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.

My new part-time job☆

I quit a part-time job. I liked the job very much, but I had something which I couldn't stand except for the job itself. Later, I found nice job on ad and applied for it. The job was clerical work, and it was completely different from jobs which I had had before. Also, it said, " Give preference to people with some experience", so I thought I had nearly no chance. That's why I was totally relaxed when I had a job interview. After few days, I had a phone call and I knew I employed by them. I was very very surprised and happy. However, I also felt nervous.

Today I woke up at 6:30 am and went to the office to get training. The woman who taught me their organization, contract, and job was so nice. She told me that this job will useful for my future. I think so too. When I left the office, I got name card. I feel nervous still now, but I'll do my best. Though it's a sort of new challenge for me, I want to get used to the job as soon as I possible.

By the way, I feel sleepy and dizzy because of the lack of sleep(>_<) I go to bed early tonight!!!

☆LITTLE BEAR'S FRIEND☆

I read Little Bear's Friend. I've kept reading books of Jacqueline Wilson, but I felt like reading another book this week. The design of the book cover is classical and very pretty.

One little bear lived with his parents in the forest. One day he sat in the top of a high tree and looked around the forest. He saw the hills, the river, the sea, his house and his mom from there. After a while, he climbed down the tree and met a little girl. The girl's told him that she lost her way, so he took her to her house near the river. The girl's name is Emily and she was with her doll, Lucy. Little bear and Emily became friends.

Later, they went to the owl's party together. There were cat, duck and hen at the party too. Before the party began, Lucy's arm was broken because she dropped from the tree. Emily cried, but little bear fixed that for her. All of them had fun after that.

The day Emily leaves the forest came. She had to go back to school. She came to little bear's house and they ate and drank. She gave a new pen to little bear, and he gave a toy boat to her. After Emily went back home, he cried because of loneliness. His mom suggested him to write to Emily. With her help, little bear wrote to her. Little bear told her he cannot wait for summer when Emily will come to the forest again!

This book is for a little kid as I expected. However, I enjoyed the story and pretty illustration very much. The story was so lovely. Making friend with animals must be very interesting!!!

Japanese book I'm reading☆

I've been reading one book recently. I take a Japanese History class this semester, and I need to write a report of the book. The title of it is Kugai jyoudo. The subject matter of this book is "Minamata byou". It's a kind of disease which happened in Minamata-city, Kumamoto about 50 years ago. The chemical factory in Minamata city drained water out into the sea. The water contained mercury. So, a lot of fishes were polluted. Also people who ate these fishes were polluted and they had disease which was called Minamata byou. The nerve had a lot of damages by the mercury. People's bodies began to shake and they couldn't speak rightly. Gradually they began to lose eyesight and had insanity. Some people died and the other had to suffer from it till the end of their life.

I've known this disease because I had learned it in social studies in elementary and junior high school. I remember the pics of people who had this disease very clearly. All of them were so thin and small as a little kid. It was too tragic. However, I didn't know how were their life and their family at all. In this book, we can know that. So, reading this book is too hard for me to continue sometimes. This book makes me think a lot of things.

Today's class☆

Mr. Lavin brought one book, Aerop's Fables, to today's class. There are eight stories in the book, so each of us chose one story in it and told everyone about it. My explanation was awful^^;

I read "The thirsty crow". I talk about the story.
There was a crow. It was hot day, but there was no water because there hadn't been raining for a week. He was very thirsty and was searching for something to drink. When he was flying, he found a pot. He came close to it to confirm that there was water in it. There was, but he couldn't reach it. First, he tried to break the pot. But, it was too hard for him to do that. Second, he tried to knock it over, but it wasn't move. However, later he had an idea! He picked a pebble one by one and dropped it in the water in the pot. Then...the pebbles pushed water up gradually and finally he could drink it!!! The taste was wonderful. He was very glad that he is clever.

By the way, each story has its own moral. The moral of the story is: Try hard enough and you'll get what you want. This moral cheers me up a lot. I like this moral very very much\(^0^)/

☆THE SUITCASE KID☆

Today's blog is book review. Let me tell you about this book...The Suitcase Kid. This book was quite longer than other books of same author, but I enjoyed it a lot.

First of all, the composition of this book is great. There are 29 chapters in it. The introduction and...yes, A~Z. Except for introduction, each chapter's stories are related to their title. For example, "D is for Dad", and in this chapter, dad is the main topic. This composition is very good to attract readers, I think. I felt like reading the story more and more!!!

