Wedding*

Hi everyone.

Last weekend, I went back to my home town. The purpose of going back was to attend the wedding of my saxophone teacher. That wedding was on Sunday evening and I had school on Monday on first period so I had to come back here really late at night. I went back there on Friday night, I had Sukiyaki at home with my family, which was SO great. Since I am living by myself, I do not usually have nabe, such as Sukiyaki, so that was really nice for me. Then, on Saturday, I went shopping with my mom. I really like to go shopping with my mom:) At that night, we went for Yakiniku, which was so great, too.

So, on Sunday, I went to the wedding. My teacher was so pretty, it made me think I really want to get married soon! lol. Since I had to come back here, the wedding started at 7, but I had to leave there at 8 or something. It was just for an hour that I could be there but it was fun. I went there with my friends who was also in brass band and we got a present for our teacher before we got the place which the wedding was held. Since we had not seen her for a long time, there were a lot of topics we could talk about.

Then my mom came to pick me up and went to the station. Mom bought me some food that I can eat on the train before I got on the train. It was really short time but really fun. I miss my family but you know the christmas and new year break will come soon so I can see them again.

We have only 4days left until that break!


Thank you<3

In a hurry*

Hi. How are you guys? I am really tired these days but I do not know why. I got sick a few days ago again. *sigh*

So my research paper has to be done by this Friday for the first due. I was working on it a little bit, I mean I was reading a book. And then teacher told us that the first draft of paper due.. this Friday. That means I have to work on it really hard as soon as possible so I am not going to write this blog that much today.

My topic is not that easy to research since it does not have exact definition, people are still talking, discussing about it today. But whatever. I will work on it from now on.

Thanks for reading if you read this.
Asami*

macaroni and cheese*

Hi. Yesterday I just got a package from my host mother for Christmas, which is what I talked about on my blog last time. There are some presents and a letter in it and all of them were really nice. I am really happy with it. For surprising, she sent me a "macaroni and cheese" (kraft dinner) in warmy socks in a package! That "macaroni and cheese" was one of my favorite food in Canada, which is really easy to make and good taste. I was expecting that Japan has it as well, but I found that it did not have so I guess she remembered that I liked that one and now she sent me one. Now, I do not want to open and eat it since I have only one right now and I will not be able to have it until I go to Canada again.

The third weekend of November, the entrance exam of Kansai Gaidai was taken by high school students. One or two months before that exam, I got an email from a student at my high school who is one year junior to me. Then she said like she wants to know how to study or what she should study for it since she was going to take that exam, so I told her what I did (actually I did not study that much, I think) and after all, she got passed that exam. She emailed me about it a week after she took the exam. I was really glad to hear that and at the same time I remembered about last year. I did the same thing at that time. How fast the time passes! Well, speaking about it, 2007 is almost done, less than a month left. I felt like this year has passed really fast for some reasons.

Before we welcome the year 2008, we have Christmas and stuff so I hope I will have a lot of fun on that day!


Thanks.

Asami*

from all the way across the pacific*

Hi, it is getting colder out there.
I guess I have a cold again because my throat hurts.

Yesterday, I got an email from my host mother in Canada. She told me that she sent me a package for Christmas! I am really glad and excited to see what is in it. I left there a year and half ago, but still we are emailing each othere sometime or talk on the MSN. I am really happy with having this kind of relationship with her. In her email, she always told me to go back to Canada, and I also want to visit her or my friends sometime but now I cannot afford it:( I think I am really lucky, happy that she thinks of me like her real daughter. I hope I can visit there sometime soon.

Also I got a message from Nicole, who is my best friend in Canada, on Facebook. She, once, came to Japan, a year ago or something and visited me which was really fun, fun memory. We went to same high school in Canada, well that was only for a year but we became really closer friends. She is very intelligent, kind, and .. FUNNY. She always makes me laugh, too much sometimes, but I really love her. So I have not seen her for a year or so, I guess it is time to see her again, lol. I really want to and I hope so.

Everytime they email me or talk to me, it reminds me about my life in Canada. I really miss all of them, I am trying to save my money and go visit there sometime soon, but it is kind of difficult to do because I am living by myself so that means I cannot spend money however I want. At least, I am TRYING.

Well, this is all about for today's blog. Thanks.



