Congratulations, Natalie!!

Two weeks ago, 24-year-old professional golfer, Natalie Gulbis grabbed her first LPGA victory at the Evian Masters in France!!! This was fabulous news for us!! Natalie Gulbis is not just "a golfer." She is beautiful, charming, sexy, funny, and VERY friendly!! Every year, her "swim-suit" (not "golf wear") calenders are issued and many people (not only golf lovers) are interested in getting it! She is a fashion model for a fashion brand, sports magazines, a hotel, etc. She was even an ex-(not "current")girlfriend of Peyton Manning, one of the most popular American football players!! But, I think many people are attracted to not only her beautiful appearance, but also her sincere &friendly character. We can recognize she really appreciates her fans. Whenever I saw her on LPGA tours, she always smiled at everybody, didn't refuse writing her autograph, even agreed to photographs!! Basically, fans shouldn't bring cameras to LPGA (of course, PGA also) games. But we know she is really generous, so many people ask her to have photos taken with her... Actually, my hubby also had a picture taken with her!!
In winter, my hubby and I enjoyed watching her seasonal reality TV show, "The Natalie Gulbis Show." We were happy to know she had very supportive family & friends, and was popular as a beautiful athlete icon.

Anyway, even though she has been such a popular golfer for six years, she had never won any LPGA tour. Last year, she "almost" won...but lost in the sudden-death play off. Some people compared her with a beautiful American golfer who was active a few decades ago. I forgot her name, but she also didn't ever win . They said, "Probably beautiful golfers can never win because they are busy as fashion icons." However...Natalie did at one of the most biggest tours, Evian Masters!!

After she beat Jeong Jang in the breathtaking playoff, she stammered, "Finally!" Yeah, Natalie, finally you made it, and it's huge!! Not only did you get the first your professional victory trophy & honor, but also $450,000, which is almost double the amount of regular LPGA tours!!
I admire her persistence & perseverance. She just came back from her back injury. She is always smiling whenever her play is good or bad.
However, she must have been working hard for her first win!!

Also, my hubby and I could easily imagine what made her delighted the most after the win. It must be her father!! Her father is a sweet dad, but he doesn't look like Natalie's father...because his hair is awfully long!! He determined, " I will never have my hair cut before Natalie wins!!" But you know, Natalie hadn't won for SIX YEARS, so his looks had been getting dirtier & dirtier... We were worried that her father might not be able to cut his hair FOR EVER!!! However, the father's wish came true! Congratulations, Natalie!! We are really relieved that we don't have to look at your shaggy (sorry!) father ever again at the Natalie Gulbis Show!!

Worldwide Homeroom Teacher

This article is also from my Toastmasters' speech! I made it in April. I have been working on the Toastmasters' basic manual. In this time, my assignment was "Your body speaks." Thereofore, I used lots of gestures!! Then, I got my...maybe, fourth time?? "the Best Speaker Award"!!!!


If you are asked, “Who is the most unforgettable and admirable person you’ve ever met？Or someone like a mentor?” whom do you think about? I will definitely answer, “Norisawa!” Norisawa was my homeroom teacher in high school. Norisawa is his nickname. His real name is Noriyuki Sawa, but after he became FAMOUS WORLDWIDE in a specific field, people started to call him “Norisawa.” Why did a high school teacher in a small city in Japan become famous worldwide? I will tell you later, but at first, let’s go back to my high school days.

In Japan, homeroom teachers are very important for students. They are not only teachers, but also like mentors and counselors. I clearly remember the day when I met Norisawa the first time. He was a young, handsome, and passionate teacher. He looked so excited about welcoming us because it was the first time for him to be a homeroom teacher. The amazing thing was he had already recognized everybody’s name and face in a class.
"Hello Keiko Ohashi! How are you Cathy Campbell? Nice to see you Angela Valadez!"
He had memorized our names perfectly even though we met the first time.

Later, he told us his secret. Everyday, he had spread out students’ application forms with photos in his room. He let his wife read our names, and tried to pick up a photo of the name, like a card game. “Keiko Ohashi!” “There she is!” like that.

In front of the amazed students and parents, he did another surprising thing.
He showed us a puppet and said, “I am an art teacher, but privately, I am a puppet master.” In his honor, his puppet was not like stuffed dolls in the picture...
You can see his handmade puppets if you visit his Web-site;
http://www.puppet-house.co.jp/nori/sawa.htm
Many of his puppets are Shakespearean characters. Yes, he was a puppet artist for adults!!
At that time, we knew he might be “somebody.” He was a very unique homeroom teacher!!!

