Sapporo on Ice

Hi, guys! I came back to the U.S from Japan!! It's been almost a week, but I still feel jet lag... Although I am a night owl basically, I am REALLY sleepy at night lately!! But I got the FOURTH AWARD of the Toastmaster's meeting last night ! Yeah♪

I spent most of the time in Japan, in Sapporo. Sapporo is my hometown which is a capital city on the northernmost island, Hokkaido. Because of the cold climate, the island is abundant in seafood!! I ate a lot of Sushi, Sashimi, crab☆

What did I do in Sapporo? I met my friends, relatives, went to Karaoke, and...SHOPPING!! I was looking forward to going to BIG SALES after the New Year's Day! It is like a "Black Friday" in U.S, even though shops open at almost their regular time.

I went to the biggest department store in Sapporo 15 minutes before the opening time. However...there were almost 150 people who were already waiting !! After the department store opened, they rushed into the store!! Look at the photo!!
Do you remember my article, "Midnight Madness?" After all, I think I LOVE going to big sales...

Hokkaido is famous for having lots of snow. We don't have so much snow in Sapporo if we compare it to other cities in Hokkaido, but we always have about 1.5 feet of snow. However, this year,(because of the global warming, maybe?...)we had less than 1 foot of snow. But the temperature was still less than 30°Fahrenheit, so...the roads were very ICY!! The left picture is my neighborhood. Can you walk here?
Me? Off course I can!! Actually, people who live in SNOWY areas have some survival secrets. I got fancy boots with high-heels at the sale in Sapporo, but I can walk with them on the icy roads☆　　Take a look at the right photo! They are not clear...but, the soles of boots have treads. We always ask for treads to be attached when we buy winter shoes♪

I also went to the "Stars on Ice" show in Sapporo. "Stars on Ice" is an American figure-skating show. Professional skaters (most of them were winners in the Olympics) have gathered for this show, and they have been giving performances mostly in the U.S. However, in the beginning of January, they came to my hometown...Sapporo, with many Japanese famous skaters! I saw the performances of Shizuka Arakawa (the gold medalist of the Torino Olympic,) Mai Asada(Mao Asada's older sister,) Yuka Sato, Daisuke Takahashi, Noburari Oda, (All of them are Japanese famous skaters!), and Alexei Konstantinovich Yagudin(Russia,) Philippe Candeloro(France,) Michel Wise (America,) and so on. All of them were spectacular! But there was an expecially popular athlete. She is...Mao Asada! You'll never recognize...but, the left picture is her!! (Her clear picture is the right. I picked this photo from her Web-site: http://www.maomaiasada.com/index.html )Mao Asada is a 16-year-old amateur skater, but she is really popular like a pop idol. She won the final grand prix last year, so she was considered as the most potential gold medalist of the Torino Olympic. However, the contestants in the Olympics were limited by age, so she couldn't participate in the Olympics because she was too young. She keeps winning many competitions, so she has been expected to be the gold medalist of the next Olympics, like Kimmie Meissner or Kim Yona!
I was astonished not only at her performance, but also her popularity.
When she appeared, the skating rink became full of cheers! Especially, it was impressive that many children were excited to see her. After I came back from the show, all of my relatives envied me! "Oh, you saw Mao-chan? I support her like my DAUGHTER!!"
In contrast to her energetic performances, she looks & acts like a little innocent girl. She loves chocolate, her dog, Legos...
As you can see from what my relative said, many Japanese love her like their families. Will she get the gold medal in the next Olympic? Check her out!!

By the way, do you think the ticket of this show must be expensive? Actually, it's...not! It was 30 dollars. If you reserved a good seat, it was $250. However, I noticed the show day of the performance! So, I went to the skating rink just before the show started, and got a cheap ticket at the last minute. It was a standing ticket, but there were not so many people, so I could lean on a pole comfortably.