Asami*

In a dangerous situation*

I read the letter on the Japan Times website. So I will talk about this letter for today's blog.


In this letter, "Alone at a time of danger", she is talking about the recent dangerous events for women, and regarding this, she is complaining about that people really do nothing even they hear for the help or see that a person who is in a danger, so that means no one is going to help you or do anything if you were in a dangerous situation - which is really scary.

To make the readers to think like that or believe her, she is bringing two examples which is actually happened in Japan recently, and also stating that what people who were there have done, for those victims: NOTHING.

Also she is asking readers two questions that she already has the answer. Then, she is ending up this letter with a kind of harsh personal opinion, emotionally. It seems like she is warning women to be careful or even do not think like that they can wait for someone to help you as she said at the end, because the events happened actually, and it is not only one time - people did not do anything although they actually heard or saw a person who is in a danger.

New system - for immigration procedure*

About the new immigration procedure system; getting foreigners to be fingerprinted and photographed every time they enter Japan. This is for preventing from the international terrorists. Kevin Rafferty claimed, in the article "Not so welcome to Japan any longer", it is not a good idea. He considered this as discriminatory and even if they do that, it is not easy to identify between fingerprints and terrorists. Basically this system is considered to be useless.

If people think it helps preventing from the terrorists, then they can try. It might help, but it is considered to be not that effective. Also it just sounds impossible that immigration bureau has to take a lot of fingerprints for a year, moreover, those terrorists are smart - Michael G. Driver claims that in "Smart terrorists won't be stopped". Plus, the foreign visitors will feel unwelcome. It does not seem to be a good idea.

Response to the issue*

Good morning.
For today's blog, this is my own response to the issue, about discrimination in Japan. Regarding this issue, there is an article "Which minority groups face the worst discrimination in Japan" and also "Ebb and flow of discrimination". Both of them are on the Japan times and there are some opinions / experiences on those articles.


At first, about the second article I mentioned above, I really surprised about what the author experienced. It was unbelievable for me but as long as he said like that, it might be true. So, I agree, this might depend on the places as the author of second article said at the beginning because I am pretty sure that there is no that kind of discrimination at my hometown or around me.

By reading the opinions / experiences on those articles, I think there are two types of discrimination, one would be discrimination by saying some bad things about people and another one would be by actually doing some acts to them.

I have heard about that Chinese people are discriminated against but I do not know why people are saying bad things about them. I wonder if those people actually know about them or not. I think this can be the one which is discriminated the most by saying some things. However, personally, the discrimination against the handicapped people is much worse. As some people said on the first article, it is true that those people are having a lot of difficulties at many situations such as getting jobs. It is true that they might have a little bit less ability than normal people but it is wrong that they are discriminated against because of that. I definitely think we need to make our society more comfortable for them by reviewing the way of thinking or attitude toward them.


Thank you*.. :)

Some thoughts*

Good morning everyone.
I am having a cold for like almost two weeks..:( Please be careful not to catch a cold!
So for today's blog, I am going to response to the articles on Japan Times.


By reading the article "Don't judge marines too fast" which is a response to the article Four marines investigated for rape", it was really shocking to know about the thoughts of the author, Sandoval. In his sight, it is almost like it cannot help them doing like that to a woman who is working at a bar. What kind of opinion is that? It is just disgusting. Also how can this person think like the U.S. military is the best in the world and other countries can nothing without their work. Maybe it is true, however, it is something wrong that he is saying like it is related to this matter.

Against that article, the author of another one Disgusting outlook on women" is saying the fairer opinion, especially "Even for the well-respected members of the U.S. military, if wrongdoing is suspected it needs to be investigated".

It seems like Sandoval is discriminating about people who are working at the bars by saying "I know what type of people work in these places". Is it not a big problem that women are raped? Because those women are working at the bars? Or, should we forgive them who might actually raped a woman? Because they are well-respected people? That's totally wrong thoughts. People are people, they should be treated as the same as ordinary people who are suspected of raping.

For Sandoval, She seems to be really proud of the U.S. military and their work or something, but it is irrelevant to this matter that a woman was raped by four marines. Wrong thing is wrong. There should be no exception on this matter.


Thank you.

IES program*

Hello, everyone.
Today's topic of blog is "Why I am in IES".