I was a lazy, inactive schoolgirl. I often visited his office, and said, “Mr. Norisawa, I don’t like studying, I don’t like school, I don’t have a dream, I have nothing! Nothing to do!” He always laughed and encouraged me,
“ Com’on, Keiko! You can do anything! You have much more possibilities than me! Let’s start to enjoy your daily life!”

One day, we tried to decide what our class would do at a school festival. We were thinking about opening a food shop. I spontaneously said, “How about a revolving sushi bar?(回転寿司)” Do you know what is a revolving sushi bar?
In this bar, the upper table is revolving slowly like a conveyor belt, so you can select and pick your favorite dish and eat at the lower table.
…Now you know, I was just kidding. It seemed impossible for high school students to do!
But, Norisawa didn’t laugh. He seemed to be thinking for a second, and said,” We can do it.”
“What!? I was just kidding!” I was surprised, but he was serious.
“Keiko, you can be a leader of a project team for making a revolving table.”
“What…!?” It was too late…

The preparation started the next day. Norisawa, some of my friends, and I visited a construction company and asked what we could do. They suggested making small revolving tables for 4-5 people. We bought cheap lumber, monitors, and made revolving tables!!
I, a fifteen-year-old, small girl at that time, used a big saw and a hammer to make revolving tables! I regretted having entered a girls’ school…I couldn’t say,
“ Oh, I am a weak girl, so I can’t do that!” to boys.
But actually, I didn’t hate it. While I was cutting lumber, I remembered what Norisawa always said, “If you can’t find what you want to do, start to enjoy your daily life!” I didn’t love the “carpenter thing,” so it didn’t become my dream...
But it was quite fun! Finally we made several tables. Our revolving sushi bar got really popular at the school festival. Maybe it was the first time when I felt “Wow! I made it!”

A half year later, Norisawa did another surprising thing. He quit the school. He got a governmental scholarship and went to France to study at a puppet university. Before he left our school, he said to us.
“I am 29 years old. If I am over 30, I may not go to France. People’s possibilities never become zero, but the older you get, the less your possibilities become. That’s why I am always saying, “You have many more possibilities than me.” That’s why I decided to chase my dream right now.”
When I was 15 years old, his words were not so realistic. But lately, I am often reminded of his words.

After Norisawa went to France, he was recommended to go to the Czech Republic where puppetry art was the most active in the world. His monologues of Shakespearean plays got really famous there, and he made an international theatrical company. He became a professor of the Academy of Performing Art which is famous for having the highest quality puppet education.
He started an annual world tour!!
I have just read an article of a Japanese newspaper when he performed in front of the English Prime Minister(at that time,) Tonny Blair.
Surprisingly, our Japanese local Norisawa became worldwide Norisawa!

Now, let’s go back to the very first question. “Who is the most unforgettable and admirable person you’ve ever met?” If you think for awhile, I bet you will remember a few names. You have met many people and some of them have influenced you very very much. You do not need to recall them everyday, but think about them sometimes. Try to make contact with them if you can. I am sure they, like Norisawa, can always give you power to follow your dream.


Believe it or not... I went to the Czech Republic to meet Norisawa 8 years ago!
This summer, I may be able to meet Norisawa again in Paris! I am really excited!!
I will visit Paris, London, and Brussels from July 10th to 19 th with my hubby.
I will tell you what happens and show you Europe's pictures!!
See you later, and have a nice summer!!

The Road to the Longest Life Expectancy

This is the script of my third presentation at the Toastmasters. My project theme was "How to say it."

I wanted to explain what makes Japanese have the longest life expectancy. I brought some Japanese food, and explain them serving some Japanese characteristic snacks. I gave this presentation in March.

Here is a quiz for you!

Which food (snack) is more popular among the Toastmasters' members? Most of them are Americans.

1. Smoked squid(するめいか)

2. Roasted seaweed sheet(味付けのり)

Have you guessed? Before I gave you the answer...let's listen to my presentation!

Fellow toastmasters and guests, now, it’s…7:00 o’clock. Aren’t you hungry? Would you like to have some snacks? I can serve you! This is smoked squid, from my country. Japanese people are health-conscious. Even when we eat snacks, we try to eat nutritious ones.

