hey guys! It's Umeka :)

This weekend, I spent most of my time at home. Suddenly, as I was surfing on the Internet and looking at some Facebook pages of my German friends, Nostalgia hit me. Back in Germany, me and my friends used to cook and bake together just for fun. I recalled how we made some "Gebratene Mandeln" which are roasted Almonds coated with caramel. You can only buy them during Christmas season at traditional Christmas market in Germany. I have never heard of someone who detests them! They are super delicious and one of my favorite foods:)
So, during this weekend I made some non-Japanese food. 

I will bring the roasted Almonds to IE Core class tomorrow because I promised to let Mizuki taste some of them. If you'd like to taste some as well, come to tomorrow's class and just ask me ;)

Puppy:)

 Recently, I've been watching YouTube daily vlog channel that one of my favorite YouTuber uploads everyday and she recently got a male corgi puppy named Ken. 

 Since the moment I saw her getting Ken, I felt like I really want a puppy too. My favorite kind of dog has been Miniature Dachshund since I was in a kindergarten. 

 If anyone has recommendation, let me know:)

What I'm into these days

 I know this sounds so childish and ridiculous for my age, but recently, I've been into disney channel show called "K.C. undercover". I was actually watching all the episodes so far on the weekend.

 This story is about a 16 year old teenage spy K.C.(acted by Zendaya) pretending to be a normal teenage girl, but being on several missions as a teenage spy to capture those who are guilty. I really love her fashion style and how she has cool spy kits such as laser lip stick, handcuffs earrings, talking heart bracelet, darts heels, and more. 

 I feel that disney has no age limit and I admit that I'm childish for my age, but I'm still going to watch the shows. 

Wasabi potato chips

I ate wasabi potato chips four days ago. It was too spicy for me, and I finished eating it crying. I'll bring it to school someday so my friend could try it. Next time I eat potato chips, I'll try another spicy potato, and I'd like to find out which is more spicy.

I've finished my homework

I've finished my homework, so I can do wahtever I like from now. I don't like study, but I can get a sense of accomplishment when I've finished my assignment. I like this moment!

Today's lunch

I ate hiyashi chuka (cold Chinese noodle?) for lunch. I don't have an appetite in summer, but if it is a cold food, I can eat a lot as usual. Hiyashi chuka is perfect for summer. I love it so much.

a book for the book report?

I haven't decided what book I'm going to read for my book report! does anyone have any idea? I suck at reading English books because of my limited vocabulary and slow reading speed. every book I'm interested looks too hard for me and I don't know what to read:( 

Dear Umeka

How adorable your new pet is!

Pets always heal us, and at the same time they impose us a responsibility.

Umechan, please remember that you're the only one she can rely on.

I'm sure you'll build a good relationship with her and spend more meaningful days than before.

This weekend

 This weekend I went to driving school. This time, I had a class of driving in highway. In highway it was so different from normal road and everything was so fast! It was scary at first, but when I get used to the speed, it was very easy and fun driving because of no passenger walking in the road and no intersection. I can`t wait to get my own licence and have a drive! :)

My weekend

I had such a busy weekend this week! First Friday,  I don't have work so I go to dance practice with my dance circle. We have a show case next month however, days where we can practice with all the members together are very limited. So we had an all night practice. The next day I went all the way to odaiba to see a street dance championship. After that I was invited to a birthday party from the evening. I met many new people and it was very enjoyable. After that from night time I went to a salon to do a photo shoot. On Thursday on my home home from work a hair stylist lady asked me if I could model for her. I've been meaning to go to the salon to get my hair done anyways so I consented.   I got to have my hair treated, trimed and styled for free! Yay! The next day I met my quater Latin American friend and we went to the festival Vietnam Face in yoyogi park. We walked so much! First from shibuya to harujuku then in yoyogi park then back to walking around in shibuya. Although it  was tiring it was so much fun because  we have been planning to meet for such a long time. However, our days free were never the same. Well, I had work later the same day but I'm so glad we were able to meet in the daytime. After that I had work. I'm slowly getting used to the job however, still make so many mistakes. My manager is always yelling at me. I need to learn to be accurate and speedy. It gets so crowded at dinner hours even on week days! I'm naturally a slow person and regularly cannot do two things at once so my job is difficult for me. However, I hope I can become quicker to think though my part time job experience.