Because before I entered this university, I knew that there is an IES program - which is like we can take English classes by foreign teachers, and I thought I wanted to get into this program because I really wanted to study English. However, to get into this program, I had to get a high score on TOEFL - which every freshman have to take for deciding which class they will be in. I didn't have any confidence that I could get into any classes of IES, so I thought IF I could get into it, that would be lucky. So I had a desire that since I go to Kansai Gaidai University, I wanted to be in the IES program. Then I took the TOEFL before actually entering this university, as I said above, and for some reasons, I could get into this class. I am really glad to be in this class actually. Before I got into this program, I was thinking like the class would be really good and fun for me because.. maybe students do study English intensively and teachers who teach them are native speakers. So I decided to choose IES program to take, IF I could. Studying English intensively is what I really wanted to do at the university because I really like English, this reason would be come first, and maybe it will good for me or help me in the future since I want to get a job which I can use English somehow. For those reasons, I decided to take the IES program and Fortunately I got a good score on TOEFL, so I am here.

Kansai Gaidai Univeristy: website

I love marching<3

Hi everyone, how are you doing?
Actually I am having a cold right now. I cannot stop caughing, yes, it sounds really sick because I am real sick. So everyone please be careful not to catch a cold.. since the range of temprature is really wide in these days, it is easy to catch a cold I guess:(


So, I just finished writing my essay for the assignment and my topic was "The marching". I would like to talk about it here too,lol. The marching is awesome, so much fun. Well, at first, I want to begin with how I got to know about the marching. When I was junior high school, we had to belong to a club. So I decided to get in the brass band because I like music. That's it. I did not know about any instruments at that time or anything about the brass band. After I got in that club, I decided to play the saxophone for my instrument because I do not know.. maybe I liked that shape and sounds. Now I have my own alto saxophone with me and I really love it. So this club, of course does just playing the music, but also they do the marching, too. I did not know anything about the marching but through doing it I really become like to do it and now I love the marching.

We participated some competitions every year, and our school was kind of high level. We could go to the all Japan competition when I was in the 2nd year, that was amazing. Of course, we practiced really hard, especially in the summer, the practice time was like from 8:30am to 7:00pm.. yes it was so long and we did it outside so it was SO hot and tired. But we were (at least my a couple friends and I) pretty into it, so our memory about the brass band club is really big for us.

I wanted to show you guys my pictures of that marching thing but unfortunately I did not have on this my new laptop so I cannot:( So instead of that, I will put a picture of something I took last year at my high school school festival.

Oh if you want to know more about marching, please ask me:) lol

Busyness*

Hello. It is getting colder in these days and I am really happy with that. I hope the winter will come so soon.


My life has been real busy in these days so the time is passing by so fast for me. Actually the second semester is shorter than first semester so I guess the winter vacation will come soon too. The reason why my life has been busy is that maybe I started the part-time job, I actually started that in the beginning of September but I was still on the vacation at that time so it was not that hard for me. Then the second semester has started and we are having a lot of homework everyday, well it is not like I am working everyday but two days at least for a weekdays so maybe that is why I am feeling busy right now.

So I am going to talk about my work a little bit for today. I am working at the yakiniku restaurant now, it is not that big restaurant. Some people who work there are nice, some are ..not actually, lol. Actually I am not having fun with my work but I am doing it because I need money, if we need money, then we have to work you know. On weekdays, it is not busy at all. It is not good for me actually because there is nothing to do if nobody comes, and that means I really feel the time passes REAL slow. I usually work at 6 to 10 p.m. so it is only 4 hours work but I feel like I am working for 6 or 7 hours maybe. However, on the weekend, many people come and eat, sometimes there are some people who are even waiting for the seats spare. I think the food we serve at that restaurant is really good so I want a lot of people to come:) The menu I really want to recommend is Ishiyaki Bibimba. We have some kinds of that, but any of that taste really good. The smell of the food, yakiniku or bibimba makes me really hungry sometimes when I am working. Oh speaking of the smell, because the smell of yakiniku is kind of strong, I always think like I hope I will not smell like yakiniku.. that would be really gross!


It is hard or making me tired that going to school and work ..and also doing homework but I hope, by through this experience, I will be the kind of person who can spend the time usufully. No waste of time. haha. But sometimes this busy-ness makes me really ..kind of sick and feel like I cannot do anything anymore. I will do my best on those but no overwork:P

A respond to two articles

Hi, everyone.
For today's blog, I am going to respond to two articles (first one and second one) I have read.


