Goodbye, Aug

September is almost here.

Only 4 months are left until the end of this year. What can I do within this year? I just feel I have to do many things even though I don't know what they are.


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This sky leads to your sky

At the port of Akita.
This sea is bordered by Korea, North Korea, Russia and Japan.
Some elderly people were fishing...A peaceful moment.

←Life in Japan written in English.

What the real man is

What is the real man?
Well...my ideal guy is...

No~~I will talk about it later someday (---Oh really?)

I happened to start watching a movie on TV this afternoon. The title is 'Secondhand Lions'.

Actually...I really really rarely watched a movie before I went to the U.S. I got naturally interested in movies after my staying in America. It's just because I can see the secenery I used to see while my staying. For instance, a boy in that story was drinking root beer. Oh my~~I don't like it!!...like this=)

I like movies which themes are humanity. I don't need a dynamic story.

The Japanese title of 'Secondhand Lions' is 'Walter, holidays in summer'( totally different!!).
As that title says, this is the story of the boy named Walter who started to live with two his uncles. These uncles were living in remote place and there was a bad rumor about them...

More details http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327137/

Well...it's a heartwarming story.

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Hot day with my friends

It's a sunny day. I met my friends. We met each other for the first time while we were studying in the U.S.

They are in another university in my city. Their university adopts American system. Even though I have one more month for summer break, my friends will go back to classes next week.

One of friends and I came back to Japan on May and the other friend came back last December. We haven't seen for a half year.

We had lunch, chatted and wondered up and down near the station. We wanted to go to a fashion building but it's closed. This building is rarely closed. Do we have the devil's luck?? No way~~!!

These days, I couldn't have such a nice time because I was busy at job-searching. It was nice to meet and talk with friends.

←Life in Japan written in English

I can't move on easily though...

Elliott Yamin 'Wait For You'


The more I listen to his songs, the more I like. Especially, I like 'Movin on'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbATNYSWpow

2 of songs in this CD are exclusive to this Japanese edition.

His voice is really clear. I can forget anything annoying me only when I listen to his songs.



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Happiness from Beijing

I got a mail from one of my friends, from Beijing.

It's a not dream!!(Read the previous article 'missing my friends').

He wrote this letter in fluent? yeah, fluent Japanese.

He was working as a volunteer during the Beijing Olympic Games. According to his letter, he posted this letter in the media press center where he's working. This postmark is gonna be a remembrance (Your Japanese is saying so. Is that what you wanted to say??)

The Beijing Olympics has finished but this letter is still filled with the Olympic enthusiasm.


When I got this letter, I was a little bit desperate. The more I read this letter, the more I got cheerful. This letter seemed to warm my heart=)

Actually, I sent some cards to my home once or twice a month while I was in the U.S. Sometimes, I sent them to my grandpa and grandma, relatives and friends.
I'm wondering if they were glad to get my letters same as I got this letter from my friend.

Thank you for giving me this letter~~!!
I hope I can play the piano with you again!!

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Missing my friends

I got a call from one of my friends just now. My friend just called my name.


I waked up....oh, it was just a dream...


I haven't talked with that person for a long time...Long time? Only I may feel so.



These days, the weather has been not good at all. It's cloudy today. I have to go to my university to tell staffs my job-hunting situation.

←means English diary by Japanese bloggers.

Autumn, dragonfly

My family went to my grandma's house and stayed there for one night. It's 2-hour drive from my house.

My cousins live near my grandma's house. One of my cousins-she's 15-year old-had ballet recital/concert. I hadn't seen her ballet for a long time so I wanted to see it.

Well, she performed 2 programs with other dancers. One of programs is modern ballet. I like it pretty much. She looked really matured haha.


On the way to my grandma's house, we had lunch at a restaurant. Just in back of this restaurant, there're many mountains. Nice scenery, clean air...

When I was waiting for my order, something fell down near me...That's a dragonfly like this picture. It seemed that this dragonfly went inside the restaurant and couldn't find the exit. I picked him up, took some pictures and let him go out.


