ジャパニーズ フェスティバル

世間がMelbourne cup　day だった中、今日は、私にとっては、Opera house day~.Japan　festival(concert)を鑑賞してきました.　
琴。和太鼓。騒乱節。盆踊り。日本舞踊。童謡 with Piano。Quilt fashion show etcと内容てんこもり～にも関わらず、友達がFree ticketをGetしてくれたおかげで、正真正銘のFree。Opera houseにFree enterってだけでも、もう十分なのに、もうfree concertなんて、願ったり叶ったり～。”ただより怖いものはない”というけど、”ただより安いものはない”ってのも確かだよね、やっぱり(笑)☆ありがとう～～。

琴でのAustralian 国歌からStart.何か変（笑）

で、日本舞踊。基本、すり足＝歩いているっていうよりは、床の上を滑っている感じ。もし、人間が足がない動物で、linia moter carみたいに、空気の上を走ってるみたいに移動する動物だったら、日本の芸の美は本当の完結を見るんじゃないかなと思います。でも、まぁ、実際、そうじゃないから、美の探究、芸の追求が出来るわけだけど。

盆踊りを、ちゃんとしたの、よく考えたら、一回くらいしかないわ。。。→良いChanceだから、踊り方覚えようかな～と 思ったら、以外に厄介。手の動き、足の動き。。ん～、盆踊りを踊れる日本人って結構少ないんじゃないかな、もう。いつか、なくなちゃう日本文化かもね。

そうらん節を直接見るのも初☆唯一見たのは、金八先生の最終回on TV。何組かのグループがいたけど、やっぱ、Memberみんなの動きが揃ってると、迫力が増すよね。ちっちゃい子（幼稚園生？）も中にはいて、Soooo Cute ~~ そこのBoy,あと、10歳ほど年を重ねててくれてたら、もう、 fall in love だったんだけどね（笑）～

というのは、Soccer やらBasketballやらをやってるBoysが人気list上位っていうのが、世間の常だけど、私的には、"道"が付くSportをやってる人の方に魅かれるから（まぁ、日本的なもの）。武道=Sport＋art=Soo hot~~だし、Old fashion と思われがちな"道"を敢えて選んで（他人にダサいと思われようが、）自分の確固たる信念に基づいてやってるんだろうな的なとこが、返ってCool~~~LOL

日本の芸文化を表すとすると、しなやかさ、優美さ、可憐さ、儚さetc...漢字一つで表すと、静っって感じじゃないかな。だから、極めれば極めるほど、日本文化らしくあればあるほど、、Aussieのための、Entertaiment性には欠くっていうのが、今日の私的observation。実際、私たちの後ろにいた、浴衣を来たAustralian boyは爆睡してたしね。。Too comfortable not to sleep.LOL

舞踊がつまらないとかいうわけでは決してなくて、反対に深すぎると言った方が正しいかな。まさしくEvery single movement には意味があるんだよね、きっと。で、その動きの意味を理解してる通（ツー）は鑑賞&解釈と いうWの楽しみ方があるわけで。たとえば、歌舞伎。どこで、拍手をするか、どこ で、役者に声をかけるか、決まっているらしいです。見せる側のLevel追求は、もちろん最低条件で＋観客のLevelも求められる文化なんじゃないかな と思います。まぁ、私は、日本人でありながら、確実にそのLevelには付いて行けてないけど。。。
ただのObservationからだけでも、言えることは、しなやかで流れるような動作の中に、キレもあって、力強さも感じられて。でも、足音ひとつ立てない。まさに静。床1cm手前まで、力強く足を振り落とすけ ど、寸前でSoftに着地。足の指一本一本に神経張り巡らしてないと出来ない技だよね♪そこはさすが、Professional~~見せられる芸。魅了される芸。

人気があったぽいのが、やっぱり和太鼓。見せる芸、引きつける芸代表かな。バチを箸を持つみたいに持ってて、力入れづらいだろうなぁ。簡単そうに見えるけど、実際は、腕の筋肉、相当いるよね。Mainの太鼓を3人で交代して叩いてて、その交換する瞬間の、めっちゃSmoothで、ほ～って感じでした。

民謡。なんと、Non Japさん発見。実を言うと、彼女が、日本人じゃないってことに、友達に言われるまで気付かなかったっていうね。(言われてみれば)髪の毛が、純黒ではないなぁ、鼻が高いかなぁ、と思って、日本人じゃないかもなって判断した私と違って、友達は、彼女の声（発音）から、non japだと判断。彼女の発音は一音一音明瞭すぎるとのこと。確かに、民謡ってvibrationかかりすぎて、聞きとりづらいものだよね。とらえ方の違いだね。

もうひとつ、面白かった捉え方の違い。Announcerの日本女性の話し方。彼女は、Tour guide とかFlight attendantに特有の、超Fluent Japaneseで、Jap訛りのないEnglish。でも、友達いわく、English を話てる時の彼女と、Japaneseを話してる彼女はまるで別人のようだとのこと。全然意識してなかったけど、、良く聞いてると、確かに、Englishの時の方が　One tone低い気がする。そういえば、昔、お母さんが’低い声で話すと、英語が上手いように聞こえる’って言ってたことあったけな。まぁ。Announcerは、実際に、本当に英語上手いんだけど（笑）低い方が、落ち着いてる＆自信があるImageがするのは確かかな。

FinaleはFashion show by Sanae hattori。これが、もう傑作。ツボでした。Quilt生地でPatternは,着物のような感じ。でも、Modelさんは、帯とかは一切してなくて、手を広げてWalking &Dancing.一見すると、物干しざおに干してある?的な印象(笑)私的に、もう着替え途中のようで、気持ち悪くてしょうがない。しかも、Back musicがWesten。絶妙の collaboration。。最後は、Quilt 着物でDisco化。爆笑でした。
でも、Patternを全部見せるためには、ああするしかないのかな。着物は折って着るものだけど、
Modelさん達は、まぁ、足が長いし＋High heelを履いてるし、見事に着こなしてたのも事実。模様は、Quiltと思えないほど、綺麗で繊細♢特に、Quilt着物とWedding dressが、綺麗でした。動きにも意味があるようで、光源氏を意識してるのかな的な個所も。It is the best fashion show I have ever seen (from my friend)~~うん、（色んな意味）確かに～♪

Backsideには、Japanese calligraphy byレンさん。有名らしいね。『和　日豪親善　美』　日豪親善は分かるにしても、何で、美、和なんだろう、と、まぁ、疑問にも思ってなくTroughしてたけど、、今、日記を書きながら、あぁ～と納得。美ね。和は和風みたいに日本を意味してるのか、それとも、cercle（団結力的なもの)を意味してるのか。。まぁ、どっちにしても、今日のConcertには、ぴったりの文字のSelectだったかなと思います。

Showの後は、Ticket numberで、抽選会。なんと、友達がしおりを当てました☆Freeでpresentまで、Getして、もう凄いね。でも、醤油が欲しかった~と駄々をこねてたところ、、、おっきい日本こけしを持ってる人を発見。『.... 』ん～、どんな使い道があるんだろう。。てことで、It's enough~ っていう、全員一致の結論に。Don't be too ambitious~

Australiaで日本文化体験っていうのも、変だけど、、芸者さんなんて、見たことないし、これからも見る機会があるかも分からないし、どんな日本文化が受け入れられるのか見てるだけでも、面白かったかな。
今日は本当に、Memorable day~~来年も日本から、参戦したいっ～～><

オバマ氏のFull name は、、、、バラック・オバマだった。。。

って、Trivia 風に言ってみても、、実際は、Common sense なんだろうな。。

Today, in Kumon(my working place),one of students who studies Japanese came and asked me a question. The task was filling a blank of the following sentence.

正午に見られる太陽の方角は.....です。
The answer should be Minami(南）

Can you read this sentence?
Yes.
Did you already learn how to write each direction in Kanji?
Yes.
Do you remember how to write them?
Yes.
??? So, what is the problem?

つまり、,this is not a language problem, 強いて言えば、Science problemかな。

でも、人のこと言ってられるような立場じゃないんだよね。。
This Thursday, I had a class test in my phonology class.The task was basically translating sentences from English(ABC) to phonemic symbols.

One of questions was who I want to win in an American election(family name& first name)?
MMM?
The only person I could remember at that time was Obama氏.
しかし!!What is his given name?
I asked my teacher whether it was Ok to create a candidate's name as I like or not like 山田太郎さん。
The answer was ...No.

え～～。Isn't this class a phonology class??テストに、オバマ氏が絡んでくるとは、予想外。。。

再試験かなぁ。。

取るに足らないこと

When I hung out the washing on the line today, suddenly I remembered the first day I did my laundry in Australia. At that time, full of ’ んっ!?’ occupied my mind The line was too high… I really had to look up it, because my height was barely enough to touch the line if I reach up as much as I can.

I am already used to the situation everything here is big and high. And actually, I nearly forget the fact I was surprised at such a small thing at the beginning of staying here.

The departure day is coming soon. So, this memory might come up to my mind suddenly. This made me realize that I am gradually keen to burn familiar places and things on my mind.