The heroine is Andy(Andrea), and she can be called just as the title. The suitcase kid. Her parents had gotten divorced and after that they had family counseling. However, Andy loved both of them, her mom and dad and wanted to live with them. Also they loved Andy and wanted her to live with their new family. That's why she began to stay in mom's place(House A) one week and dad's place(House B) the next week. She had to live as a suitcase.

Andy got stepdad, stepmom, stepsisters and stepbrothers. She disliked all of them. They were awful for her. She had tired of moving among those two families and got ill sometimes. But everything began to change after she knew Mr. and Mrs. Peters. Their place was favorite place of Andy, and they got know each other. The couple liked Andy and she liked them so much. She got her new place, House C. After that, the relationship between her new families got better than before. At the end of the story, Andy told the counselor that her life is as easy as ABC now.

She was helped by Mr. and Mrs. Peters, I think. Their place became the only place for her to relax herself truly. It was really special chance for her. However, this kind of situation must be really tough for children. I'm over 20, but even now I have no confidence to overcome the Andy's situation. There must be a lot of children as Andy these days. It's very sad.

Today's dinner☆

Today I went to see a movie with my friend. We decided to eat something as a dinner because we had more than 1 hour by the time the movie begun. There was a food court, so we had a lot of choices. Chinese foods, hamburgers, Japanese set dinner, noodles and Western dishes...I wanted to eat everything! Of course I couldn't^^;

Then, I remembered that a TV program I watched yesterday. It was documentary about men who opened their own shop of Okonomiyaki(Japanese style pancake). They were making Okonomiyaki of Hiroshima style. The style is different from Osaka's, and there are noodle inside. It looked soooooo delicious and I was attracted to it for the first time. Actually it hasn't been my favorite food, and I've never felt like eating it very much. However, my feeling was totally different. I don't know why.

Today I found its shop in the food court!!! So, I ordered the one I saw on the TV program last night. And the taste was quite good. I liked it very much. It seems to be one of my favorite foods from now. By the way, the movie was very interesting!!!!! It was so happy Wednesday(＾-＾)-☆

My weird weird dream☆

Usually I try not to sleep daytime because I cannot sleep at night. However these days I feel like sleeping after lunch. That cannot be helped^^;

Yesterday was holiday, so I was relaxed and was preparing for English literature class on Monday. When I finished the half of it, I felt sleepy...I was fighting sleep for a while, but I fell asleep after all. By the way, I was sleeping in kotatsu.

When I woke up, it was dark outside. I was sleeping for more than two hours and I was sweating a lot!!! Then, I remembered that I had a very weird and horrible dream. In the dream, I had a phone call from my friend who is in Korea now(it's real) and I went to the airport to meet her. It was Christmas Eve.(Oh, of course the friend won't be back to Japan on the day!) In the airport, I met her first...and also met a lot of my old friends when I was in elementary, junior high and high school days. There were my international friends there too!!! I cannot remember how many friends there were. Toooo many friends!!!!! It seems to be good to see a lot friends again for me, but all of them were very cold for me(>_<) I kept getting a cold look from everyone! Some of them told me that they hate me directly. It was really really nightmare for me. Even the friend in Korea totally ignored me.

Well well well....I felt very very bad for some time because of this bad dream(+_+;) I don't want to sleep daytime and in kotatsu anymore though I know they are not obvious reasons for having the bad dream. I hope I won't have this kind of dream from now.

Illumination☆

On my way home from sign language class, I went to see the illumination of famous companies near my school. It was on East bypass. When I got there, it was 9 pm already, but there were a lot and lot of people!!! They were families, friends...and especially couples! Everyone looked quite happy.
It was very very very cold, but I tried to take as many pics as I could. They were...just beautiful. I was totally satisfied^0^ I'll go there again if I would have a chance. Also, please go there if you can! You must like it!!!

☆TAKE A GOOD LOOK☆

I read Take a Good Look this week. I expected funny story from its book cover, but actually it was quite serious. So, I think illustration on cover is very important.