Actually, Japan has the world’s longest life expectancy. That is 82 years old. Just for the record, the U.S. is 77 years. It is said we live long because of our food. To tell you the truth, my mother is one who helps to keep our long life expectancy. She was a nutritionist. She has been making everything from scratch. Not only dishes, but also snacks, sweets, sauce, and salad dressing. After she got married, she made this chart with members of the Japanese National Women’s Friendship Group. Today, I will share my mom’s secrets of how to have healthy food. I know eating customs are different from the U.S. and Japan. But let’s find out what kinds of foods people eat with the longest life expectancy.

My mother’s main policies are two. One is to eat 30 different kinds of foods in a day. The other is that 30 kinds of foods have to be divided into eleven groups: the Grain Group, Meat and Fish, Dairy Product, Egg, Vegetable, Fruit, Potato, Beans, Seaweed, Sugar, and Fat Group. Fat means butter or oil. We have enough sugar and fat even though we don’t notice them. So, I will explain the other 9 groups. How much you are supposed to eat is depending on your sex and age.

First, the Grain Group indicates mostly white rice (our staple food is rice,) bread, and pasta. If you skip eating grain, your total energy from food is not enough. To be energetic, you should eat a grain at every meal. You need 7.4 ounces(210g) of grain per day if you are a girl in your thirties.

The second group is the Meat and Fish Group. However, you should be careful to take fish and meat in almost the same amount. Not much more meat. Ground meat and bacon have much fat, so you should not take them too much. Japanese often eat fish instead of meat. We love sushi, and, we have different kinds of fish snacks as I served you. They have good calcium.

Third, the Dairy Product Group. The younger you are the more you need them. But remember, you should make variations to have 30 different kinds of foods. If you need to have 10.5 ounces(300g) of dairy products, just drinking up the same amount of milk is not enough. I recommend you drink 7.5 ounces(200g) of milk. To take another 3 ounces(100g), get cheese or yogurt, whichever you want. So you can have different nutrition.

Fourth, the Egg Group means to have 1 egg per day unless you have high cholesterol readings. Egg has almost every nutrient expect for Vitamin C.

Fifth is the Vegetable Group. All of us have to eat 14 ounces of them daily. But, 14 ounce! If you take 14 ounces(400g) of veggies from salad, it seems too large quantity. Therefore, you should cook them in many ways like boiling, simmering, or adding salt to pickle.

Sixth, the Fruit Group. It is the best way to take 3.5 ounces(100g) of fruit in the morning to use up these calories of sugar. Fruit has too much sugar to eat it at night. You can take enough Vitamin C from potatoes. This is the seventh group. Vitamin C in fruit goes out in our urine. However, Vitamin C of potatoes is not vulnerable. It can be stored inside our bodies.

The eighth and ninth groups are Japanese characteristic food groups.　One is the beans group, another is the seaweed group. Japanese food has many variations of bean foods; tofu, nattou(fermented soybeans), aburaage(deep-fried tofu), yuba(a sheet of soy bean boiled milk), and so on. (Look at the photo!) They have much good protein and calcium. But of course you can have your favorite beans! Seaweed has much calcium, iron, and fiber, and is also good for healthy hair. This is called Nori, which is a roasted seaweed sheet. We often eat this. Please try the taste.

Now, my mother is 68 years old, and my father is 74. Whenever they go to hospitals to be checked, doctors are surprised because their bodies have nothing wrong. They are very healthy because of keeping this chart. I have been trying to follow my mother’s way. However, my husband’s most favorite food is this one. Instant curry which is a Japanese-style fast food with a lot of fat! Usually I take much time to cook from scratch, but when I use this, he always says, “Wow! You have become good at cooking!”

Well, thank you for your kind attention! Oh, the answer of the quiz! It is...

No.1, smoked squid!! I thought they preferred seaweed because generally, American people didn't like chewy food like squid. But they said the taste of roasted seaweed was very unfamiliar & weird for them. However, they liked the chewy squid!!

If you want to get your audience to be VERY attentive, serve some food!!

Interview Principles and Practices

The reason why I couldn't republish this blog during May is ( I am always making this kind of excuse,,.) I took a summer class at Purdue.
As you know, most American college students study hard. Some of them take double major, and a minor. For exmaple, one of my friends majors are management and finance, and his minor is Chinese. Therefore, most American universities ( I suppose) have classes during summer seasons!! Because of student's convenience( I suppose,) some classes have various schedules.

I took "Interview Principles and Practices" class as an auditor. This is one of the communication major classes. I took this class from the middle of May to the middle of June because I will go to Europe in July!! This class is a regular class, so usually, it meets twice a week.
However, in summer , because of the compressed schedule... we had the class every morning!!
It was hard to read the THICK textbook & do the workbook everyday! Look at the picture to see these textbooks I used!!