I thought this is really interesting topic, maybe we are losing "Japanese" things. Actually we are using a lot of loanwords, gairaigo, instead of using Japanese own words, as the author of first one said. I do not think that we are using that much long or difficult katakana words in our speaking or writing, however, I can say we see those words on the newspaper or advertisements. What I thought by through reading these articles is that those words are making it harder. We are having Kanji from a long time ago, and a single kanji has its own meaning so even if there are some difficult words in kanji when I am reading a newspaper or something, I would know or at least be able to guess what that word means. So in spite of having such a good character, we are still taking and using gairaigo.

I actually have seen otaku, the author of first one talked about, and I agree that they are using "jargon" to show people their knowledge. I cannot understand why they are doing such a thing but I think that would be making communication between people harder. Then they are making small groups which only people who can understand and use those words are in. I think they are narrow their world by themselves.

Probably it is difficult to put our language back to original one, but I hope it will not be harder than now in our communication because of that.

Summer Vacation*

Hello everyone. I have not written this for a while.
Our long summer vacation is over now and we came back to school from today.
So I am going to write about my vacation for today's blog.


I really enjoyed my vacation especially in August.
I went to Universal Studio Japan (USJ) with my boyfriend, and I had not to pay at all because my boyfriend's dad gave me a free ticket (I don't know why he had it though:S).
On that day, in the morning, we had to wake up early because we thought we should go at the time when the USJ is open, however, we could not wake up that early for some reasons.. So we could not get in there on that time of course but we got there after 15minutes because his dad drove us to there. What a nice dad!:)
That day was really hot and there were so many people maybe because it was Sunday.
We really had a fun there except "Hollywood Dream the Ride".. Well I think he enjoyed it but it was too scary for me I mean I was crying when I was on that. It seems like it's really fun attraction but I thought I was going to die because it was just too dangerous, I mean, the safety bar was no there and only safety belt was around my under stomach (and it was not safe at all). We enjoyed most of attraction there but not that one, I am not going to ride it never again.
I really wanted to see Hello Kitty there but I could not. That was too bad maybe next time, I hope.
We also bought a bracelet and carved our name on it... how cute we are!:) Oh we took some pictures there but since I left my digital camera at my house so we had to buy a disposable camera. I guess that was a waste of money but oh well. Then we went home by a train.
I think USJ is really fun so we recommend you guys to go there! Now they are having an event which is for Halloween and it looks like fun! I guess I will go there sometime soon again :)
Check this out if you are interested: Universal Studio Japan Official Website


Other places we went were some festivals. We went to three big festivals (Tenjin, Gion, PL fireworks) and one small festival. So I would like to talk about when we went to PL fireworks. I can laugh about it now but when we were there, I was mad so much. Well, we went there by the train and walk along the line of many people. Then he found the place we could get crepes so we went there and he got one. A chocolate banana crepe, it looked really good. So, the accident was happened when he was going to give me a bite. The liquid chocolate was dripping on my shirt, pants and even my hair! (because my hair was long) We did not notice it for a while because it was kind of dark but I felt something kind of worm was running on my arm. Then I just screamed, lol. Because a lot of chocolate was on me and then we had to take the train to go home later. So I could not think anything for a while and then he seemed like he was kind of sad because he was blaming himself. I knew that was an accident and it was not because of him but I could not say anything to him because I kind of get into a panic, lol. Then we got in misterdonuts to wash our hands and I washed my hair and clothes a little bit. Fireworks were not over yet that time but we did not feel like see them so we decided to go home. However, because of so many people, we could not reach to the station for a long time! Maybe I do not like the place where too many people are there that much. :(

Home*

Hi guys:)

I just finished all classes for 1st semester today and I came back to my hometown a couple hours ago. It took me for like 2 hours by train to get here, well it sounds not long, but it WAS long for me, lol. My dad came to the station and picked me up, yeah I like him:) Not so many conversation in the car,,, but you know, it's alright.

It is awesome to see my family, and John, my dog, lol. We didn't talk that much because the time is kind of late so everyone was sleepy, lol. Maybe we will talk alot tomorrow or so but I will go back to Hirakata on Saturday again so there is no that much time but I will come back here soon again for sure.

