Miel

  In Japan, I was not belonging to any club of my college. At first, I wanted to join some clubs and enjoy doing activities. I looked for some clubs with my friends but there is nothing that looks fun for us. Then, I decided to make a club by ourselves.

  We wanted to do something new and we like eating. So we decide to make a café club that is called “miel.” Miel means honey in France. That activity is simple. We gather twice of month and hold meetings. At first meeting, we search for some nice café that is close to our university. Next time, we go to there and eat delicious deserts!
  Last January, we went to Café caffon in Tokyo. These deserts and interior were so great! I ate chiffon cake. We enjoy chatting and taking a photo. I’m glad to make such a great club!

Little Miss Sunshine

  Little Miss Sunshine is one of my favorite movies. This is story about one family that has a lot of problems.
  Sheryl Hoover is a mother of two children. Richard is a husband of her. Richard is fighting to stack the career as self education teacher such as "9 Step Program to Refuse to Lose". Eldest son Dwayne is 15 year old boy who fancies becoming air force's test pilot. He is influenced by Nietzsche and it does not speak at all as "a vow of silence" until he got his dream. Frank is a uncle who lives with the family temporarly through suicide. He is a scholar of the gay who is studying Proust. Edwin who is Richard's real father who driven out in the home for the aged because having used heroin.
  One day, Olive who is a plump daughter of Sheryl got the right to participate to the contest called "Little Miss Sunshine." However, the place to hold the contest is California. They didn't have money to go to California by air plane, thus, the family takes a yellow microbus and takes an 800 miles trip.
   I really like this movie. this movie makes me laugh and feel heartwarming. In addition, music is great. If you go to drive after watched this movie, you must be want to listen the soundtrack of Little Miss Sunshine. How about seeing this movie?

Being a Teacher

  Someone will know about my volunteer. I am a teacher and I teach Korean to Korean kids. What? Are you kidding me? No, not at all. Because probably they can understand Korean, but their writing is a little weird to people who live in Korea. So I teach them about Korea grammar. At first I was worry about that. Because my Korea grammar is poor, thus sometimes my students probably confused about my explanation. And  I thought I had to teach them use English, but I was wrong. I could use Korean because they can understand my saying. So It does not matter teach them. Also I loved teach them because I can see their improve and change their attitude to me. At first time, their grammar was poor and sometimes can not understand some Korean culture. After I teach them, they can understand Korean culture and their grammar is great!! their grade? hahaha they got 95 and 91 each of them. Isn't it great? thus I think teacher is worth job in the world.

My First Car

                When I was eighteen I bought my first car, it was amazing. I can remember everything, each detail about that day.  I was a technician in a company and I used to work all day.  For that reason I used to look for a car just only at night. One day I asked to my father for his help, and he looks in the agencies one car for me.

                One day while I was working my father go  to  the company and asked for me, when I saw him in the parking lot, he stay inside of the car, the color of the car was  like gold,  in other words,  I love that car  since  I saw it.

                My father asked if I liked the car, and my first reaction and words was, how did he know that I like that car?  I asked to him and he say, I know you at all.

                It has not a new car but I could afford it in that time, now I have   a new car but I miss it my first car. 

By Jessica

My Favorite Sport

              My favorite sport is snowboarding which is the sport of going down snow-covered hills on a snowboard. When I was the first year at university, I played it for the first time. I thought that it is very excited sport.

              When I played snowboarding for the first time, I felt pretty scared. However, once I started playing it, I became pleasant gradually. A few hours later, I could play it, thus I felt very happy. In addition, I was fun to go up by lift because I can see a lot of people and beautiful view from it. Moreover, the view was marvelous from snow-covered mountains. However, there was also a bad thing. My all of the muscles were pain the next day, but I did it. And then,

I have a lot of memories of snowboarding. If I did not go snowboarding, I would never try it in my life because I do not want to play dangerous sports. It is pleasant for me to play snowboarding that is why I would like to go next winter!

