Good bye 2006☆

2006 will end soon. Come to think of it, this year I was in four kinds of circumstances.

1. Alberta, Canada

2. Texas, U.S.A

3. Nagasaki, Japan

4. Kumamoto, Japan

2006 came when I was in Canada to visit my friend place during winter break of the school. I visited there from U.S. where I was staying as a student at that time. That was my first travel alone. I flew to Edmonton, Canada from Texas via Phoenix, Arizona at night. So, when I arrived there, it was midnight! I stayed the airport until 5am and went to the bus depot in downtown by using airport bus. After that I took long- distance bus to the place where my friend lived. It took about 8 hours for me to get there!!! I stayed the town for 3 weeks and enjoyed Christmas and New Year days.

After that I went back to Texas and stayed there until June. The spring semester was soooo hard for me...I feel I was studying all the time(>_<) From June to August I was in Nagasaki which is my hometown. I had nothing to do there because I was taking a one- year leave from school to study abroad. In August I came to Kumamoto. I began to work as a part- time worker. Then school began.......

2006 was the most exciting year for me, I think. I'll never have a year like 2006. 2007 will be hard year for me because I have to do job hunting and write graduation thesis. However, I hope 2007 will be a good year as well^^

Drinking with friends☆

I went to restaurant bar to meet friends tonight. They are my best friends when I was in junior high school and we belonged to tennis club. We haven't met for half a year, so we were so excited. We ordered some dishes and they are very good. I ate all of them although I've had curry and rice before at home(^o^; Also we drank and drank! UsuallyI don't drink so much, but I drank this time. We talked about our job, school life, love affair and so on! We'll meet next summar. I'm looking forward to seeing them from now!!!

Going back to my hometown☆

Yesterday was the last day to work this year, and I'm in hometown now. I got home after 10 from part-time job last night and I made dinner. After eating dinner, I listened to some songs, took a bath and used the internet. When I noticed, it was 3am! After that I packed my luggage. It was almost 6 in the morning(*_*) I went to bed right away, but one hour later I had to wake up because of bus schedule...I was extremely sleepy and was feeling dizzy in the morning. So, I slept for 2 hours in a bus. At home I had to clean up our rooms by myself(;^_^) I got tired. That's why, I fell asleep when I was taking a bath. And now..I'm too sleepy to open my eyes. Anyway, I hope my staying here will be a　good chance to feel relaxed from lots of pressure I've been feeling there days!

☆THE BOOKSTORE GHOST☆

Mr. Brown likes ghost books, cats and cheese. So, he opened his own bookstore and he sold only ghost books. The name of the bookstore was Black Cat Bookstore. Then he bought cat which likes cheese, not fish. They lived happily, but there were a lot of mice there.

One day a woman came to the bookstore, but she ran out because she saw mice. And nobody wanted to come to the store. Mr. Brown worried and told the cat to catch all of the mice in three days. However, the cat liked mice. The mice told the cat the bookstore should be scary because this is a ghost bookstore. Then the cat said, "I have a plan!"

One boy was walking by the bookstore, and suddenly some books fell of a shelf. Then a lot of his friends came to the store to see that. They said, "This store has real ghost!" The next day the bookstore was very busy because of a lot of people who wanted to see the ghost. The plan of the cat worked! After all there was only one book left at the store and Mr. Brown was so happy. He asked the cat whether the cat caught the mice or not. The cat took him to the bookshelf. One book fell off, and he knew everything. Now they all live together happily.

I wish we could talk with animals!!!

Having a vaccination☆

I had a vaccination against flu today. The hospital do that only by appointment, so I called them beforehand. I have the vaccination every winter. I' ve caught flu when I was in junior high school. I had the high fever and sore all over for a week! That's why I thought I did't want to have it again at that time.

I don't dislike to have an injection, so I finished it soon. However, the doctor told me one thing...I seem to have gastroptosis! I was very surprised to hear that because I've been thinking that it was only for skinny people. I asked the doctor the reason and I knew that because of a sudden reducing weight^^; The doctor told me that it's not disease, so I don't need to worry about it, but I do care, actually....!!!

