End of the Year

The end of the year is nearly here already, and we're all starting to think about the winter break. Some of you will be looking forward to a "romantic" Christmas, others will be having fun with friends.
What are your Christmas plans? 

Of course Christmas has nothing to do with romance in Western countries...it's a family time, more like O-shogatsu here.

Let's reflect on 2012.  How was the year for you?  What's your best memory of it?  Do you have a bad memory of it?


At the new year approaches, it's also a traditional custom to think about yourself (especially your weak points).  People make new year's resolutions (things they promise themselves they will change, e.g. some bad habits or weak points of their character).
How about you? What are your weak points?  What would you like to change about yourself for 2012?  How will you do it?

Treasure Hunt

Have you ever done a treasure hunt? If not, now is your chance! It's simple. All you have to do is be the first pair to answer all the questions correctly, and you win some treasure! Of course you can search for the answers on the Internet.

Start now!



1. What kind of sport do members of the Essendon club play?

2. What is the title of the movie in which Dustin Hoffman plays a woman?

3. In 007 movies, what is the name of James Bond's boss?


4. Who met at Yalta in 1945?

5. What was the nationality of the first group of sailors to circumnavigate the world?

6. What is the name of the world's tallest building?

7. What is Superman's one weakness?

8. Who was the drummer for the Beatles before Ringo Star joined them?
9. What is the main ingredient of guacamole?

10. What were the names of theThree Stooges?

11. When did the Great Depression begin?

12. A person who is said to "have a screw loose" might be.........?

13. What are three common colors of the hydrangea?

14. What happened near Kitty Hawk in 1903?

15. Who directed "The Birds"?

16. What is the more common name for the Cosa Nostra?

17. What do "birds of a feather" do?

18. What does "No sweat" mean?

19. What was the sputnik?

20. Finish the expression "Too many cooks ..."

21. What is an English "Bobby"?

22. Who built the Taj Mahal?

23. What are the ingredients of a screwdriver?

24. In what sport might you see a googly?
25. Where did the tango originate?

Election

This Sunday is the latest Japanese national election.  How do you feel about the candidates?  What are their good and bad points, in your opinion? 

What do you hope the next government does?  What policies would you like it to have, and how would you like it to act?  Give some examples please. 

Would you like to be prime minister? What would you do? Would you make any new laws?




Answer these questions in your next post please.

Winter Break

It's nearly time to take a break from classes.  I guess most of you are starting to think about what you'll do.

At this time of year, my wife and I usually like to go to a hot spring somewhere.  This is a photo of us at Kurokawa onsen last year.

When our daughter gets a little bit older, we'll be able to do what we really want to do, which is spend 10-12 days in south-east Asia, probably Vietnam, Thailand, or Cambodia.  She only turned 3 few months ago, so she doesn't like long flights yet.  She gets too restless.  We had a nightmare flight to Guam a couple of years ago.  It nearly killed me.  She screamed during the whole flight.

What are you planning to do?  Try to write in some detail please!  Even if you'll just be staying with your family, tell us what it is usually like in your home at the end of the year.

Inventions

We are living in the most comfortable time in human history, but destroying the planet slowly in the name of comfort and convenience.  How are we going to save ourselves?

It would be nice to think that we will find a way to work together to be less wasteful, less greedy, eat less meat etc, but it's hard to see this happening.


What we really need is a super genius (like you) to make an amazing new invention to help the world in some way.  In your next post, please tell us about your amazing new machine or technology,   what it looks like, what it can do, and how it works.

A Creature I Will Miss

It's well known that many creatures are going to become extinct over the next few decades.  Unless humans become less greedy, selfish, and obsessed about money, large numbers of creatures will disappear.  Which creature will you miss when it's gone?  What do you know about its habits/ behavior?  Please write about it in your next post.

In my case, I'm fond of orangutans (and some other creatures).  Of all the great apes, they are the ones that most enjoy spending a long time in trees. Their hair is reddish-brown, instead of the brown or black hair typical of chimpanzees and gorillas, and they sometimes look a little bald, like me. Orangutans are the most solitary of the great apes, with social bonds occurring primarily between mothers and their dependent offspring, who stay together for the first two years. Fruit is the most important part of an orangutan's diet, however, they  also eat vegetation, bark, honey, insects and even bird eggs. They can live for over 30 years.