If it had been Tokyo, many peole would have rushed into the show, so I don't think I could get a cheap ticket that day! However, Sapporo is the fifth largest city in Japan. So, not TOO MANY people came to the show! It is one of the unconcious advantages of living in a middle-sized city☆

After I came back to Lafayette, it became REALLY cold outside. This photo is the outside of my house. The temperature today is...11°Fahrenheit!!! I have to survive here, in a cold city...but I'm fine! I am from an ICY city, and people who live here are WARM-hearted☆

My friends whom I met in Japan...thank you for giving me a great time!!!

Lucky year, lucky symbols!!

A happy new year, everybody! Thank you for being my good friend last year, and please keep in touch with me in this year as well!!

I am visiting Japan, now☆　On Christmas Eve, my hubby and I flew to Tokyo, Japan. (14hours in flight!) We went to Nagoya the day when we arrived at Tokyo(Christmas day☆.) The next day, we went to my parents-in-law's house in Mie prefecture.

My in-laws took me to a Japanese shrine to be purified. Why? Because we, Japanese have believed we have "unlucky years" three times in our lives. They are different depending on if you are a male or a female. If you are a man, your "unlucky years" are years when you are 25, 41, and 60, for a woman, 18, 32, and 36. On your "unlucky year," you are supposed to have "unlucky things," like having an accident, a disease, etc... So, we go to a Japanese Shinto shrine to purify ourselves and pray not to have unlucky incidents.
Also, the year before and the year after, we should be careful. Therefore, the best way is to be purified three years-in-a-row around your "unlucky year." This year, 2007, is one year after my unlucky year becauce I will be 19 years old... I am kidding... So, my parents-in-law took me to a Japanese shrine. My father in law (also around his "unlucky year,) and I had the purification from a Shinto minister.

The first picture is the Japanese shrine, and the second picture is a kind of information desk. Japanese shrines are always very crowded with people who want to pay homage after the new year comes. However, we went there at the end of the last year, so there were not so many people. People were preparing many varieties of food booths for the new year day☆　（Look at the third picture!!)

After that, my in-laws took my hubby and me to the famous place of pottery in Shiga prefecture. The kind of pottery is Shigaraki-yaki(信楽焼。） Around the area, there has been an abundant supply of good soil for pottery. Additionaly, Shiga is located near Kyoto and Nara where the tea ceremony has been popular. These advantages made Shigaraki City be active in producing many tea cups, tea pots, or other utensils and so on(The first picture in this section.) Nowadays, they make much interesting pottery!! Look at the second picture! What do you think they are? They are...humidifiers!! The third picture, there are Japanese lucky dolls ☆　　The forth picture, there are... many "frog" ornaments... Why frogs??
Actually, Shigaraki is famous for "raccoon" ornaments. I can explain why they have to be raccoons! Because they have been represented as a lucky charm for business. Also, when the Showa emperor (昭和天皇） visited the city in 1951, people welcomed him decorating many "raccoon" ornaments. At the lunch time, we had "raccoon" soba (buckweat noodle) which included fried Tofu and ginger in a bowl with "raccoon" cute painting☆
I bought "raccoon" chopstic rests (箸置き）becaue I learned "racoon" brings luck ♪　I am in the middle of "unlucky years," but fortunaterly, nothing unlucky have happened so far. Probably... the purification have worked well!??

I wish this year will be VERY lucky year for you!!!

Breakaway

The end of the year is always a good time to look back the year and make new year's resolutions.
In 2007...I would say, my resolution is to "breakaway." It doesn't mean I would cut my old relationships! Like this song, "Breakaway" popularized by Kelly Clarkson... I want to keep on cherishing my old friends, family, and my hometown, and at the same time, I want to be more adventurous!!

In the past two years, I had been stuck in an English school because I wanted to improve my English. It was very important for me! However, I felt I needed to "breakaway" and go to "another world" this year.
In general, if I (the one) stay at the same place too long...that is not good(unless that is my final destination.) The ESOL(English School) is "my comfortable place." The teachers are always kind. The classmates are in the same stuation as me, so we can understand each other well... But, what if I go to "another world?" I need to challenge something if I want to improve! ♪Get on a fast train, travel on a jet plane, far away. I could breakaway♪　as Kelly Clarkson sings...