It was surprising that my younger brother became waaaaay taller than before, like 2 months ago. Wow. I had a weird feeling for some reasons, lol. He is too skinny.. he should eat more and be.. fat!.. no, big! lol:P

Since I had no plan for Thursday and Friday and I didn't want to feel lonly, I came back here. Well I still don't have any plans for this 2 days but you know at least I won't feel lonly, lol. So it's all good. Maybe I will go to my highh school to see my teacher and friends:)

Oh I had a supper made by my mom tonight and you know it was awesome. Since I'm living by myself and I'm always making supper, I missed my mom's food, haha. I'm not good at cooking. My mom IS good at cooking. IT'S NOT FAIR, you know. Well, whatever.

So as you can see, there is a kitten in the picture. ISN'T HE SO CUTE? yeah I know, because this is my kitten. I just found this picture in my cell, so I thought I should have put it on my blog now:) I'm not living with him now because he is in Canada. Yes, when I was in Canada, it's like a year ago or more, he was in my house, I mean.. in my host family's house. He is sooooo cute. It seems like he is so small in that picture, but he is getting big now, haha. Still cute though. I miss him alot and I hope I can see him soon but I don't know because I don't have enough money to go back to Canada right now.. I have to work hard I guess, lol.

Well.. maybe this is all I want to write here now. Have a nice vacation, everyone!

Asami*

The Concert*

Hello, how are you doing guys?:)

On Saturday, July 7th - Tanabata in Japan, I went to the concert, EXILE LIVE TOUR 2007 "EXILE EVOLUTION". I'm not that big fun of them but my best friend from my home town likes them and she invited me and my boyfriend so I went there with her, her mother, and my boyfrined. It was held at Osaka-jyo hall, there are so many people. Before we got inside, I bought a towel (-see the picture on the right). It was 2,000yen, kind of expensive for me, but you know, I felt like I really wanted to get it even though I wasn't REALLY need it, lol. My best friend was getting a lot of things of course because she likes them. Costume she was wearing on that day was really... I don't know how to explain, but she was wearing EXILE's T-shirt, cap, towel around her neck, and she had a bag which was also written EXILE, she said she got it when she bought their goods for around 10,000 yen. Wow, lol. Also her mom was having the same one, and she was wearing the same costume as well. That was kind of funny. The concert was supposed to start at 6, but it actually started at around 6:30 because maybe people were still getting inside even though that time was passing. So. Of course the concert was pretty good, song are nice I really liked it. My best friend and her mom was dancing and jumping and... you know, that was funny. I and my boyfriend like them too, so we were really enjoying with she and her mom, just we weren't dancing or jumping like them, lol.

Also, COLOR, this is a group I and my boyfriend really like, was on the stage and they sang some songs too because Atsushi, he is an main vocal in EXILE, produces COLOR. They were SO good, I really liked it. I think you guys should listen to them.. seriously. Maybe I talked about them before on this blog.

Okay, if you are interested in either EXILE or COLOR, I'd like to show you their official website.

EXILE: here and COLOR: here.

Anyways, I hope you can enjoy on that website or their songs!
Thank you<3


Asami*

Gerbera..*

Hi.

Do you know Gerbera? ...MY FAVORITE FLOWER!
They are so pretty, beautiful, I just really like it..:)


When you don't feel good or fall into a depression, you should get flowers. They make you feel better. Seriously, I don't know why but it they do! I sometimes get some gerbera, usually three of them. They have some colours I'm not sure how many colours they have, but I have had red, pink, yellow,,, I don't remember. There are orange, blue... and so on. Even if you are not interested in flowers, you should get some when you don't feel good. If you don't believe that they make you feel better, just TRY it or whatever, lol. Well, not only gerbera, there are many kinds of flowers as you know.


The reason why I talked about this.. is that I don't feel good in these days. I need to get some gerbera..:)

UNO!

Hello, everyone. How are you doing?
Today... I had such a bad day..

*sigh*

..Whatever.

So, for today's entry, I'm gonna talk about UNO!
I'm sure you guys know UNO, it is a card game.

I and my boyfiend just bought it together last week.
Why UNO? ...I don't know! lol.