Homework

Taking care of kids is tiring but fun as well.
There is one little girl who is from Costa Rica. Her parents speak Spanish, and so I try to speak to her in Spanish using what little knowledge I have from middle school. I was happy to find that she understood some of the things I said, and smiled when I said that her sticker was pretty. She can't speak yet, but nodded and smiled at my weak Spanish.
Oh yes, I didn't know what "Dolphin" or "mammal" was in Spanish, so I just said "pescado" which means "fish." I looked it up.
Dolphin--> delfín
mammal--> mamífero
They are so similar!
I know some people would be furious for me to describe a dolphin as fish.
She seemed to get what I was saying, though.

Yukata

I forgot to add, that originally, the yukata was used for bathing. The kanji of "yukata" means bath clothes. It ks said that it was originally used like a bathrobe.

New Pet

Hello everyone! It's Umeka :)

On Friday, I went to a pet shop to buy myself a hamster. I have loved animals since young and now that I live by myself spending much time alone at home, I felt that a hamster's companion might be a good change. But before that I asked Bryan, whom I'd like to call the hamster master here, how to keep the hamster during summer and many other things. He's a real expert! At the pet shop I couldn't decide between a grayish Djungarian Hamster or a white one. Eventually I chose the white one. I named it Gizmo after the character from the movie Gremlins.

Isn't she so cute sleeping calmly and peacefully?♡

Wish you all sweet dreams as well! Good night!

Hi Ryosuke

Hi Ryosuke,
a yukata is a summer kimono and is much more simpler compared to the kimono. Although the main structure is the same, it is easier to wear, and so is used for casual occasions. It is also a lot more lighter than a kimono, making it cooler to wear and fit for the hot summer season.

Kimono and Yukata

Can you exactly describe the differences between Kimono and Yukata? I got some parts but not everything. Talking about Japanese traditional things is unxpectedly difficult, though,  I am becoming into Japanese culture than before. Today(sunday), our circle is going to guide people from English speaking countries around Jinguji. I'm looking forword to and worrying about being asked about Japanese culture which I don't know.

The lost thing

Characters: A boy and a lost thing
Setting:  Future in an Austraria
Point of view: First person
Conflict: The boy vs the society
Symbols: Being careless toward lost things is a symbol of workholic people
Climax: The lost thing go back where it should have been
Irony: People don't care about lost things even though they are really weird
Theme: Be aware around you

Spain, Austria and Netherlands

Eveybody loves the summer

People get great excitement when they think of plan for summer vacation 

SO AM I !!!

I already booked the flight to Switzerland and stay there for about 3 weeks at my boyfriend's house.

But we also thinking to visit other European country since it's cheap and easy. I know his family gonna take me to Italy during holidays, but I and boyfriend consider to travel one more country.

After some research, we narrowed the possibilities into 3.

1 Spain, valcelona

2 Netherlands, Amsterdam

3 Austria 

We know Spain is great country for Sommer. There's a lot of beach, hot parties, clubs, alcohol. Full of amusement.

But Netherlands and Austria are also beautiful. Have friends there to visit 

Hmm which to choose... 

Farewell songs

I have a few songs in my library that represent parting with or saying goodbye to something. One of these is "たんたんたん" (Tantantan) by Mass of the Fermenting Dregs, enclosed in a 192kbps MP3 file. One of my favorite bands, Mass of the Fermenting Dregs (called マスドレ for short) made their debut with a self-titled EP (sorry about the low sound quality) and went on to release another mini-album and a full one before they came to an abrupt stop in 2012 ("they" is an overstatement; only one of the original members remained by the end). "たんたんたん" is a farewell gift from the last member, Natsuko Miyamoto, and she wished for the song to be spread across the world. Here's a link, since YouTube compresses data and lossy-to-lossy compression is something that I would rather not risk.

Another Japanese artist that I like, Kinoko Teikoku (きのこ帝国), made a five-song EP with songs focusing on the concept of saying farewell/losing things. The band, around the time they made this EP, were in a transitional phase. Amid their increasing popularity, they also were in a time when they were experiencing changes in their human relationships and environments. I remember listening to this plenty near the time of my high school graduation, which is one of the reasons why this EP left a really strong impression on me.