In 2006, I started to belong to the Toastmasters, auditing an acting class at Purdue, being a secretary of the West Lafeyette Musical Group, and making a major presentation.
I believe the older I get, the more adventurous I should be. It doesn't mean I should take many risks. Just be eager to challenge something! I think many people (not all) tend to lose their flexibility as they get older. They forget the challenging spirit, and tend to give up something easily because they believe they are not young enough. I don't want to be like that! I want to improve myself, know much sense of value, and meet many kinds of people!! So...try to BREAKAWAY! BREAKAWAY!!

Oh, my specific resolutions in 2007? Getting a 900 score on the TOEIC, attending every meeting of the Toastmasters, starting a correspondence course to be a wedding specialist, and finding a place where I can be involved in REAL wedding occasions!!
Resolutions in 2006? Getting 900 scores of TOEIC, studying French everyday, and reading an English newspaper everyday... WOW!! I haven't fulfilled any resolutions!!! Wait a minute... If I decide, "This is my resolution!", it will never happen!? How ironic this is!!?? or I'm just lazy...

I wish you have a VERY HAPPY new year!!!

White Elephant

Hey, guys! You know, Christmas is just coming around the corner!! My neighbours decorated their houses with Christmas illuminations...(Can you believe it!? The house in the right picture is not a shop, but an ordinary family's house!!) Shops have beautiful Christmas trees and some seasonal stuff!!

Last Monday was the day of the Toastmaster's Christmas party.
We did some games...including a "White elephant game."
White elephant means something you own, but you don't need anymore. The origin is from Siam(The old name of Thailand.) Once upon a time, a king of Siam gave an White Elephant to his follower whom the king dislike as a harassment. A white elephant is beautiful, but we can see we would be in trouble if we can't sell it!!!

I picked Britney Spears CD and some Japanese magazines as my white elephants. Britney Spears is a kind of "hot" topic right now, and there was no Japanese except for me in the Toastmasters. So I thought someone may be interested in those!
As you know, one of the White Elephant's spirits is " The one's trash could be another one's treasure☆"

We got together our White Elephants on the table, and picked one.
I picked the "VIctoria's Secret" bag because I loved the shop. Inside, there was a note saying, "From the VIctoria's Secret." Some things were wraped by a newspaper. I opened a newspaper, then I saw...
1. A bottle of shampoo from a hotel.
2. Hair band
3. Two candles...didn't seem new...
4. A dozen set of hair clips. But she (the presenter) had already used 10 clips. So...two left over.
OK... It is a white elephant. ...Frankly speaking... I thought they were trash!

As everybody opened the one they got, I divided each white elephant into some ranks in my mind. I thought my "Victoria's secret" was in the lowest class. However...it was not lowest.
Highest; A step counter, portable radio, bottle of maple syrup & electric pepper mill... They were new!
Upper-middle; A tea set & mug, my Britney Spears CD & Japanese magazines??
Middle; American 50's music tape, a stuff doll, etc...
Upper-lowest; My "VIctoria's secret" and so on...

The lowest gifts? They were really INTERESTING!!!
1. A box or fish food (already expired)& small aquarium!!
The presenter said, she used to have fish. But it jumped from the aquarium, and died. We knew she didn't need them anymore...but who need expired food fish!?
2. One guy picked the heaviest one, smiling. But when he opened the wrapping, his smile disappeared... It was cooking flour, already opened!!
The presenter said, "My neighbor is going to move to another city. She gave it to me, so I brought it."
OK... If I can do that, my house has full of white elephants!!!
3. However, the lowest & the funniest one was... A PINECONE!! Yes, the brown seed container of the pine tree... A PINECONE!!! It was inside a box, and the box was wrapped by ALUMINUM FOIL!!!
I never forget the face of the girl who opened the box!!!

What I learned the day from the Toastmasters was; Treasure is treasure, and trash is trash!!

The White Elephant game... Would you like to try?

Midnight Madness

The fourth Thursday in November is the Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. ( Sorry, my blog goes back and forth!!) Originally, it was a harvest festival. Now it is a time for big family reunions and big dinners! Most companies, restaurants, and shops are closed because those employees also need to celebrate the day. Towns are sopposed to be very quiet on the Thanksgiving Day.