My favorite place in U of M

I have a lot of favorite places in U of M, so I introduce some of places in it. The first one is UC. I always eat lunch there with my friends. There are many people in UC, so I feel very fine. I can hear a lot of laughter and I can see a lot of smile there. I always feel happy at UC. When I want to be lonely, I often go to parking area at the behind of library. There is so quiet, so I can be cool down and think about new idea. After class, I often go music building and to do vocal exercises, because I want to be a good singer.

When I finished vocal exercises, I walk around the music building, if so, I can listen to any kind of sounds. It from the Piano, Trumpet, singing voice, Violin, and so on. It gives me mystical mood . I know some good place to feel good in University. However, there are a lot of good places that I have never seen at the University. So I`m looking forward to find a new place that provoke my sensibility. 

By Tomohiro

The Boxing Fan’s Dream Match

“Manny Pacquiao” He is the greatest boxer in the whole boxing history. He is a Filipino boxer and politician. This boxer has 1.69m height, 1.70m reach, thick wrist and calf, and a little wide face. These physical conditions are usually considered badly. But, he has eight world titles that conquer eight boxing weight (48 ~ 71 kg); this is the first record in the boxing history. His boxing style is represented by aggression and quick combination punch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwfZ8UZqpis

And there is another super awesome boxer, “Floyd Mayweather, Jr.” He is American boxer. He is similar to Pacquiao’s height (1.73m), but he has super good physical condition which is long reach (1.83m) and quick reflexes. He has five world titles. We usually call him troublemaker, because he always makes issue in the ring and on the ring. However, His boxing style is represented by genius. He dodges almost attack, has amazing aplomb and perfect big punch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3CYgOK7n1k

Anyway, these two best boxers have not fought yet, despite their boxing weight are overlapped. Therefore, every boxing fans desire this match. And me too. :D

By Subin

Europe Trip

        Six year ago, I went with my father and my sister to Europe. It was a good trip because we were traveling around all Europe.

         Our trip began in London UK. There we were walking around down town, then we took the Euro Train and went to Paris, France. It was a wonderful city, very big and with a lot of beautiful place. In addition we went to Florencia, Rome and Venezia Italy, they are beautiful places too and very romantic. All of those cities are big and very special.

        After Italy we went to Germany and visited Munich and Berlin, those cityes are really magnificent.

        Finally we went to Spain an visited Madrid and Barcelona and those are excellent too, and then we came back to Colombia.

        This was my best trip. I loved it.  

AAA

AAA is my favorite Japanese dance music group. AAA means “Attack All Around.” They have five boys and three girls. The members’ names are Takahiro, Mishuhiro, Naoya, Shinjirou, Shuta, Misako and Chiaki. The group created in 2003. At first, they have three girls, because she had a sick. Today, they have eight members.

   I recommend you three songs of their song. First, I like “Makenai-kokoro.” This song encourages me to live more happily. I think if you listen to this song and consider the words, you can get happy.

  Second, I recommend you “Aitai-riyuu.” If you listen to this song, you may want to meet your lover. I think this song reminds you of your lover, and you can feel your lover is more important than before you think.

  Third, I recommend you “No Cry No More.” This song also gives you encourage and confidence. If you listen to this song, you can feel fine.

  They are good at not only sing, but also dance. Moreover, they are also actor, so you can watch their act. If you have opportunity, please listen to their songs. You may feel happy, and you may become to like them!

By Maiko

Mordern Ballet

 I had practiced ballet lesson since I was a three years old to sixteen. I had a good time to do ballet and it is good experience for me. I’m proud of this. However, modern ballet is not popular in the world. Classic ballet is more popular than it is, thus I explain about modern ballet.

