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.

The Lost Thing

main characters: the young man and an oddly shaped creature
point of view: first person
setting: location is set on the beach and time is in the 20th century
conflict: the lost thing vs. society
climax: the lost thing could find a comfortable place
theme: everyone can find a place which is suitable for him or her
symbol: the color of the world is a symbol of the feeling of the lost thing.
irony: the lost thing is very friendly and tender-hearted, but he was deserted and became alone because of his appearance

The Lost Thing

Setting
     Somewhere in Europe, after the industrial revolution.
Main characters
     The boy and the lost thing
Point of view
     First person
Conflict
     The lost things vs society
Climax
     When the boy found many lost thing in the other side of the gate
Symbols
     The lost thing symbolize the old myth and never used tools
Irony
     The young man who first tried to help lost thing stopped helping and see less and less of those lost things.
Theme
     The place where outsiders can live

USJ

This weekend, I went to Universal Studio Japan!
There was Harry Potter area and we saw Hogwarts, butter beer,　Hagrid`s house and many other cool things from the world of Harry Potter! I`m very tired, but it was very fun weekend!

The Lost Thing

The Lost Thing

Main Character: A young man who finds a lost thing at the beach
Setting: an industrialized city in Europe, it is in the past after the industrial revolution, during the late the late 20th century
Point of View: First person
Symbol: Smog symbolizes pollution
            fabrics symbolize industrialization
            The red color symbolizes vividness and emotion
Conflict: The young man and the lost thing vs. society
Climax: The young man finally finds a place where "the lost thing" can belong to
Irony: The "lost things" weren't actually lost, human only stopped noticing them
Theme: Human are lost in a gray and emotionless world which consists of work, technology and industry so that they don't notice how beautiful the world can be

Yesterday, I went to Shibuya with my friends. In Starbucks Coffee, we drank sweet drink which is very high in calories. I consumed more than 1000 kilocalories for this drink. I felt sick from drinking it because it was too sweet. When night came, I didn't want to eat anything yet, so I had only salad for dinner. I don't want to eat sweet food for a while.

The lost thing

Setting: A industrial town near by the sea. I think it is during the age of industrial revolution.

Main character: A man, and the pot looking creature.

Point of view: First person.

Conflict: The man and creature vs. society 

Climax: The main characters finds a place where the "lost things" live.

Symbol: "creature" It is a symbol for the forgotten things during the industrial revolution.

Irony: The world of the lost things looked more enjoyable.

Theme: Find a world you belong to.

I think this film tells us to find a place where you belong by your self.

English grammar part 2

Thank you for your response on the last blog post, Dr. Hamilton. I've told my friend about the differences of the two and he seemed to have understood what the differences were.

Now, he asked me another question which is a little harder. He said that while he was reading a book, he saw this sentence:

" 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 friend's question really interested me, because to me it seemed like both of them are being used interchangeably. The first sentence seems to follow the grammatical rules of Past-Perfect, and the second version seemed to emphasize that he had not left yet when he'd met him. When I tried looking up similar sentence structures, I found that the first type, which every verb is in past tense, is far more common.

I never really learned English grammar thoroughly, especially how to use tenses. So, once again, I'd really like your opinions on this one. 

Can the first sentence be used when Drake hasn't moved away yet?

What do you think?

White Gold Toga Party

Last Saturday night, I went to White Gold Toga Party in Roppongi with my friend from high school.
Another friend from my high school invited me.
We had to wear white or gold to get discount.
We danced to music played by the DJs and was a lot of fun.
I've never seen a big room like this before.
It was the best party so far.
I wish I could dance here again.

The Lost Thing

The Lost Thing

Setting: In a city by the ocean. I think the time period is around 18-19th century since there was an Industrial Revolution.

Conflict: The lost thing vs. Society

Climax: The lost thing finds a place where he used to live and goes back to it.

Symbol: A key symbolizes a path to a wonderful place.

Irony: Even though the lost thing is very big, nobody seems to care.