My masterpiece

       I have only one class on Thursday, so I had much free time yesterday. (I know I should have done my HW, but please forgive me I love free time!) On my way to home it suddenly occurred to me to bake some cake. Yeah, I did it:)

It's pound cake mixed with tea leaves. It was a great success. Maybe I should have decided to be a confectioner.....

This week.

This weekend, my two years younger junior from cheerleading is having their first competition alone at yoyogi and I am planning to go watch it with my friends. I had an opportunity to do cheerleading with them and be in the competition with them in Feburary this year so I'm excited to see them do cheer again. I honestly wanted to watch their practise but because of all the classes I couldn't and that disappoints me a lot. I still can't believe it has already been 4 months since I cheered with them. This is one of the photo for the February competition I did with them.

After that, me and my friends are planning to do a birthday surprise for two of my friends from High School so I am excited for that too. (:

Hunger Games

I have chosen the book 'Hunger Games' for the second book report. The reason why I chose this was because I remember enjoying myself reading this when I was in middle school. I enjoyed reading this book because it wasn't only about romance but it had action scenes in it. This book was one of the books I got into that I read all the hunger games series. I haven't watched the movie so I am planning to make an evaluation on the differences on the movie and book again.

the lost thing

characters: the boy and the ”lost thing”
setting: some kind of old place maybe in Australia
point of view: first person
conflict: the boy and the lost thing vs society
symbols: the color red is a symbol of vividness
climax: when the lost thing finally found a place where he belongs
irony: he wasnt accepted from many people before he goes to the place where it belongs to
theme: every thing or a person has a place there they belong to.

swimming

About a month ago, I got my rib cracked.
Although I am in the swimming team, I wasn't able to swim.
But on Monday I went to see a doctor and he said I can swim from the next day:)
I was so happy because swimming makes me get rid of my stress and things like that.
I really appreciate that I can swim... but the problem is that we have the practice in the morning, from seven o'clock, meaning that I have to wake up at about 4:50 and leave home at 5:25.
Even though I have to wake up early tomorrow, I was doing my homework and still awake...
I'm so not sure if I can wake up on time...


Good night

So much to do and so little time

I recently started a part time job waitressing. It's actually my first real job because in high school I belonged to the dance club and didn't have much time after school. I have done some English teaching jobs on weekends in the past for some friends english school however, it was my friend so although I got paid it was more like doing a favor. Back to my main subject, I had work today as well. And my friends from IE came to my work place today! I was happy but a little embarrassed. Thank you for coming though!
 Monday and Tuesday were horrible because it was so busy and I get very nervous so I made many mistakes. However, though it was busy today as well I din't make that many mistakes. I think I am slowly getting used to the job. What I need to work on now is along with accuracy,  is speed. Dinner time becomes very crowded so I often get flustered especially because I am the only waitress there. However, although I make mistakes and have to check with the customers about their order so many times they are all so nice and understanding. Many costumers leave saying thank you for the meal or good luck. That is probably the highlight of my work. It's so reassuring and I feel I can work harder to do better. It is very stressful for me because I am a slow learner and i get very very nervous. Also I am so tired and cranky at school almost everyday now because of less sleep and late night hours. It's is not good because it is affecting my school life as well. But it's life so I have to deal with it so I wull  take this as a chance to grow and become stronger!

Manga Cafe

Today, I felt a little tired, so I decided to go to manga cafe for the first time.
I chose a flat room which you can lie down and enjoy reading mangas.
I could also charge my phone and use the Internet.
It was very quiet and comfortable.
I enjoyed reading my favorite manga called Inuboku.
I'll definitely go there again.

Karaoke

I started a part time job at a karaoke.
I really nead money right now !
I need the experience of working too!!!

the beginning of the third month

Its been more than 2 months since we, the first graders, entered AGU.  I made many friends and got to know many seniors. I'm really glad that I was able to enter this school and to be able to meet many of the people here. I learned many new things during class and outside of class. I wish to continue on and make it a good time here.

Learning a new language

Today I have Spanish class which is the most difficult class for me to catch up.

I never knew that learning a new language is so difficult. Since I learned English and Japanese naturally, this is my first time to learn a new language academically. I'm sure that I'm gonna struggle at the end of the term test....

I'll try my best not to fail.

club music

I listen to club music recently especially deep house.
I'm practicing DJ for our next performance.
It is coming up next week on Saturday.
I haven't created a disc for my music so I'm going to work on it now.
I hope I'll be able to throw parties like other DJs in the future.