負け犬women のすすめ

Today, in my class called contemporary Japan,　I learned gender problems and history in Japan. Then, I came across one new ツボword. When I heard the word and knew that meaning,’ what!?’ was out of my mouth before I could stop myself…Soo fanny.

The word is… Christmas cake which describes over 25-year-old women who didn’t marry yet. Christmas is 25^th of December. After 25^th a cake is gonna off. つまり、売れ残りthen,売り物にならにならない。 I bet the first person who used the word Christmas as this meaning must have good sense of humor.

In Japanese, an alternative word of the word, Christmas cake is probably,負け犬(make inu ). The phrase 負け犬の遠吠え(Makeinuno toboe) means grumbling of the loser.

The book titled 負け犬の遠吠えwas published 3 years ago or so and became a best-seller. Even though, literally, 負け犬means a underdog, in this book, 負け犬 expresses women in their 30’s who din’t get marry yet. 負け(lose) is used for these unmarried women, because they regard losers as women in terms of the fact they missed ideal and successful lives for women. The word’負け犬’ became a vogue-word（流行語）few years ago.

There are no specific words for men who miss chances of marrying. But, they doesn’t necessary bring negative image. If they don’t marry, others will think the following way:

They worked a lot→ They didn’t have time to go out with women.

Their less attraction is not a reason why they couldn’t marry.

On the other hand, in women case, it is a kind of vise vase.

They couldn’t get marry→they are involved in work so hard.

Generally (and perhaps instinctively) men want to get girl friends or wives who are shorter, younger ,weaker, earn lower payment, graduated from lower level universities(schools)

でも、、

It’s difficult for taller women to find taller men than them.

It’s difficult for clever women to find more clever men than them.

It’s difficult for strong women to find men who are stringer than them.

It’s difficult for women who get high payment to find men who make more money than them.

Conclusion

負け犬 women are too attractive for most men to be selected.

レポート形式、途中から、崩れてる。。

おまけtrivia

負け犬women　の見分け方。

Women dress up.

Women have bland bags, cloth or shoes.

Because they can spend time and money for themselves instead of spending time for husbands and children

本当に、どうでも良いこと書いてますが、、この日記読むことで、毎日、どんなこと考えてたか、後になっても、思いだせるように!ということで。

授業中考えてた、私的ジェンダー論。雅子様編、ジェンダー男の目線編も、機会があったら、書けたら良いなと思います。

墨尔本 Melbourne 1st day

I broke up for the my holidays~~ So, 我，去了墨尔本with 中国人的女孩子和韩国人的男孩子. 我们都是 exchange students in　悉尼工科大学.
Why do I use Chinese ?Because I joined the Chinese tour to ~. It was a really fun trip fulled with precious experiences!!The meeting time was supposed to be 6:55. and!the time I woke up was 6:30... namely, I overslept on that particular day. Oh my God.... I set about preparing for leaving my house just after I wake up. All I did was calling the taxi company, changing my cloth, calling my friend , chatting with the taxi driver, and arriving at the last bus stop 5 min before the bus came. I bet there was no one wrong move in that morning. Instead of the Central st( the second last bus stop), my tour started from Strathfield st which was the last pick up point (Or rather,maybe, my tour started from my house by taxi.lol ) 对不起。我来晚了。Anyway, I could make it in the end, so I was still lucky, wasn't I?That's for the lesson:have a go in any case!!

The first day's plan was ...heading to Melbourne by bus. In other word, staying on the bus for 12 h!! As somebody says 'getting there is half their fun', it was fun !!

For one thing, It was surprising(and a bit strange) for me to see the tour guide used two languages even though all of tourists(except us) had the same nationality, Chinese. Tour guide spoke in Mandarin and Cantonese( and English). Actually, I already know there are countless Chinese dialects,but,I realize knowing is different from seeing in real.

On the bus, we watched some movies. The first one was Mr bean. The second one was a Chinese movie..It was helpful to brush up my Chinese language more or less. The last one was a Korean movie with Chinese subtitle..Oh my God again..no idea..but, I dared try to read Chinese. I haven't the foggiest idea what they said. I tried a few more times, in vain..No less, languages make any sense at all.. So, my Chinese friend became a translator for me.The lesson I learned from this time is that language is important!!

On the way to Melbourne, I could see spectacular landscape from a window. There was nothing special. So boring? No, Quite the reverse. The thing which fascinated me so much was that huge land with nothing but green and sky. Pure beauty~~.I could feel the wonders of nature.Mmm,,,,I don't know what to say to express them. They can be said fabulous ,fascinating, amazing, fantastic,awesome or someting..Just i can say I'm sooooo in.
At night, we explored in Melbourne. It was great fun walking in new places. The first destination was Melbourne university. Each building had names of faculties on them,but most of them were out of my vocabulary..But!! both of my friends knew such unsurvival English words. How come they have capacity to remember these kinds of stuff. It was a really right decision I changed the battery of my electronic dictionary before this trip.

One word I could guess was 'zoology'. then we saw an adorable animal passing in right front of us. Where did it come from..?
It will be better not to dare guess in this time.lol

We found dormitories of Melbourne uni as well. And 20 min later, we also ound ourselves be locked in... It seemed we entered the closing gate luckily or unluckily after somebody entered with their stu card. It was an automatic gate even though we didn't have no such idea. Oh my God, again...We ended up in asking the student in there to open the gate for us..So embarrassing..

While we were taking a walk, I realized I didn't sneeze so much, even though I already got hey fever in Sydney. I guess even though summer is coming in Melbourne, it wasn't completely there yet contrary to Sydney where summer is right here. That made me realize again Australia is so big!!

( ~o)>zzZ ♪(^o^*)

Good morning, Good morning, Good morning(^^)! My days always start with this greeting… Everyone replies me “Good morning!” with big smiles(^^)☆☆….

This is the beginning of my speech (language has power だったかな)in a speech contest when I was a junior high school student~ But, I have to confess that…my days didn’t start with “Good morning” at that days unlike my life expressed in my speech ..(>M<;) Actually, I didn’t greet neighborhood in Japan so much ,because my primary school teachers told me not to greet to strangers to avoid being involved in something bad things like kidnap…世知辛い世の中だこと。。

でも!! That speech’s situation came true in Australia. At my suburb, it seems to be a quite natural thing to greet strangers. And everybody replies “Hi!” to me without wondering why I greet them, even if we don’t know each other at all. Mmm, it was pretty surprising for me when I came here first.つまり、平和。

I know residents who live next door to me（お隣さん）, residents who live next door of next door（お隣のお隣さん）, residents who live opposite to mine(お向かいさん), residents who live diagonal to me(斜め向かいの方), the nearest train station’s & the nearest bus stop’s staff members. This is the exactly one of things which makes me keep to such an inconvenient place. I mean such a peaceful and kindly atmosphere of my place attracts me a lot.まさに、サザエさんのアニメ状態です。

“ May I help you?” From this word, even today, I enjoyed keep talking, talking ,talking with a lady who was struggled with a heavy bag. (She was just a passing stranger for me.) 一期一会。I like her smile^^

The town I live in now definitely will be my second ふるさと~

When shared, joy is doubled and sorrow halved.

Since I stayed with my host family, I saw 5 housemates off. Out of five, the longest-stay and the last house mate was a Korean girl. We stayed together for about 5 months. From the first day, we chatted a lot. I still remember that the first word which we learned together was 'naughty' from the book, peter rabit. Nostalgia~~ From later on, most of every day, we had dinner together as chatting so that we knew each other’s schedule and friends nearly perfectly ,as if we are each others’ mother. Needless to say, she also knows how ugly my face is in the morning and how messy my room is~.lol

I often said I like her~~♡to my friends. I bet my friends are already sick of this phrase.. But, actually, I guess “respect” can express my feeling more precisely than “like”. She has more life experiences than me, so I was exposed to new idea. I could learn great deal from her for the last 5 months.

I wanted to share every single news with her, because I could tell she enjoyed vicarious pleasure though me whenever I shared my happy news with her. I miss her ‘Oh my god’ when I said sad news or my hard luck. I can’t measure how much I depended on her deliberate thinking and advice.

I found us talking really naturally in English. I could feel as comfortable as the time when I speak Japanese. Obviously, one of the biggest reasons for it is.. she got used to Japanese English though(><;)!!

Whenever I see the single teeth holder on the mirror where used to be two teeth holders next to each other...I miss her... I wish she were a man(*U-U*) haha Whenever she is in trouble, I’ll come running~

.....(; >▽)o".....

One of the next steps I decided myself is getting a part-time job in Australia~

All of my friends who have working holiday visas have full-time jobs, part-time jobs or casual jobs even though they also go to language schools.

When I saw my friend working in Subway(a popular chain fast food shop) in city(busy place), I was well impressed by her strength.

Every time I hear about my housemate’s work in the nursing house, I can feel she is getting strong especially mentally. So, I can respect her~~

I think people who live by themselves independently in the term of financially and mentally are cool. I want to be such a person. So, my next step is making money by myself!!

と言うことで、お仕事探し。

(Especially I wanted to work at a coffee shop, because I am a big fan of coffee.)

Gloria Jean's

-They don’t need new staff members for the time being.

