A New Start

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Week9 11/10 Failure on My Trip

Open Topic: Failure on My Trip

This summer, when I went to Shanghai with my friends as sightseeing, we met a couple on the street. They talked to us in Engish and asked us to take their picture. We stood chatting for a while. They said they were college students and came from Qingdao. Then the woman said she had heard a tea festival was held over there, and she invited us to go there with them. It sounded fun for me and I just wanted to talk more, so I willingly accepted her invitation. At that time, I didn't notice that my friend refused to follow them and her behavior was proved to be correct. 

I expected the tea festival would be a just tasting event and we could enjoy tea for nothing. However, they brought us to a small tea shop. A girl who seemed to be a shop clerk led us to so small a room at the back of the shop. I hadn't imagined we would be trapped inside a room, and at last I noticed that the "tea festival" meant completely different thing from what I had guessed. We were so puzzled but the clerk served one cup of tea after another. Actually, we could drink various kinds of Chinese tea and learn the history of Chinise tea. Yet, it was clear that we had to pay a lot for the tea celemony. So I couldn't enjoy it at all and sit still for a moment. All the time, I was trying to plan our escape from here. In the end, the tea festival finished. As I thought, we received a bill for each kind of tea tasting and room charge. The couple seemed to enjoy the tea festival and dissapeared to somewhere, leaving their e-mail address. After they left, my friend said "you're just unbelievable!"

I'm not sure whether they had evil intent or they just wanted to enjoy tea. But all I know is that I couldn't read the situation where my friend felt unconfortable and that I caused trouble to her. I'm sorry, my friend.....Through the experience, the lesson I learned is "DO NOT FOLLOW STRANGERS."  I seem to have completely forgotten the lesson which my mother told me again and again in my childhood.........

Week8 11/10 Nogawa

Free Topic: Nogawa



Anytime I go to school, I ride a bicycle by a river, Nogawa.

Nogawa has various faces on the season.

In spring, there are many beautiful cherry blossoms and field mustard (nanohana). The contrast of pink and yellow by the river is so impressive.
In summer, the river is filled with lush green. In the river fish is swimming, and on the river ducks are swimming.
In autumn, trees aroung the river turn color of their leaves. On a warm day stray cats bask in the sun at the riverside.
In winter, white migtant birds come to take a rest. There is only monotone color of dead leaves and deep silent.
Almost everyday I see Nogawa, but I'm never tired of it.
Nogawa is so long a river which runs across several cities.
So there may be another Nogawa, which has a new face I don't know yet.
To ride my bicycle by Nogawa from its end to end, is my dream.

Week9 11/10 How Was SE?

Fixed Topic: How Was SE? What Did I Learn during This Course?

I cannot believe the class -You: A Course of Personal Writing- was already over. The time up to today has passed quickly. As much as that, I could enjoy writing and loved this course. Of course, it was not always an enjoynable activity. As I mantion in the final class, I faced two difficulties in my writing process.

The one was the difficulty in creating someting completely by myself. The course required three publishing pieces. That's all. There was no fixed topic, theme, or genre. It was totally free writing! I had to start with almost nothing. It was the most difficult thing this time. To tell the truth, I wanted to try to write a novel or short story, but I could not extend my imagination any more.... I was really made to reflect on my lack of creativeness. I really want to know how to develop my crative ability....

The other is the difficulty in expressing someting in natural English. Especially in transration of a Japanese work, I had trouble in finding natural English words which fitted to Japanese expressions exactly. Japanese has many onomatopoeic words, but English has not so many. So even though I had what to communicate in Japanese, I couldn't tell all the meanings or just end up in unnatural expressions, as long as I used English. I really thought that I should have read more English sources as textbooks to learn how to express naturally. It was the most reflective thing in my writing.

This course was very challenging for me, but it gave me a good opportunity to reflect on myself. I have ever thought about what is love, what is my strengths and weeknesses, or someting like that. But there were just abstract ideas becasue I considered such things just in my mind. This time, by transcribing such my thoughts, I could make my abstract idas clearer and concrete ones, and I could notice how well I had thought about it or how superficially I had thought about it. Moreover, I realized I did love to write someting. That must have been a big incentive which enabled me to keep writing so far.

Finally, I would like to thank all my peers and Mark. They gave me some good advice and stimulating ideas. I haven't read all of their pieces and bloggings, so I wanna try to see all of them and learn a lot from others' pieces. I will keep the blog and continue to wtite as long as possible. I will be very glad if you read my blog and leave a comment. THANK YOU ALL!

Week8 11/6 What Do I Want My Obituary to Say?

Fixed Topic: What Do I Want My Obituary to Say?

Chihiro Goto, 100, of Copenhagen, passed away on May 15, because of natural causes.

Chihiro was a typical person who led an unremarkable life.

She was born in Yamagata, on May 15 1990. She failed to enter university, so started to live in Tokyo and went to preparatory school. In 2010, she entered ICU and spent an excited time. After her graduation from ICU in 2014, she was employed and engaged in her job.

Chihiro married and had 3 children. She kept her job while raising her children. She and her husband worked hard for their children and realized peaceful home. But her husband passed away quite young, leaving his great fortune to his family. Chihiro was overwhelmed with grief, but she swore on his grave that she would live a long life for him. 

After her retirement, she went abroad and lived with one of her children and his family. They lived in Shanghai first, and then moved to Turkey, and last they arrived at Copenhagen in Denmark, a mecca for Chihiro. She enjoyed Danish welfare system and aged gracefully. On her 100th birthday, without any pain, Chihiro went to heaven surrounded by all her children and their family. 

With her will, her funeral will be held in Yamagata, her hometown. After the funeral, her ashes will be scattered in Yamagata, Shanghai, Turkey, and Copenhagen.

Week7 11/1 Secrets of Nuts

Open Topic: Secrets of Nuts

Now I'm eating nuts. Cannot stop eating nuts. How tasty they are......!

But I notice I'm eating too much and I begin to wonder whether nuts are good or bad to our health. So I search for their effects on the health. There are many good effects, so I will pick out several things.

•  Making the skin beautiful

Most nuts contain vitamin E, which has antioxidant effect on cells. Almond contains the vitamin more than other nuts. And almond also has rich minerals, so it can help many women who suffer the lack of calcium.

• Helping liver's function

 Do you eat nuts with alcohol? There is a reason. Methionine, one of amino acids which nuts contains, can exclude alcohol and wasteful things from our body and promotes metabolism. So methionine prevents our body from having too much fats or alcohol and protects liver's function.

• Improving memory and preventing dementia

Nuts, especially walnut, have many good effects on brain and mental state. Vitamin B1 helps to decompose sugar and promotes brain's function. Choline, peanuts contains, is closely related to brain's function and dementia. 

 Nuts can keep us healthy. But, of course,  it is not good to eat too much. It is the best to eat them for 200 calories per day. It is equivalent to a handful of nuts. We should have nuts everyday for keeping our health. Then , I can eat them without hesitation. :O

Week7 11/1 What Is My View about Religion?

Fixed Topic: What Is My View about Religion?

I think everything around us can be a "religion". If someone strongly believes in something, it can be a religion. If many people believe in something, it can be a major religion. If few people believe in something, it can be a minor religion. Big religion can survive and spread many believers handing down it, but small one cannot be told widely. In thins way, religion has been selected from past to present, I think. Even any today's greatest religion, such as Christianity, Buddhism, or Islam, was also a small one in its beginning, having only a few believers.  Thus, we don't know what will be a new religion and who will find out a new religion.