Theme: You always have a place to belong.

Analysis on "The Lost Thing"

Setting: A seaside, dystopian Australian city (Melbourne?), assuming the short film is based on Shaun Tan's experiences. The brunt of the story takes place on "a summer a few years ago"
Characters: "The Lost Thing" and a young man (presumably based on Shaun himself)
Point of View: First person narration; from the young man's point of view
Plot: A young man, an avid bottlecap collector, tries to find a home for a strange creature, dubbed the Lost Thing
Conflict: The Lost Thing belongs almost nowhere and so the young man has to find a place for it. The fact that the young man starts not noticing other Lost Things later may also imply a conflict, unresolved
Climax: The young man finds a relative utopia and refuge for his Lost Thing
Irony: The young man himself blends into the lifeless crowd of people who do not notice Lost Things anymore
Symbols: The dull color scheme and redundancy of the world the young man lives in are symbols of conformity and emotional coldness. This poses a contrast with the bright and lurid hues of the Lost Things' refuge
Theme: Reaching out to others; looking at things in a different way; belonging; loneliness in a big city

The Lost Thing

Main characters: the young man and the lost thing. 
Setting: The setting is a city near the ocean, in some fantasy land sometime ago.
Conflict: Shaun, the main character, cannot find a place where the lost thing can belong in the society he lives in.
Climax: The opening into the land of the "lost things"
Symbol: The light in the land where lost things gather represents the welcoming world, showing that this might place where the lost thing might belong. 
Irony: The man wonders if the lost thing would ever find a place where it would belong, but in the end, it does.
Theme: The world can be cruel to those who don't fit in. Don't ignore them, but lend them a helping hand.

I felt that the lost thing represents the innocence and qualities we all used to posses. As we grow, we learn to forget how to simply enjoy little things, and society tells us to get rid of "childish fantasies" as it is not "useful." In the animation the lost thing finds a place where it belongs, but I often wonder if hiding the lost thing in that comfortable place was really for the best? Could not the dreary world have been able to learn to accept and live with it? I think the city and the lives of the people would have become much more lively and colorful if they allowed the lost thing to remain in their word.

Movies

Hi it's Umeka

This weekend I watched many movies!To be exactly 4 movies.

Kick-Ass 2 (2013)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

I know that I should have better done my assignments but I yield to temptation...
Among those movies I especially liked the Planet of the Apes movies. If you have some leisure time you might want to watch it. Tomorrow, I must not watch any movies because tons of homework are waiting for me...*cry*

Going to Haneda Airport

Today I went to Haneda Airport by riding a bicycle for about 40km!! 

I got really tired but, it was a great time spending the weekend with my friends at high school!!

color run

Last week I went to the color run at Odaiba with my friends from High school. In the weather report they informed us that it would be raining but we were so lucky that it turned out to be sunny. It was great that it didn't rain but it was very hot. It went up to 32 degrees and a lot of people were dehydrating.
At the color run, we all ran or walked for 3km and every few meters we would see this shade where people were throwing one particular cool powder to the runners. The colors they had were green, yellow, pink and blue. It was awful when the powder went in side your mouth because it tasted horrible and at the same time it made your teeth turn into that color.
It took me a really long time to take the powder off my skin and hair but I'm glad that they finally came off my skin.  (:

the lost thing

Setting: It is set in the beach is and the city in the present.
Characters: There are two main characters and they are the boy and the creature.
Plot: The lost thing is about a boy who meets a creature on the beach. The boy finds out that the creature is lost so he then helps him to figure out where he is supposed to belong.
Conflict: The conflict is that they cannot find the right place for the creature.
Theme: I think that the theme is to not ignore something that is different from us. From the film we can tell that everyone except for the boy just ignores the creature's existence. Maybe it tried to tell us that everyone is important and he important thing is to not ignore who is different but to help them.
Irony: The Irony is when the boy and the creature meets another creature at the centre telling them that the creature does not belong here. By this they finally find out where it is supposed to belong.
Climax: In the climax the creature finds its on place of living.