う～。。

The coffee shop at the next station

-The moment I saw the line of customers, I felt really scared by imagining I work there.ちょっと考えるの早すぎですが。。

For the next 30 min..

Think, think , think…

I come here because I want to work here, but I don’t know they need more staff members, so!? all I have to do is asking to them..But, I wonder how they feel if I ask so with my poor English. But, I want to try..But, I don’t need to put myself into pressure. Too much for me..? Or is it escaping from trying new things..?

I could already expect I would feel shy to submit my resume in the last minute, because I know myself well.. So, I already made my mind not to be shy! ,because I decided myself to get a job. Don’t be shy~~.

のはずだったんですが。。

Finally, I didn’t submit my resume. Too scary for me now.

I felt really sad my courage failed me. That is, I haven’t changed so much since I came here.

With heavy feeling

Coffee shop in city

-They already found new staff members..

う～。

With really heavy feeling,

I went to the Japanese restaurant in my town.

-They are looking for a new waitress. Oh, positive reply~ So, I'm waiting for their reply now. I don't know what they will reply to me yet.

At night, I explained about my day to my Korean housemate( she is a really good listener and adviser for me) like the following:

(Finally, I didn’t submit my resume. Too scary for me now.

I felt really sad my courage failed me. That is, I haven’t changed so much since I came here.)

And,

She said I was brave enough. Thank you for your kind answer~ Thank you very kamusa~

というような Up down　の激しい一日でした。I can understand it doesn’t mean they refuse me , just they don’t need more people now. But, anyway, I can't help being depressed when they say "no". Mmm, I have to be more tough to be my ideal person. いや～、疲れた(**;)

次は、何をしようかな☆

Some people say studying abroad is great,while other say it is just for pleasure. Staying here is really ‘fun’, in fact. I can do anything I want to do, because I have a plenty of time. Paradise~. That is, it is really easy to be kind to myself. How spend my time and what I will do is really up to me.

I can feel my requirement to me is getting higher and higher since I came here.

Before I came here, my goal was getting the enough English score to come to Australia.

Just after I came here, my main concern was improving my English skill.

(because I wanted to express my feeling more.

I didn’t want to say I have studied English for 8 years and my major is a kind of ‘English’ with feeling embarrassed .

And I wanted to surpass the level some people might expect my English would achieve to)

I don’t feel nervous to speak in English any more.

I begin not to hesitate to speak to new people so much. ( maybe )

I ‘enjoy’ chatting with my friends.

I feel my English is getting the ’ color’ to show my characters (a bit) with my own words.

(of course, I have to study English more and more though)

I wanna do something as a plus α of English.

In fact, I can study English in Japan. So, Just studying English is not enough to say it is worth coming to Australia with spending one year and much money after studying English for 8 years.

Studying English is jsut "must"かなって。

So..What is Next?

I'm not sure what is the best way is spending time here for me..but, I decided to move on to the next step anyway to get close to the person I want to be.( matured person!!).

Sex and City

面白い～～。って言いながら、１週間、毎夜、毎夜,　計８時間、見てました。いや～、面白かった。I like girls’ talk~. This DVD makes me miss my school days when I chatted for hours with my friends in a restaurant after classes or the part-time job when I was in Japan. I notice girls’ talk is global~ I will go to see this movie definitely!!

足踏み

If I tried more, I could more, but at least, I am really satisfied with my life so far in Australia,
because I had the clear goal ,IELTS.
After the test, I could chill out with no pressure ~. But..
No goal( purpose) is really scary more or less...in a sense, being busy with pulling through difficulties is much better to avoid thinking , thinking , thinking something which don't have solutions or have too many solutions.

I just have another 3months before I come back to Japan. This year will be over before I know it, if I spend time with nothing special .

-------------------------------------------------
You can change your life- if you wanna....
If you change your mind ,well
, that's the way it goes...
You can say you're bored-if you wanna
You can act real tough-if you wanna
( from So yesterday)
-------------------------------------------------
たしかに（’’ ）!!

So,I wanna ...
try to do the thing I like and I want. 'Cause The varied life will be more fun, and bring the fruitful life .

というようなことを、一週間くらい悶々と飽きずに考えてました。そう思うなら、何かすればいいだけの話なんですが、、いったい、自分は、何をしたいのかなぁ～と考えてたら、”ん～”って、足踏み状態。。。

　同じ話を、嫌な顔をせず、会うたびに聞いてくれた友達に、もう本当に感謝ですm(_ _)m　とにかく何かしようかなと、思います。

A polysesemous word

I am confused the grammar of the future tense( the present simple, will, be going to, the present continuous) So, I asked my mother to send one page of the text book which I used in Japan as a photo attachment of her e-mail.

I sent a message to her like the following way

Future tense がまとめてある、プリントを写メってメールでおくって。( Please send a message with an attachment of the print which deals with the future tense by taking a picture with your mobile phone)

And she replied that in the way that

緊張した未来がまとめてあるプリントってどれ？(What prints is the print written the future which is tensed up? )


？？？I was somewhat puzzled for an answer to this reply. What is she talking about?

And finally, I realized that she didn't know the word "tense" so, maybe, She tried to work out the meaning　of "the future tense " with a dictionary. Then, she tried to translate "the future tense" directly in Japanese(=緊張した未来）
Mmm, It can't be deny that it can be interpreted in different ways..lol I couldn't help laughing after I realized this.

なにはともあれ, ありがとう、おかあさん～(Thanks mother~)　Now, thanks for her, I have better understanding about the future tense m(_ _)m

実力以上☆

In the beginning of the next month, I'm taking IELT again as the last test(. . ;)_So, actually, I needed to study for it.. But, some parts of me kindly helped me keep out of control over myself..

So..

I changed my mind wisely! I devoted most of my time of the last three days to reading the book because I realized it was the clever way rather than trying to keep away the book from me (o< )=3( the book distracted me a lot from studying for the upcomimg test..)

And ..finally,I did it~~My curiosity to know the following story pushed me to go through reading the whole story~

In a word,

I'll get down to studying for IELT from today <( '~';)..

The last time I took IELT and got the result which was not enough to my target, my mother said she hope I can streach my ability more than I have the next time..(実力以上の力が出せるといいね♪) ???The comon phrase is saying "hope you can come into my own"..(実力が発揮できると良いね♪） I realize that my mother is too optimistic or parhaps, too ambituois. Anyway,I hope there excists more than 100% things in this world!! And my cleverst moment comes when i hope( ><)☆

Lovely to meet... ME(->ω<) ♡（>ω<-)

　Geisha again.. because I found my name in that book(☆o☆)!What a coincidence~~ Nice to meet Me~( ^^)(^^ )♪

　I have three names now, Kanako, Mun, Michelle.

Kanako~
Which name did I come across? Of course, Kanako~My real name! Kanako in this book is one of Gaisya's names~ But, she is a not good character..I was really desappointed in me..(><;)!! I sometimes explain my friends my whole name don't have any specific means together. Because ,for my parents, the sound of names and the number of strokes used to write them(there are luckily and unlucky strokes considering our family names)were matters rather than the meaning of each characters. But, if i force myself to make my name have some meanings..my name means a child who adds a pear..Does it make sense(' '?)

Sometimes, I find my name in some TV shows or comics. I don't know why, but Kanako are bad charasters in anywhere.. Poor me.. for me, every name has some image or impression thanks to my friends who I met in my life(-UωU-)☆For example..

Mai..an active girl
Miho..a trendy girl
Misaki.. a respectable girl
Ayaka..a fasionable girl
Chisato.. a sensitive girl
Rina..a lovable girl

How about Kanako..? I just hope Kanako don't bring my friends bad impression becuase of me(>人<;) Mun~ My one of nicknames is Mun which used since I was kindergartner. My first name is Murase. and if I read my first name from the end it is Se ra mu. and then, if I combine seramu and Mun, it becomes seramun. It seems like sailor moon(セーラームーン）. This is the title of the Japanese famous animation for girls. セーラームーン is famous in Australia as well. So I can feel like as if I am famous.lol

Update..
My host mother thought my name was Mon.. My friend thought my nick name was Moon...and our dog's nick name seems to be Mun.. It's a bit confusing.. Mmm, any name is OK as long as i can recognize I am called..

お疲れ様でしたm(_ _)m

I finally finished the first semester at UTS. Time really seems to fly~.

How have I changed in the past 4 months? Nothing in particular, maybe. I am ..still me.

My main and big objective in Australia is.. to get passion!!

I mean busting a gut at least one time or expressing my emotion more clearly <(@@)/~

In this personal subject, maybe I failed .. And I seem to have to carry over this from this semester to the next semester...

Anyway, I'm well content with life here~ There are too many things made me inspired to write down here. So, I will write about such a kind of thing when the time is right.

Just I want to say thanks to everybody ~ありがとう☆

~~○公文は世界語○~~

Kumon~~!! I found the advertizing of Kumon in a magazine here ~~!!

I was a student of Kumon when I was a junior high and high school student (for 6 years). After graduating from my high school, I came back to Kumon as an assistant for one year. That's why I was so excited when I found it.