I was a wedding emcee, so I often did casual interviews with guests. Also, I enjoy watching some interview TV shows. I always wonder how I can be a successful interviewer, so I was interested in this class. But in this class, the teacher didn't teach about such casual interviews!!
It made sense, this is a university class!! She taught everything about "job interviews."

The professor was Mrs.Pamela. She has many experiences as a teacher, an interviewer, and interviewee.
What I was interested in most was using legal quetions. Being different in the U.S, some common questions in Japan are apparently illegal. First, applicants "shouldn't" attach their photos on their regimes. Second, recruiters shouldn't ask about the applicant's age, nationality, marriage status, religion, political preference, hadicaps, etc, etc..because interviewees are protected by private laws ( many laws) which prohibit discrimination against age, sex, nationality, religion, etc, etc!!
Some "unlawful" questions are very vague.

For eamples,
1. Where were you born? →　could be nationality discrimination!!
2. How often do you drink alcoholic beverages? → could be discrimination against alcoholic!!
3. When do you plan to retire? → could be age disctimination!!
4. Do you live in China Town? → could be nationality discrimination, again!!
5. Is that an engagement ring? → could be marriage status discrimination!!
6. What organizations are you active in? → could be political preference or religious discrimination!!

Wow!! If I were an interviewer here, I should be really careful... What if I were an interviewee, and asked such an unlawful question?
What if I were single, and asked " Do you have a boyfriend?" Should I say, "Oh, that's an illegal question!! I will sue you!!"??
Mrs. Pamela said it would not be wise because I wanted to enter the company!!
She said, "You should try to figure out what the interviewer really wants to know. In that case, the interviewer may want to know if you can transfer to another branch or not, or you can get into the job or not. You might say, " I am ready to do this job. I have been working hard to be qualified for this job. If I have to transfer to another city, I think I will understand." Then, you don't have to answer whether you REALLY have a boyfriend or not."
OK! Probably I will not be asked a "boyfriend" question because apparently I am married...but, this solution is helpful to me!!

By the way, a summer course is really hard to finish!! In this class,students have four writing assignments, four interview roleplay assignments, and two tests. I was an auditor, so I just listened to every class & every student's roleplay. But what if I had to pass this class?
I think the students studied really hard!!
A summer course is hard for not only students, but also instructors.
Mrs Pamela is a working mother who has two children. She said, just after this class finished, she would fly to Washington D.C to accompany her high school student daughter who would perform there as a chorus singer of a scholl activity.
I said, " If I can help you, please let me know!" to her. Then? Actually, she asked me A LOT!!
Whenever we did interview assignments, we divided into two rooms because we had many students. She introduced me" My PERSONAL SPECIAL assistant, Keiko!" to the students, and asked me to supervise one room when they did roleplay assighments, record every interview, time those, give them back their final exams, collect their survey numbers, etc etc...
I knew nothing about her job, so I just did what I was told... but some students thought I was a REAL assistant, so asked me some difficult questions like, "How does she evaluate our assignments?" " How do we count this evaluation?" etc, etc...
I couldn't answer them, but they still wondered about me, "She may be a NOBODY, but could be a SOMEBODY who was asked to do a special evaluation from Mrs. Pamela??" If they had asked me, I would have said," Oh, I am just an auditor!!" But nobody asked me, so I just kept my secret.

Anyway, taking a summer course was a wonderful experience for me! The most impressive thing was ....You Tube!
You Tube is a visual Web-site that you can find any videos on even TV shows you watched yesterday!!
Maybe almost all American students know this site, but I didn't know it!! Mrs. Pamela used this site a lot to show us good interview examples.
Since then, I have enjoyed many MUSIC CLIPS at You Tube!! What? What did I do in this class?? Fogive me, early morning class(It was from 8:30 am) is so hard for me, so I was often daydreaming during the class!!
Thank God I was an auditor...

FRAGILE

Hey, everyone! This is an assignment writing from the Business English class in last semester.
The assignment is; Think of a company that you buy products from regularly. What does it do to keep you as a customer? What could it do to strengthen your customer loyalty in the future?
When I read this assignment, immediately my loving apparel Japanese brand, "FRAGILE" came to my mind. All clothes in the photo are "FRAGILE" products. But I took it in February, so I am sorry they don't match this hot summer season!!