☆THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG☆

Once upon a time there was a king and he had seven daughters. The youngest gaughter was delightest of all of them. One day she was playing with her favorite golden ball beside a river. When she threw the boll, it fell into the river and sank down. She began to cry. Then one frog appeared and he told her he could help her. But, he wanted her to eat same plate and sleep togehter instead. She told him it's okay. She thought he would never find the ball. However, the frog came back with her golden ball. She was very happy and ran off for her castle. She forgot her promises with the frog. The frog called princess, but couldn't catch up with her.

When the princess was eating dinner with her family, she heard knocking. But she turned the frog away and slammed the door rudely. She turned pale. The king asked her the reason and she told him everything. The king told her to keep promise with the frog. So, the frog came into the castle and began to eat foods from her plate. She began to cry because she was afraid of the frog. Then she put the frog her bed. Suddenly the frog turned into a handsome prince. The prince told her a evil witch turned him into the frog. They became friends and later they got married. They lived happily.

I thought the princess is rude, and her dad is odd person^^; It's tale, so they are allowed!!! By the way, I think there are lots of princess books which aren't known in Japan.

☆A relaxing day☆

Today I was totally free. I was very happy to have lots of free time for my own! I've been sooooo busy, so I decided not to do anything and just stay home. I woke up nearly noon, and I ate lunch. Then I began to use the computer. When I was accessing some websites, I found movies which have been shown for free. And I noticed one movie which I've watched when I was a freshman. The movie was Gilbert Grape. I didn't like this movie because I liked happy movies at that time. This is too heavy movie for me. I think my friends who watched it together didn't like it either. However this time was different. I was moved and thought a lot about what family is. That's because I took a sociology class last year, I think. I cannot say well how I felt from this movie, but my feeling toward this movie was completely different. Anyway, I liked this movie and I was really glad to watch it again. By the way, there are a lot of movies which is shown for free! I didn't know^^; I'll watch them when I have enough time to do it♪

☆THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE☆

I went to the library and borrowed some books from there today too. I read one of them right away. The title of the book is The Sorcerer's Apprentice. By the way, it was the first time for me to read Penguin Young Readers book. I didn't know the series although I've read Penguin Readers books.

There was a village which has good foods, and people were so happy. Next to the village was a castle and a sorcerer lived there. They had no food one summer. One boy in the village went to the castle for help and the sorcerer's magic. The sorcerer was happy to help them, and told the boy to be his apprentice. The sorcerer taught him his magic. After teaching strong magic, the sorcerer said to the boy, "Time to go. You've the magic now. I'll be a toad." The boy took foods to his village and he is sorcerer now.

I couldn't get this story well...why was it time for the sorcerer to go?? Why did he become a toad??? I really cannot understand^^; But it's okay because it's story for little kids.

My presentation☆

San Antonio is the city I stayed 2005-2006. Enjoy the slideshow!!!

Checking my blog☆

Total words this semester: 8,840

How many total posts? 35

How many posts in October: 12
in November: 10
in December: 13

How many posts about books: 15
with links: 0
with pictures/photos: 14

How many complex posts? (at least 3 links and 1 photo):

Sidebar:
Do you have:a labels section: YES
a Kumamoto links section: YES
other blogs: YES(including at least 2 blogs from other classes in the WinK community: NO)Comments (look in your dashboard):How many comments are there on your blog? 23

Assignments/Book reviews:How many book reviews have you written? 14

Have you done these assignments?:
assignment 1: review (at least 3 paragraphs of at least 3 sentences): YES
assignment 2: blog post about Kumamoto: NO
assignment 3: collaborative essay about Kumamoto: NO
assignment 5: presentation about Kumamoto: NO
assignment 6: (collaborative) movie review; or kumamoto-i wiki assignment

Other questions:
What is the longest gap between posts on your blog? between "take a good look" and "Illumination"

I have a lot of things I have to do!!!!! I have to hurry.

☆GIANTS HAVE FEELINGS, TOO☆

I found a funny book. That's today's book, Giants have feelings, too. Do you know a story of Jack and the Beanstalk? I think most people know it. Half part of the book is Jack and the Beanstalk, normal story everyone knows. However, the other part of the book is this story, Giants have feelings, too. Yes, it is a story from the point of view of giant who Jack met. At first, I read the normal story and read Giant have feelings, too. It was funny!!!