I think Kumon is not so popular for high school students, because teaching materials of Kumon are not related directly to entrance exams for universities. So, (in my opinion) most students (parents?)prefer juku schools to get direct strategies to pass entrance examinations.

But, I am a fan of Kumon~~ , because the way of studying of Kumon really suited me. In Kumon, we can choose materials suit our own levels without concerning our grades in our schools. I was a really slow learner( and I am still a slow learner..) especially math...( Math is my enemy...) My teachers and my parents said so , so the fact I was a slow learner is the unshackable fact..(' ';) So, Kumon was good environment for me to study without pressure~~


By the way, Kumon was the first place I studied English. That's why I like English, probably~~

♡パジャマ♡はんてん♡ ~~ mother's dayにちなんで~~

　 Before I came here, no one said that I would feel home sick in Australia. My host mother said that I am easy-going about one month after I lived with her. So, I know that I am regard as such a person by others. And probably, I am really such a sort of person. So, I totally had no idea that my mother would worry so much about me ... before I got the box from Japan..

Now, in Australia, winter is coming. So , I asked my mother to send me winter clothes. When I opened the box, I found hanten( which is worm out cloth on pajama). I didn't ask my mother to send such bulky stuff. I could easily pictured the scene my mother was concerned I might feel cold at night in Australia. This bulky hanten has my mother's full of kindness and love( I hope she didn't put the hunten just because there was room in the box.lol)

The time i got the box from my mother was a very good timing, because that time was just few days after I got pajamas from my host mother. Why my did host mother give me pajamas? There is a long(?) story.lol

The other day, my host sister asked me something about pajama and ...our conversation ended by making my host sister cry..because I couldn't understand what she asked me and she was confused a great deal... I am sorry...

And few days later, I got pajamas from my host mother who saw our conversation which looked like a quarrel. Thank you~~.
And ...few days later I got pajamas, I got the hanten. Thank you~~.
And now... I have a comfortable night thanks to my two mothers(-UωU-)♡ Thank you~~

Geisya

　　Recently, I read a book named Geisha which I borrowed from my host mother . This book has 430pages ~It is thick enough to hit someone's heads...(>w<)! lol This is really challenging reading for me. But, I will try to be an active reader until I can finish reading up to the last page . This book is really intresting.

For example... Namely, Japanese men, as a rule, feel about a women's neck and throat the same way that men in the West might feel about a women's legs.This is why Geisha wear the collars of their kimono so low in the back that the first few bumps of the spine are visible. I suppose it's like a woman in Paris wearing a short skirt.


I'm not sure this is the real reason why gaisha wear collars of their Kimono low. But, at least, it is an intrestiing opinion~~.lol I like reading, because I can step back to the past, have a glance of the future and visit wonderful places in my imaginary worlds. Once I come across intresting books, I can't help being excited~~ And some books are intresting enough to make me forget to go to bathroom.lol Geisha is such a book.

...But the big problem of English books is ...that I am often left behind by the stories,because I can't flick through the pages like that when I read books in Japanese. How frustrating~~(><)

...Though frustrating, i can't help opening books to see new worlds and new words .lol

Excursion in Australia

　Today, my host sister went to an excursion as a part of her kindergarten class. And , in this morning,my host mother showed me the document from my host sister's kindergarten . Immediately, I was grasped my attention by it. I couldn't help commenting something as reading this document~~.
This document said: The kindergarten classes will hold their Super Kid to a local park...
わぉ(☆o☆）!... Each student is asked to bring their own healthy picnic lunch...えっ。ヘルシー限定!?(' ':)...
Students must wear sun screen and a hat. ..Mmm...そっかぁ。ここ、オーストラリアだもんね。
I bet most of Japanese can understand why I thought this document deserves my attention.

My tummy is upset...

というphraseを学びました。。なぜなら、、、まさにそういう状態だから。。。Australiaで初☆というより、、何年ぶり!?くらいの体調不良。。ん～（。。；）朝から、雲行きは怪しかったんだけど、、お腹の空き過ぎで痛いのかな？ということにして、めいいっぱいcerealを食べて、、気づいたことは、、空腹のせいじゃないということ。。あんだけcerealを食べといて"I have a stomachache..I will go to bed..'って言うのが、どんだけ気まずかったかっていうね。。
　お昼には、ちょっと回復!家で、お腹の調子とにらめっこし続けているよりは、外に出たほうが良いかな!っていう、楽天的なideaで、、友達にlunchの相手をしてもらい、classmatesに誘われるがままに、ホールケーキをたいらげ（yammy~）、、クラブ活動の一環で日本語を教えて、団子をもらい、、、電車で帰宅中、、また雲行き怪しくなってきた。。そりゃそうだよね。
うつされ、うつして、うつして、治ってのcycle○に、3月頃、家族全員が参加していた中で、一人、円の外にいて。。さすが皆勤賞!と油断していたのがいけないんですね。昨日、「次女→私」、ついにcycle に飛び入り参加です。。
I am OK, but I just have a stomachache。という朝の状態から、I am not so goodと言わざる負えない状態で帰宅。今日のDinnerのpastaおいしそうだったなぁ。。"Can you eat dinner?" "No ..Sorry." "Do you want to eat miso soup?" "..!?" 日本料理ってお腹に優しいんだなぁとちょっと感じつつ、’Take it easy'ってこういう時にも使えるんだ～と感動しつつ、早めの就寝。　
今日は、布団に入ってから、３０分以上意識があったという、人生何度目かの貴重な日でした。そして、バイブの音で12時に起床。知らないnumberだなぁ～と思いつつ、２回かかってきていたので、かけなおしてみたところ、、'Did you call me?' ! "No" うっそぉ。。いや、かけてますよ～。と主張するenergyとvocabularyとreasonsがなかったので"Wrong number"ってことで解決。体調が悪化してることに気づいてしまってから、、もう寝れなくなってしまって。しんどい～。。私のroomはdetached roomなので、 main house(?)に行くには一回、shoesをはいてbackyardにでなきゃいけなくて、、でも今日は、悲しいかなrainy dayで。。このdouble attacksは痛い。。う～。吐かないように、という考えから、これはいっそのこと吐いてしまったほうが、楽になるんじゃないかという考えにchangeして、、try。背中を擦ってくれる人がいない辛さをひしひしと感じただけだっだんですけど。。
　ルー大柴さんになりつつあります。ルー語+Englishならまだしも、悲しいかな、vice versa..　ところで、ルーさんは、芸能界からfade-outしそうな芸能人No1に、ある雑誌でなってた気がしたけど、,まだ、芸能界にいらっしゃるのでしょうか。。。。

Kitchen

I have some blogs which I sometimes check in order to.. copy and paste ideas~lol(><)) One of blogs is the group brog named edc University students in Japan (Shizuoka to be exact) are creating one English blog for their study and fun. (At fast, I also started this blog from one group blog as a part of one English class in my home university with my English teacher's big, big help. )

I found one post appealed very much to me . One student wrote about Penguin Readers( books for learners who study English as not native language) She wrote about the book titiled "Women in Business"writrten about five women who made success in Business, and this book is the exact book I read in Japan. And her favorite section is Anita Roddick. Mee too~~. (Anita Roddick is the president of the world wide famous shop, The body shop~!!). As a big fan of penguin Readers, I think I have to leave comments or rather, I can't help saying something( >▽)o"

The Penguin book which I read recently is Frozen Pizza and other slices of life. This book has 8 stories. My favorite part is "Frozen Pizza" ,which is the story of one man who lives with a host family which has children like me. But, to be different from me, he ,immediately, found his host family strange..

I found the following sentences in the book:

The house was surprisingly tidy for a family with children.

Mmm, it is surely strange situation as a house of families with children, because...the house should be messy, because children are too ingenious of making houses messy for parents to fix a mess.lol

They didn't meet up for dinner.

He had never thought much about food before. But, he realized how much the food was part of home life.

My host family usually eats dinner around 6o'clock. So, most weekdays, i can't join their dinner table. In such a day, I feel a kind of feeling that I miss some important part of a day..

Food is pretty important!! It is an essential part of my life~~ The kitchen is the center of the family( ^^)人(^^ ). Thanks to living in Australia, I made up my mind that I give my mind to family time more after I come back to Japan instead of being rush than I was in Japan

What is the habit of sayin' of Snow White..?

　Though I already came back to my house, my host family stilll camp~, so there are no persons in my house now(; ..) My house is too quite and big to live alone , poor me.. Meanwhile my host family enjoy camp at the beach, I did nothin' special except watchin' the movie" Snow White" three times at my house.. lol What a lazy person I am..( --)/(' ' ;) Maybe, I start to forget how to live without 'em. And I miss my host mother's favorite word "Oh dear". I 'm anxious to see my hostfamily~~. Saterday night!! Please come early for me~~( >人<)!
By the way, thanks to watchin' the movie with my full attention, I could get comprehensive understanding about Snow White( >▽)o" I am all ready to answer questions about Snow White~~.lol
On the first time, I was in for a shockin' surprise and the movie stuck me speechless for a while. And I began to wonder if Snow White is good for kids.. And while I watched the movie on the second time, slowly but surely, I was certain that Snow White ain't appropriate for kids ,especially in terms of kids education, unfortunately ...I could find the words such as: I will kill it dead , Druft will bury snow white alive.. Oh, My!
Apparently, Snow White is pure..But,But, But!? The first word she said when she found the cute house of dwarfs was that"Guess there're no one in the house" My goodness. I did't want to know that she is a sort of person who can enter other's home without permission.. I bet I have to check to lock the door carefully now not to let people like her enter my house. lol (Suprisingly, at the precise time when I was thinkin' about that one kitten came suddenly from nowhere into my backyard. Jiminy Criket~>< Perhaps, I have to check the fence as well when I leave home..)
Anyway, at the third time, I tried to all hear exactly what they said and I could find well-phrase in the movie. Snow White is probably fit for my English education! I think(I hope?)I could get a good takin'-note skill a little bit. Snow White might become my well-beloved movie.