When you buy clothes, if you have a favorite shop, it would not be hard to choose the one because you don’t have to go back and forth to several shops wondering which one is the best for you!
But I have a favorite Japanese apparel brand. The brand’s name is FRAGILE. However, my customer loyalty for the brand is not fragile. I have been the biggest fan of the brand for five years.
When I visit Japan, I just go to one of this brand’s shops, try on some cloths, and buy them. I don’t have to make an errand to buy clothes anymore. The reasons why I love this brand are as follows:

First, their designs are exactly my taste. Their clothes are feminine, but not too lovely. They have the latest trend, but not too flashy. When I wear their clothes, they fit my body perfectly. Yes, they are clingy! Therefore, I can show my figure as if it seems more beautiful than the way I really am! These clothes make me a FRAGILE, delicate lady.

Second, the location of the shop is convenient. This brand is a really popular one, so I can find their retail shops anywhere in Japan. Last year when I visited Japan, I went to my husband’s hometown (Nagoya) first.
I visited the FRAGILE shop in Nagoya, and figured out which clothes are good for me. Then, when I went to my hometown (Sapporo,) I visited their shop again, and bought them because it was the time of the big sale!
The FRAGILE shop in Sapporo is located in the biggest department store in Sapporo, so it is also easy to get there.

Third, the clerks are really nice to me. In the FRAGILE shop in Sapporo, the chief remembers me even though I visit there just once or twice a year. I know it is because I always buy a lot of clothes… However, I know it is not easy to remember many customers’ names. Whenever I visit the shop, the chief always smiles to me saying, “Keiko! Welcome back to Japan!” Also, she sends a postcard to me twice a year. Her thoughtful attitude makes me think “I am an exclusive customer!”

If I could suggest them some strategies of keeping existing customers like me longer, I would say two suggestions.
First, send e-mails to their loyal customers regularly. If they introduce their latest products to us, like Nine West or Victoria’s Secret does, we would want to get them more often.
Second, provide some discounts to the loyal customers depending on how much they have bought. What if they have a kind of “a shop card”, so we can save points whenever we buy their clothes? How about getting one more clothing item when the points reach a certain amount?

If they carry out my suggestions, I guess many established & potential customers would keep their UNBREAKABLE loyalties to FRAGILE!!

Last Performance

Seeing this picture, what do you think I am doing?

1. The lady (showing her back) is my teacher. I am being scolded by her.

2. I am storytelling. The lady is listening.

3. I am singing. The lady is an accompanist.

The answer is 3... Is it obvious?

Last month, I performed at the West Lafayette Musicale Group's meeting. The group consists of professional musical performers, teachers, and amateur musicians like me. All members are living in this town or near here. My voice teacher, Mrs. Paine, has been an influential member of this group. So, I have joined the group for two years and a half.

The main purpose of the West Lafayette Musicale Group is "to stimulate the love of music in the community." We have meetings regularly, perform there, and encourage our community members to come to our meetings. We have junior musical competitions, let teenager musicians together, and give awards to winners from our donations.

You know, EVERYBODY in this group LOVES music ( I would say, especially, classical music.) I, who also LOVE music, but mostly pop music, love singing but I am almost musically illiterate, and don't speak much English (loooooong negative? adjective clause describing me!!)..... became a secretary of this group last year.

Whenever we have official meetings, I have the HARDEST time to keep our minutes because everybody talks fast about how we can spread the love of music enthusiastically!!

But I always enjoy the meetings because I LOVE being surrounded by PASSIONATE people!!!

Once you became a member of the West Lafayette Musical Group, you have to PERFORM something regularly in our meetings.

But you know... I am an amateur singer, and not a VERY good singer... So, performing here makes me reluctant!! But I should, so I have performed once a year.

Two years ago, I sang "Sentimental Journey", a standard jazz number, with my Japanese friend. Mrs Paine, my vocal teacher, may have thought we needed to do something besides singing because she knew we couldn't impress members very much just by "our singing." ( of course she didn't say so...)

Therefore, she suggested our doing some dance. Probably I shouldn't call them "dance." They were...movements like swing.

On our performance day, we were freaked out because coincidentally, other performers at that time were vocal musical students of IU (Indiana University, which is famous for vocal music education)!!! Thus, they were like professional OPERA SINGERS!!! On the other hand, we were freaked out reluctant singers who sounded apparently amateur( I am sorry for Mrs.Paine! She has taught me SINGING for a long time!!)... But we tried our best to sing & dance with forced smiling!!