In this story, Jack is described as a bad boy and the Giants tell us they were kind to Jack. The Giants say, "He had no right to take what was ours or to hurt my husband. Giants have feelings, you know. You wouldn't hurt a giant's feelings, would you?" at the end of the story.

After reading this story, I felt like being on the Giant's side. Come to think of it, the Giants didn't do anything bad to Jack. The Giant's wife was kind to him, actually. So, was Jack a just a stealer?!

A year-end party☆

I had a year-end party of workplace as a part-timer yesterday. I thought it might be a good chance to know more people than ever and I was excited. However, I didn't feel very very excited because I had some reports and prep for classes which I must finish as soon as possible. So I had decided to go home after the party. It was a fun party. I talked to a lot of coworkers and boss. I liked their dishes very much, so I ate a lot. I also drank a lot. I can't believe how I could do that now, but it couldn't be helped. At the end of the party, I totally got drunk! I felt good, so I forgot about what I had to do, and went to a post-party party....I was a stupid!!! I had a good time there but I regretted to do that later. I felt I lost money also because I have no money now. Anyway, it was my fault^^; I don't want to drink now.

☆THE SECRET☆

I choose The secret from books I borrowed last week.

Andrew is a member of basketball team in his school. He thinks he is just a normal player among them. Chris Draper is a one of his team members and his play is great. Also he was tough. The day they won the game, Andrew went to bed early but he didn't feel good. At midnight he woke up because he could hardly breath. He got into panic and opened the window to have more air. Later he started to breathe normally again. His mum went into his room because of the noise. She told him to see a doctor the next day and they went to sleep that night. The next day they went to the clinic. The doctor told them that Andrew has an asthma. As one of the medications for it, he was given an inhaler. Whenever he feels short of breath, and before he does any kind of exercise, he had to use the inhaler. He thought using it doesn't look cool, so he decided to keep his asthma secret. So from then, he tried to use the inhaler when he is alone.

One day, when Andrew was just about to use the inhaler before game, someone called his name. It was Chris. Chris told Andrew that he wanted to wait him there. Andrew couldn't use the inhaler. He thought it wouldn't a big deal. However, at the end of the game, Andrew felt attack come on and gasped in front of everyone. He went to the hospital pretty soon. In the hospital, Andrew thought he should have used the inhaler and decided to use it from then. Then Chris and his mum went to see him to the hospital. Chris confessed that he has an asthma also, and feel embarrassed to use the inhaler. They decided to use it together before games.

This kind of story is good for little kids, I think. It teaches useful lesson.

My bad habit☆

I have a lot of bad habits, but the one most obvious one every my friend know is...being late. Almost every time I'm late for appointments(>_<) I know it's really bad, and make friends annoyed, but I cannot help to do it. I always try not to be late at first, but time is run out...I had a forum of English and English-American Literature department yesterday, so I promised to meet my friend at school at 12 am. However, I was late as usual and arrived at school at about 12:30....I felt really sorry for her. She didn't blame me at all. She might have been disgusted by my behavior. I break this bad habit...otherwise I can hardly be a member of society!

☆WIZARDS☆

I feel like reading many books these days. That's why I borrowed some books from the library today. I read Wizards first of all.

There are three stories in this book, and different wizards appear in each chapter. All of the wizards are unique and I liked them. Sometimes they are silly, but they manage to solve their problems.

My favorite story is "The man with a lump on his nose". It was funny. There were one man whose name is Egbert and he had a lump on his nose. His wife told him to go to see a wizard, Mott for help. So he went to see Mott. After seeing the lump, Mott opened his book of spells and asked Egbert like this. "Do you want an expensive cure, or a cheap cure?" He wanted a cheap one. Mott gave him a stone and taught how to cure to him. After that he did as Mott told him. He rubbed his nose with the stone. And put the stone into a paper bag and buried it. His nose got better soon and he was so happy. Suddenly his wife came, and told him that she opened the paper bag which he buried and she has a lump on her nose...She was angry^^;

I felt sorry for her, but it's funny.