I didn't know this dragonfly is native to Japan until now. This is called anotogaster sieboldii or oniyanma(oniyanma is Japanese). It's the largest species in Japan. This one is more than 10cm in length.

Oni is Japanese demon, evil in folklore. It seems there're many translations of oni.

I can see dragonflies near my home in autumn but it's difficult to see this oniyanma one.


It's a little bit scary for me to see his face...He looks cleverer than me...




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Result again

I got the score for the teacher hiring exam just now by snail mail.

As I said....it seemed that the cause of my defeat was lack of latest educational knowledge.

In this 2 day exam, I had exam in educational knowledge, latest issues and English. Besides, I had group discussion and interview in Japanese. Plus, I got a interview in English.

This mail said I almost passed this exam...ohh, I'm kinda relieved to hear that even though I couldn't pass it...

Luckly, the score for English test was not so bad...English test in my city is famous for the difficulty...

Anyway, I failed it. I have to go next step.

When I told this result to my advisor by mail, he said he hoped that I take the exam next year....I don't know now.


When I had discussion in the exam, there's a girl who studied at Oxford university as an exchange student. We just talked a little after exam. She was really nice person. I just knew she was senior in Tokyo.

I'm afraid she also couldn't pass(I know her examinee's number so I found her result yesterday when I went to see the result). I should have asked her name...


It's blowing up a storm now.

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Result.

Well...Frankly speaking, I couldn't pass the teacher hiring exam.


Let me talk a little bit about job-hunting in Japan.

The academic year starts on April and ends on March. Usually, students get jobs before graduation.
Job-interviews are not held through one year. Most job-interviews are done from October to summer next year.
Therefore, Junior students have to start looking for jobs while they attend classes.

In my case, I was not interested in companies before going to the U.S. I wanted to be a teacher in my city. Usually, students who hope to become teachers don't apply for job interviews.

Each company has different procedure of job interviews. For example, we are required to submit resume and to take exam on the net. The resume includes kinda essay (e.g. why we want to get a job in that company, what we have done in the university, how we can contribute to that company...). Exams are multiple chioces. They consist of math, Japanese(reading). We have to answer them quickly.
If we can pass this first step, we can take job interview. In case of big, famous companies, we have to take interviews at least three times.

Meanwhile, in teacher hiring exams, we have to memorize many education knowledge.

Therefore, it's really difficult to try to do both job-interviews and teacher hiring exams. There are not so many people who try to do both. Rather, there're not so many students who are intersted in both of them.


Ok....in my case, I wanted to work in my city. My city, Akita, is located in countryside. So, there're not many jobs we can make money. In this situation, teachers are kinda high-wage job. Furthermore, I didn't dislike teaching.

But, here we got one more problem. Because of few number of students, only a few people is hired as a teacher in my city. (Japan consists of 47 municipal districts and each district has own hiring system.) The competition is really intense.

Surprisingly, most English teachers can't speak English. I thoght I needed to speak English both to become a good teacher and to win this hiring exam. So, I studied TOEFL test to go aboad as a exchange student.

On 23th Aug. 2007, I left Japan to the U.S.

One year has passed.

After I studied in the U.S, occupation as a teacher was not so attracting for me anymore. I don't think I have to stay in my city. I feel like meeting many people who are from various places, countries.

So far, I took some job interviews and teacher hiring exam. As I said before, I passed one of job interviews. This company is located in my place. It's not so bad condition.

Today, the result for teacher hiring exam was revealed. I couldn't pass it. People who could pass have one more exam day. At last, only a few people, 1~3 people will be hired.

The number of applicants for English teacher in high school was 53. I guess half of them are part time teachers. My district don't hire many teachers but hire people as part time teachers. Difference between tearhers and part time teachers is just wage. That's all. Part time teachers have to work as well as teachers. It's not fair...
Part time teachers tried this exam every year again and again. It's really hard for university student to start to work as a teacher in my place.