Mary is almost blind girl(she hates to be called like that...). She can see a bit, but she needs to get very very close to the things she wanna see. That's why, her dad, mum and grandma worry her too much and they treat her as a baby. Of course she cannot go out by herself and had to keep staying on her bed all day. She was feeling fed up. So, one day she tried to go to a nearby shop by herself to get coke, chocolate and crisp which she didn't allow to ear though she loved them a lot. While her grandma fell asleep, the plan carried on!

After she bought everything she wanted and she nearly got out of the shop, two men burst into the shop. She fell down on the floor. The man shouted, "Don't move! This is a hold-up!" They told a shopkeeper to give them money. The shopkeeper resisted, but he gave them money finally. The robbers tried to escape, but one man took Mary with them. She was kidnapped! The other man insisted that they shouldn't take her, but he didn't hear him.

They went back to man's flat. They spent whole day there. Mary was thinking of her escape from there. The chance came. When she was in bathroom, she got outside. The man was following her, but she ran and ran as fast as possible to escape from them. Then she found bar and went there for help. The lady there found out that Mary was the kidnapped girl and she called the police. The police came and she described the robber clearly. So, after that they were arrested. Mary was praised as a clever girl by the police and her family. Her family was so glad to see Mary. That night, her family told her that they wouldn't treat her like a baby anymore. Mary was happy to hear that, but she didn't want to go out by herself anymore.

Mary is very brave and clever girl though she cannot see well. Her behavior while she was kidnapped was amazing. She was also tough. This time, she knew that there are a lot of dangers in the world which she's never known. She learned new thing, also her family knew that Mary had grown up a lot. I think everything will be fine from now. Much better.

Talk show☆

Last Saturday, I went to a talk show which was held at PUK. The guest of the talk show was a woman who has auditory difficulties. As I told you, I have sign language class every Thursday. My teacher of the class was the chair of the talk show. She acted very well. By the way, the guest is a stage actress. She cannot hear naturally, but we never feel about that from her at all because she is very very active. She can be called challenger. She went to US to study acting and became an actress. It's amazing. However, she had a lot of difficulties in her life. She was abused by classmates when she was kid and after that she lost the place she should have been. Anyway, her talking cheered me up a lot. At the end of the talk show, she acted by using American sign language with a song which title was "Imagine". Yes, it's one of the John Lennon's famous songs. Some audience was crying. I was moved as well. I was so glad to have a chance to attend the talk show.

Discovering a bakery☆

Yesterday, I went to a discount shop with my friend on my way home from sign language class. I supposed that I would buy breakfast and milk. But, after all I bought shampoo, conditioner, tea with lemon and cleaner...I always buy what I didn't expect to buy(>_<)

After shopping, we found a mobile bakery outside of the discount shop. The bakery was selling a lot of kind of melon bun(not only normal one but also with chocolate chip, maplesurup, teacondenced milk, custard cream and so on!). They looked very nice, but I had had dinner already. So, I was about to going back. However, I found the bakery was selling tapioca-mango juice!! As you know I love mango and...the more I like tapioca so much!!! I had had tapioca-milk tea only, so it was new for me. Of course I ordered the juice. My friend ordered it too. The juice was good. We liked it. But, I found that the tapioca was quite hard...^^; I couldn't believe that. Well, taste was good, so it was alright. After I finished drinking, I noticed the bakery was closing up. I thought I might not see that bakery again because it's mobile and I've never seen it before. So I bought one maple syrup bun. Later I knew that the shop comes every Thursday...the bun was also good!!! It was nice meeting with the bakery^^b

☆LIZZLE ZIPMOUTH☆

Last week, I read Double Act and I really liked it, so I decided to read books of Jacqueline Wilson as much as I can from now!!! I'm very excited to choose her books. So, I read LIZZIE ZIPMOUTH this week. The illustration of cover and the title looked very interesting for me.

Lizzie is heroine of this book. The story begins with the scene she is getting her second step dad. She had her real dad, but he stopped living with her and her mum and didn't want to see them anymore. After that she got her first step dad. He was nice and friendly at first, but he began to shout at her and her mum. They left him and they have been living by themselves in very small flat. Lizzie liked their own life so much. However, her mum met her second dad, Sam. Lizzie had to move and live with Sam and his two sons. They are having fun but Lizzie didn't like them. Especially she couldn't believe Sam. She were thinking that he would change soon as her first step dad. And Lizzie decided not to say a word to anyone, even for her mum. That's why Jake, Sam's second son, began to call her "Lizzie Zipmouth".