The report about the camp( 家族編）

お父さん:My host father, who is often cool, seemed to step back to his boyhood with other fathers during the camp. He became as eager and excited as a young boy. Fathers had a long talk especially about fishing and swimming.

子どもたち:Children can be good examples to other children. (Maybe, parents can be a good example to other parents as well. )My host family goes to camp at least once a year. So, children can take animals for granted like air we breathe. It's good for them~~.

お母さん:Interestingly, mothers' habits of saying look quite similar. My host mother's favorite word is lively. But, I noticed that other mothers often use lively as well. Indeed, their ways of bringing up their kids also similar. I heard the words " That's one" double or triple times . This is the my host parents' way of counting children's mischief and bad behaviors . If three comes, children have to go to room(at that time, they had to go to the tent.lol).

☆☆☆

My whole of host family ( 1 year-old youngest sister also went to camp..) camped out at the Merry beach with other two families for a week and I joined camping during two days. I spent quite relaxed days there .But, just relaxed..? Certainly not! Everything was so precious ,wonderful and marvelous for me~.


In the morning, I was awakened by the sound of waves. After enjoying breakfast with a cup of rich smell coffee, I feed adorable lorikeets with kids。(lorikeets are very colorful Australian birds. ) All children's eyes were shining with excitement as holding feed in their two hands. I enjoyed no less than kids ( ><)! Lorikeets perched on my hand and munch through feed~~.Cute~~. I also took a walk as looking sideways at wild Kangaroos(In Australia, there is an island named Kangaroo island. I wanna let people who will go there know we can see kangaroos for one meter around me in NSW lol. ) I wouldn't dream of that I take such a close look at kangaroos without cages. In the afternoon, I swam(floated?) in the sea with my girlfriend, afterwards, I walked on the rocks as seeing magnificent sea view right ahead me~~ and sat down on the rock for a while with nothing special to do.. but!? of course, everything was special~~. It was a lovely sight and just like a postcard.
At night, I went to the possum hunting with kids who tried to find possums with anxious eyes. After the bedtime for kids, adults enjoyed drinking around a campfire. The weather turned very cold though, the place around us was happy sung ~~. Over our head,we could see stars which seemed to touch on the earth. Fantastic!! The one thing that I might remember more than anything else was the moon. Sometimes, the moon covered with cloud and the cloud around the moon turned pale purple. Just imagine that!! It was a magic moment, wasn't it?

こぶた、たぬき、きつね、ねこ～。

My recent small hobby is Shiritori in English~~. My girlfriend often do Shiritori with me especially on the train. So, I guess other passengers will feel irritate with our overslow Shiritori or they will withhold their laughter .. Sorry~~.
In Japanese Shiritori, the person who say a word which finishs "N" lose. But, how about English Shiritori is...? At first, we draged Shiritori without thinking nothing special but, through practicing Shiritori several times, we gradually realized that "X" in English Shiritori eaquals to "N" in Japanese Shiritori. Besides, a word which finish "E" is effective words, because there are a lot of words which finish "E" in English. Unless we know many vocabrualy , it is difficult to find words quickly which starts "E" many times. Eager, Eagerly, Eagerness..If I can master wide variety of the adverb, the adjective, the noun, the verb etc.. I will be a proffesional of Shiritori!
But, doing Shiritori is a little bit anoying for us, because we can't do it unless we bring our electric dictionaries. Shiritori looks like an aural spelling test for us.lol
　最近、はまっているのが、英語しりとり。友達が、親切にも、ちょくちょく相手をしてくれます。特に、電車の中で。たぶん、他の乗客は超スローのしりとりにいらいらしてるか、または、笑いを堪えてるんじゃないかなと思います。。ごめんなさい..m(_ _)m
　日本語の場合、”ん”　で終わる言葉を言った人が負けなのですが、、じゃぁ、英語は、、？エンドレスじゃんね～と言いながら、始めは、だらだら続けていたのですが、、だんだん、コツをつかんで来るにつれて、"X"が、たぶん、"ん”の役割を果たすんじゃないかなということに気付きました!!さらに言うと、"Ｅ"終わる単語が、厄介。。"E"で終わる単語が、思った以上にわんさかあって。驚きです（。。；）eagar, eagarly, eagerness..これは、もう、とにかく、沢山の品詞を覚えたもん勝ちですねo('^' )
　でも、しりとりをするのは、やや、面倒臭いっていうね。。なぜなら、電子辞書が必須だから。。しりとりは、私にとって、今は、単語テストのような存在です。

Ambiguous words are useful.

　Every Thursday, we,new students, have a kind of party at our university. In this party, we chat to our friends as drinking a cup(glass) of drink for a discounted price, less than $1 . This is a good oppotunity for me to make new friends. In fact,thanks to this party, I got some charming friends. I like chatting! I love drinking coffee! I want to make friends! So, this party is soooo atractive for me:)
　Basically, this pary is held for meeting own buddy regularly(maybe..). My buddy is a Chinese experienced boy. Probably, our first convasation's topic was about homesick somehow.lol When we talked about the word ,"homesick ", he gave a difinition of this word as" a feeling of a kind of tiredness."I'm very pleased with this original difinition,because I think his difinition is quite right rather than a general difinition. Furthermore,I'm also intrested in his way of speaking which looks like that of Japanese. He often uses phrases," looks like~" or"seems to~". I am a person who tend to avoid to speak in an assertive tone as well. So, I like such a way of speaking(Japanese way of speaking?)
Above all, his most attractive points for me is... to have amasing ears to catch my poor Japanese accent. lol. Good( 　>▽)o"
Namely,my buddy is beyound prise. (It's a bit much.lol ?)So ,he draws everybody. In fact, he is often said that he is a buddy for everyone( ^^)(^^ )= I am good at finding attractive persons!?

　毎週木曜日に、New studentのために、ちょっとしたパーティみたいなものがあります。コーヒー等々をのみながら、友達とおしゃべりするという感じの会です。しかも、飲み物は全部＄１以下。安っ(☆o☆)!　このパーティーは、友達作りをするのに、本当に良い環境です。実際、この会を通して、本当に素敵な友達にたくさん出会いました。しゃべるの好きで、コーヒー好きで、友達100人出来るかな～♪な私には、本当に、本当に、素敵過ぎる会です( o>▽)o!!
　基本的なコンセプトは、Buddyに定期的に会うこと、たぶん。私のBuddyは、中国人の学生。その子の考え方(?)が、なかなか面白い!初っ端の会話のテーマが、確か、なぜか、"ホームシック"についてだったような。彼の定義によると、ホームシックは”ちょっと疲れちゃったかなぁ～って感じ"とのこと。お～。と感銘を受けました（笑）確かに!辞書的な意味より、言葉の芯を言い当ててる気がする!、、のは私だけかな(' ';)?
　さらに言うと、話し方も面白いな～と思います。"～な感じ"というような言い方を良くします。自分が、断定的な言い方を避けるタイプなので、この物言い、良いです。
　特に、私にとって助かるポイントは、日本人の英語（日本語英語？）を聞きとる力が相当長けてること。これは、もう、素晴らしい限り。
　という感じで、完璧と言っていんじゃないかな的なBuddyです。だから、みんなを引きつけ、実際、彼に対して、”みんなのBuddy”と言う言葉が出来つつあります。まぁ、つまり、私は、私の素敵な人たちを発見できる力を自慢して良いのかな（笑）

The busiest men find the most time

Today, I ate lunch with my local friend whose major is law. As well as law study, he does karate, works part-time job and helps new students voluntalily. Busy..(。。　；)ノ!! When he asked me if I am busy now, of couse,i couldn't say yes. Everyday I have a lot of things i want to do though, but they are not things have to do. Actually, for last two months, I have enjoyed my slow life thanks to time and to spare(- - ).zzZ In Japan, I always had at least one part-time job. I pretty liked these part-time jobs though, part-time jobs also gave me a little bit tight schedule. So, Australia is paradise for me~~,lol Maybe, I have to try not to be lazy...
Anyway, since I come here, I met many respectable persons like him. For example, I met many students who can speak Japanese very well even though they have their own specific major. My major is English literature and I have studied English for so many years though, I can't speak English well. So,I feel ashemed to answer to the question how many years I have study English... Umm, I don't want to count(><) Many students have big motivation and dreams and manage their time well and set aside their time for us. Their attitudes that put as much effort in as they can to achieve dreams and goals inspire me a lot. The biggest purpose why I came here is,of course, to study English, but there are also many other things I want to learn from them. Many wonderful surprises already came to me so far and new surprises will await me from now. There is no time to lose~~, so, I open my eyes so that I assimilate many things!

