My memorial to start own blog!!

Fortunately, I make my own blog!! I don't think I can write every day but I try to write as many as possible. If you have free time, please come and comment my blog!! I'm going to write mainly about what I experiment and feel in Australia because I'm going to go to Australia from next February to November. If you have your own blog, I'd like to see!!

This is my home page address:http://imakiraka.blogspot.com/

Saint Valentine's Day in Japan

Japan has introduced many cultures and events from foreign countries and made them peculiar to Japan. One of them is Saint Valentine's Day. It is common that couples, families, and friends give presents each other all over the world, but in Japan, it is not the same. On Saint Valentine's Day, only women give chocolate or some presents fore men whom women have some crushes or love each other. In addition, it is common to exchange chocolates or some sweets between female friends. In a word, men never give presents for women or friends in Japanese Saint Valentine's Day.
It was introduced Saint Valentine's Day since 1958 or so. I heard that Morinaga which is one of the sweets and snack company introduced this day to Japan to spread chocolates. According to Morinaga, most Japanese give chocolate for lovers or friends. Some women give them for a lot of friends as a "giri choco(義理チョコ)", which means the present which is given for the person whom she doesn't love but likes as a good friend. When I was a junior high and high school student, I gave chocolates that I made for more than 20 friends including both boys and girls. On the other hand, we call "honmei choco(本命チョコ) when she gives it for the man who she's really after. Unfortunately, I have never given anyone 本命チョコ.....((;_;))
By the way, do you know White Day? I heard that there is no Day like White Day in America. White Day is on March 14th which men and wemen who get presents on Saint Valentine's Day return them with swets or presents. In a word, There are no chance for men to attack to wemen whom they like.
I think we should change the system of Valentine's Day to like that of America. I get a little bored of giving men on ahead and get some sweets or something from them in return. I wish I received a present from a man on ahead and give him something in return.

SEIJIN-SHIKI(成人式)

This year, I became 20 years old and I attend the ceremony, "seijin-shiki". "Seijin-shiki" is one of the large Japanese events every year. This is to celebrate the people who become 20 years old. In Japan, 20 years old is important age because it is time to change the treatment as a man from a child. After 20, we can act as we like much more freely than under 20, however, we have to be responsible to everything. In Japan, we can drink alcohols and smoke legally after 20. In "seijin-shiki" most women wear kimono and men wear hakama or suit. Kimono and Hakama is Japanese traditional clothes. I'm going to wear a green kimono with a flowers pattern. I'm looking forward to wear it.
After "seijin-shiki" we have junior high school's, high school's and elementary school's alumni association. After graduating from each school, I hardly met each school's friends. I can't wait to see them!!

Mcdonald's

I have three part-time jobs: as a waitress at McDonald's', as a tutor, and a staff of concert.

At McDonald's', I have worked part-time for one and a half year. At first, I made a lot of mistakes, such as forgetting preparing products or condiments, I got used to it eventually and now, I am a part-time manager of McDonald's store where I work. It is hard for me to work at McDonald's' because a lot of customers come to buy foods again and again. But sometimes I feel happy that I get customers' smile. I love to eat McDonald's' in spite of knowing that it is never healthy to eat at McDonald's. Do you like McDonald's'? In Japan, we have Japanese original food, which is called "teriyaki burger". It is teriyaki sauce taste which is Japanese original sauce. It is popular for customers who are from not only Japan but also foreign country.

I am a tutor, too. I teach math and English to a senior and a sophomore of junior high school students. My students are soooo cute and a little sassy, so I enjoy teaching them with some chatting. Although I can make money for 2200 yen per hours, I have to quite this part-time job because I'm going to go to Australia to study for 10 months.

Recently, I started to work part-time as a staff of concerts. This part-time-job invites us irregularly, so I have done this part-time-job once. Then I helped music concert and saw a Japanese famous singer, Segawa Eiko, who is a popular enka singer and sometimes appears on Japanese TV. "enka" is a Japanese traditional song.

How awesome the school festival was!!