Happy Wedding☆

Last Sunday I went back to my hometown to attend my friend's wedding. The wedding and its reception were held at the chapel and hotel in theme park in my hometown. The theme park is the place the bride and groom met!!!

First we went to the chapel and we celebrate a marriage. My friend was wearing wedding dress and she was so beautiful(^0^)! The bride and groom left the chapel by riding in a carriage. It was quite romantic☆ After that we moved to the hotel and went into the reception hall which is in the picture. We had dinner there, and some people gave speeches, sang love songs. They were very good and I remembered a lot of memories with the bride, my friend. At the end of the reception, the bride and groom performed on the stage together. The bride played the piano and the groom played the guitar and sang. The song they chose was Sign by Mr. Children. I had known they've been loving Mr. Children so much. It was great. All of guests were just looking at the couple and listening to it. A lot of them were moved and crying.

It became my unforgettable day.

☆LITTLE BEAR☆

I read Little Bear's Friend last time and I liked the book. That's why I chose same series. This book, Little Bear, is a story of the little bear and his mom. Every story is filling with the mom's love. There are 4 stories in the book. All of them was lovely and enjoyable but today let me tell you the story of chapter 1: What will little bear want?

One day little bear said to his mom, "Mom, I'm cold. I want something to wear". So his mom made hat for little bear. Little bear said, "I don't feel cold anymore!". He went out to play.

Little bear said to his mom, "Mom, I feel cold. I want to wear something again." So his mom made coat for him. Little bear said, "I'm not cold now!", and went out to play.

Little bear told his mom that he's cold, so his mom made snow pants this time. Little bear went out to play.

However little bear went back again and told mom he's cold. So this time mom bear asked little bear, "Do you want fur coat?". Little bear answered, "Yes! I want it!!" Mom bear took everything from little bear and said, "There is fur coat!" Little bear said, "This is my fur coat!" He wasn't cold.

How do you think of this story? Do you think little bear is silly? Cute?

If little bear wasn't little, it wouldn't OK, but I can say he is cute because he is little bear.

☆THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA☆

I read The Princess and the Pea. I've never heard this story before. Is this book famous? I don't know. I talk about this story.

Once upon a time, there were a king and a queen, and they had a son. He was young and fine. When the time for him to get married come, he had to find a wife. He didn't want to marry just any old princess. He wanted to find a real princess. The prince traveled all over the world to find one. He met a lot of princesses, but he couldn't find a real one. They didn't seem quite right. The prince was sad.

One night there was a huge storm and it rained very hard. Someone knocked the gate of their castle suddenly. The person told the king that she was a princess. The king took her into the castle. The girl was very wet from head to toe. The prince came and said, "Are you a real princess?" The girl answered yes. However, the queen wasn't sure about that, so she decided to find it out. She knew the way.

The queen went to the bedroom and removed all the bedding. Then she put one green pea on the bed. After that, she put 20 mattresses on the top of the pea and put 20 feather beds on the mattresses. Later the queen told the girl to sleep there, and the girl went to bed.

The next morning the girl greeted the king and queen. The queen asked if the girl could sleep well or not. The girl told her she couldn't sleep at all because of something hard and big which was in her bed. The queen said, "Only a real princess would feel the little pea in the bed!" She thought the girl was a real princess. The prince found a real one finally and he was very happy. The prince and the girl got married the next day.

I can understand the prince wanted a real princess...but what's the "real" mean??? Toooo difficult. And the girl could find out the existence of the pea. Is it real?? I think the girl is just a superwoman!!! Don't you think so?!

Today's class3☆

In class I chose The Elves and the Shoemaker this week and read it. I remembered the story roughly but I totally forgot the ending of it.

