Winter vacation2

     I spent very free and easy holiday.On the new year’s day, I wake up early to see sunrise. It was very beautiful, soI took some photos with my cell phone and sent it some of my friends. After that, I ate Osechi and Ozouni as breakfast. Osechi and Ozouni is Japanese traditional food which Japanese people eat on New Year’s Day. Then, I went to theater and saw one of a Japnese movie, “K-20″. It is a story about detective and phantom thief. It was so exiting and fun. These several years, my family does those things regularly on every New Year’s Day. As is my custom, I spent calm winter holiday.

 

Winter vacation

     Though I was planning to do part-time job in winter vacation, I could not find any good jobs. Then, I decided not to do part-time job. Therefore I have nothing to do in winter vacation. I am intending to spend my vacation to read many books now. I have many books which I want to read. I will try to read some novels written in English.

Single-sex schools and co-ducational schools

     There are single-sex schools and co-educational schools. They have advantages each other. In single-sex schools, you have a lot in common with classmates. Your topics of conversation, value system and way of thinking are similar. You can talk in class as you like. Moreover, you can also concentrate on study and club activities. In contrast, you can encounter more way of thinking in co-educational schools. You will probably learn how to talk with, treat and cooperate with the opposite sex. These are some of the differences between single-sex schools and co-educational schools. We should carefully consider about their advantages and disadvantages when we choose school.

Udon

     Today, I will introduce “Udon”, one of a Japanese noodle. It is made from wheat and thicker than spaghetti. There are so many kinds of “Udon” that I can not introduce all of them here. I will introduce the most ordinary “Udon” and some varieties of Udon. What we usually just call “Udon” is hot “Udon”. There are some kinds of cold “Udon”, but I prefer to hot “Udon”, especially in winter, I feel like to eat hot “Udon”! The art of cooking is very simple. First, boil water and when it boils, put “Udon” noodle into the water. It boils again, then colander it and pour it and soy-based soup into bowl. It is called “kake-Udon” or “su-Udon”. “Kake” means “pour” and “su” means “simple”. You can put anything you like on it, but the name changes whenever you change its toppings. For example, if you put an egg, it is called “tsukimi-Udon”. “Tsukimi” is one of a Japanese traditional event to take a long look at moon. The name “tukimi-Udon” compares the egg to moon. It is interesting, isn’t it?

Self Introduction

Hello!! My name is Fumie Ishidate. I am studying English and Chinese in collage. The collage is very small. There are about only 100 students in a grade. I like its homey atmosphere. My friends call me siesta because I like taking naps. “Siesta” is a custom of Southern Europe to take naps. Though my friends call me “siesta”, they also do “siesta” sometimes in class. I like reading books and seeing movies too. If you have some books or movies you recommend, please tell me.

Paper Swapping

     When a teacher wants to know the results of a quiz early, he sometimes tells students to swap their paper. This way, paper swapping, is general in many schools. However, there are proponents and opponents with regard to this issue. The proponents of paper swapping are mainly teachers. They think it is the quickest way to check students’ results. They can also save time. The proponents say this practice spurs students. On the other hand, the opponents think privacies of students have to be protected. Some children don’t want their classmate to know their result. Thus, there are proponents and opponents with regard to this issue. You should be careful in deciding which stance to choose.

Should children have their own cell phones?

     Cell phones come into wide use rapidly in these several years. It becomes a subject of discussion whether elementary school students should have their own cell phone. In my opinion, there is no problem if they use cell phones in proper way. Cell phone is one of a very useful communication tools. They can always make contact with their friends and parents with cell phones. In this Information Age, it is a good idea for children to get accustomed to a means of communication using cell phone in their youth. On the other hand, they have to take care of manners of cell phones more. Some children use their cell phone with riding their bicycle, in train and class. If they keep the rules, there is no harm in using cell phones. Therefore I don’t stop children having their own cell phones.

     They say that it is a stressful society now. However my stresses do not build up. If something bad happen to me, it is turned into just a funny stories. I soon forget about inconvenient occurrence for me. Therefore I do not feel so much stress, except the homeworks of this class.

Do dogs have the ability to learn something?

     Human beings have the ability to learn something. Then dogs also have this ability. To answer this question, Pavlov performed an experiment with his dog. In this experiment, whenever food was put before the dog, a bell was rung. Pavlov continued this experiment for several weeks. One day, after several weeks, food was not put before the dog though the bell was not rung. However the dog started salivating when the bell was rung. The dog thought it was dinner time then. The results showed dogs have the ability to learn something clearly.

Why I like the song

     I like “Cartoon Heroes” of Aqua because it makes me happy. It sung by two people, a man with a low key and a woman having pretty voice. The difference of their voices is interesting. I especially like the woman’ s voice. Other songs of them are also my favorite. The songs are so cute and cheerful that I am pleased with them.