One day they visited Sam's grandma's house. She is Great-Gran for Lizzie. She didn't look so friendly when Lizzie met her for the first time. Lizzie found the there are huge amount of dolls inside Great-Gran's house. Lizzie liked dolls, so she had great interest in it. Later Great-Gran asked Lizzie to speak up. She told Lizzie that she can do it if she really wants to. At that time, her tongue and teeth began to move and she told her some words! A few days later, Sam suggested that he took Lizzie to Great-Gran's house again and she visited her. She enjoyed a lot and also talked with her. She really liked to visit her. And later, Lizzie spoke up in front of their family finally. All of them were very surprised and looked at her. They were very glad to hear that. Also Lizzie came to like them gradually. However, one night Great-Grand got very bad ill and had to be in hospital. When Lizzie went to hospital to see her, she couldn't speak and walk. It took 3 months to learn how to walk and didn't get completely better. But now she was cheerful as before and did a lot of things with help. When Lizzie and Great-Gran bought a beautiful big china doll, Great-Grand named her Elizabeth, and that was Lizzie's real name. She was very very happy! Her mouth totally unzipped!!!

Lizzie decided not to talk to anyone. I can understand her. I think she had bad memories about her real dad and step dad, so she couldn't believe people(adult). Also she wanted to know her mum her feeling. However her mum couldn't notice it. She told Lizzie to stop being silly. I think Lizzie's mum should be more thoughtful. She is too insensitive. So it was very good chance to meet Great-Gran for Lizzie. She could open herself to their family by meeting Great-Gran. There are a lot of children who are in the same situation as Lizzie's in. So, this story made me think about this kind of problem the more.

Mango pudding☆

These days I found mango pudding at the supermarket, and I bought one. It can be called "Big Challenge" for me because I don't like tropical fruits. That's why, I've never had interests in tropical fruits until that time, but I was attracted to the yellow color of mango. I don't know why! But, I was afraid that it would not good as the brown sugar candy^^; However, this challenge has succeeded!!!!! I like that pudding so much. So, I want to eat real mango now...but where on earth can I find mango?! I've never seen it at the supermarkets or department stores. Perhaps...isn't mango in season??? I will try to find one, but please tell me if you know something about mango! "MANGO WANTED"!!!!!!!!!!

Sign language class☆

I had a sign language class yesterday. We usually have class on Thursday night. I've been learning it for nearly 3 years and it's one of my biggest hobbies now. We usually have talking with teacher and members over eating sweets, snacks and tea and so on. We've been learning some words and practiced them before, but now we just talk by using these words and sentences. It's fun. However, we cannot just continue lesson like that. We have to improve more. So, we decided to join new group, who learn sigh language like us, from next month. First, we are going to their class and decide whether we continue to go there or not. Well, I'm pretty excited to join them now!!!

☆DOUBLE ACT☆

As same as last week, I chose a book of Jacqueline Wilson this week. I like her books. They're easy to understand and can learn something from them. The title of the book is Double Act.

Ruby and Garnet are twins, and they are bestest best friend. However, Ruby is active girl and Garnet was shy and quiet. They are very very different in that point. Their(actually, it should be called Ruby's) dream is being a great actress. They've lived with their Dad and grandma happily. Their mum passed away three years ago. They have been missing her. One day, they found a account book at their home. They decided to write down anything they want on it. The writings are what we read in this book, Double Act.

One day their dad brought one lady, whose name is Rose, to their house. She is his girlfriend!!! Ruby and Garnet didn't like me at all...even they hated her! Also their grandma didn't like her so much. After that, their dad began to move to country to open his own bookstore. So, their life began to change a lot. They had to leave their home, their school and friends. Also they had to say good-bye to grandma because she decided to live by herself in apartment. They were sad and didn't want to move out, but they had no choice. Ruby and Garnet hated their new life. They couldn't get used to new school either. Sometimes they had trouble with gangs at school.

Ruby had a big dream...being actress! And she found big chance to be a actress on newspaper one Saturday. It was audition for girl twins. It was what she wanted! Ruby asks Garnet to join together. Garnet doesn't like show up in front of a lot of people, so she told Ruby that she didn't want. But after all she couldn't refuse. They practice for it a bit. And on the audition day, they went to London by themselves in the early morning without saying anything about it to their dad! Ruby did quite good at the audition and she had confidence. But, Garnet got nervous as she was expected and she saw dad was looking at her. She couldn't say anything...and they couldn't pass the audition.