  Ballet is a kind of dance. Modern ballet is different from classic ballet. It was come from classic ballet, but modern ballet adopted other dance steps or dancing style: like Jazz and a folk dance. It don’t use sing and words, thus it is called “no voice musical”. I played some famous musical for ballet concert; like Anine and Westside story. I played express; like ants, mirage, nature, and tracks. I just dance no sing and words. It is difficult for me to express how the character feels this situation. Is she happy? Is she angry? Is she crying? In addition, the stage is huge, thus we have to do with exaggerated gestures. It is hard for me, but it is also interesting.
  I don’t practice it now, but I still like dancing. If I have a chance to do ballet again, I will try it.

The Inheritance Cycle

     One of my favorite things is reading books. I like it since I was a child. I often read books which is kind of fantasy and story. Especially, I like foreign story like the Harry Potter, Darren Shan or Deltora Quest. Today, I introduce you a series "the Inheritance Cycle."

     The Inheritance Cycle was written by Christopher Paolini. He is American author. I read the first book of the Inheritance Cycle when the book was sold in Japan. I got impact and I am a fan from then. The series of Inheritance Cycle is story that is dragons and people. Main dragon's and person's name are Saphira and Eragon. They are partner who fight with enemy. This books are so interesting because the discovery is very good. I feel excited, and if I start reading, I read the book in one sitting. However, by the time which next book is selling, I wait for a long time. I am a patient but the waiting time is one of pleasures.
     When I came to America, I was surprised because this series is not selling the last book in Japan but it's doing in America! I want to buy it but I think about whether I will buy or not. If you are interested in this series, you should read it!

Recently Hobby - Missanga

 
  I saw some posting about bracelet recently. And that was so awesome, because It needs only embroidery thread and my hand.  It calls Missanga. Missanga is "a bracelet that wishes come true" and people can make it easily. Actually I knew Missanga when I was elementary student, but I couldn't do that. Because that time, It was hard for me. But when I saw the embroidery thread at the Micheal's. I felt 'I can do it! I look so easy, maybe It will be my last chance to make Missanga.' thus I bought some embroidery thread and tried it. It was a little difficult but finally I can make Missanga easily without design. And It is still my favorite hobby.

My First Competition

My first swimming competition was extraordinary. I use to swim, but I have never been   to a competition.  My husband convinced me to go to the competition.  That day we got up at four in the morning, because   that event was in other stated in México. In Nayarit, near to the Pacific Ocean, but the competition wasn´t in the sea, it was in a volcano crater, like a lake, the name is “Laguna Santa Maria del Oro”. One interesting thing about that place is that people say that is bottomless, and I was so scared.

 We drove about four hours. When we arrive, we saw a crowd around the lake, they are swimmers ready for fight and get a good position and make better times.  I felt nervous and I couldn´t eat breakfast, I just ate a fruit milk shake. It was the time, I was ready, and everybody too.  When the bells started, everybody jump inside of the lake. I swam for an hour and a half. While I was swimming, I could feel the hotter and cooler stream, I was thinking about the bottomless as well.

  I was so tired, because I swam about four km, it means around three miles.  When I touched the finish line I couldn’t believe it, I was very excited, first  the staff gave me a banana, and my award, a beautiful medal,  then, I saw my husband waiting for me in  the line.

After that my parents, my husband, and me, ate “chicharrones de pescado”, a typical Mexican dish, and we returned to Guadalajara in the afternoon.

That day was very fun. I didn´t get a first, second or third place, but I was so excited.

 By Jessica

My Childhood Happy Memory

  When I was a child, I was always happy. I didn’t have worry. And I saw many animations, played video games and toys. I can still remember some animations and video games.

  My favorite animation was a Dagan (伝説の勇者ダ・ガーン). I loved Dagan’s transforming motion and his symbol of earth which is center of the chest. Therefore, my favorite toy was Dagan robot. Anyway, that toy robot was out of shape by clay. I also liked a Pokemon, Digimon, Sungard(太陽の勇者ファイバード), Winnie the Pooh and etc. Maybe, almost Koreans who are out generation like those animations. 

 

My favorite video game was a Sonic. I was played nearly every day despite I cleared game few times. Sonic was made by Japanese game company which is a Sega, and I played almost Sega’s game.