Orangutans are among the most intelligent primates; they use a variety of sophisticated tools and construct elaborate sleeping nests each night from branches and foliage. The apes have been extensively studied for their learning abilities.  I had an interesting meeting with one in an animal sanctuary when I was on holiday in Malaysia .  Maybe it wanted to learn English from me, because it tried to climb up and sit on my knee.  It was too big though, so the staff took it away.

Globalization: Is it a Good Thing?

A lot of people have benefited from globalization, but others are suffering because of it.  Globalization is sometimes blamed for speeding up some of the most serious problems humans face (the topics of your essays).  What do you know about globalization?  What are some pros and cons? 

If you don't know anything about it, read the Wikipedia entry about it.  After reading, tell us whether you are for or against it, and why, and give some examples.

Shopping

We all know that we can save electricity by turning off lights etc.  In your last posts, some of you also mentioned taking your own bags to supermarkets, and not wasting food, water etc.

One of the biggest things we can do as individuals to help the environment is think about our shopping habits.  As soon as you buy something, that creates space on the shop shelf for another of those goods to replace it.  If we don't buy so many things, companies will have to wait longer before producing more of them. That means they use less electricity. 

If enough people stop buying unnecssary products, companies will have to stop making that junk altogether.  You probably disagree with me, but in my opinion the tamagochi is one of the most stupid products ever made.  Why would anyone buy that?  I'll never understand. Tamagochi = huge waste of resources, but it's only one example.

Please write about your shopping habits.  What kind of shopper are you?

For example, do you only buy things you need?  Do you buy things "on the spur of the moment" (= you never saw it or thought about buying it before, but as soon as you see it, you buy it).  Have you ever bought something, and only used it once or twice? Do you ever buy clothes at "used" shops?  Do you wear clothes until they are very old, or throw them away after a year or two?  If you decide you don't want something, do you just throw it away, or do you try to ask a friend if they would like to use it?  Do you buy small amounts of groceries at a time (so you don't need to throw anything away)? etc

How Energy Conscious are You?

No one really doubts that, in the near future, the world is going to have a serious problem producing enough energy to meet the needs of a huge and fast-growing population.  The efforts of individuals to be careful about how they use energy will not solve the problem, but it will at least be helpful. We all need to be thoughtful about how we use electricity, try not to buy needless products, or throw away things that could be re-used etc.

How about you?  What do you do in your daily life that you think is a good habit (that anyone who cares about protecting the Earth should also do)?  Have you ever noticed anything in your neighborhood that you think is wasteful (e.g. too much bright lighting in supermarkets etc)?

Summer: Post 1

I hope you all had a good vacation. Today, you will share your stories, and review essay structure at the same time.


Imagine you have to write an essay titled "How I Spent My Summer". In your 1st Post, answer these questions:

1. What are three topics areas you can can write about?
2. Write a thesis statement for your essay, including these 3 topics.
3. Write a topic sentence for body paragraph 1.
4. Write a  "           "           "      "           "          2.
5.    "     "   "           "           "      "           "         3.

Summer: Post 2

Now go ahead and write some supporting sentences for each of your three body paragraphs.  Give as many details and examples as you can.

Feedback

Everyone did a good job in the group presentations.  Now write about some of the talks.  Which ones did you like best?  Why?  Which opinions did you agree/ disagree with? Why?  Do you have any other memories of the talks?

Presentation (July 5th)

Group Presentation (10%): Talking about your essay topic in groups of 4-5 people.

You should speak for about 4- 5 minutes about your essay topic. Don’t try to memorize (in Japanese: anki) what you wrote!! Just give your group a general idea of what you wrote about. Speak as naturally as you can, using simple English.

Example: “I wrote about…(topic)…”   “I think ………………………………………. is a problem/ The fact that …………………………………………… is a problem”. (hook)    “In my opinion, .................………………” (thesis statement)  “I’ll explain in a little more detail. …………………………………(some of your reasons, examples etc)…………………..


When you’ve finished, ask your group members if they have any comments or questions. If no one asks anything, ask someone “What do you think about this … san?” etc.

I would be happy to hear a short group discussion (in English). This is not a difficult activity. If I can see that you’ve tried your best, you’ll probably get all 10 points.

Nuclear Power

Recently we've been working on a problem/opinion essay.  If we think about problems happening in the world outside this university at the moment, most of us probably think of the nuclear reactors at Fukushima.  Many people are worried that nuclear power is unsafe, but others say it is necessary.  Many people are also angry at the government because they don't seem to have done a good job in this crisis.  What is your opinion about these points?