When we are at home, we sometimes get bored because there is nothing to do, so we thought we need to get something that make our free time fun. So we went to convenience store and got it for a thousand yen! yay! Since we bought it, we are just playing a game over and over, because it is so fun! yeah it IS! Even there are two people, my boyfriend and me, it can be a fun game! haha. I'm not telling you what is making our game so fun though.


If you feel tired of studying, that means you NEED to have some fun! ..I believe, lol. So, to have some fun, you should invite your friends over and play UNO! lol It would be so fun:) And you know, if you wanna play UNO, you can always come over my house and yeah have fun together! haha.


Okay so, we are still looking for some fun stuff, so please tell me if you have any good idea for us:)


That's all for today.
Thank you*



xoxo

Fireworks*

Hello. How are you guys?:)


June is almost over and you know what, SUMMER IS COMIN'! YEAH! haha. So speaking of summer, I'd like to go to the sea a lot and I am really looking forward to seeing or doing fireworks. woohoo! I know everyone likes to see fireworks, so today I'd like to show you where you should go to see beautiful fireworks.


Okay, look at this website.
As you can see, this is written in Japanese and I don't know if there are any this kind of English website so I'm sorry about that. So this is a website called Calender of fireworks in 2007. Sounds good, does'n it? haha.

Basically you click on somewhere you want to see, either on the map or names of area bellow the map, and then... there you go, you can see some information that would be held as a festival in this summer. On the left, you can see names of prefectures so you can choose anywhere you want to go and see, it will give you some infomations. Also you can search by a month, like if you want to know about August, then click on the calender bellow the name of prefectures. It gives you that date, the name of festivals, and scale. Also if you click on the name of any festivals, it also gives you that some introductions and place. You might see a picture of fireworks, too.


So If you are interested in those event, you should check it on this website and you know, invite some friends or your partner to go with, and go see those beautiful sweet fireworks together! :)

I really recommend you to go some of those festivals, it should be really fun! I go to see fireworks every year at least once, I really like to watch. So I'm thinking that I will go to see as many as I can this year.

Have fun in your summer!


Thank you:)

Baby Hatch*

Today I'd like to talk about Baby Hatch. This is kind of becoming a big problem in Japan in these days. I think this issue is relating to everyone because even they are babies - they are human, living in the same world. I was sort of interested in or caring about this issue since I have heard about this, so today I'd like to think about it.



This is a letter written by person who disagree with Baby Hatch.

The author is saying that Baby Hatch is not the answer. It says that the author has worked with children and families for twenty years, and also now works with developmentally disabled adults who have sad, unwanted experienences, like actually abandoned from their parents. So the author is saying that the author knows or can think more about this issue than others because he/she learned by working with those people. Then, the author is emphasizing that even if there are any system such as Baby Hatch, people will not stop abandoning children, they will still contenue to do it.



And This is an another letter written by person who agree with Baby Hatch.

The author is using the example of event actually happened before, about the junior high school student abandoned their baby - because they were full of fear and had no choise but abandon. So the author thinks if there are some facilities such as Baby Hatch at that time, then that baby might not be abandoned. By this example, the author says that if there are those facilities, Baby Hatch, at least giving those people a choice, that not to abandon and babies will be saved instead of dying.



My opinion -

Basically, I think this is a good idea.

I am not saying that it is a good thing that people didn't abandon babies but put them away to the place like Baby Hatch. I believe children should definitly be loved by their parents and should not be abandoned. Parents should think about it more seriously, children are not their things. They should have a heavy resposibility. Just I can't believe that what they do, but they might have their own problem, and it should be seriously big problem.

However, IF parents had a serious problem with something and they would not be able to have children anymore, they should use this Baby Hatch, because it is much better than just abandon them on somewhere dangerous.

Children are not things, they are alive.
This Baby Hatch might not be the best, but still it is saving their lives.


Thank you.

I love Canada<3

Today I'd like to show you some things about Canada.

When I was in H.S., I went there for a year to study English.

So this picture you can see on the left is the nothern lights as you know. This is not what I took when I was there, I just found from google, but I actually saw this kind of nothern lights and it was really beautiful. We can see those in winter I believe, the winter in Canada is REALLY cold. I don't know if we can see those lights everywhere in Canada, but in Saskatchewan, where I was, I could see quite a few times. If you are interested in those nice view, you should visit Canada! I'm pretty sure that you will like it.