After that, everybody complemented our performance. Oh, they said, "How pleasant YOUR DANCE was!!" They were really kind...

My friend recorded the performance (even though I disagreed with that,) and she gave me a copy of the tape. When my hubby watched that, he laughed & laughed.

For him, our dance ( I mean, our movements) looked like the same as some Japanese MANZAI (comedy) pairs.

He said, "Isn't is a STAND UP COMEDY? You did a great job!!"

Anyway, what I learned from this experience was... " I should perform something exclusively for me!!" I am not a (semi-)professional singer, so I should create something besides singing to entertain people.

(Do I stray from the main purpose of the music performance? Don't mention that!!)

Therefore, last year, I sang a Japanese piece, "The Rhyme of Early Spring(早春賦）."

Mrs. Paine and another professional singer became my chorus singers.

I sang a solo with a professional chorus! That was pretty exciting!!

This year, I also did two solos without chorus.

1. "So In Love" by Cole Porter.

If you watch a movie, "De-Lovely," which is about the life of a great composer, Cole Porter, you will love this ROMANTIC number!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcMxlpOJ_6I I LOVE this movie!!

2. "Oborozukiyo朧月夜(Dim-moonlight)" by Mika Nakashima 中島美嘉

This original song was written in 1900. The songwriter was from Nagano, where the winter Olympics was held in 1997. He described the beautiful nature in his hometown. It was a traditional Japanese song. However, a few years ago, one young Japanese pop singer, Mika Nakashima, and a famous guitar player, Taro Hakase(葉加瀬太郎）, who corroborated with Celine Dion, arranged this song.

Then, this song became popular among young Japanese!

I was looking for a traditional Japanese song which has contemporary taste.

So, this one is the best!

Oh, the very last graphic of this article is my new resource. This is from Sony Music Online, a free trial music Janapese Web-site. You can listen to this "Oboroaukiyo" music if you click the graphic amd see the CD's jacket design.

If you see just some Japanese words"登録したＵＲＬと一致しません”, please go to the left side, the "previous posts" section, and click "Last Performance" article. Then you can see the CD jacket design, and click there!

Because my "blogger.com" is not so popular in Japan, I should register individual articles to download this one. If you have any questions about that, please ask me!!

Back to my last performance...even though I picked wonderful songs, they were difficult to sing for me!!

I could sing " So In Love," but the Japanese one, "Oborozukiyo"...was a pretty hard song, as Mrs Paine said. We listened to Mika Nakashima's CD and watched the video of the traditional Japanese music TV program, "紅白歌合戦", because she performed that song there... Mrs Paine said,

"Mika Nakashima sounds really good on her CD, but she couldn't project this high sound when she performed."

I am sorry if you are her fan! She always does a great job, but only this time her voice condition was not so good, or she arranged the song with too high octaves!!

As Mrs Paine said, this song is very characteristic with frequent dynamic intervals and a lot of difficult vowels, like "e."

"E" is the most difficult sound for singers because we should open our mouth the widest, so lots of air goes out of our mouths. That means it becomes difficult to produce higher sounds.

Until the performance day, I practiced a lot with Mrs. Paine. Sometimes I was discouraged, but she encouraged me saying,

"You know what? There are MANY professional singers who aren't better singers than you. But they have their own performance style making many people excited!! Don't forget, ENJOY yourself!!"

We did a few rehearsals with the accompanist. One day, I just couldn't produce high sounds. Then Mrs Paine said,

"Have you had a dairy product today? Or a dessert?"

I nodded, " Yeah, I had a cup of cafe au lait and a chocolate coissant."

She frowned, "Let's avoid these when you have a performance. Any dairy product produces mucus, which makes difficult for you to sing higher sounds. The same as the dessert."

I was surprised, "Wow! I didn't know that! So, is there anything you recommend my having on performance days?"

She smiled, "I have at least a teaspoon of lemon juice per day. Any fruit works well on your voice. Oh, especially, oranges give you lots of energy! An amazingly genius piano player (I forgot which one she mentioned...) eats 16 ORANGES on his performance day."

Well, I don't know whether eating ONE food too much is good for his HEALTH or not...but, her information was good for me to know!!

Finally, the performance day? I was quite relaxed& enjoyed it!!

Well, the picture was taken on the the performance day. Our meetings are always held at a member's house. (Some members have pretty gorgeous houses!!)