Next Ruby began to think of going to boarding school with Garnet. The school looked very nice, but they wanted to get out from their home and school at country more. Ruby sent letter to the president of the school and they knew that one of them can get a scholarship. They told dad about this plan and they went to take exam. Ruby and Garnet didn't doubt that Ruby would get the scholarship, but actually the one who got it was Garnet. She did really good job in writing essay and academic test. Ruby didn't like it. She jealous of Garnet very very much. Ruby have been thinking she is better than Garnet, so she couldn't stand it. Ruby began to ignore Garnet from that day. Ruby didn't talk to her and listened to her at all. She dressed differently and cut her hair differently. Garnet was thinking about going to the boarding school by herself. She didn't want to go without Ruby, but she decided to go later. The day Garnet leave home for boarding school, finally they could make it up. Ruby missed Garnet very much. They're going to be best twins, Ruby and Garnet forever and ever and ever.

I liked this story very much! I knew the reality of twins and I wish I had twin sister. Their relationship between them is very strong and seems that it'll never break though they have quarrel sometimes. Ruby is aggressive(sometimes too much) and Garnet can be called weak. So, I think Garnet have been doing what Ruby wanted for a long time. Actually she had no her own idea. Therefore, being separate for a while would be good chance to grow up to them. They will learn not to rely on each other so much as before. I liked the ending of this book this time.

Brown sugar candy☆

When I feel like eating sweets, I have brown sugar candies these days. I didn't like brown sugar before. One day I heard that brown sugar is good for our health in some way, so I went to supermarket to buy one. There were too many kinds of brown sugar candies there. All of them looked the same. I saw the companies of them, and I found that one of the companies is in my city. I chose that one. I picked one from bag and I threw it into my mouth...the taste was very good! I liked that very much. That's why I kept buying that one until the other day.

I found out I finished all candies yesterday, and I dropped in at supermarket on my way home. Unfortunately, the one I always buy was out of stock. So I found another one. It seemed to be good. After I got home, I tried one right away. However....it was awful(>_<) I nearly shouted " What's this?!". Therefore I asked my friend that whether she wanted it or not, but she told me she didn't want. Hum...I can just throw it away, but it seems that I waste of money. I think it will work out all right later!!!

Invitation to Wedding☆

I received a letter of invitation to wedding the other day. It's for the first time in my life to received it and attend at the wedding. And, I'm soooooo excited about their wedding!!! The bride is my best friend at junior high and our home is very close. I remember the day she emailed me that she got boyfriend. That's the bridegroom. However, I didn't imagine that they would get married at that time! I've met the bridegroom sometimes. He is good guy. I'm really glad that they will be a married couple(^^) By the way, I have to think about clothes, bag and shoes and something like that...but I think it'll be OK. It will be held on December in our hometown. I can't wait that day from now!!!

The Grascals☆

Today The Grascals, country music singer, came to PUK to perform in the afternoon. I've listened to country music sometimes, but I didn't know them. I even haven't heard " bluegrass". Today I knew that they are very famous in country music in US. There were a lot of people from TV station, so it was quite obvious. They began their performance...it was just great!!! Especially, I liked their rhythm. I have country music CD which my friend bought in Texas and gave to me, so I'm going to listen it this weekend\(^0^)/

☆SLEEPOVERS☆

This week I chose this book. The title of it is Sleepovers. The author of this book is Jacqueline Wilson and I heard she is famous as a author of children's literature in UK. I didn't know her at all, but I found illustrations of this book are lovely. Also, I like book for girls, I chose this.

In this story, there are 5 girls whose names are Amy, Bella, Chole, Emily and Daisy. Daisy is a main character. She is a little bit shy and quiet. These girls are all her friends at school. However, Amy and Bella were best friends, and also Chole and Emily was best friends. That's why Daisy was caring about that. They are nice, but Chole is mean girl. Espacially very mean to Daisy because she was new student at their school and she joined them later. That's why Daisy wanted to cut relationship with Chole and wanted to be a best friend of Emily who Daisy liked the best of all.