I can’t forget this happy memory. Thus, I’m always thinking about childhood when I am depressed. And this is reason that my dream is toy factory owner.

                                                   By Subin

My Favorite Shop "flower"

 
 
  My hobby is shopping! In Japan, I usually go shopping to Harajuku in Tokyo. Tokyo is capital of Japan. I think there is one of the most famous shopping places in Japan. There are so many shops of clothes for young people. Today I’ll introduce about my favorite shop of there.

  The name of the shop is “flower”. There is one of the most favorite shops for me. Flower is sold used clothes, accessories and fire kings. I like not only their clothes but also their interior design of the shop. Look at this picture! I really love this atmosphere. When I enter the shop, I feel full of joy! The clothes are also awesome! The concept of flower is natural and girly. Almost clothes are made by unbleached cotton or lace etc. These are so cute and fashionable. If I’m at the store, there is no way I cannot spend any money.

Disney World

I went to Disney World on April 7th with my friends. I spent a lot of time to go for Disney World and I could have a special memory. I have been to Disney in Japan but I have never been to foreign Disney. Disney World has four huge areas.

               Firstly, we went to “Disney’s HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS” and then, we took “Toy Story Mania” which is a shooting 3D game, therefore we shot a lot of targets. It was fun for me! Secondly, we took “The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror” which is up and down on a runaway elevator. It was excited but Japanese Tower of Terror more terrible than this one. Finally, we took “Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster” which looks like a guitar. My favorite attraction is this one. I was pretty excited! It was thrilling and fast, therefore I liked it.
           I was very satisfied with this day because I could have a lot of memories. I would like to go to Disney Land Paris, next time!

The Catcher in the Rye

There is a person I really want to meet, however I cannot meet forever if I am as famous as John Lennon or I am as rich as Bill Gates. That is Holden Caulfield who is a main character in The Catcher in the Rye Written by J. D. Salinger. This is how this story start that the high school tries to take him out of school because he is a dropout. He do not make an effort to study in spite of he is received the warning about his result of school over and over again. Because he does not think to study in school is important for him. He thinks everyone forget something important and there are something wrong in the world. He hates“phony.” I should introduce him personality but I do not want to do that. Because If I introduce him like “He is good guy,” it could be “phony” for him and me. I think everyone should read The Catcher in the Rye not to forget something important such as things people usually forget or lose when people grow up. I always have this book even if I go to study abroad to United States. Maybe, I attract something has fragility. I respect Elvis Presley who has established Rock and Roll, however I do not like too much. I do not think people can feel fragile from him. Because he is a rock star.

Sara

   When I was in Japan, I worked at Korean Yakiniku restaurant, Sara. The restaurant has a lot of delicious food. Especially, I like Karubi-kuppa. The cost is more expensive than other usual Yakiniku restaurant, instead of this taste is so good. Unfortunately, however, it will be closed on May 6^th. I do not know the reason why. When I heard about that, I was really surprised and shocked. In addition, I will not be in Japan when it is closed. I am really sad, thus I will ask for my friends who work at there to take pictures.

   Karubi-kuppa is rice with spicy soup. It is Korean food. Karubi, which is kind of beef, egg, some vegetables, and rice in it. Its soup is spicy and color is red. There are some food that have same soup; noodle, or Udon.

   I can’t work there again, but I can meet my friends!! Therefore, I will keep in touch with them permanently!! I am proud of meeting them and working at there.

My Favorite Band

     I will introduce FLOW, my favorite Japanese band, to you. Do you know tihs band? I have been a FLOW fan since twelve years old. I like music and there are a lot of band or singer who is my favorite, but FLOW is special.
     When I was twelve, I listened to their music on TV at first. The most famous song "GO!!!" was used by the anime which I was watching, then I was intereted in FLOW and started to listening. FLOW has five members, two vocalist, a bassist, a guitarist, and a dramner. I especially like a guitarist. He is so cool and his melody is wonderful. They almost make upbeat music theirself and some people say they like FLOW because their music is upset, but my favorite song is their ballade. Their voice and melody make me happy.
     I went to their live before I came to Memphis. That was a first time to see them and I had a great time. If I listen to their songs when I feel down, I become happy. They give me energy anytime. I will be a big FLOW fan always.