However, the next day, the fourth Friday in November, is the biggest shopping day in a year!! In contrast to the day before, shops open very early, and give us BIG sales. Quiet towns change completely to be very crowded!!

Usually, my hubby had to work in this season even though it was a natural holiday.
However,he could have day offs this year. So, I suggested to him "Why don't we go to the 'early bird sale' at the outlet mall in Indianapolis on Friday?"
He answered, "I am not an early bird... How about going the 'midnight madness sale?' It will start just after the Thanksgiving Day is over, the midnight of Friday. We can stay up late, go there, get some good stuff at cheaper prices, come back here early, and can sleep well. Right?"
I agreed with him. But, in the reality, "getting some good stuff at cheaper prices" was not so easy...

This year, the Thanksgiving Day was very sunny & warm. So, we could play golf together! We felt hungry, so we tried to find an available restaurant. But almost all restaurants were closed. We found a cheap Chinese restaurant was opened, so we had a supper there. After that, we left Lafayette at 10:00pm.
We arrived at the outlet mall in Indianapolis at 11:30pm,but...we were astonished to see a loooooong line of taillights!! Many, many, many people came there to go to the "midnight madness" sale! So, we had to wait in a looong line to park!!!

I will show you our terrible experience chronologically... It was, literally the "midnight madness..."
11:30pm (Thursday): We arrived at the mall, but we had to wait for a parking space.
12:00am (Friday): The "midnight madness" sale started, but we were stuck in the
loooong waiting line of cars...
1:00am: Finally, we could park! We run to the Coach shop, but there was another
line to ENTER the Coach shop!! We were in the line reluctantly... We had
been waiting outside, it was...cold!
Look at the photo! WE WERE iin the line!! My
hubby whispered to me, "This is so hard...
I would rather work!!"
2:00am: Eventually, we could enter the Coach shop.
2:30am: We got some stuff at Coach, but we also had to
WAIT TO PAY!!! Everywhere in the U.S, so many people did shopping. So, clerks couldn't check the credit cards because the credit cards's companies were so crowded!! They handed swipe the credit cards, so we had to wait much for each customer!! We didn't say anything during waiting... I found that my hubby's eyes were out of focus...
4:00pm: Finally, checked Coach stuff! We didn't plan it, but we decided to go to the CircuitCity(an electronic appliance shop) even though we were REALLY tired... We may as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb!!!
5:00pm: After waiting (also) a looong line(Look at the photo!), we could enter the Circuit City just after the early bird sale started. We got a digital camera and some DVDs...but, we ALSO had to wait for checking!! We had no idea... The clerks in the Circuit City took much time to check. They were never in hurry...
7:00am: We finally paid our...prizes.
8:30am: We don't know why we did...but we went to some shops in Lafayette.
9:30am: AL LAST, we came back to our home from the severe shopping war 12 hours later we left home!! You know...the day before, we played gold! We didn't stay up LATE, actually we stayed up ALL NIGHT!!!

Just after we came home being exhausted, I turned on TV. A newscaster said "Today is the BLACK FRIDAY..."
I asked my hubby, "Do you know why is it called the BLACK FRIDAY?"
He said," Because people feel depressed and dark! We paid less, but I am sure this sale took years of our lives!! I AM EXHAUSTED!!" Yeah, could be... The REAL origin of the BLACK FRIDAY? The newscaster said, " Shops are supposed to be in the BLACK because of the big sale's revenue, and the town becomes BLACK because of the crowd. It has both meanings."

Are you a shopping lover? From my experience, I will give you some tips of the Thanksgiving sales.

1. You don't have to go to the Midnight Madness sale unless you want to get something precious is like...an eye-catcher. When we went to the Circuit City, a kind of new game soft were sold quickly. But other stuff... When we left the outlet mall at 4:00am when the early bird sale started, we saw many cars finging parking spaces easily! We figured out WE DIDN'T HAVE TO COME TO THE MIDNIGHT MADNESS SALE!!!