After watching this film I first thought that the lost thing was the freedom because when the boy meets the creature it seems to be having fun fooling around on the beach. And the people around them seemed to be all doing the same thing or in to work that their weren't much smiles on their face.
But then I again thought that the lost thing could be the heart from everyone and their action of helping someone. They all seemed to be ignoring the creature when it needed help.

turned out to be troublesome

 I chose To Kill A Mockingbird for my second book report, cuz it seemed to be thought-provoking and
make my book report a good one. I excitedly ordered it in Amazon. However, now I'm shivering. The book was so thick far more than I expected! My first book report was about A Christmas Carol, very thin book(which doesn't mean it is shallow), so it makes me worried if I can read through it. Hmm....
Anyway, the first chapter was interesting. I hope I can work through this troublesome job.

Merciless library

The library here at Aogaku's great, but evil. I came to this conclusion just yesterday, as I tried to extend my loan on Breakfast at Tiffany's and Murakami's Norwegian Wood. It happens that I forgot Norwegian Wood's return date - Thursday - while Capote's short story didn't receive the same treatment. I'm sure everyone knows that you are banned from loaning books for the number of days you fail to return an individual one. It turns out that extending loans counts, too.

And so, since I was banned on Friday from borrowing/extending my loan, I had to relinquish both of my books. My ban ends today, so I won't be able to borrow any more until next week. Sucks, right? Ah, well - it's nothing more than a small slap on the wrist. It won't stop me from borrowing books from now on.

Chat room

I went to the chat room yesterday to speak French. There were two other people besides me, and they spoke very fluently, while I had to stop them constantly to understand what they were saying.
If listening was hard, speaking was even harder. Everything I learned during class dispersed from my mind and I had no idea what to say. The time we had to speak was merely 30 minutes, but by the time it ended I was exhausted. It took a lot of energy just sitting in the booth with the other people!
I think it was a good experience because I was able to be in a place where the only language I could depend upon was French. I learned how difficult it was to speak, and how frustrating it can be to not be able to speak one's thoughts. 

After 5th period, I went to a lecture concert of the "Bach Collegium Japan." There were some instruments from the Baroque era. There's something about baroque music that is soothing and comforting.

To Bryan

Hey Bryan, regarding those two sentences: I agree with you. They both sound fine to me. The first one slightly emphasizes the cleaning aspect more and the second one slightly emphasizes the starting of the action but both seem conversationally OK. You can say that to your friend. Your instincts are good!

Stanley pickle

Characters: Stanley Pickle, parents, a girl
Settings: Old rural area
Conflict: Stanley vs himself
Climax: When he realized that dead things should not be robotic and should be buried.
Symbols: The forests symbolizes the world Stanley doesn't know of.
Irony: His parents have been dead.
Theme: Dwelling in the past is nothing good, you should enjoy what you can do now

Un matin au pot-au-feu

After another unproductive tetsuya spent just mostly goggling at my incomplete homework and falling asleep at the job, I come down from my bedroom to the household mess hall. It's just another one of those mornings during which I'm nothing more than some semblance of an undead - or so I thought. It is, instead, a matin au pot-au-feu.

Let me explain: there is some unnamed law/theory that states "any kind of cooking involving a pot or stew, if let to sit overnight in a suitable environment, will taste mouth-blasting awesome on the morning of the next day and a few days after". The leftovers of the pot-au-feu that I had yesterday night are no exception; by the time it reaches my plate, some of the essence from the ingredients sat in the soup must've already blended into it. My favorite way of eating this sacred dish is by soaking buttered pieces of toast in the soup; it's almost enough to make me believe in the existence of some merciful deity.

Rejuvenated, I pack up my bags and get ready to roll out to the battlefield. That homework seems like a piece of cake now; I bet I can finish it on the front lines.


Who's this unknown person, by the way?