Opinion

Today we spoke about some topics that might be considered for use as opinion essay topics.  As your next blog post, please write a paragraph giving your opinion, and include three main reasons why you think so .  Write at least 70 words.

Say No to Beef

How often do you eat a hamburger at a fast food chain?  If your answer is more than "Seldom", for example "Quite often", you should think about changing your habits.

The Union of Concerned Scientists says that two things people can do to most help the environment are 1) to drive a fuel-efficient car (and live near their work), and 2) not eat beef.   The full article at this link:  http://www.earthsave.org/environment/foodchoices.htm

The biggest cause of rainforests in the Amazon being destroyed is the clearing of land for raising beef cattle (to be sold abroad as hamburger mince).  Cattle need a lot of grain and water before they are killed.  Research shows that an area of rainforest about the size of an average family bedroom is destroyed to make one quarter pounder hamburger.

                                          
Maybe you have heard about how unpopular MacDonalds is around the world for many reasons, such as the aggressive advertising it uses to get kids hooked on their "food", their poor treatment of workers, lack of concern about health issues, and the destruction of the rainforest they (and similar chains) cause.  If not, you should read about it.

Of course, eating beef in other forms (steak, beef donburi, or sausages) is equally bad.  Do you think you can eat less beef?  What do you do in your daily life to help the environment?

Are You Healthy?

By now you must have talked about health in your OC class.  If possible, recycle (use again) some of the language you used in OC when you write this blog post.

How healthy do you think you are, and why do you say so?  Have you been in this condition since you were a young child?  What would you like to do to improve your health?

In my case, I'm lucky because I seem to have good DNA.  I haven't been very careful about my health, but I rarely get sick and am still active.

As a child I played many sports and loved to be outside.  I quit playing futsal 10 years ago because I was getting injured too often, so now tennis or squash are the only sports I (seldom) play.  I love to work in my yard on sunny weekends, or go hiking in the mountains if I have a chance.  Also, I love fruit and vegetables, plus tofu and other healthy foods, which is very important.  Of course I love beer, but I'm trying to love it a little less these days.  I gain weight too easily, so I have to be careful..

If I Had a Golden Week

It's Golden Week, and here we are at university.  It's a strange feeling isn't it?  I'm not sure why we don't have a holiday this year.

What would you do if you had a Golden Week? I know 3-4 days is short, but I guess you would do something. I went to "Takatsuki Jazz Street" during Golden Week last year . It's two days and nights (May 3 and 4) of fine music (not only jazz) in 40 or more venues, indoors and outdoors in a small, central area of Takatsuki. There is a party atmosphere in the streets, which are full of people walking around drinking and laughing. The venues are often small and very crowded inside, but you can hear the music from outside anyway.  I would like to go again this year.

Otherwise, I would play in my garden with my daughter.  She's nearly 3 years old, and very active.  She loves animals, especially dogs, but not ducks.  We saw this big duck in Okinawa.  Now she always says "Ga ga iiya".

Something I Love (example paragraph)

    One of my favorite ways of spending my free time is to travel somewhere abroad, because it opens my eyes to new experiences.  First of all, in foreign countries I can see architecture that I don't normally see.  I enjoy looking at beautiful buildings, and in my opinion, older styles are often more beautiful.  Europe is a great place to visit to see wonderful old towns, such as Dubrovnic, in nearly original condition.  Another attraction of travel is that I can enjoy delicious food that I can't get in Japan.  Even though Thai food, for example, is available in Osaka, it is usually very mild and not like real Thai food.  Finally, travel abroad allows me to experience culures and customs that are different to mine.  It is interesting to live in a different way, even though only for a short time.  For example, when shopping in a crowded, outdoor market in south-east Asia, the prices of goods are not fixed, so I can bargain with sellers until I find a price that I'm satisfied with.  In other words, travel opens doors to different, exciting worlds.

Recent Life

My daughter Sophie (who is 2 years old), started at day care (hoikusho) from April, as my wife had to go back to her school. Sophie has been sick most days because many kids have colds. Now my wife and I will always be sick too, maybe. She enjoys having some new friends though.

Recently I've been trying to diet a little bit. Last year I got too fat, so I'm eating and drinking less. In spring I went to a gym for two months, but I've had to quit as I have no time now.

In February I went to Nepal for a business trip. IT's a poor country, but very charming, with a rich culture.

Spring

Welcome back to SIS! It's been a long spring vacation, so you must have done something interesting. Tell us about what you've been doing recently.

Also, tell us about yourself a little. What do you like to in your free time, where are you from, what are your dreams etc.