2. Keep warm!! Wear something warm and casual! I went there with a skirt and high-heeled boots, but I had to stand & wait for a loooong time at several lines(sometimes it was outside)... It is in the winter night, it's cold!! Also, you may want to sit down during waiting.

3. Make a list of what you will buy before you go to the sale. I bought some souvenirs to my family at the Coach shop, but I still regret I should have gotten more! They were really cheap!!

...Learning from this experience, I am sure I will be better shopper in the next year!

Oh! Will I go there again even though the sale took years of my life!!??

Christmas Homestay

Have you ever heard the word,"homestay?" It means going abroad and staying in a host family's house, not a hotel or a dormitory. I was interested in doing a homestay when I was a student, but I didn't have enough courage to do it. However, I had a "homestay" experience last week☆

I went to Milwaukee, a city along the Lake Michigan, in Wisconsin. Annette drove four hours from West Lafayette to Miwaukee with me to make a presentation at her sister-in-law, Diane's church. We stayed at Diane's house. Annette is a facilitator and a teacher of the Purdue ESOL that I've been in for three years. Also, she is Liz's mother. Liz is my friend & a frequent reader of my blog! She is very nice & kind lady...like our (the school's students') sister! Every time I come back to the school from long trips, she hugs me with a big smile and says, "Keiko! You'd be surprised to know how I shouted after I woke up in this mornig, 'Yeah! Today is the day when Keiko is coming back!'"
Also, she always notices when I feel depressed or burned out. Then, she doesn't forget to ask me...even if she is very busy..."Keiko, you are not quite yourself today. Is something wrong with you?" Probably, she has no idea how much I thank her!

I have met many of Annette's family before. Diane, her sister-in-law, is also a very nice lady who is always smiling like Annette and her husband, Donald. She lives with her husband, her father-in-law, and two of her sons.
After I stepped into her house, I felt "Wow! I love this house!!" Her interior decorations were fantastic! She had some themes in her house. For example, her kitchen's theme was a "rooster." Therefore, almost everything in the kitchen was related to roosters; Plates, pictures, a clock, mugs, a napkin holder, salt& peper mills, even the wallpaper!! Look at the photo!

Also, she said she loved "shoes." Therefore, many interior decorations with shoes were spread around her house!

In the glass china cupboard, there were beautiful shoes ornaments...

She also had miniture shoes and same shoes pictures! Even her vase was shoe-shaped!!

Additioally, I liked her (a kind of) gallery of family wedding photos. She displayed her mother's, her aunt's, her daughter's ,and her wedding photos. I could see her family's history through this wedding photo gallery! That was a nice idea!!

Whenever I visit houses of friends who have sense of interior, I feel very excited & comfortable. I believe the interior effects the residents' feeling! I don't have the sense, unfortunately... But I should try to improve my house's interior! This may become one of my new year's resolutions. So, it means this will never come true!? We'll see...

After we had a nice supper, we went to Diane's church. That day was the day of the Women's Christmas Tea at her church. Annette's presentation was the main event of it. Her speech title was "Somewhere it's snowing." So, the church was decorated with some things were related to snow☆　Look at the first (of this article) photo!! These ornaments of the Christmas tree looked like snow crystals and icecles. All of snow crystals were handmade laces! They were amazing!!

Annette talked about Christmas song, her job, and her winter memories. I think her conclusion was "In Japan, Korea... It is snowing as well here. There are wars somewhere, but I feel grateful that we can celebrate the Christmas in peace here by the grace of God."

I also feel grateful because Annette's presentation proved how much she loved us(her students!) Thank you for being such a nice supporter, Annette!!

