Tooo Dependent on Technology?

In the modern society, some people are too dependent on technology such as computer. However, by and large, I think we should focus on advantages it provides us.

First of all, working situation has become very efficient because of technology. We can have an international meeting by using TV phone, send visual images by a digital camera. Especially, e-mail made us quite easy to contact each other. Not only these general conveniences, but also specific advancements we have been blessed.

Medical field is one of the remarkable benefits from technology’s progress. Fighting with a terminal disease such as cancer is always our concern. However, I heard, nowadays the patients can figure out whether anticancer drug will suit or not for them as the result of DNA test. I think this is a good example that technology gives us freedom to select the best.

Modern technology has absorbed into our private lives, too. I made many friends from all over the world when I lived in America, and I have kept contact them. We send e-mail each other, meet by Skype, chat on the computer, and broad our network by Social Networking Service. If it were thirty years ago, I don’t think we would still be close friends.

We can’t stop following our dream, “to make our lives better.” We should be careful not to be addicted to the conveniences, but I believe we can
receive the benefit.

Encounter

Sometimes people "happen to" meet something(someone) very special.
Today, when I went to a fancy Italian restaurant with my classmate of French class, I met a talented singer-to-be.
She is a young, cute, and very honest girl.
Her friend is a waiter of that restaurant, so she performed a concert there.
Her name is erica, and I think she will come out the major music industry soon...
Check her out if you are interested in!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jCIw56qUGw
I haven't seen (heard) such a perfect performance for awhile. I was so impressed!

Speaking of encounter...it was first time to hung out with Akemi, my French classmate. She is a working mom with two little kids, but she is so active!
I think she goes out much more than me...
Her life sounds like she is having 48 hours...

OK, I'm giving up! I'm so sleepy now, even though I took a nap today...
Maybe my day has just 18 hours, precisely...

Sales Record

The supporting self study campaign has started.
The teachers take counsels with students, and recommend best study materials to them.

This campaign is held biannually.
I have sold some materials to my students, but I remember it was not easy.
I tried to convince them a few times, and my head teacher helped me to give advice them.

However, today...
When I had a counsel with Yukio, who is 67 years old president of a printing company, said "yes" very soon.
He said, "if you recommend it, I'll take it. How much is it?"
...That was it...

He bought our material before, but he hasn't completed it yet.
Therefore, he was not interested in our "self study" materials.
However, maybe since I tried to establish a good rapport with him, he has listened to me well. I felt very happy not only I "sold" our company's material easily, but also I could feel his trust to me.

...Of course that was not a public sales record, but to me, it was my private sales record!

...By the way, my another private student, Ami, who just graduated a junior college, renewed her contract today. She hasn't shown up for a half year without contacting us. It means she skipped her private classes in vain.
But she came to our school today, renewed the contract as our manager recommended. It cost 600,000 yen, but she paid at once by a credit card.
...A BLACK card!
I knew her father is rich, but what's the hell a 20 year old girl has a BLACK card which can afford to buy a MANSION!!

...That was another sales record for today...

Know-it-all?

One of my private students, Tokijiro, is a 78 year old psychiatrist.
He is a graceful, sophisticated, smart gentleman.

However, his problem is...he wants to know EVERYTHING.
I go over just for a few pages of the textbook in a 50-minute class because of a shower of his questions.
For example;

Keiko: So, while she was having a coffee at the Starbucks...
Toki: Wait a minute. What does "Starbucks" mean?

Keiko: In this exercise, let's act it out..
Toki: Excuse me. Why do you say "act it OUT?" What does "out" mean?

Keiko: The pronunciation difference between "blink" and "brink..."
Toki: Brink? What's the meaning difference between "brink" and "cliff???"

...I always want to say, "What do you need?? You should PRACTICE first before asking so many questions!!!"
But surely, never do I. I know he has never reviewed & previewed. He just enjoys asking questions at my school. (In another words. he enjoys satisfying a thirst for knowledge?)

Today, he asked me as usual.
Toki: "What's the real name of "a.m?" What does it come from??"
Keiko: Well... "after midnight."
Toshi: Wow! Really? So, how about "p.m?"
Keiko: Ah..."pre midnight."
Toshi: I didn't know that!

...After the class, I looked them up.
My dictionary said, "a.m" is the abbreviation of "ante meridium." "P.M." is "post meridian." They are not English, Latin!
It's obvious I lied to my student!
...But I may not correct. He doesn't have to know Latin!!!
Sometimes, a teacher should pretend to be a know-it-all...

How to choose your career

I really don't want to take the EIKEN... I hate writing an essay!!!!