I feel I couldn't get good score in the exam which asked current topics. Even though I read newspapers which were issued while I was in the U.S after I came back, I couldn't keep up with all of them.


Ok...to sum up, I have one job I could pass. Today, I got one good result from a kinda famous company. Maybe, I will take this job interview next week.

Actually, I feel I cannot pass it because only some people are hired. Now, companies are trying to make up for the lack of new workers. I mean, most students almost finished job hunting. Some students pass some companies. Of course, they have to choose one company from them. The company that student cancel to be hired need one more worker.

In this season, most companies give students job interviews just because of making up for that.

Because it seems prestigious university students will take job interviews in that company, it will be really difficult for me to win against them.

But, nothing will happen unless I take action.


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Job, my future, no idea

The day before yesterday, I got the result for job-interview and test.

It says...I passed them.

That means I can work from April if I confirm it.


I also took the teacher hiring exam. That result will be revealed tomorrow.

Based on them, I have to think about my future again...

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Too late greeting to my precious readers

Oh my gosh....I found I missed the greeting to my blog readers...Actually, I tried some blog sites before I started to use this site, blogger. When I activated this blog here, I copied all archives from another blog I had used before...except one article, that is, greeting.

It's toooooo late but let me greet here...


I used to have some blogs but gave up most of them except one...That is the one which only my family could look.

When I was in the U.S, I usually contacted my family with that blog. I wrote down something and my family (at last, only my mom...) commented some...I kept writing for almost one year.

Now, I'm living with my family in Japan. So, I don't have to use that blog...I decided to make new blog in English...Actually, I tried to write blog in English before but I couldn't...cuz, I felt sooooo embarrassed with my English...hehe

I spent one year in the U.S as an exchange student in one university. While I was in the U.S, I listened many people's English. Sometimes, some English sounded ungrammatical (especially in NY).

I thought, however, this was not big deal. If we can communicate each other, it's kinda OK. I really realized English is just tool for communication. Different people use different English. I don't have to speak/write English perfectly.These ideas are really natural but I couldn't notice them before I went to the U.S...


Lastly, my family blog's title was Konbanwa (こんばんは) from the U.S (konbanwa=good evening).I changed this title a little bit and I use it again here. That is, Konbanwa from Japan.


Thank you for sharing your time with me here!!


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Under petit-renovation

I'm cleaning my room right now. Let me say....my room is NOT SO messy...haha. I just wanted to change the atmosphere of my room by decorating something...

I will show you what my room will be like IF I can manage it...


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Something new??

To me, yoghurt was a reward after I finished some papers or presentation in the U.S.

It's just normal yoghurt, not special. But, the taste was really good after I finished annoying papers.

These days, I don't do anything. I just spent everyday aimlessly. It may be an improper expression, I'm just waiting for results for some job interviews and exams...

I should start something new, preserving what I've done so far.


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Summer is almost gone

Obon season was over...It's almost the end of summer.(My summer vacation will last until Sep 30th though.)

Even though it's hot during the daytime, the tempurature goes down in the evening. Now, at 21:30, an autumn wind blows quietly. I can hear the sound of olympic games on TV from the living room. Seems some Chinese player won the gold medal. I can hear the Chinese national anthem...

Speaking of the national anthem, I wonder why the Japanese national anthem doesn't have bright atomosphere. I like it but cannot help thinking so whenever I compare the anthem with other countries' anthem like in the olympic games. I remember one of my foreign friends asked me why Japanese anthem was kinda dark.

Furthermore, it's difficult to sing if I try to do seriously. It's because the tempo is slow and it's hard to take breath in appropriate spots.

The olympic games will end in one week. The summer will end soon.

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Come on, lee hom!!

Whenever I drive, I listen to music.

These days, I always bring lee hom's CD into the car. As my Japanese friend said when she listened to his music, we cannot see this kind of music in Japan...Is this just because Chinese language is fresh for us?

Some of my Chinese friends were singing his songs when I was in the U.S. This was the encounter with lee hom. When I went to Beijing, I bought this CD.