Actually, I was a part of her presentation. I told Annette that I thought the song, "Santa Claus is coming to town" was a Japanese song when I was a child. We sang it in Japanese except for the main verse, "Santa Claus is coming to town♪" I wondered why just this part was in English. The funny thing was our Korean friends thought the same thing! They thought it was a Korean song. Annette found it was really interesting, so she introduced me on the stage and I sang the song in Japanese. The audience was about 150. We sang this song together...you know, they sang only the main line, "Santa Claus is coming to town♪"

After the presentation, we had tea & nice desserts!! That was why this was called "The Christmas Tea." I had visited a few churches in the U.S. Whenever I visit churches, everybody talked to me kindly. I have a Japanese friend who was not a complete Christian, but went to a church regularly to communicate with Americans. I think she was right. Being a church member is one way to be a steady member of the community!!

During the stay, I strongly felt "Oh, I should have had a homestay when I was younger!" If I have had, my English would have become much better!

I was exposed to an "all English" circumstance 24 hours! Yes, I have lived in the U.S. for three years...but I live with my JAPANESE husband & I have many Japanese friends, so my language circumstance is actually, the half is English and the other half is Japanese! If I live in all-English circumstance...I would make mistakes more, but I am sure I can learn more!

In the next mornig, Annette and I had a very funny conversation from my misunderstandig.

Keiko; Are you going to get up, Annette? (We were talking, but stayed in the beds)

Annette; I don't want to...but my BLADDER said I should.

Keiko; (Her BROTHER!?) ...Have I met him?

Annette; ...I don't think so...

Keiko; How do you spell it? (I meant, the spelling. But she thought it as the meaning of "casting magic.")

Annette; ...I don't know how to spell it, but I want to make it empty...

Did you get it!!?? We talked about her relatives, and I had been trying to build her family tree in my mind. So, when she said "bladder," I thought she said "brother!!"

But she just said "I want to go to a restroom" using her sense of humor... Also, she misundersood the verb, "spell," so our conversation got intertwined and hard to understand... After we figured out our misunderstandings, we couldn't stop laughing!

I will never forget this funny conversation!!

There was one of another things I will never forget about this homestay.

Just after we arrived at Diane's house, I met Buren, Diane's father-in-law. I introduced myself to him. "Nice to meet you. I am Keiko. I'm from Japan."

Then he said, "Oh, Japan! I went there 65 years ago to fight!"

...Then, I was reminded... That day was December, 7th. The day of the Japanese attack to the Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, 65 years ago!! That was coincidence, but I, a Japanese, experienced just one-night-homestay at an American family's house, and it was exactly the day of the "Remember! The Pearl Harbor!" day!!!

Annette and Diane said to me, "Never mind! Nobody says about that except for...his generation." I should say, Buren was smiling when he said so, and he was very kind to me during the stay.

However... I thought I should not forget about that. Now I live in the U.S. in peace surrounded by nice Americans, but there was sad history between us.

Also, there are people like Buren who experienced the war.

If the Christmas is also the day when we would be thankful what we have now as Annette said, I would pray for the peace.

Reusable bag!

The second assignment of the Toastmasters is "organize your speech." I was supposed to make a well-organized presentation, and persuademy audience to take action. Take action!? What kind of action shall I suggest!?? I wondered and wondered, and then...I was reminded of Japanese news. I heard in some areas in Japan, people started not to use plastic bags in grocery stores because their bad effect of the environment. After a few weeks later, I found that The Trader Joe's, which is my favorite organic shop, sold their original REUSABLE bags. Look at the photo! I decided to make a presentation suggesting to use "reusable bags," instead of plastic or paper bags. On November 13th, I got the THIRD AWARD of the best speaker from the Toastmasters because of this presentation☆

I will copy my script of the presentation. I appreciate if you read this script even though it's length!(Don't worry, this is not so long like my wedding presentation script!) But I took much time to research it, ( Basically, I am not an enthusiastic ecologist...) so I bet you will get some interesting information from my script! Let's get started♪

“Paper or plastic!?” “Paper or plastic!?” Even though I had no idea what the clerk meant just after I came to the U.S, now I am asked this question at least once a week. What do you answer usually? “Paper please”? or “ Definitely, plastic!”? Actually, my answer is neither. I say, “No, thanks. I have my RESUSABLE BAG.” A reusable bag is literally a bag you can use many times. So, where are paper bags and plastic bags from and where will they go after you use them? Today, let’s follow their trail from “cradle to grave.”

