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!!!!

My love

I have a boyfriend. I met him two months ago, and we were classmates. We were just friends at first. We were so shy, so we couldn't talk to each other. Because our class had a potlatch at our teacher's house in September, we were both attracted to each other then. We were always kidding each other, so we were called KIDS by our classmates. We studied together for final exam in the library after school. After TOEFL exam, we went to Chinese restaurant with our classmates. After that, we confirmed our feelings at the movie theater. Fortunately, we could be couple.

Days in Chicago

I traveled in Chicago with my friends on October 9 to 12. After arriving there, we went to Chicago art museum because we could enter for free only on Thursday. I was very excited that I could see Vincent van Gogh's works there. On the second day, we went to downtown to eat Chicago Pizza. It was very large, but we really enjoyed. After that, we went to outlet which was very far from downtown to buy clothes. After shopping, we tried to call the taxi company to go back to the train station. Because our English skill was not good, we asked a woman to call the taxi company for us. On the third day, we went to Mitsuwa to eat Japanese food. We could also buy Japanese books and snack. After that, we went shopping on downtown. On the last day, we went to China town by subway. We enjoyed chinese food and saw Chicago marathon. We had a good time in Chicago.