Blog #5: BRIDGE

Misaki Yoshioka

On the weekend I participated an event called "Yokohama Walk Rally" produced by an organization "BRIDGE". “BRIDGE” is an organization that helps foreign exchange students in Japan to make Japanese friends. Of course, it helps Japanese students make foreign friends studying in Japan. I participated in this event to make new foreign friends. My friend works as an staff at BRIDGE so she invited me.

   The main purpose of “Yokohama Walk Rally” is to walk around Yokohama and Minatomirai and take pictures and chat while watching the beautiful scenery. There were about 35 people participating in this event. I thought there were many foreign students than Japanese students. We split in to groups of 5~6 people. In my group, there were foreign students from Germany, Holland, and France. They could all speak English and little Japanese so it was very nice talking to them about their culture, family, school, fashion, food, and so on.

   I was surprised to her them all say that they prefer Japan than their home country. At first, I thought they were saying that because I was Japanese. However, I started to notice that they were saying it for real. For me, I really want to go to Europe and see beautiful buildings and learn more about their history. It was kind of funny to see each other seek for things we cannot reach.

   I really enjoyed this event and hope to participate if BRIDGE holds another event in the future.

Blog#5 Cafe

Kaori Motoda


  I'm doing a part-time job at EXCELSIOR CAFFE from this summer. It is cafe that is born in 1999 from DoutorCoffee Company, and it's motto is "Giving customer a relaxation and happiness through one cup of coffee".

  Since I am new, I had to remember tons of things in order to work. I even didn't know how to use register before and made many mistakes. Even  after I got used to the cashier, my next job was to remember how to make the drinks and foods, how to clean things in the store, what to do in what time, ...etc. Sometimes, there were some customers who became irritated when I was clumsy and often lost self-confidence at first. I founded out how difficult to work in a service trade since we are dealing with people, not machines. Although, because of other partners' help and supports, I managed to get acclimatized to it little by little. I was very lucky that people who are working with me are so friendly and nice. Now, it's been about 3 months since I started to work here, and there are still many goals to do a good job, but I am enjoying it.

 This is what we are recommending right now at the store. It is honey-based late, which is sweet but little bitter since it has espresso in it. The S size is 360 yen, so I guess it is quite cheaper than other coffee shops. Since EXCELSIOR is a chain store, the shops are in anywhere in the cities. If you wanted to have a break for coffee, please come by and try this!

Blog #4: Aïkido

I am going to present to you my true passion: aïkido. Aïkido is an Japanese martial art which was created in the middle of the past century. It indeed a very recent martial art. It has of course a lot in common with other martial art, as the important of breathing, meditating, respect,... but aïkido is also very special because it's the only one non-violent martial art. That's mean there is no competition, no opposition between the person who attack and the one who's defending. In fact the main goal is to protect non only myself but also the attacker of the attack. There is no longer enemies but human being who try to become more responsible.

 

It's been 10 years now since I started practicing aïkido. Aïkido is the reason why I started being interested in Japan in the first place. Even thus my teacher in France isn't Japanese, and never went to Japan, he is teaching aïkido as a real martial art, as a Budo in the pure tradition.

 Thanks to him, because of his amazing energy, his wonderful techniques, I discovered not only an great physical practice but also a way of living, a path to become a better as a human being, a beautiful art and a funny game, all at once ! I was just a teenager when I started this practice as a sport, but it changed my life. Aïkido is the reason why I started learning Japanese, the reason why I wanted to come here, the reason why I keep being interested in Japanese culture and especially in martial art.              

              

             My dream is to become one day an aikido teacher in prison. I know that is going to take many year for this dream to come true, but I am patient and I still have time. I am first dan now, I receive my black belt 4 years ago and I am about to pass the exam for the second dan. I could start teaching since I got my black belt but I want to improve my skills more before that.

          If you have any question about aïkido or if you want to see a demonstration someday, please, let me know !

Odile

Blog #4: School Festival

Misaki Yoshioka

I belong in the Gakushuin University Festival Committee. Last weekend (11/4~6) was when the festival took place. The weather was splendid; not too chilly and warm. On the last day it rained, but it was mostly sunny. The people in the committee wore the same purple jacket so that a visitor who has any questions knows who to ask. Getting ready for the festival was hard work than I have expected. Setting up the tents, putting iron plates, refrigerator, oil cooker and other kitchen utensils in place was hard labor.