Ramen

I have been eating a lot of ramen recently.
I've been going to a restaurant called hidakaya!
It's cheap for its taste.

To Rei Akutagawa

I hope your eyes are getting better but, if not, relax, the "byojaku face" look has become rather popular recently . . .

Re: Bryan's Grammar 2

"He thought he'd meet Drake before he moved away."

My friend asked me if it's appropriate to use this sentence when Jim meets Drake before he moves away. Here is an example that my friend created:

Drake: "What are you doing here, Jim?"

Jim: "I thought I'd meet you before you move away."

My thoughts: Yes, I think the consistent past-perfect first one is more common, but in that case there is really no choice. You can't say "He thought he'd meet Drake before he move away."

The word "meet" is also a bit confusing here to American English speakers. Are they meeting for the very first time? That's what it sounds like. Otherwise, I would say "meet up with" or "get together with" (there's also the business sense of "have a meeting with") . . .

A follow-up to the grammar post

I found a perfect example on the internet about what I was trying to say in the last post. Take a look at this:


"Mr.Dilger wants to see you." Mr. Bruce went on to say. "It's about the same thing. I thought I'd tell you before you saw him. A little bit easier facing the Big Boss if you're wised up beforehand, you know." I thanked him and went down the long aisle of desks to Mr. Dilger's office, the directory manager.


and this:


“I thought I'd tell you before you get to the office tomorrow"


Do you see the difference? The first quote and the second quote are both talking about the present time, yet the first quote has the verb "see" in past tense, while the second one has "get" in present tense. They both seem to be okay, but how? The first quote is obviously taking place before the main character "sees" Mr. Dilger. So why would it be in past tense? I'm not trying to be a grammar Nazi, I'm just extremely curious. 


Sorry for the boring posts.

Any thoughts?

French

French is very difficult. I studied about 2 hours for today's small test, but I couldnt mark good score. I'll study harder from now on. I hope I could visit France someday!

I'm almost done reading "The Great Gatsby"

I started reading it just a few days ago, shortly after we turned in our book reports. If it helps with anything, I did my book report on Fitzgerald's debut novel, This Side of Paradise and I can clearly tell the difference - I'm sure that anybody who listened to my oral presentation of it would be aware of what I mean by that. For those who haven't: This Side of Paradise was written/put together in haste from manuscripts and short stories Fitzgerald wrote during his Princeton years, so the stories/arcs feel a bit disconnected.

Although The Great Gatsby's a much smoother ride when it comes to structure, the two novels are pretty similar in their tone and are descriptive, too. They owe their richly detailed environments to Fitzgerald's incredible ability to recall/describe such places. I guess that's why I like the first half of Chapter VIII so much. For some reason, it feels sort of dreamy and hazy to me as Gatsby relates his youth with Daisy and his life during and after the war to Nick Carraway - maybe a side-effect of me trying to imagine this happening during the morning twilight?

Minnesota

2years ago I went back to my hometown to play tennis. Since I came to Japan at the age of 6, I didn't have a friend to meet there. But at the tennis camp, all the people greeted my and made great relationships with the guys at the camp.

I with I could go back and meet them this summer!!

Decopon

Last night, I went to a welcoming party of an outdoor circle called Decopon in Aogaku.
I already had some friends there so it was a lot of fun.
The people in my grade were very nice.
I felt like continuing to join the activities here.
I'm looking forward to joining a camp in Okayama.

American snacks

Few days ago, my friend who live in America has sent me boxes of snacks which I can`t find in Japan! Its American taste is so different from Japanese snack, lol I almost laughed how sweet it is!

the lost thing

setting  during rapid economic growth in some country in Asia

conflict a guy and the lost thing vs. other poeple

climax the lost thing goes back to where it belongs, the place no one seems to know exists 

theme there's something magical in this world, but people are now too busy to notice them 

irony the lost things do exist, but they are in the place that can't be seen by busy people 

symbols the lost thing is the symbol of a creative mind

on sunday

On Sunday,  I went to Omiya to play a escape game on Conan.
I went there with my friends from high school who like Conan.
We were close to escaping, but we couldn't.
It was more difficult than I thought.
It is very regretful for me now so I want to try it again.