You can't see the audience, but there were 25-30 people. I didn't dance this time because I wore a Japanese Yukata ( a summer cotton Kimono)! Please don't say my Yukata looks untidy... I am not good at wearing Kimonos...

My costume, and the Japanese e-varietions that Mrs Paine mentioned as difficult to sing, impressed theaudience, I think... They felt "the mysterious oriental taste," some members said. I couldn't sing "perfectly," but it's OK! They liked my performance!!

On that day, I quit Mrs Paine's singing lessons and the West Lafayette Musicale Group. I enjoyed them, but in fact, sometimes I had to take much time for those activities. Therefore, that performance became literally, my LAST performance in the group. I love singing! However, I have some personal goals that I want to achive, hopefully, until I go back to Japan, like getting a full score on the TOEIC and being an ADVANCED speaker at the Toastmasters.

Therefore, I chose to concentrate on pursuing my resolutions!!

Sometimes we need to "choose" something from our lives...but, don't forget, ENJOY YOURSELVES!!!

Fabulous! Las Vegas!!

Which city is your favorite in the U.S? Mine is...LAS VEGAS!!! But actually, my hubby LOVES it more than me.

Sometimes we feel like...he IS ADDICTED TO Las Vegas. Basically, he doesn't like traveling and big cities so much. However, since we went to Las Vegas two years ago, he often says, "So...when will we go to Las Vegas?" His favorite TV shows and movies are related to Las Vegas, like "Ocean's Eleven". When he is VERY quiet in front of PC at home, he checks Las Vegas information Web-sites. Have you ever seen the first picture? It is a trademark of Las Vegas, which is located at the entrance of the city. It says, "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas!!" My hubby REALLY likes the sign, so he collects any Las Vegas goods!! Occasionally he says..." I think I was born in Las Vegas in my former life..." Nobody knows...

Anyway, since we were FASCINATED by this city, we have visited Las Vegas once a year!! Last Memorial Day holiday, (May 26th-29th) we went to Fabulous Las Vegas for our third time!!

Why is Las Vegas so fabulous? I guess it's because the whole city is very entertaining, and unrealistic. Everybody is enjoying their vacations! But it's not like Florida Disney World. Las Vegas is a nice vacation place for adults.

What do we do there? Well, first...shopping!!
My favorite shops are PACKED in Las Vegas. The right picture is my favorite favorite jewelry shop, "Michale Negrin." In the U.S, we can find their shops only here and a small mall in the suburb of NYC!

This shop is in the big shopping mall of Caeasr's Palace Hotel, "Forum Shops." If you were a Japanese or you had been to Japan, do you know the Odaiba Venus Fort(お台場ヴィーナスフォート）？　　The mall was influenced by the Forum Shops, a lot. They are really similar, but the Forum Shops is quite bigger than a Japanese one! Other than Michale Negrin, my favorite shops are Kate Spade New York, Almani Exchange, Anne Fortunate, etc etc.

The left picture is the Grand Canal Shoppes, in the Venetian Hotel.

You know, most Las Vegas hotels are like theme parks. The Venetian Hotel's theme is Italy! Their fashion mall is like Venice! You can ride a gondola enjoying listening to canzona music!! In this mall, Burberry's shop is immense, and has lots of items!!

These shopping malls have gorgeous brand shops,,,but of course you can find casual goods in Las Vegas!

The beloved American candy, m&m's, have their own shop!
My hubby and I bought the blue & red golf club cover. Their faces are really...funny! We love them.

Oh, sometimes m&m's characters appear, and have pictures taken with kids! The green gal is sexy!??

How do we enjoy Vegas?

Secondly, shows!! Las Vegas has got many spectacular shows. Especially, we love Cirque du Soleil!! It means "Circus of the Sun" in French. The group is a Canadian circus group, but there are many members who are Chinese and Mongolian. Their artistic & acrobatic performances are always breath-taking! We have seen all of their shows except for "LOVE", a very new one. We heard that "LOVE" is mostly for Beatles' music fans, so this time, we went to the Wynn Hotel to watch "Le Reve."

It means "The Dream" also in French!! This is not a Cirque du Soleil show, but in fact, the group performance was very similar to the Cirque du Soleil, and we were satisfied with them!!

In the contrast to other shows, in this show, the front seats are cheaper because they are "splash" seats! The stage is like a round pool and the audience seats are surrounded by the stage. We booked the very front seat, so we were afraid we would be "drowned." However, it was OK! We had some splashes, but not much. Due to the very close distance to performers, we could see their delicate face expressions, details of costumes and so on! This show is cheaper than Cirque du Soleil shows, but just as good as them!