One day they suggested that everyone have sleepover party at their hoem in their birthday. Of course it sounds fun for everyone, but for Daisy, it wan't. Daisy has older sister whose name is Lily. She had something wrong with her brain when she was born, so she can't walk and speak naturally. Sometimes she cries and screams, so Daisy didn't want them to know about her though she loved her sister. After everyone's oversleep Parties was held, Daisty decides to hold it and invite all of 5 girls. On her birthday, Amy, Bella and Emily came home early and they met Lily, but they didn't say anything bad about Lily. Daisy thought they are very good girls. Later, Chole came home too, but al that time Lily was sleeping. So, Chole didn't meet Lily. Late at night of the day, Chole woke Daisy up to go to restroom. It was dark and they were scared. Suddenly Lily began to scream by hearing their footsteps. Chole thought it must be ghost and she wet herself! The next morning, Chole wasn't at Daisy's home anymore. She had gone back home already. At school, Chole said bad things about Daisy's party, so they complained and told her about her wetting there. Then, she got red and told them that they are not her frined anymore. So, finally Daisy becomes happy and also the other girls become too.

I remembered a lot of memories when I was at elementary school and junior high when I was reading this book. Girl's world was very complicated and hard for me too. Also there were some girls like Chole in class or groups, so I sympathized with them, especially with Daisy. Daisy had quite weak personality at first, but she changed a lot through their conflict and became strong. She grew up. The ending seems to be happy ending for them. I felt happy because Chole was bad girl. However, I think they should have talked more. So all of them might be good friends. It sounds difficult but it's not impossible. Also, for readers who are young, this story should have been like that, I think. Anyway, I enjoyed this book a lot. I want to read this author's book again.

I love ice cream☆

I went to shopping mall with my friends to eat ice cream after school♪ The name of the ice cream shop is " Thirty One Ice Cream". It's very famous chain shop and it came to Japan in 1973. We have more than 5000 shops around the world now.
Anyway, I went there by bicycle. There is one steep slope on our way there, so it was a little bit hard to get there for me(>_<)
In the shop, I was very very excited to see a lot of flavors!!! I took a lot of time to choose one which I want to eat from them. Actually I am planning to eat three kinds of flavors, but friends chose only one. So I hesitated to choose three! However, I regretted that I ate only one flavor...I will eat three flavors next time! Definitely(^-^)b After all I ate " Rocky Road" ice cream. It is chocolate ice cream with marshmallow and almond. I like chocolate, so I liked it. By the way, when I was eating it, I noticed that there are some seasonal flavors. So, next time I want to try some of them. Overall I was very satisfied~~~♪

Last weekend☆

Last weekend I went back to my hometown. It takes us about for 2 hours and half by car from where I live now. My hometown is very famous for its beautiful bay. Also there are some tourist attractions in the city, so a lot of tourists come to the city every year!!!

This time I went back there to take some textbooks for study and see my family. I arrived at my hometown on Saturday noon. I met aunt and ate lunch at restaurant. After that we went home and cleaned up there. It was so messy, so I got tired(>_<) I went to the aunt's house at dinner time and ate dishes which cooked in a pot. I usually eat dinner by myself.....so I enjoyed myself there a lot(^0^) There were cousin who is 17 years old. We were talking for a long time about her school life and my part-time job. It was already 11pm when we finished talking. I wanted to go to bed but I had to study for German class, so I stayed up late at the night. The next day I woke up late in the morning and ate breakfast. I really really wanted to stay there more, but I had to leave my hometown because of part-time job(+_+;)

I will not be able to go back there until New Year's Day, I think. I have to work and study hard until that day. Firstly, I need to finish studying for the German class!!!

My first post!!!

Today is my first day to post in this blog!
It's my first time to blog in English, but I'm sure that it'll be interesting for me(^0^)
Actually I have two blogs on website. The one is for a particularly person, and the other is for everyone on website. No one cannot see the first one except for the particularly person, but you can check the other one if you'd love to! However, you have to find out the blog on website by yourself! So...should it be impossible to find it?! At least for people who know me well, it might be easy to find it.

I forgot to introduce myself to you!

• My favorite foods...low fish, chocolate(all kinds of sweets!), fruits
• My favorite musician...aiko, YUKI
• My favorite things...chatting with people, sign language, eating sweets, sleeping, exercising at home, reading books, listening to music and learning English!

I like English and I'm studying it, but this year I want to begin to learn Chinese if I can afford to do it. I made friends who speak Chinese last year, so I have interests in Chinese language and culture a lot! Well, I try to post as much as I can!!!

Nice to see you all(^^)/