So many young people in Canada are using this website to communicate with people. This website is called Nexopia, which is like you can have own page to introduce yourself. You can put your pictures on, write your commenmts or send messages to other people. You can have many friends from this website because people from many country are joining here. You should see what it is like, and I hope you can have fun on this website as well.

In Canada, my favorite TV show is Canadian Idol.
Some of you guys know or have seen the American Idol, this is kind of like that except it is Canadian. I really loved this TV show and I was watching every weeks. This TV show is like an audition which people who want to be singers can join and the audience, Canadian people, vote for the person who they like. I'm pretty sure that you can have fun on this show and you can see some of them on You tube.

So I'd like to show you one of them. This was my favorite singer who joined the Canadian Idol maybe last year, her name is Melissa O'neil. She is really good singer.

Watch this:

Thank you<3

LINKISS<3

Hi. Today I would like to share with you a few links.

First, i want to introduce a really nice place:)

I went to Would Trade Center Building (WTC) in Nanko, Osaka to have dinner for anniversary with my boyfriend three days ago. We had dinner at a restaurant on the forty-six floor of that building. We could see really nice view from big windows. This picture, on the left, is the kind of view we can see. Well this picture quality is not really good because I took this one on my cellphone camera.. I forgot to bring my degital camera on that impotant day! :(


We also went to the top floor ( fifty-one floor, I think) to see a nice view. Since it is observatery, you have to pay 800yen to get in, which is kind of expensive I thought, but we can see REALLY BEAUTIFUL view. I seriously recommend you to go there with your boyfriend or girlfriend. ha!


Also I am thinking that I might want to have our wedding at this place:)
It would be SO sweet! hehe. lol.



The another link I would like to show you is here.

This is a official website of COLOR which is a singer group. I really like their music, they are so sweet. If you are intrested in music, they have really nice voice, you should visit there and listen some songs. SERIOUSLY, THEY ARE SO GOOD.


That is all for today, thank you:)

The Seven-Five-Three Festival*

Hello everyone.

This picture you can see on the right side ---> is me. I know this is really pretty and nice picture! lol :P
This is when I was three years old and went to the shrine for The Seven-Five-Three Festival.

Do you know anything about The Seven-Five-Three Festival? Most Japanese know about it well, I hope, but I am going to talk about The Seven-Five-Three Festival for people who don't really know about it.

So this festival is held on November 15th every year for children who are seven, five, and three years old to celebrate the growth.
They usually go visit shrines or temples with usaually wearing japanese clothes like kimono and make-ups.

Also, they usually celebrate it with eating kind of candy called Chitose-ame. It is like thin and long, colored each with red and white because people believe that red and white are something good. What is more, the Chitose-ame is in the bag called Chitose-bukuro which has pictures of Tsurukame or Shochikubai, people believe those pictures are also something good.
So maybe I, in this picture, has the Chitose-ame as well ..I don't really remember but it seems like.

..I wondered if my parents still remember about that time.

loves everyone around me<3

Hello everyone.

It has been almost 2months since I moved to here and started to live by myself. I'm actually being really tired because you know I have to do everything by myself. I know it will be good for me that I'm doing cooking, cleaning, washing, or everything.

What I thought through living by myself is.. that I have to thank to my family especially my mom. Seriously, I didn't do anything about house work and who was doing all those things, my mom was. And I really didn't think about it, didn't notice anything, I mean, until these days. I really thank to my mom now. I have never said it to her and I am not going to, but I want to do something nice to her someday. and to all my family.

Through writing this, I thought I have some nice people around me like my family, friends, and my boyfriend. They are always supporting me, thinking about me, and you know loving me. What a lucky girl I am! haha. And I thoght I have to do same thing, I mean like being nice or something like that to them, too. Aww I really want to tell them my thanks. ...Thank you so much and I love all of you guys.


xoxo

Asami*

Commercial for mascara (an analysis)

Hi. Today I'd like to talk about the television commercial which you can see on japanese TV.

*watch this:


*Target Audience

Obviously this commercial is directed at women who put make-up on.
It should be for all women, however, it might be for more young women or even young girls (since these days young girls are putting on their makeups, too).

It is also for women who cares about that their mascara is coming off with sweat, tears, or humidity, or smudging their mascara. Actually this is the big point for this product, I think.