The lost thing short film

short film by Shaun Tanner " The Lost Thing"
Setting: at a beach. I'm not sure what time pireod it is because it's an imaginary animational world.
             There are humans and alienish creatures living together in this world.

Point of view : first person

 Conflict : the conflict is between the man and the lost thing and society. ( the lost thing is in the form
                  of a giant teapot with alien like tentacle legs and crab like claws)


 Climax : when the man and the lost thing find a whole new world beyond the wall that encircles
                their own world.


Symbol  : the lost thing symbolizes people who can't find their place in society. They are different
                 from the norm and do not fit in the dull monotonous world around them.
                  The grey building and the wall is a symbol conformity mm and restriction.

 Irony : the irony is how different the world beyond the wall is from the world inside. Also the
             grey factoryish building with no windows is supposed to be a safe haven for lost things .
             However, it is just a confinement place.


Theme : Finding yourself or your place in society. The lost things are each persons creativity, identity
              and will. Peole in society get absorbed and lose their creativity. Everyone falls into a rut and
              follow the same monotonous life everyday. The world would loose it's color if we lost our
              selves.

Teaching English and English grammar

The other day, I was teaching my Japanese friends who are still in high school, English.

One of my friends asked me a question which still puzzles me. He asked me what the differences were between these sentences that he created:

"I will not leave until I see you start cleaning your room."

and

"I will not leave until I see you starting to clean your room."

It's been three years since I moved to Japan, and my opportunities to speak and listen to English has decreased significantly compared to when I lived in the States. Still, I try to keep my English fluency at the same level as my Japanese. But, both of these two sentences seem OK to me; they both make sense, and it doesn't seem grammatically wrong. 

Any thoughts anyone? I'd really like your opinions. 

I was working on the book report all night last night and  I couldn't get any sleep... it's not that I hadn't read the book or anything but it just took so long! I'm exhausted 

Bigban theory!

Recently I am extremly into Bigban theory it's been very popular long series comedy over time, and finally came to me!

Already watched til season 4but there were no season 5,6,7 so I ordered imported one from Amazon, and enjoyed it. It's good way for improving english while people have a fun time doing it

What is everyone's favourite drama or movie?

Lastly. I'm looking forward to see next season 8!

See you all at class:)

Good morning everyone

Somehow I finished report 

And about to die... But better than wasting my time on bed

Book report

I had part time job yesterday at tennis school. When watching people playing tennis, I always feel that I want to play tennis, so I'm planning to learn there. I can't wait to start playing tennis!

Ice show

I went to the ice show at Makuhari Messe  on May 29. I was so happy to see famous skaters there. I'm a fan of Yuzuru Hanyu. He skated with a song "believe" with new cloth. I was very excited. I hope I could see him again.

My favorite guitar solos

I felt like bloging today so I will tell you my top 3 favorite guitar solos.

3.Hotel California -Eagles
   This is a guitar solo using two guitars. It is a coutry rock song. If the two guitarists mess up even a little, it will mess up the whole solo.

2.Stairway to heaven -Led Zeppelin
   What is so good about this solo is that every time Jimmy Page plays this solo, it sounds different.That is because he plays free style. That is something only a pro can do.

1.Free Bird -Lynard Skynard
　I just love this solo!!! It's a 9 minute long solo. Allen Collins plays in a kind of country banjo style. Listening to this makes want to jump around.

So these are my favorite guitar solos!!!!
Hope you will enjoy!!!!

Stanley pickle

I thought this story was dark and bright at the same time.
The point of view was by the third person.
The conflict was stanley vs.himself to grow up.
I thought the symbols was his room as a symbol of childhood.The bird was a symbol for somthing that was important for the girl.
The climax is when Stanley finaly went outside with adventure.
The irony is when he thought making the dead bird back to life would make the girl happy but it didn't.
The theme is that everyone have to grow up someday.

Book report

I thought my book, Red Dragon was very interesting when I think back.
No wonder they made 2 movies about it.

Unknown?