Because I cannot understand Chinese, I made some mistakes about his title and rylics. For example, there is a song titled 大城小愛. Does this mean small love in big city? I thought small love in big CASTLE like Cinderella because of the meaning of 城 in Japanese...I guess I don't even notice some mistakes yet...

Now, I tried to play some of his songs with the piano. Of course, I don't have music sheets at all though...I can do it somehow but I'm not satisfied...I need to get more sophisticated performance.


By the way, obon (お盆) season has just started in Japan. During obon, from Aug 13th through 16th, it is said our ancestors are coming back to this world. Many Japanese visit a grave. Therefore, many people have kinda short vacation. Some people go back to their parents' home and have family gatherings. Other people just have a rest. This season is one of big vacation for workers in Japan.I guess everywhere is busy right now.

In my case, my family is gonna have a trip from tomorrow because my father took 4-days off. I have to bring lee hom's CD and many CDs into the car!!


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Beijing Olympic in Japan

There are some stuff related to Beijing Olympic games.

This is a snack food which is supposed to taste Beijing duck...mmm, I didn't think so though...

It seems Kosuke Kitajima, Japanese swimmer, got a gold medal, setting 100-meter breaststroke world record just now~~I missed it! I have to check the news well~~!

Done!!

I made it~~~!! The size of this frame is 30×40cm. I picked 16 pictures up. The layout was really difficult...

Now, I can meet my friends every day easily=)

Well, where should I put this frame??

Pictures

I really love taking pictures. I guess I've got more than 3,000 pictures in the U.S.

Now, I'm trying to frame some of them. The frame in this picture is kinda big. How should I put pictures on this frame?

This time last year

I have been kept the diary. I just had a look at my 2007 diary which I wrote down until I left Japan to the U.S.



2007.8.9.



I suddenly got concerned about my English, that is, speaking. Because I don't use English in my univ, we rarely speak English. How should I communicate with people right after I arrive at the U.S?...Seems like I have to study speaking English...





Some of my friends in the U.S seemed to think that we Japanese students use English during the class in the university...No~~~I already took almost 80 classes in Japan before I went to the U.S. Only 2 of them were done in English. That's the only time I can use English...



I really remember I started to be concerned about everything related to studying in the U.S...I want to go back to last year and tell myself 'hey, you will have wonderful time with your friends in the U.S!'

Kanto festival

Kanto festival was held from Aug 3th~6th in Akita city. This festival is held in the night. In the daytime, the competition is held like this picture. Performers, only men, put 'Kanto'(竿燈) on the forehead, palm, hip and shoulder. They DON'T GRAB the pole.


Kanto weighs 50kg and represents of the rice. Akita is famous for the rice. Therefore, this festival is held for praying that we can harvest the rice in fall.

About 200 group joined this festival. There are various teams like school teams, companies and neighbor communites. For example, my university joins Kanto festival every year. My junior in my high school performs Kanto as a member of the group which consists of his neighbors.












They perform with the sound of Japanese flutes, drums.


















If it's windy, it's really hard to perform. Somtimes, rather, often, Kanto fall down toward audience. People who have never seen Kanto festival shouted and screamed when Kanto almost fell down.

…almost? no. Today, Kanto exactly fell down to me. Everyone except me run away to escape from falling Kanto. When Kanto was coming toward me, I was wondering if I should take pictures or movies..lol

I realized that I was between lanterns after Kanto fell down. If the pole hit me, I would get injured.....hoho~~





















In the night, they light lanterns. They look really nice.
You can check what Kanto is like in detail→http://www.kantou.gr.jp/english/index.htm

At last, here is the movie.

Summer festival

There are many summer festivals in Japan. Especially, around the begging of Aug, many festivals are held in north east area of Japan.One of festivals is Kanto festival which is held in my city, Akita. Every year, Kanto festival starts from Aug 3th through 6th. Of course, I will go there. I will upload some pictures of Kanto.

If it rains, the festival is canceled. Tomorrow(3th) is going to rain though...