If you plan to go to Las Vegas, I recommend your seeing "Le Reve" or "O" by Cirque du Soleil.

This time, we rented a car for the first time. So, we explored the suburbs of Las Vegas! The Strip (the most gorgeous area) is a very crowded big city, but if you drive severel miles away from there...

Las Vegas is just a desert like the side picture. We went to the Hoover Dam, which is the only water supply of Las Vegas. The place was really crowded & not so impressive...I don't recommend it.

But of course you should go to the Grand Canyon!! We went there two years ago. It's spectacular!!

We went to some famous theme hotels that weren't located in the "Strip" area. Especially, the Hard Rock Hotel was quite impressive!! This hotel and cafe are nationwide. We have been to the Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago... But, in Las Vegas, it was not like that!! The hotel's decorations are funky & cool. The customers are....too cool!!

I thought, "Wow, does this hotel have age limits to stay in it?" Most of them were pretty young, maybe high school or college students.

They looked like black rap musicians and models from the music videos. I mean, boys wore baggie pants, sloppy clothes and had tattoos. Their hairstyles were like punk musicians.

Girls wore bikinis, V-string panties, and thick make-up... Well, it was the Hard Rock Hotel, so it maybe make sense; i.e, they "rocked!" But actually, my hubby and I got really scared! Most of them were drunk, shouting, running, or making out in the hotel!! When we walked around the outdoor veranda, we could see some of them were dancing to loud music, and hanging a black banner with a skull mark like pirates... I don't want to speak ill of the Hard Rock Hotel, but... for us, it was one of the scariest moments in the U.S!!

Probably it happened just only in the graduation fun trip season?

If you want to have an adventure, you may visit the hotel...

Anyway, in the hotel, they held the Jackson family's auction. We could see Michael & Janet Jackson's stage costumes, private letters, old records, and so on! We saw this news was broadcast worldwide, but inside the hotel...Oh, I should stop talking about it!!

If you visit Las Vegas, you should go to the casinos!! If you win at the casinos, what will you buy? Last year, my hubby's aim was a plasma TV. This year? He said, "Can I buy a Rolex watch if you become a millionaire?" His dream has been getting bigger... Before we went to the casinos, we went to a Rolex shop in the Wynn hotel, which is the most gorgeous hotel in Las Vegas, to motivate us to win! He tried his favorite one on, but it was $25,000!!! Of course we couldn't afford it...so far!?

Therefore he said to the clerk, "Thanks. But we can't buy it now, so maybe the next time. " Then, the clerk, a middle aged guy, said nothing to us! He was really rude!! Or, they had just very rich customers who can buy the watches without a hesitation? We don't know...

That night, my husband grabbed a hundred bucks and said to me, "Honey, I will win and bring back that Rolex with me!!" and went to the casinos. He is a good boy ! He never spend over $100 in the casinos even though he keeps winning. He didn't come back for three hours!

When he was back, I asked him, "So, did you win?"

He smiled, " I won!"

I smiled back, "Did you get your favorite Rolex?"

He looked down, " No... I tripled money, but far from buying a Rolex!! I think it's really hard to make BIG money enough to get a Rolex..."

Of course we knew it! If you want to get a HIGH return, you should take HIGH risks!!

We don't want to bet big money, but we can always have DREAMS to be millionaires☆

Oh, what did I do when my hubby went to the casinos? Actually, I had somethings to do...to make money! When I tried to use a safe, it was accidentally locked, and automatically the hotel charged us $3!! I didn't want to pay it because the safe was broken, so I talked about that at the front desk.

After that, I used a vending machine to buy a soda, then... the machine was also broken! It ate my $2, and didn't give me a soda! So, I called the maintenance office to complain. They said "If you can come to our office, we will reimburse your dollars." So I went to their office.

When I told these stories to my hubby, he said, "Honey, this is a LAS VEGAS hotel where millions of dollars are moving every night... But you complained about a few dollars?? YOU ARE FUNNY!!"

Oh, boy! we can spend our dollars in the casinos to bet on our dreams, but I don't want to lose a dollar because of the hotel's negligence!!! Maybe, I have become TOO ASSERTIVE since I came to the U.S...

Anyway, we definitely want to go back to Las Vegas, our imaginary hometown!! (This sign is on the opposite side of the very first picture, "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas!" So, when you leave Las Vegas, you can see this sign saying, "Drive carefully. Come back SOON!!")