Long time ago there was a old shoemaker. He lived with his wife, but they were very poor because of the time was hard. One day finally they had only one leather to make a single pair of shoes. The shoemaker put it on the table and decided to make it tomorrow morning. He went to bed. The next morning the shoemaker found one pair of shoes on the table instead of the leather! The shoes was so fancy. He said, "I go to a market to sell it!" The shoes were sold at the market and he got a bag of gold. He bought more leather to make shoes. The next day there were some fancy shoes again!!! That continued for a few month and the shoemaker and his wife became very rich. They were very curious...they thought "who was making those shoes?" So they decided to find out that one night. They didn't go to sleep and they were hiding behind a curtain. When it became midnight, two little elves came out and began to make shoes. They danced and left. The shoemaker and his wife were so surprised and found out that the elves were wearing old clothes. So they made new outfits and shoes for the elves. They put them on the table instead of the leather. The next day the elves came out again. They found the outfits and shoes and put on them. They looked very happy and danced. Since that day the shoemaker and his wife never saw the two elves again. However they lived happily after that.

It was very lovely story too. How can the little elves make shoes? I'm so curious! By the way, I cannot imagine how elves look like...Are they child?? Maybe not. So who are they??? Hum...I have no idea!!!

☆FROG AND TOAD ALL YEAR☆

I've seen this book when I was a little. I remembered that from the book cover. So, I checked the website and I knew the title of this book in Japanese. I think I've read long time ago.

There are five chapters in this book and each of them is stories of the four seasons, winter, spring, summer, fall and Christmas. All the stories are very unique and humor. I was smiling as I read this book, I think.

Frog and Toad are good friends. They are always together. Frog is taller than Toad and he is like a big brother of Toad, I felt like that from the all stories. They are warmhearted and think of each other. I liked the story of spring specially. They run around the corner of house to make sure that spring had come....so lovely!!!

Book like this kind make my heart warm. I liked reading it so much.

Manju☆

As I've written down this blog before, I love sweets. I still have brown sugar candy, but I found my new favorite sweets these days. That is Manju...it's Japanese-style bun stuffed with azuki-bean paste. I like all of manju, but especially my favorite is brown sugar manju（＾-＾) Before I liked cakes, cookies, snacks and puddings more but I tried manjy once, and I found that I like Japanese-style sweets and buy them now. I know a lot of people who don't like bean paste and I was one of them. Suddenly I came to like it...maybe I got old(^^;) Anyway, I hear that Japanese-style sweets are healthier among another sweets, and it's very good news. However it's sure thing that I have more choices now...I might gain weight. Dangerous! I need not to eat so much though I love manjy so much(>_<)

Busy busy month☆

This month is going to be very busy for me. I know that from now.

First of all, I changed a part-time job. So, I have a lot of things to learn and do. To get used to the job, it'll take me some times. Sometimes it's stressful too. Yesterday was the very first day to work at new place....and I'm confusing a bit now. My free time will be shorter because I work longer than ever(>_<)

Second, I take an American literature seminar. We are reading three short stories in the class. This month is our turn to do presentation about one of the novel. So...I have to read it more carefully, discuss in a group and need to make resumes.

And, I take the other English literature class and we read one book which is written by Iranian woman. All of the students need to make a resume and discuss about it. The book is pretty busy compared with other English books I read now. From this month, the range of reading we need will be longer.

And and...I have two reports which due is this month!!! One of the reports is for the English literature class, and the other is for Japanese history class which I also take.

Hum...I don't know if I can manage it or not, but I have to do them!!!!!!! Anyway I'll do my best^^b

Today's class2☆

Today I read a book in a class. The title was Stone Soup. I really like the illustration of the book! It's soooo lovely!!!

Once upon a time, there was a village and it was very nice place to live for people. However, there was one bad thing there...that was people didn't like to share. One day, a man came to visit the village and said to people, "Does anyone have foods to share?", but everyone there said to him, "NO!". So, the man told people that he makes stone soup for everyone, and began to make it by himself. At first, the man put stones in a huge pot. Some people were watching what he was doing. The man said, "I like stone soup. I remember that the soup with cabbage was great!" One man of the village came to bring a cabbage and put it in the pot. After that the visitor(the man) told same kind of things to people and some people brought carrots, beans and corns. And the soup cooked. Everyone ate that soup and all of them loved it very much. After eating it, people danced and sang a lot. From then, the people in the village began to share. Especially they liked to share stone soup!!!

A man who visited the village was so clever. His idea made everyone happy there including himself, of course. I wish I was a clever like him.