Reading you guy's bloggs, I found an article written by "Unknown".

Who is it? Is it Chihiro?

OMG

I knew there is a test on Spanish tomorrow now.
I think I cant get any sleep tonight :)

Spanish is so difficult. English is enough for me!!!!

I can't go to sleep

As the title says, I can't go to sleep, so I'll just talk about another artist that I like which is Billy Joel.

He was popular among 70's and 80's so I bet there are few people in my age who listen to his songs.

However, I've known his music for more than 10 years since my parents are fan of him.

Although his songs were written decades ago, they never sound old.

I listen to his songs whenever I have time and they always make me feel good.

I'll just listen to his songs until I get sleepy.

planning ahead WAS key

book report....is killing me

no i think the biggest reason why it is killing me comes from myself who is poor at planning ahead.

now i learned how it will influence on me

Good bye my bed until i finish although i can not see the end yet.

Stanley Pickle

Setting: a twenty-year-old boy and a mysterious girl

Point of View: Third person

Conflict: stanley vs. himself

Symbols: Outside of Stanley's house symbolizes the world he doesn't know

Climax: a boy who never been to outside finally got out of his house and explored outside thanks to a girl.

Irony: Although he made a dead bird into clockwork for a girl who was missing it, she ran away from him.

Theme: Go out and try everything you're interested in. Do not be afraid of finding a new world you don't know yet.

Book Report...

Oh, how I dread tomorrow...
I wish I could have another week to work on the book report. I'm still not quite sure about how the discussion works. And yet, I believe I would be writing the same thing a week later...
Well, I might as well have it over with tomorrow....

Analysis on the short film "Stanley Pickle"

Let me get this out of the way first: seeing his clockwork parents after the bird being "fixed" was really disturbing, if the latter wasn't enough to make me feel that way. Anyhow:

Setting: Somewhere in the English countryside, especially around Stanley's house
Point of view: Third-person; no narration
Conflict: Protagonist vs. himself; he is afraid of going outside. The consequences count too.
Climax: The protagonist gives the now-clockwork bird back to the girl, who draws back and runs away.
Symbols: Stanley's house = his own comfort zone. In the same thread, Stanley's refusal to leave his house and routine could be thought of as something similar to an Oedipus complex.
Irony: Mr. and Mrs. Pickle turned out to be clockwork as well.
Theme: You cannot hold on to your past forever (?)

I want breakfast at Tiffany's, too

I'm sure everyone's heard of or watched the movie adaptation (which I refuse to believe in the existence of, heheh). Yet, I've been meaning to read Truman Capote's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" for a while, and so you would understand my excitement when I found a copy at Aogaku. I look forward to checking out more books from the library; I'm planning to grab some Hemingway on my next hunt.

Summed up, the story is about a writer in the 1940's who encounters a young, eccentric woman who is trying to look for her place in the world. That's where the title comes from; to Holly, the woman, the jewelery store Tiffany's is a place of perfection which makes her feel better whenever she's not in a great mood. I feel her - I feel like I haven't found my own "place" yet, although I still think that Aogaku is a great place to be.

short hair

It is getting hotter and hotter, so I had my hair cut short. New hairstyle doesn't look good on me, so I'm regretful a little. However, it became very easy to dry my hair!

On Friday

I went to a family restaurant with my friends. One of my friends is doing part-time job there. She began working part-time recently, so it seemed that she was not used to working, but she was working very hard. I've never experienced any part-time job, so I don't know well about working. However, I think it is not easy to make money. I must not forget the feelings of gratitude to my parents.

Green Tea

I used to hate green tea flavored treats a lot.
Even after getting older, I still couldn't like them besides green tea frappuccino from Starbucks.
However, today, I challenged myself to try green tea soft serve.
I mixed it with vanilla so that the flavor of green tea will become lighter.
Well, guess what?
It tasted far better than I thought.
I thought I might have overcame the hatred of green tea.
I wish I'll be able to reduce hatred toward other food because there are too much food that I hate.