My name is....

　ホストファザーは今週何をしていたかと言うと、、、旅行を満喫されてました（笑）。今年は、40歳というちょっとした節目ということで、学生時代の友達と西の方に 1週間ドライブ旅行。つまり、その間、うちは、女だらけ。女の園。そして、今日はこれでもか!ってくらい、女の人いっぱいいました、、ホストマザー、ホストシスターの３姉妹、一緒の家でホームステイしているお姉さん。ホストグランドマザー、そこでホームステイをしてるお姉さん。お隣さん。私の友達。そして、私。ん～、この状況を男臭いならぬ、女くさいと表現するのかな（笑）
　そして、夕食の時に、ホストグランマから、英語名をいただきました。ミッシェル。なぜ、この名前を選んでくれたのかは、、ホストグランマにしか分かりません。ちなみに、友達は、マチルダ。理由はやっぱり不明です。命名した瞬間から、かなりナチュラルにミシェル～,ミシェル～と呼んでくれるので、その適応力に付いていくのが一苦労。お礼に、私たちからも、日本名をプレゼント。ホストマザーは、幸子さん。ホストグランマは、、、何だっけ（笑）？お隣さんは恵子さん。ん～、ホストファザーには申し訳ないですが、、めっちゃ楽しかったです。
In this week, my host father went to his 40th birthday anniversary trip. That means, in my house, there are only female. Especially today, there were many girls and women,my host mother, my three host sisters,a Japanese girl who stay with the same host family as me,host grand mother, a Japanese girl who lives at host grand mother's house, my friend who lives next door,my friend's host mother and me. lol Too many girls!!
At dinner time, I got a English name from my host grand mother. My new name is Michel. I don't know why my name is Michel, unless I get a skill to see my host grand mother's brain. My friend also got a new name, Matilda. Once she gave us names, she called us our new names naturally. I have to get accustomed to my new name quickly!! In return, we also gave our host families their Japanese name. My host mother is Sachiko, friend's host mother is Keiko and my host grandmother is...something..even though I forgot.. I felt sorry for my host father because I was really enjoyed last few days without him.lol

Congraturations(祝^ー^)人(^ー^祝)

I went to a birthday party of my friend who is my spanish classmate. In my class, all of them are Japanese except 4 students include him. That means he has to learn not only English but also Japanese.lol Actually, he already masterd "I love you" and " I'm hugury" in Japanese. Indeed, he is good at expressind surprising feeling in Japanese way, Oh~~. lol He held a party at a bar in our uni. We, Japanese students, gave him a rice bowl as a birthday present, i don't know he can find any oppotunities to use it though:P After that, we went to another bar restrant to eat dinner. But,unfortunately,I didn't bring my passport, so I didn't enter the restaurant... (><;)I was so sorry for him not to celebrate at the restaurant.. Anyway, I hope he could have a nice day .
I also joined another friend's birthday party the very next day. I met him at a club activity and he invited me to his 18th birthday party. 18 years old is an important age in Australia because this is the age which people are regarded as an adult and allowed to drink alcohol. I was pleased that I could celebrated such a special day.
Surpringly, my friend himself organized his own birthday party and entertained us. So, even though such a special day,he couldn't get drunk, in fact, he didn't drink so much, (he kindly tried to one bottle of Japanese Japanese beer,kirin, which I bought for him though). During this party, his friends were dancing,singing, chatting etc.. so cheerful!! it is very different from Japanese birthday parties, but I like this atmosphere~~. As a kick-on effect(?) of party atmosphere, his friends dived into a pool at his house. I had no idea that guests would swim in a pool at a birthday party. Is it common here..? Interesting!! He also entered into a pool, so his hair was wet in this picture. lol He not only invite me but also worried about I might feel lonely in his friends and suggested me to take my friend to his party. Furthermore,he already told his parents about that we would go to his party,so I didn't need to introduce myself to his parents and they welcomed us warmly. Mmm..I can't help suspecting this party is a really 18th birthday party. lol

I am big fun of Australia.

Since I came to Australia,it past one month by today. So,today, I wrote a love letter to my host family to tell my big thanks (as teaching my (host) sister how to fold a heart shape with Origami)and I got a big hug from host mother.
By the way, what have I changed so far?? Mmm...I can say that,in the last one month, my hair grew enough to tie up in a ponytail, my skin got dark gradually and I could make some friends!!
How about my English skill?..Mmm,it is a difficult question..
From the day I came here forward, many people asked me if I like Australia. This is just a queation of.. Yes!! I like host family, I like school, I like friends!
今日で、オーストラリアに来て、１か月。ということで、長女にハートの折紙の折り方を教えつつ、感謝の気持ちを伝えるために、ホストファミリーにラブレターを書いてみました。そして、ホストマザーからBig hugをいただきました。
　この一か月で何が変わったことと言えば、、ポニテール出来るくらいに紙が伸びたこと、日に日に、肌が黒くなってきたこと、、、そして、友達ができたこと☆　英語力の方は、、不明です。上達してれば良いな(><)♪
　ここに来てからというもの、色んな人に、オーストラリア好き？と聞かれます。それは、もちろん!!としか言いようがない質問ですね。ホストファミリー大好きだし、学校大好きだし、友達大好きだし♪

If at first you don't succeed,try,try,again.

Today, I took part in a kind of discussion for a survey to search international students' behaviors toward mass media for few hours. In this discussion, we, respondents, saw a couple of advertising,commercials and magazines. And then, we had to discuss how we felt about these advertisements etc. I joined this discussion as a behalf of Japanese girl. There were 6 members in this discussion and all of them were new students as well as me,but....their English level were obviously higher than mine. So, at first, I really felt upset because I realized that couldn't follow their discussions at all. Then, my buddy (he kindly followed and helped me) said me what I should do was only to tell an interviewer how I felt about materials and why I felt so. He also said that there was no need to interrupt their discussion. After I got this suggestion from him, I could feel relaxed more. Actually I think I should have participated in this discussion, if I could do so... But ,"trying something is better than nothing", thanks to his advice, I could change my mind to a better way.
Truthfully,even after I got this advice, I couldn't nearly say anything. And after this discussion, I felt so blue... Maybe some of participants could guess my situation(feeling?), so they encouraged me after this discussion with pleasant topics and ice cream.:) They are so,so, so kind.
Thanks to this experience, I could get motivation to study English more. And I also got some important thing which I have to think seriously for my future. So,today is good day!
　By the way, the next day, I totally could change my mind by a good sleep. And at that day, I got a message in Japanese with using the roman alphabet and it said: Are you OK? Don't cry. I am about to cry to joy:^
留学生のマスメディアに対する姿勢の調査のためのディスカッションに参加してきました。具体的な内容としては、広告やら、ＣＭやら、雑誌やらをみて、それらについての意見＆感想を討論するというもの。
私は、日本人女性という分類の代表ということで、参加。私を含めて、６人いて、全員New students。でも、まぁ、彼らの英語のレベルは、私とは比べものにならない粋。。。で、いや～、これは全く付いて行けないなぁ～と認識し、、ん～、、どうしましょ、、状態で、本当に、本当に、焦りました(。。；）そこで、Buddyから貰ったアドバイスが、頑張ってディスカッションに参加しようとせず、思ったこと＆その理由を言いなさいというもの。めちゃシンプル（笑）もちろん、出来るならば、討論に参加するに越したとはないんですが、、まぁ、出来ないものはしょうがないので、何もしないよりは、ちょっとでも自分の意見を言ったほうが良いですよね!?ということで。この方向チェンジのおかげで、相当気楽になりました。
　そうは言っても、実際のところ、アドバイスをもらった後も、自分の感じたことはほとんど言えなくて、終了後、相当落ち込みました。。たぶん、この私の状況を気にかけてくれて、調査の後に、何人かの学生が、楽しい話題とアイスで、元気づけてくれました。もう、本当に、優しい人達だらけです。
　今日の経験のおかげで、勉強しなきゃなという気が湧いてきました。そして、もうひとつ。ちょっと真剣に考えなきゃなという課題もいただきました。ん～、大切な日を過ごせたと思います。
ちなみに、寝たら、次の日は復活（笑）我ながら、相当撃たれ強いなと思います。そして、そんなときに、もらったメールが：Daizyoubu? Nakanaide. もう、本当に、泣きたくなるくらい、みんな優しい(-UωU-)

(♡^ω^♡)

So far, I went shopping many times. Even though my town is countryside,there are some choices for me to go shopping here,because there are several shopping malls in near other cities and traffic is very convenient.
Maybe, some like buying clothes and some like buying CD. For me, cute stationeries make me feel happy. Once I find a stationary which suites my taste, I can't help feel happy♪　Especially, if I find a nice bookmaker, I will be overexcited. Maybe, one of my hobbies is collecting bookmakers. Actually, in my room in Japan, I have a lot of bookmakers. I can't explain why I like bookmaker so much, but I can say I really like bookmarks. So far, I bought a pen case, two mechanical pencils,a bookmaker,a file, a schedule book and a notebook in Australia. But, sadly, stationary is a little bit more expensive here than Japan. Even though I can buy a pen for $1 in Japan, it costs about $3 or$4 here. Furthermore, we can't find sharp pens. I prefer a sharp one to a thick one..Mmm..
Maybe, I can say my taste hasn't totally changed since I come here, because some of them I bought are made in Japan or China even though i didn't notice that when i bought them.. Anyway, I feel happy not only at house but also at a classroom.
By the way, I also bought a cover of i-pot. But, it doesn't fit. Mmm.. Why..?