My First Experience in Orlando   

When I was twelve years old, I came to Unites States to Boston MA for one month just for study English. When the study program was finished, we went to Orlando FL to visit all the different parks.

          We were 26 children from Colombia and others 30 from different countries. Everybody were 12 to 15 year old, thus we really enjoyed the trip. It was a short week because we went to Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios, and Busch Gardens.

          All of parks was huge and entertaining, Walt Disney was incredible because all attractions and the personages like a Mickey Mouse or Goofy unforgettable, the dolphins and whale were fantastic, and all different of attractions were wonderful.

For me it was a good experience, because was my first trip without my parents, therefore I had fun.

My holiday in Memphis

It was a sunny day. I went to another university to play soccer on Saturday with my friends. There were about thirty foreign people who has of various ages in the soccer ground. They were kindness and fun. However, they had a good physique, so I was afraid of contending with them. We played a match about three hours so I was very tired. After that we played various sports. For example,   we played basketball, baseball, and pool. From these, my favorite sport is pool. Pool is a game played on cloth covered table in which balls are hit with a long stick against each other and into pockets at the edge of the table. It was very enjoyable!  I had a pretty pleasant day!

What is Crohn's disease?

Crohn's disease, also known as regional enteritis, is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus, causing a wide variety of symptoms. It primarily causes abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is at its worst), vomiting (can be continuous), or weight loss, but may also cause complications outside the gastrointestinal tract such as skin rashes, arthritis, inflammation of the eye, tiredness, and lack of concentration. - from wikipedia

 

When I was a high school senior student, i decided to study. I studied very hard. My grades were gradually rising. In June, I finally received a score of 487. This score was my goal that can let me go to Hongik University( however, i couldn't go Hongik University :-( ). But I had been sick since May. So, I went to a hospital. The doctor said I had Crohn's disease. I couldn't eat anything for for one month. And then, i ate white rice soup for one month and ate 30 pills per day. It was a terrible experience. At first time, I thought it was a curse. And since i was sick, I haven't believed in a God. This is a rare in Korea, and incurable disease. But few weeks ago, my thinking changed. I don't have go to army two years ( Korean boy have duty to go army for two years) and have received special insurance. Since then, my life is Cinderella story. Besides, I started boxing for my health. Although I can't cure this disease, I am feeling well now. So, cheer up everybody :-D

By Subin

The sports festival

  I have a lot of wonderful memories from my high school in Japan. Our school has many events. Especially, the sports festival remains in my mind the most.

  My high school holds it in June every year. The students have five groups. It is called block A, B, C, D and E. Each block has a block color. The main of the sports festival is a dance battle between the blocks. Each block is given about 10 minutes for the block dance.　We practice to complete this dance about everyday for two month.
  Before the festival, we edit all  melodies and the choreography of the selection by ourselves. Therefore, we were practiced dancing by thinking and discussing every day, every time. Then we began a workout of about 100 people. We didn’t past complete it, and we were worried very much in the beginning. However, because all members had become gradually one, we had been very impressed.

  In the sports festival, we wore the costumes of each theme that were made by ourselves. The quality of the dance of all blocks was high, and were all wonderful! When announcement among, we were impressed and divided pleasure each other. Our block wasn’t First place, but we were satisfied.

I found this online, it´s not my, but it´s beautiful and I want to share with you

Married or not you should read this...

“When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that every day for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Jane about my wife’s divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn’t tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me… she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it’s time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office…. jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind…I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our lives, not because we didn’t love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart. Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away. At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed -dead. My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from the whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push through with the divorce.— At least, in the eyes of our son—- I’m a loving husband….

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves.

So find time to be your spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

by Sophia Le