My job was to unify the stalls and manage food hygiene. Many university students were participating in stall so it was a big responsibility to make them understand it was important to cook in clean sanitation. However, some of the clubs participating in the stall was cooking in insanitary conditions. It was hard to warn and advise them because they were older than me. So far, I have been explaining about some of the difficult jobs I did there were a lot of awesome things and events.

Last year, since the typhoon hit Tokyo, there were only 9000 visitors. However, this year about 39000 visitors came to Gakushuin University`s festival. This number is a record. Also, all of the stage performances were held properly. None of them were cancelled by bad weather. Last but not least, we ordered a fireworks manufacturer and set off fireworks from our baseball ground. 200 fireworks were displayed in the sky. It was absolutely beautiful.

We went through few troubles but overall it was a BIG success. If any of you came to the school festival, I thank you with all of my heart.

See you!

Blog#4 Saying "Yes"

Megumi Shoda
Hello! The school festival was just over. I enjoyed it so much.
   Recently, inspired by the movie "Yes Man", I have made my mind saying "Yes" to a various kinds of things as much as I can. And the results are not always good...sometimes I regret them. However, I have experienced many wonderful stuffs.
   First, as I mentioned in Blog#3, though it was not a big event, I had the opportunity to gather people several times to make a sign for school festival. Through this, I learned that in the group work, everyone has each role and we need each other to do group work. For example, A is good at painting, B is good at machine and so on.
   Second, it was also about the festival. Two weeks before the festival, I was asked by one of my friends, " We are planning to sell kebab at festival. Would you like to join us ?"
And I said "Yes" because I was interested in the stands (屋台).
At the festival, I was cooking meat using pan. Thankfully,a lot of people came to buy kebab so we were really busy! However, through this, I had the chance to meet this great member. Each of them had own opinion about anything and I was inspired by them.
   At first we are afraid of the results, however, If you step a little, you might have a wonderful experience! I want to keep saying "Yes" as much as I can.

YES!

Blog#4 Disney Sea

Kaori Motoda
Good Morning everyone.
Since Halloween is over, all cities are completely in a Christmas mood. You could hear Christmas songs everywhere in the stores, and lights up and illuminations has begun that everybody looks very cheerful in this season. It is one of my favorite time of the year.
   This Monday, I went to Disney Sea, which just started to decorate the whole park in a Christmas mood, with my friends.

   Not only it's almost Christmas, it has been 10 years since Tokyo Disney Sea has opened.
Therefore, the shows and monuments are different from the annual years, and light ups were very gorgeous.
   In the park, there are 7 huge Christmas trees that were also beautiful and people came around the trees to look and entranced by it, or to take pictures.
   What I also like is the food that they sell in Disney Sea. It is delicious and cute.
For example, when we went to a cafe in the park for a rest, there were cakes that were cutely decorated, breads that are shaped like a Mickey Mouse,...etc. I am sorry I don't have the picture of it.
   We got there around 18:00, that we couldn't ride much jet coasters, but we were satisfied by the splendid atmosphere and we realized how we can enjoy this amusement park in many ways.
   I've been there a few times before, but I enjoy it every time in a different way. I definitely  recommend going there before it gets too cold!

Blog#3 The leader ship

Megumi Shoda

Good morning. How have you been doing?
Today, I'd like to talk about this.
The leader ship
I belong to the "movie club"(映研）. Recently, our captain said to me, "We have to make sign for college festival, so could you please work together to do that? " And I said "Yes", without thinking much about it though I was a little bit worried. But it turned out that even this small working together is difficult. Whenever I send a mailing list, I have to think it over a long time to make sure there is no mistake on it. I am such a poor leader, so I didn't understand how to work together.

And then yesterday, I was so shocked to be said by one of my friends that there is someone who says bad things about you. I was so disappointed, because first of all, I didn't know that and second, I did like her.

I cried for my terrible work. I was thinking how to be a good leader. And after talking to my friends on the phone, I reached one conclusion.
I have to do more about the work and show them my incentive, and then I can say "please do ～".
I will do my best on this !

Blog #2: Cooking

Misaki Yoshioka

Good evening! How was your day?

Today I want to introduce what I cooked recently. To tell you the truth, I cannot cook. I am the worst cooker in the world. However, one morning, I was craving for French toast. So I looked up in the internet for the recipe and made it. It took an hour to make it but it was worth it.

Doesn't it look yummy?

It was yummy:)

Making a French toast is very easy.

All you need is bread, egg, milk, sugar, and butter.

First, you break the egg, mix it, and put the egg in a flat plate.