私の住んでる町は、田舎なんですが、ちょっと動けば、ショッピングモールが何個かあって、さらに交通の便も、なかなか良い
あって、オーストラリアに来て以来、ちょこまか、買い物に繰り出してました。これまでに、ペンケース、シャーペン２本、ノート、ファイル、スケジュール帳、そして、しおりを購入。　
服買うのが好きな人もいれば、CD買うのが好きな人もいるように、（？）私は、文房具を買うのが大好きです。気に入った文房具を見つけると、もうテンションあがります。特に、好きなしおりを見つけたら、この上なく幸せを感じます。たぶん、しおり集めは、私の趣味の一つ。なんで好きなのかは、自分でも分かりませんが、とにかく好きです♪ちなみに、日本の自分の部屋には、しおりがかなりあります。でも、悲しいことに、なぜかオーストラリアの文房具は高い。日本では１００円くらいで買えるペンが、こっちでは、３００円したり４００円したりします。この前は、ペン一本６００円くらいするのを発見しました。私に対する嫌がらせ？そして、私の好きな先の細いペンはレアです。ほっっそいペンが好きなのになぁ。。
　私の、好みは全く変わっていません。知らず知らずのうちに、アーストラリアにいながら、日本製やら中国製やらのものを買ってます（笑）まぁ、とにかく、今は、家だけでなくて、教室でも幸せを感じずにはいられません。（＾＾）
　ところで、i-potのカバーを買ったのは良いんですが、なんか合ってないっていうね。。なんでだろう、、？

Good fences make good neighbors.

　My friend tried to find new host family, so,recently, I followed her to meet several host families . I already decided to stay longer with my current host family, so if I had come to Australia alone, I guess I would have had no such an opportunity. I want to say thanks to my friend to give me such a precious experience. Even though finding host family might be easier for Japanese especially Japanese girls rather than others, it does not mean that it is a piece of cake for my friend. I could see she spent a lot of time to find new family these days. She could do nothing except finding host family recently,because meeting people needs time,money and energy. I respect her becouse she handled with this big task by herself in this unfamiliar country. If I were her, I could not do same thing as her:( I bet she will be much stronger thanks to this experience. Interestingly, her impression of host families and mine were sometimes different even though we shared exactly the same time. It proves our point of views are different. Mmm, so interesting.
Finally my friend decided a family who lives next to me. her new host mother is my host mother's friend and sometimes comes and sees my host family. My friend already met this host mother at a sushi party which we held the other day at my house. Since I said to my host mother about my friend's situation, my host mother really worried about my friend and tried to find a person who can accept my friend. My host grandmother also worried about my friend and proposed my friend to live with her in case my friend can't find good host family. I touched a lot of heartfelt kindness through finding new host family. Thanks to this experience, I became a best fan of my host family,now.
Anyway, I hope my friend enjoy new life as my neighbor!!
友達が、新しいホストファミリーを探すということで、ひっついて、私もファミリー候補に会って来ました。私は既に、今の家に、このまま住まわせてもらうつもりなので、一人でオーストラリアに来てたら体験できなかっただろうな～的な経験。友達に感謝です。たぶん、日本人、特に女の子なら、ステイ先を見つけるのは、他の人に比べて有利だとは思うんですが、まぁ、だからと言って、ステイ先が”ぱっ”と見つかと言えば、もちろんそんなわけはないわけで。。。このところ、ステイ先探し以外何も出来てなかったんじゃないかなと思います。人に会うのは、会うってだけで時間とお金と労力がいるもんね。。そんな大変なことを、こんな慣れない土地で、なんとか、どうにか、こなそうとしてて、すごいな～と思います。私だったら、出来なかっただろうな。。本当に。きっと、この経験がバネになって、彼女は、ますますたくましくなるんだろうなと思います。
　ところで、全く同じ時間を過ごしたのに、受けた印象は、お互い違うから驚き。価値観の違いとか、物の見方の違いが出たのかな。ん～、本当に面白い!
　最終的に、私のお隣さんの家にステイすることになりました。新しいホストマザーは、私のホストマザーのお友達。ちょくちょく、うちに遊びに来る仲です。友達は、この新ホストマザーに、この前の寿司パーティーで会ってるので、すでにお互い顔見知り。友達の状況を、私のホストマザーに話して以来、マザーは、かなり心配してくれて、一生懸命ホストファミリーを友達のために探してくれて、そして、お隣さんを紹介してくれました。わたしのホストグランドマザーも心配してくれて、探せなかったら、見つかるまで、自分と一緒に住めば良いと言ってくれました。この経験を通して、本当に、本当に、沢山の優しさに触れました。そして、もう、ホストファミリーの大ファンになりました。いや～、大好き過ぎてどうしましょ状態です（笑）☆
　友達も、ご近所さんとして、楽しく過ごしてくれたら良いなと思います♪

プチ culture shock

No news is good news～便りがないのは良い知らせ～

Today, I got a call from my mother from Japan to Australia, my cell phone to be exact.
Mother: ...
Me: Hi!
Mother: ...
Me: Hi?
Mother: ...Kanako?
Me: ...!?
I really felt ashamed that I spoke to English to my mother....
But, I hope my mother could understand I am fine:)
　オーストラリアに来て一回しか電話をせず、メールも途切れ途切れだったので、相当心配してくれてたようで。。日本では、かなり放任主義な親だったので、"便りがないのは良い知らせ"くらいに思ってるかな～と思いきや、そうでもなかったようで。ん～、嬉しびっくり（？）な出来事でした。

Variety is the spice of life

I went to Mardi Gras with my friends.This parade is known as Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras. I had no idea about this parade even though this festival seemed to be pretty famous. So, I asked about this parade to a few persons.
According to my host father:
one time is enough to go.
According to my host mother:
too sexy for children(In her opinion, this parade is for over 18 .)
According to my teacher:
Great! Don't miss it!
Mmm...what should I do? Of couse, my solution was... to go! Becouse this time is the first time and will be the last time for me.
The place was so jammed...but, party(parade?) atmosphere let me smile and, made me overexcited o(^-^o )=(o ^-^)o .It also gave me gave me a chance to think impotant thing in our lives.
Mardi Gras make me realize what a small thing which I stick at was. I think such a festival is very effective to change people's image rather than surface lows or formal meetings.
I already know there are many kinds of persons in the world. When it becomes my own theory, I can be a real multicultural person.

マリグラ、別名、ゲイ＆レズビアンパレードというものに行って来ました。かなり、有名らしいのですが、全く知識０、、、ということで、何人か、知り合いから情報収集しました。
ホストファザーによると：
一回で充分とのこと。
ホストマザーによると：
子供には刺激が強すぎる（ホストマザー的には、１８歳以上が適齢らしいです）
先生によると：
見のがせない!!
ん～、つまり、、行くべきということですね!なぜなら、このチャンスは、最初の機会であり、かつラストチャンスだから☆
　人がわんさかいましたが、、自然ににこにこ、知らぬ間にわくわく状態でした♪♪このフェスティバルで、楽しい時間をもらったのはもちろん、大切なことももらった気がします。自分がこだわってたことって、そんなに大したことじゃないんだなぁ～というような感覚をもらいました。かちっとした法律よりも何よりも、マリグラみたいな機会の方が、人の考えを変えるのに大きな力を発揮するような気がします。
　世界には、いろんな人がいて、いろんな考えを持った人がいて、分かってはいるつもりなんだけど、まだ、今一、自分のものに出来ていない感があります。。ん～、本当に、心から色んなものを受け入れられた時、きっとmulticultural personになれるのだと思います♪

　

( ’ ’ ?