Does anyone prefer paper? Of course paper bags are from forests. In 1999, 14 million trees were cut to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used by Americans. Manufacturing paper bags requires virgin timber because of their greater strength and elasticity. Virgin timber is processed into heat-treated wood chips in a chemical solution. This creates numerous byproducts that pollute waterways and produce air pollution, such as acid rain. The toxicity of the chemicals is long-term and settles into the sediments, working its way through the food chain.

If you are still brave enough to say, “Paper please,” where will the paper bags go after you dump them? They have two possible fates: ending up as waste or being recycled. As waste, paper is bulkier than plastic, taking up more landfill space, and generates 70% more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags. However, the recycling rate of disposable paper bags is only 10―15 percent. Why? Because it requires facilities and money. Most landfills can’t do this because of the lack of water, light, oxygen, and other important elements that are necessary for the recycling process.

Let’s move on to the other choice. Does anyone usually say, “plastic please?” These single-use, high-density polyethylene bags are manufactured from petroleum, a nonrenewable resource. It’s estimated that nearly 12 million barrels of oil are required to make the 100 million plastic shopping bags Americans use annually. U.S. supermarkets and convenience stores pay $4 billion in a year for those plastic bags.

After you use it? Some plastic can also be recycled, but so far the recycling rate is just 1 to 3 %. Most of them end up as waste. Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. Billions end up as litter per year. Unbelievably, it takes 20 to 1,000 years for a plastic bag to break down in the environment. Besides littering our urban areas, plastic bags are carried by wind and ocean currents to pristine areas of the earth. And then, hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.

Lately, many countries have been trying to make the environmental dilemma better. Taiwan, Bangladesh, and South Africa now prohibit providing the plastic bags. The Republic of Ireland imposes a 15 cent per bag tax paid by consumers. This tax led to a 90 percent drop in their use of plastic bags and raised approximately $9.6 million for a “green fund” established to benefit the environment. Kenya also imposes tax when they use a plastic bag. Papua, New Guinea may institute doing this. In Germany, they have to pay for paper or plastic bags in stores. Parts of Singapore, Australia, and China are the same. The Japanese government is planning to enact the law about charging plastic & paper bags from the next year. Even here, in the United States, if you go to San Francisco, you have to pay 17 cents per paper or plastic bag!

So, what should we do? There is one Japanese saying: The free one is the most expensive.” Paper and plastic bags are free! So can we use and waste them as much as we want? No way! Now we realize they are not free. Making, discarding, and recycling paper and plastic bags costs much and sometimes could have a bad effect our environment. Many countries are trying to settle this problem! Let’s be brave to say, “No, thanks. I have my reusable bag.” at the checkout stands.

Reference:
・ www.reusablebags.com
・ "The Hidden Costs of Grocery Bags", Lisa Lucio Gough
・Comparison of the Effects on the Environment of Polythylene and Paper Carrier Bags, Federal Office of the Environment, August 1988

What do you think? Are you pursuaded by me to use a reusable bag?
After each presentation, all members of the Toastmasters fill out "evaluation sheets" and hand it to the presenters. As I read those evaluations, some of them said," Excellent! I felt I should use a reusable bag!" I was glad! However, I was exhausted after the presentation. Making a presentation of my unfamiliar topic is so tiring! (Of ourse it's a great learning, though...) I researched a lot, so I think my script is good...but, it was hard to memorize unfamiliar environmental words! I couldn't memorize every number I used, so sometimes I looked a handout I provided to everybody during the presentation. Then, some of them wrote at the evaluation sheets, "Keep paper away from your face! It was not good if the audience can't see your face." I got it...but, I had much information! So, my handout was filled with small words!! I had to have my handout come close to my face!!!
Altogether, I did a good job and got the award, but Iearned it was better to take much more time to be familiar with the topic.

Do you have a question? Oh, you wonder if I use this reusable bag regularly or not?
Frankly speaking...I often forget to BRING my reusable bag...so, I often said,"plastic, please," eventually. I can't meet members of the Toastmasters at grocery stores!!!