*Authority

As you can see, this commercial is using the famous singer, BoA, (actually Facio's image character is her for these days) she is really pretty and many women might think they want to be like her.

Also, the big trust for this is this popular cosmetic name, Fasio, and the name of company which made this product, KOSE.

So by these above things, audience will know about how it would be when they put on this mascara actually by seeing that image character, BoA because she is actually wearing this product and the high quality of this product.


*Emotion

In this commercial, the big water is coming to BoA's face but her mascara is still on, not come off or anything. This makes you feel "wow".
Women should feel they want it really bad by seeing this.

Another reason why they feel like they want to buy it is that BoA is actually wearing this product.
If they like BoA, they should want to check whatever she has.

So I think this commercial is using those techniques of emotion from target audience to sell this product.


*Logic/Information

As you are seeing this, you should be able to tell that this mascara is waterproof.
Also, from the beginning of this commercial, this product is Fasio and it is by KOSE.
At the end, it tells us that this product's actual name is "hyper stay mascara" and it is 1,260 yen.

By seeing BoA is wearing actual product, you can see how it is like when we wear this product.


*Evaluation

I think this commercial is really good and it would catch target audience's heart because it's really easy to understand, I mean, all information the audience want is in this commercial, I think.

On a scale of 1-10, I would give.. 9, because I am a woman and I can be a target audience actually, and I thought this is a really good product. Many women are caring about mascara, the most reason why for that is mascara is easy to come off with watering things.

So in this commercial, actual water comes to the face and it doesn't come off at all, WOW, it definitly cought my heart.

20 Questions with me<3

*This is created by Hiromitsu.

1. What do you want to be in the future?

- An office administrator of the compony my husband runs. In near future, I want to be a person who work at the airport.

2. What do you like to do in your free time?

- To listen to music or..call my friends. :)

3. How many brothers or sisters do you have?

- One brother. He is five years younger than me.

4. What kind of fruits do you like?

- Hmmm... I like apples, orange, banana, grapes, blueberry,,, alot!

5. What is your best memory of your school days?

- Study abroad. Canada is awesome.

6. If you had a car, where would you go?

- Umm, go to my boyfriend's house and pick him up at first, and then go to Suisho-hama to see beautiful sea. Woo that's so sweet! ha-ha.

7. If you had a vacation for 1 year, where would you go?

- Definitly I would go to Canada.

8. If you could go out with actors, who would you choose?

- Heh,, I wouldn't choose anyone because I don't want to. You know, I don't want to do love affair. But.. Wentworth Miller is so cool. aww.

9. If you were a foreigner, do you think you would like to visit Japan?

- Hmmm I don't know. Maybe.

10. If the earth were destroyed by a bunch of aliens, what would you do?

- What should I do?! lol

11. What is your hobby?

- Listening to Music, Singing,,, I love music.

12. Which do you like better, summer or winter?

- I should say,, summer. There are alot of fun! But i like winter, too. The best season is spring thogh.

13. What is your favorite movie?

- "Mean Girls", so fun.

14. If you got a thousand dollars, how would you spend it?

- I would to go to Canada. ha-ha!

15. Which country do you want to go?

- CANADA. I told you I wanted to go to canada many times! gah. lol jk

16. Do you like any sports?

- Nope, but just watching, I like to watch baseball. hehe

17. What was your first impression of the class?

- Wow. ..Sorry I don't remember that much.

18. Where do you want to go in Japan?

- Hmmm.. Okinawa? I've never been there so I want to go there and see how beautiful the sea is!

19. If you were asked to go and get on the most scary roller coaster in the world, would you accept?

- Of course, NO. I don't like roller coaster that much and WHY do i have to? lol There is no fun.

20. Who is your favorite actor or actress?

- I don't know. Wentworth Miller is so so so cool. (again, lol) aww.



See you next time!

Asami*

&&<3

Hi.

I really dont know what I should write here but seems like I have to introduce myself a little bit.

I was born on March 17th in 1989 and I was brought up in Fukui, really lovely city, lol. I moved to here, Hirakata, for university. I came to this university because I wanted to study English more. k I really dont like to write about myself and y' know you dont have to know about me right right, :) I have alot of secrets, lol.

so anyways I gotta go, be excited to see my next one, lol.


Asami*