　Needless to say, in Japan, trains are very punctual. Maybe, we can adjust our clocks by the time trains arrive and leave. On the other hand...trains here are not so punctual. Surprisingly, everybody already expect(accept?) trains will be delayed,especially the peak period.
I wondered why trains here are not so punctual. And,I found one suggestion to this question in the news paper. The news said that many people squeeze into the set of doors,especially the closest doors to stairs. So, rail staff are reduced to open the doors for idiots. And, the article was rounded off that "Train passengers:When you notice your train being delayed,don't blame rail staff,just take a look at your fellow passengers. These are real reasons why trains are often delayed."
Well..it makes my ears burn....I commuted to my high school by train for three years. And I can't calculate how many times I drove into closing doors. Even though I had never been late to school thanks to train staff's kindness. If I can say I am a behalf of Japanese, we can see passengers' selfishness both countries. Now, I have to wonder why trains in japan are so punctual...
　日本の電車は時刻ぴったりにやってきて、去っていく。。っていうのは、かなり有名なんじゃないかなと思います。一方、こっちでは、遅れてくることもしばしば。みんな、”まぁ、遅れるだろう”と、予想済み。納得済み。諦めぎみな感じです。
　なんで、電車が遅れるのかなぁ（’ ’？と、ぼんやり考えてたところ、新聞記事を発見しました。新聞によると、沢山の人が、押し合いへし合いしてて、車掌さんが、閉められなくて→遅れる。だから、遅れたら車掌さんに文句を言うのではなく周りの乗客をガン見しなさいというような内容でした。多分。。
　ん～。辛口。耳が痛い限りです。高校時代に、電車通学を３年間してましたが、まぁ、何回、すべりこませてもらったことか、どんだけ車掌さんの温情に助けられたことか、という、、ね。私を、日本人にカウントして良いなら、日本でも同じ状況あると言えるんじゃないかなと思います。ということで、今は、”じゃぁ、なんで、日本の電車は、こんなにも律儀にやってくるんだろう”、、と、ぼんやり考える番です。
　

Ignorance is bliss. 「知らぬが仏」

　There was a tamdem party to find the buddy (like a kind of tutor) This party very impressed me,because the tutor for international students in my home university are already arranged by university. That is, there are no choices for international students, poor soul.. I was a tutor of one exchanged student who came from U.K. I feel sorry for him not to be able to give a chance to choose a tutor... I don't know I could help him.
I guess what I did for him were only to make difficult Kangi name with using substitute characters and to advice to use Ore instead of watashi to express I in Japanese. I can say he is a kind student . In fact, he kindly gave me a handmade CD when I left Japan. I hope he have a great time in Japan now as me in Australia.
To bring the talk around to the party, I joined this party and find buddy. My buddy is Chinese boy who can speak Chinese, English and Japanese. I will give a detailed account of him next time.
Today, I went to movie,for the first time in Australia, with that my buddy and his friends . The movie I watched today is "Sweeney Tot". There are no ways not to watch it for me!! Because the combination of director, Tim Burton,and main actor,Johnny Depp,is exactly as same as that of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" which is one of favorite movies. Furthermore,this movie was made based on the musical. It is huge bonus points for me, because I like movies filmed from a play such as Chicago and hairspray. It is not too much to say that this movie was made for me. Of course(?), I couldn't understand the detail without subtitle, but I could still enjoy watching this movie.
But, one big problem lay in front of me. That is, this movie has some scary scenes which makes me feel not to go to barbershop and makes me not to eat pie, fortunately I realized that problem after watching this movie.lol.
この前、UTSで、タンデムパーティーというものがありました。このパーティーは、Buddyを決めるためのもの。いろんな人と話をしながら、自分に合ってるなという感じの人を見つけて、パートナーになってもらうという、私にとっては、新鮮この上ない仕組み。なぜなら、日本では、チューターは、勝手に学校が決めるから。留学生に、決定権はありません。。私も、イギリスから来た交換留学生（日本名：寛武さん）のチューターをやらせてもらってもらってましたが、、、ん～、今になって、申し訳なかった気がしてきた。。やったことと言えば、難しい当て字を考えたのと、”私”より、”俺”のほうが、自然だよとアドバイス（要求？）したことくらいだったような。寛武さんは、オーストラリアに来る時に、手作りのCDをくれるというような、めっちゃ優しい人でした。元気に楽しく、日本を満喫してくれてたら良いなと思います。
　話は戻って、私は、中国人の子にBuddyになってもらいました。チャイ語、英語、日本語を操るという、素敵な学生です。Buddyについては、また今度語るとして、、、
　今日は、そのBuddyとその友達とSweeny Totを見に行きました♪初☆映画☆見るっきゃない映画です。なぜなら、監督とメインキャストのコンビが、私の大好きな"Chocolate Factory"と、一緒だから。さらに、ミュージカルを映画化したという、私にとっては、おっきなボーナス付き。見ろ!と言ってるようなもの（笑）もちろん、字幕なしで内容が理解できるわけがないんですが、、楽しかったです♪
　ただ、問題が１つ。。それは、こわいシーンがちらほらあるということ。まぁ、それに気付いたのは、見た後だったので問題ないんですけど（笑）この映画を見た後は、床屋さん行けなくなるかなと。。パイを食べる気が起こらないかなと。。

There's nothing like home

I decided to stay longer with my current host family, because I am a big fan of all family members. Before I came here, I couldn't imagine that I can feel so relax with new family.
I want to introduce my room here! In my room, I have a bed with two pillows, a sofa,a TV, a closet, a drawer and a mirror. Maybe, everybody will say my room is big when they see my room. Actually,this room is bigger than my room in Japan:)
Pink is the prevailing color in my room ,because my blanket cover is pink. As all of my friends already heard enough from me, I like pink. I feel really happy when I am surrounded with the stuff I like. Namely,there are no way I can't feel happy in my room. lol
After I came here, my room has changed a little. For example, I got a screen door. My host father fixed it for me, after I replied that I tried to change the air in my room to his advice that it was better to close the door not to allow mosquito to enter in my room. My host father worried about me to be biten by mosquito because my room is in the backyard.( my room is a detached room). They seemed to take the trouble to order this screen door for me. I can't think of any ways to express my lots of thanks feeling to them.
My favorite point of my room is a sofa. My sofa can be a bed!! Fantastic!! One of my friend already have slept on this bed once.

ここのステイ先に、 10か月ステイさせてもらうことになりました。ということで、私の部屋紹介。日本の自分の部屋より広いです。テレビがあって、ソファーがあって、鏡があって、クローゼットがあって、もう、いたれりつくせり状態。ふとんカバーがピンクなので、全体的に、ピンくなイメージの部屋です。私好み（笑）もう、女の子受け入れるの前提の部屋になってます。
入居（？）２日目、ドア全開にして、散歩に出かけたところ、ホストファザーに、蚊が入るから閉めた方が良いょとアドバイスを受けました。空気の入れ替えをしたかったと言ったところ、数日後、なんと、網戸登場!!わざわざ、オーダーしてくれたみたいです。もう、本当に申し訳ない限りです。
お気に入りは、ソファー。なんと、ベッドになるという優れもの。いや～、素晴らしい!!すでに、私の友達は、このベッドで熟睡してました。

( ^ω^)(^ω^ )

　UTSには、アニメーションクラブというものがあります。今日は、そのFirst meetingなるものにお邪魔してきました。本当にInternational なクラブ。最近、思うのはforeignerという単語が、こっちでは役に立たないということ。ほとんどの子のbackgroundには、どこかしらの国が絡んでます。留学生に見えても、local studentだったり、日本でいう"foreigner"のように見える子が、Austrarilan だったりします。本当に、オーストラリアは、multiculture という言葉が、ぴったりの国です。
　で、first meeting=picnicは、どうだったのかと言うと、楽しかったです♪♪♪シンプルに、食べて＆しゃべってで、5時間くらい色んな子と話してました。なぜなら、このクラブでは、日本人は重宝される=色んな子が話しかけてきてくれるから。ひゃ～、みんな優しい。彼らは、”日本が好き”と、ピンポイントで言ってきてくれて、彼らからは、日本好き好きオーラ♡が、ひしひしと伝わってきます。あんなにちっこい島なのに、なんか、いっちょ前に、ちゃんと文化があるんだなぁ～と、日本人の私が日本を彼らから学んだような気がします(笑)
でも、友達をつくるのに、"日本"にずっと頼るのは、、ちょっとね。やるせない。。"私"を表現できるくらい、深い話が出来るように早くなりたいなと思う今日この頃です。
　ここで、プチレッスン。ある女の子から、可愛いについての定義を教えてもらいました。
sexy ...倖田來未
cute...堀北まき
pritty...大塚愛
cute とprittyの違いは、難しい。。
ちなみに、その子は、私をcuteの部類に入いれてくれました（笑）。いや～、みんな、お世辞がうまい>o< でもな～、もっとhot な感じを目指してみたいです。 　
I joined the first meeting(picnic) of the animation club, today. We can say this club is international. Recently, I begin to realise that the word"foreigner" is not useful in Australia. It is impossible to tell the deference between local students and international students, because some local students look like international students. In fact,even though they are local students,most of them have different background. I easily agree that the word"multiculture" is exactly best word to express Australia.
To bring the talk back, the picnic is really interesting!! The conversation had got lively for about 5hours. Many members kindly spoke to me,give ears and full interest to me,because I am Japanese. Most of them are interested in "Japanese"animation very much. I can feel hard their favorable feeling to Japan. They are good teachers to let me realize that such a small country,Japan, has such a fine culture.
But...I should start to make friends on a more normal level instead of depending on novelty value. I want to really join in them someday. So, I have to step up many stages to improve English.
By the way, I got a good lesson from one of members about definitions of Kawaii. There are three words to express "Kawaii",sexy,cute and pretty.
The excellent example for sexy girl is Kauda Kumi. And a behalf of cute girl is Horikita Maki. And we can pick up Othuka Ai as an example of pretty girl. This club member kindly categolized me into cute.lol I bet she was good at honeying. >o< lol If possible , i wanna be a hot girl.