Topc: factors to consider when choosing a career


Although we have to make choices everyday in our lives, choosing a career is one of the most important decisions. I would like to discuss how we should figure out the answers.

Basically, I believe we can choose our careers based on our personal values. Earning a higher salary, fulfilling job satisfaction, keeping regular hours, and getting social status… There is no job that meets every standard, so you have to clear which is the most important to you. In my case, I have valued the following two aspects.

First, earning potentials. I teach English at an English conversation school. I have received many rewarding trainings from the school. I have to study hard to meet their requirements, and I am grateful to do so because that makes my English improved.

Second, job satisfaction. I had worked for the government just after I graduated college. I had a stable salary, but I had never been satisfied with my job because it seemed like anybody could be my replacement. However, since I became a teacher, some students have said to me I am irreplaceable for them. That makes me very happy.

Some people have said, “to work is to live.” I think it is very important to recognize what is a criterion for choosing a career to fulfill the life.

Beauty World Japan

Hi!
Some friends have asked me what has been going on...because I haven't republished my blog for awhile... Nothing happens! I haven't gotten swine flu, so far!

Today, my friend, Masami took me to a VERY fabulous event... The Beauty World Japan in Tokyo Big Site! This event basically for people who are involved in beauty industries such as cosmetics, aesthetics, nail salons, hair salons, etc, etc.
Masami was not, neither am I...
But she has a connection to those people, so she got tickets.

It was just amazing how advanced the beauty industries right now...
We got many free samples & leaflets of new products. I can enjoy trying those for awhile!

Thank you, Masami!!

Nuclear Power??

God, I am so unfamiliar with this topic...
My essay may be miserable this time...

Agree or disagree; The use of nuclear power should be expanded?

I agree with the use of nuclear power should be expanded because if I compare it to other power, using nuclear power will bring benefits to Japan.

First, using the nuclear power is economical. The unit price per power generation is much cheaper than price of oil and electricity. Additionally, because of the extremely small weight and volume, it is easier to transport and stock. The cost-effective nuclear power plants will be expected to generate employments, too.

Second, nuclear power doesn’t emit CO2 which is one of the major reasons for the global warming. It doesn’t exhaust Nox and Sox, that are to cause air pollution. In the nowaday’s world, to pick the environmental-friendly one is meaningful.

Thirdly, we can use the renewable energy effectively. We have high technique of retreating nuclear power. On the contrary to our short resources, using the nuclear power & reusing it is one of our ways to survive in the competitive world. We can appeal our high technique level to the world.

I know we have a special feeling for the nuclear war because Japan has been only atomic bomb victim, However, using nuclear power for safety has too many advantages to avoid it.

Crisis of aging society-final draft

Here is the final draft of my "crisis of aging society" essay. I submitted drafts three times, and the teacher proofread them. This is the final one!

Will societies with aging populations face a crisis in the future?

Yes, I think Japan is going to face a crisis because of the increasing size of aging population. I would like to raise three issues as follows.

First, declining birth rate will accelerate Japan to be an unbalanced aging society. To encourage increasing the birth rate, the government should implement various policies. Lowering educational expenses, encouraging official support for working mothers, and promoting governmental support for couples with fertility problems, will greatly contribute to improve the situation.

Secondly, the fund for social welfare expense will be depleted in an aging society. To get the resource, I think the most effective way is raising the rate of consumption tax. Since all people need social security, it is inevitable to pay more tax when we buy something, in particular luxurious items. It is also a good way to change the tax in the manner that the rate depends on the kind of expense.

Thirdly, high medical expenses will be a heavy burden for many senior citizens. However, I think if we reduce medical costs, we can’t keep the high qualities of the Japanese medical services. In spite of having the world’s longest life expectancy, the Japanese medical cost for senior citizens has been sky-high, compared to other developed countries. Promoting the awareness of health care would make haste slowly about this problem.

The crisis of increasing aging population is predictable. To avoid this, we should take action as soon as possible.

Circle

I had been looking forward to having today.
May 8, 2009... It is the day I can meet Sally, my former tutor & my perfect role model!

Her youngest son is married to a Japanese woman. He lives in Yokohama, so Sally and her husband visit Japan every other year. Every other year? I think she visits Japan often more... Anyway, I admire her! It takes 14 hours by air plane from Chicago to Japan!

Me, and other Sally's former students went to Yokohama to have lunch with Sally.
Amazingly, Sally brought her husband, son, and daughter-in-law.
Yes, amazingly to us...but maybe it's natural for them because whenever I met Sally, it was common that her family members joined us.