After that, we went for dinner.
We of course talked about the game, but we were most of the time talking about our high school. It was really fun and I want to meet with them again somedays.

My eyes!!!!!!!!!!

My eyelids have been red recently.
I have no idea why!
I've been putting different kinds of medicine but none of it seems to work.
I won't go to the doctor.
It takes too much time and it costs too much money.

The lost thing

The story is about a man who found a lost thing that looks like a crab octopus hermit crab jar thing.
Setting : A futuristic strange city.

Conflict : a guy against himself if he can take car of the thing.

Climax : when the thing was leaving him to a better place.

Symbol : I thought the thing was a symbol of his imagination

Irony : The irony is when the man had to let go of the thing .

Theme : People have to grow up someday.

Kimono

I went to the kimono shop yesterday to buy furiside for seijinshiki. I didn't know it was so expensive, so I was surprised when I first heard how much it was. I chose red furiside. I can't wait to wear it. 

Plans for the Summer

 Recently, I've been thinking about what I'm going to do in the summer. 

 First of all, I know that I'm going to Hawaii Oahu Island and Hawaii Island in the beginning of December with my family to surf and do some shopping.

 But since it's in September, I'm pretty much free in August. And I've been planning a little bit about what I'm going to do. 

 I definitely want to go to Mitama festival in July since I couldn't go last year because I was also in Hawaii last Summer.

 In August, I would love to do shopping with my friend, go to the beach, go to Disney land, and even go traveling with my friend.

 Summer is my favorite season ever and I just can't wait for the summer to come. Even in the Winter, I really want to go to Australia to escape the coldness.

Watching "The lost things"

Characters: a guy, the lost thing

Setting: a house, trash collecting place, a city

Conflict: a guy vs. himself

Climax: Finding similar things to the lost thing knowing where it came from.

Symbols: the lost thing, ball, trash, bus, a house, people

Irony: They found the place.

Theme: May be there aren't much lost things anymore. Or I stopped noticing. Too busy doing other stuff.

my recommendation for dramas

one of the ways to improve your english is to watch movie or drama you like in English to let your ears get used to it.

I also do with English subtitle, in case i didn't catch up the words.

Here's my recommendation

all of them are pretty good one. It'd be nice if I tell you the basic story for each of them, but I'm too sleepy and tired after 8 hours of work so forgive me for my laziness! but they are all good,

you can enjoy story and learn a lot.

Well, time for me to sleep, good night everyone! sleep tight^^

< SUITS>

<LAW & ORDER IN UK>

<the BIGBAN THEORY>

<THE MENTALIST>

<GRIMME>

The Lost Thing

Setting: the story of a boy named Shaun who discovers a bizarre lost creature at the beach and starts  
to find somewhere it can belong taken place in dystopian Melbourne, Australia

Point of view: 1st person

Conflict: Shaun and the creature vs. everyone who are indifferent to them

Climax: Shaun discorvers a utopian land for lost things (the creature).


Symbols: fabrics is a symbol of indutrialization

Irony: Shaun was not so sure if the creature or any of the others really belonged there.

Theme: nobody are quite sure the world people belong are right for them.

Part time job

A new worker came to my work place, tennis school. She is 25 years old, but she still seems like a university student because of her cute face. I have to work harder so she can follow after me.

The lost thing

Main characters: A boy and the creature

Point of view: first person

Setting: 20th century at the beach

Conflict: lost thing vs society

Climax: A man finds where the lost thing belongs to

Irony: the lost world seems to be enjoyable

Theme: you are not a lost thing

Symbol: a key symbolizes a road to become non-lost-thing

the lost thing

The Lost Thing

Main characters: The boy and the creature.
Setting: A city near the ocean, some dacade ago.
Conflict: person VS nature. The boy couldn't find where the creature should go, and everyone except for the boy kept ignoring the presence of the creature.
Symbol: The arrow was the symbol of steps until the place the creature belongs.
Irony: The boy couldn't find a place the creature should go, even though he wants to.
Climax: When the boy finally find the place where many creatures live.
Theme: Always be kind to everyone, even if they are different from you in some ways.

I thought the lost thing was the warmness of people. Everyone except for the boy continued to ignore the existance of the creature. They didn't think of helping the creature. I thought many of the creature didn't have to find there place if people just accepted them.