Cherish People Around You

If I have my words on my gravestone, I will choose "Cherish people around you." I broke up with my boyfriend last night, and I really felt depressed. My friends took care of me. All of them said to me, "You have me." I felt sad and lonely after I broke up with my boyfriend, so this word encouraged me. I called my family this morning. I talked with my mother, father, and younger sister. They were very surprised because I cried. They really worried about me, so I explained to them what happend to me. They said, "We are waiting for you at home. We know you are very sad now, but you will be fine. You should think why you came to America, and do your best." I had not talked with them for a long time, so calling them was good for my feeling. They always take sides with me. I lost my love, but I could realized how important people around me are for me. I have family and friends in Japan, and they are waiting for me there. I also have friends here in America. All of them help me when I have some problems. They also make me have fun. I think anyone cannot live without people around him or her. I want to cherish people around me forever. Therefore, I want to choose "Cherish people around you" for my gravestone.

OTAKU

There are many Stereotype people in Japan, and I will write about Otaku. Most of them are in Akihabara, Tokyo. Otaku are people who are enthusiastic about anime, comics, video games, computers, trains, pop idols and so on. They spend a lot of time on them. Therefore, they have a lot of knowledge about them. Most of them are single men, but some of them are women. They do not care about their appearance, so they wear unfashionable clothes and backpacks. I will introduce characteristics of some kinds of them. Anime Otaku like watching anime, and they have their favorite characters. Because they like collect goods related anime, such as dolls, they often go to Akihabara to get them. They also like anime songs, so they sing only them when they go to karaoke. Some of them fall in love with their favorite characters, so they are not interested in women in real world. Trains Otaku likes trains, and they take pictures of them and collect miniature trains. They can memorize all kinds of trains and announcement on trains. Pop idols Otaku go to their favorite pop idols’ concerts many times and also buy goods, such as photographic collections, DVDs, posters. They can dance and sing all songs of their favorite pop idols’. Public opinion about Otaku is not good because suspects are sometimes Otaku. People think they are not good at communicating with others face to face; for example, there is the website named “2 channel”, and they use it to communicate with other Otaku. However, I cannot say all of them are bad. I think most of them are good. There are many Otaku in Japan, so they are one of our country’s cultures.

The national flag of Japan

Japanese flag is called Nisshoki, and this flag has long history. It is white and has a red circle which represents the sun. It was important for our religion long time ago; in addition, Shotoku Taishi, who was a sun of the Emperor, stated Japan was the country of sunrise. In general, the color of the sun was yellow or gold. However, it was red for Japanese. This idea was not original, and they said that it came from China in the Heian period. White and red are our traditional colors. White means holy and innocence, and red means humanity and vitality. This flag was put up as a bringer of good luck in the Edo period. On February 27, 1870, it was qualified as a national flag, so the association of the flag provided that Japanese people put up the flag on this day. In 1945, GHQ prohibited Japan from using it, so we just used another one during that time. The freedom of display was permitted in 1949. After the Second World War, there were people who argued if Nisshoki was worthy to be the national flag of Japan. On the other hand, the other people argued that it was stated Nisshoki was the national flag of Japan in the law. In the late 1990’s, many problems related to display of Nisshoki occurred at school ceremonies. Unfortunately, a principal committed suicide because of this problem. In fact, there were many opponents of Nisshoki and the national anthem. To solve this problem, the law of them was promulgated in 1999. Nisshoki formally became the national flag of Japan. I could learn about Japanese flag through this assignment.

My precious thing

My precious thing is a photo album with pictures and messages. My friends made it for me before I came here. Of course, I brought it here. They and I have known each other through the seminar since last spring, but we are good friends. Although we just spent short time together, we have a lot of precious memories. We played bowling, had a party, enjoyed talking, and studied together. They wrote about that on a photo album, so it reminds me of our memories whenever I see it. We have the same dream, and I really respect them because they make efforts for their dreams. When I miss them, I see this album. When I go back to Japan, I will go to see them to make new precious memories.

Alone time

Alone time is not strange to me because I really need it. I like to be with someone. For example, my family, friends, and boyfriend. I can have a lot of fun because of them, so I like the time to spend with them. However, I need the time to spend by myself because I like to read books and to listen to music. When I was in my country, I liked to read books or to study at STAR BUCKS alone. I also need the time to think about something. I have to think about my future because I am a junior in university. Actually, I feel stress if I do not have the time to spend by myself. It can make me relax, so it is an important part of my life.

My dream

My dream is to be an English teacher in my country. When I was a high school student, I thought about my future. Because I like children and English, I decided to be an English teacher. I wanted to gain experience to teach English, so I used to teach English to children as part-time job at juku. If my dream comes true, I want to make a lot of children feel that English is an interesting subject. However, I have a fear about my dream. It is hard to be an English teacher in my country because the exam is very difficult. I have to take the exam next July. I hope I will improve my English skill at CESL, but I have to study other subjects. Actually, I have little time. I really want to be an English teacher in the future, so I will do my best.

Halloween

In our culture, we have a holiday called "Bunka no hi" on November 3. It means "Culture day" in English, and the purpose of this holiday is loving freedom, peace, and culture. We don't do something special on the day. We just enjoy the holiday with friends or family. However, there is a ceremony for presentation of cultural insignia at the Imperial Palace.
We have a holiday which is a little similar to Halloween in the middle of August. It is called "Obon," and this holiday is for dead people. We usually visit our ancestors' grave to clean it and put something which they liked on it. In Kyoto, people make big letters with fire on the mountain to take spirits of dead people to the other world. It is one of the traditional events in Japan.
In Japan, Halloween is getting popular lately. People start to sell something for Halloween (candies, costumes, cakes, or stuffs for Halloween party) as Halloween is coming. Because my university in Japan has a lot of international students, we can have a party at school.
I was happy because I could really enjoy Halloween here in America. It was my first time to curve a pumpkin, so I was very excited. I also bought a costume for Halloween, and I wore it to go to the bar with my friends on Friday. There were so many people in unique costumes that it was a wonderful sight for me. I thought I could not see people like them in Japan!!! The bar was filled with excitement. I will never forget such an exciting experience!!!!