We made a circle surrounding Sally. We had a great time, talking and tasting delicious food...
I felt VERY thankful to her. It's wonderful I can meet my role model even she lives in America! Right? While I was enjoying talking, I just supposed the friendship is like "a circle." Rounding and rounding...we meet sometimes, not often, but we know we can "see you" again. It never stopped as long as we respect each other.

...When we did farewell, Sally smiled to us.
"Please come to America! It takes "just" 14 hours!"
...I pay a great esteem for her...

Birthday Craze

Since today, I've been back to my regular life!
I went to work, attended a business meeting, and taught my classes...

When I get to work, I am so busy as if I were at the battle ground. However, today, especially I was hectic! All of us had been gone because of the Golden Week...then Toshi (our head teacher) noticed we had forgotten about Bob's birthday. It was May 5th!

We always celebrate staff's birthday at my school, so we shouldn't have forgotten!
I came forward to be a volunteer, and dashed to a department store to buy a birthday card & pudding (which Bob loves) cake.

After all of our students left, we celebrated his birthday. It was successful!
But because of the preparation of the birthday surprise & unexpected quests, I didn't have enough time to do things around.

I got home at 11:30 pm. Exhausted, but.... that's the REALITY!
I realized my "reality" is not in Maui...

Mahalo! Maui☆

Sometimes I bring various places I've traveled before to my mind. Yes, I am lucky that I've been to many countries in the world. Traveling is always to become precious memories. However, this time..."the travel to Maui" was so special.

I came back to Japan yesterday from there. I haven't put pictures on my blog for awhile... But today, I'm very excited to do that !

Why Maui is so special? I think it's because there is great nature, in the small island in Hawaii. It is surrounded by amazingly beautiful sea. But if you look the other side, you would take your breath to see the glorious mountains. Uh, I should explain the pictures!

The first three pictures are from our( I mean, of course my hubby and I!) room at the hotel we stayed. The first one is afternoon, the second one is sunrise time, and the third is sunset time. We stayed at the Westin Maui Resort and Spa http://www.westinmaui.comps=ps_aa_ssp_hawaii_

the_westin_maui_pop_/060107_nad_fm/

I'm afraid the left picture is not bright enough...but in the hotel, even a part of the lobby was "great nature." There was (a kind of ) lake, and...can you see flamingos over the lake? There are some interestingly beautiful birds, too.

The blue bird on the right picture was the one I found in the parking of the Wilea shopping mall. But the red one & yellow birds lived actually in the lake in Westin Maui!

I also like the Hawaii's relaxed atmosphere. In Maui, even airport's lavatory's sign girl has a lei!

Surely we got many chances to see the "real" fula dance shows. Almost every night, fula dance shows (like the right picture) were being held while we were staying... At the shopping mall, restaurants, etc, etc.

Oh, the left picture was dolls I found at a souvenir shop. I was impressed that even Santa Claus (and his wife?) wore Aloha shirts in Hawaii!!

Mostly we were just chilling out on the beach in Maui. I can show you our favorite beach... Here is Oneloa Beach!

In the picture, the sea looks calm? But actually, the wave was so high in the beach! There were many merry surfers there. We could see them be taken away by the wave!!

(Of course they came back! They were enjoying!!)

We enjoyed characteristic scenery at the Maui Tropical Plantation (the left picture) even though it was unexpectedly secluded place.

However, the most mind-blowing scenery was...from the top of the Haleakala National Park. Can you figure it out? We could drive to the top of the volcano, so we were completely "above the cloud." Mt.Fuji's altitude is 3,776m. The Haleakala's one is about 3,000m. Mt. Fuji is higher, but at the Haleakala, we can get the top wearing flip flops!!

We saw the craters. Exactly there, some SF movies' shootings were held... Even we swam at the beach with hot weather the day before, we could be blown by the strong wind at the top of high volcano!

Golfing is another attractive activity in Maui. I haven't played golf since I came back to Japan, but I felt so happy to play it in Maui!

I hope you can see a white flag in the right picture... The course we played was Kapalua Golf Club, Plantation Course. http://www.golflink.com/golf-courses/course.aspx?course=265145

The course is known for a prestigious PG course with spectacular scenery. It has unique up-down hills and be surrounded by beautiful sea...

Also, the plantation course is famous for the difficulties for players. The right picture was the notorious? 7th hole. I took the picture at the ladies' tee place. The dark forest in front of the grass was actually, the deep valley. To get to the green, I had to hit the ball over 150 yards. Did I make it? Of course not! My longest distance by a driver is 100 yards.

But my hubby did make it!

I just wrote my memories at the Golden week Maui trip. I hope you enjoyed pictures!

I was back to my regular life. My blog will be back to be a "boring" blog, too...

Forgive me!& if you live in Japan, enjoy your rest of holidays☆