Second, you pour the milk in a flat plate.
Add one spoon of sugar in each plate and mix it until it dissolves.
Cut the bread in half and place it in the plate with milk until it soaks all the milk.
Then do the same with the plate with the eggs.

Lastly, roast the bread on the pan.

I want to ask everyone a question- do you cook? If so, what`s your favorite dish?

Have a nice weekend!

Blog#2 ROOM

Kaori Motoda


Good evening.

Recently, it's been cold and the weather isn't nice that I prefer staying inside the house and relax instead of going out when I have a day off.
There isn't so much things to do in the house, so I started reading a book called "Room" by Emma Donoghue which I found in a book store few months ago.

I haven't finished this book yet, but it is about a 5-year-old boy called Jack and his mother, trapped in a single, locked room. Jack's mother was abducted from the age of 19 by a man called Old Nick, who comes to the "room" only at night and brings foods and supplies for them.
Jack has never been outside of the room, so the only world for him was the "room". Fortunately, they succeeded on escaping from Old Nick, but the story doesn't end there. It is written how they struggled after they came back to the normal world, because the case attracted the attention of the mass media too much and they had some physical and mental problems, locked up in one place for years.
This book is written by the eyes of Jack, so you could understand Jack's emotions and feelings, and it is easy to get into the story, though it makes you sad a little.
I'm very interested in how the story ends.

We say autumn is an season of reading, eating, and sports in Japan.
I hope everybody will enjoy this wonderful season.

Thank you for reading.
See you in class!

Blog#1 My Favorite Song

 Megumi Shoda

 Good morning.

Recently, I have been into one song "Forever Love" by Shota  Shimizu and Miria Kato.
Last week, I went to karaoke with my friends. There, one of my friends sung this song, and soon I came to love it. though I had never heard it.
The reason  I love this song is because the words are so great.(Of course one of the reasons is probably because of my friend's voice.)
As you guessed, it's a song of love. It was released on February, 3, 2010.
Before having any information, just listen to it.

Also, if you want to know more about the singers, check this website.

Blog #1: Summer Vacation

Misaki Yoshioka

Good evening!

Today I want to talk about my summer vacation in San Diego, California.
I stayed at University of California San Diego (USCD) for about 2 weeks and studied at a graduate school. I went there with 26 other Japanese university students from Tokyo and Kanagawa.
We interacted with many foreign students staying at USCD for the summer. Also, we had an opportunity to meet with permanent UCSD students as well.

I made wonderful memories in San Diego, but I will introduce you two of my favorite things I did.

First, my friend and I became very good friends with some students who were permanently studying at UCSD. They were very nice to us and took us to a major league baseball game for free. We went to see Angels (LA) vs. White Sox (Chicago). Anaheim won 6 to 0!

Second, going to the beach was one of the most fantastic activities we did. The beach was beautiful; especially the sunset.

I hope you have spent a nice time over the summer break as I did.


See you soon!

Blog#1 Hockey club

Kaori Motoda


Hello everyone.
Today, I would like to introduce about my club.

I am in field hockey club at this school, doing a manager, but I think most of the people don't know much about field hockey.I didn't know anything about it either.
If you could imagine ice hockey, the main difference is that you do it in the field, and the rule is almost the same as soccer.

It has been about 5 months for being a manager at this club, and I am starting to get used to it little by little.
Not only giving them drinks or towels, managers takes video, make ice bags, tape up their legs when someone sprained their ankles, gather the balls, records scores, etc.
We work for the players to do the practice smoothly as possible.

Our team are consisted of 21 players and 10 managers, so it is not a big team, but everyone in this club are so friendly and nice, that even it was difficult to remember all the things about field hockey and the jobs at first, I was able to enjoy every time during the club.

Now, the players are practicing really hard for the upcoming league game on this Saturday.
We are in the first division, which means we are in top 8 at universities in the Kanto area, that every opposing teams are very good hockey players, but I really really want our team to win at least once.
Please hope us good luck!

See you again.

”僕のキモチ”

Recently,I love this song!

This is a photo of whale!

I would like to introduce a link to my old school, Denenchofu Futaba.

You should check out this girl, Sae Miyazawa!! 

Kaori Motoda

picture of flower

Here is a link that I often do a research.

Check out this video.

Misaki

Here is a link to a website I use to search

Check out this video

 

Beautiful

You should look at this page!

Welcome to your blog!

I hope you like the design. This is the way to make a blog.
You can add photos, videos and links to websites. For example, self-study catalogue is here.
Try out blogging today and get ready for your first blog next month!