November 2nd, 3rd and 4th, we had a school festival. It was awesome!!! First day, freshmen wore their original costumes and walk down to the down town. 2nd and 3rd days, we enjoyed in the campus, seeing the performances which students played, buying a lot of foods which students made. I'm going to talk about 2nd and 3rd days especially.
2nd day, there were a lot of booth which each students belonging to some clubs, circles, or department classes ran. I sold "hiroshima-fu okonomiyaki(広島風お好み焼き）" which my tennis club made, sweet potato, coffee and tea which my volunteer circle made, and "agetako（揚げたこ）" which my class made. "hiroshima-fu okonomiyaki" is Japanese food which is made from flour, cabbages, eggs and meat. "agetako" is also Japanese food which is fried "takoyaki（たこ焼き）". Do you know or have you eaten them? I made the rounds of the booth. When I found my friends, I dashed to them and made them buy our products.
I also performed a band in the stage. I was a vocal and played Japanese punk songs in a band, which were "anatani（あなたに）" and "chiisanakoinouta（小さな恋のうた）" sang by MONGOL800 and "stay gold" and "dear my friend" sang by HI-STANDERED. A lot of my friends came and aroused the mood, so I enjoyed and jumped a lot. Our motto was youthfulness, it is called in Japanese "seishun（青春）, so my costume was a high school uniform. We also made it a rule to wear colour tights. I wore blue tight. So it seemed a kind of a gag. This is the picture.
3rd day, we sold the foods like we did 2nd day. We also see the live of B-DASH which is the artist in Japan. It was awesome!! They sing some songs not in Japanese, English, any other languages, but in their own language. My favorite song is "CHO".

Historical place, KYOTO

My hometown is Yamanashi. However, many students in this class are from Yamanashi, so I decided to introduce another town, which is.......Kyoto!! I actually have been to Kyoto only twice. As everyone know, Kyoto has old Japanese culture. I'm going to talk about three points; sightseeing; buildings, shops, and people.
First of all, I' like to talk about buildings. In Kyoto, there are a lot of old Japanese buildings and temples. Each buildings leave Japanese old style which is called "wa (和）" . Many temples dot around Kyoto. My favorite temples are Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺) which is covered with gold, Ginkakuji(銀閣寺), whose garden is amazing, Kiyomizu-dera(清水寺）, Suzumushi-dera（鈴虫寺）. These buildings have a flavor of Japanese old and quiet spirits, so you can feel old Japan. They are so beautiful and also elegant that the nature around them is put together.
Secondly, I'd like to talk about shops. Besides buildings, there are also many shops which have Japanese old and unique goods and foods. Gion(祇園) is famous for shopping. I especially suggest Yatsuhashi(八ツ橋）, which is a Japanese sweet. We can have experiences to make some Japanese substances, such as sensu, yatsuhashi, mannju(饅頭）, and so on. What are these in English?
Finally, We can see people as a sightseeing. When we walk around, we can see people who wear Kimono, which is a Japanese old cloth. They are called Maiko(舞妓). There are also famous historical people in Kyoto. Long long time ago, Kyoto was the center city in Japan and many famous people built their castles and temples. If you are interested in history, you should go!
Kyoto has a large number of place to go more than I talked above. You should go when you come to Japan!!

I took these pictures from this site; http://www.kyotokanko.com/

My club activities

In this University, I belong to tennis club and volunteer circle. Tennis, it is very strict you know, but all of my friends are very kind and also funny, so I always hang out with them and it is treasure for me to do club activities together. We have a homepage of tennis club. If you are free, please see it! I bet you can enjoy the albums. http://shingen.ccn.yamanashi.ac.jp/~tennis/
I also join the volunteer circle, which is to study world problems, such as refugees, and act something for them and let people who don’t know about the problems know. This circle’s name is “chikyu-no-tane”, which means the seed of earth. Kanako also join this circle.

While I was a junior high school student, I belonged to soft-ball tennis club. Do you know soft-ball tennis? It is similar to tennis. It is different from balls. The color is white and it is softer and lighter than tennis ball.

I started to belong to tennis club from soft-tennis after entering high school. At first, it was difficult to change the form soft-tennis to tennis. Now, I get used to play tennis, so it must be difficult to change vice versa.
Do or did you belong to any club, or circle?

Hello!!

Hello!! My name is Mai Karaki. I'm 20 years old and in the 2nd grade at the University of Yamanashi. My major is international culture and I'm going to take phonetics course.

I belong to tennis club and practice hard. I have very strict rules in my club, for example, if I'm late for the club starting time, I have to run to the top of the nearby mountain.

I have many hobbies. I like sports, music, movies, reading, sleeping, eating... When I was junior high school student, I had done karate and I have a black belt. I have worked part-time at McDonald's.

Next February, I'm going to study in Australia for 10 months. It is my first time to go to study abroad. I'm so excited but a little nervous.

I'm glad to see you in this opportunity. I'd like to chat to you many times and about meny topics very much!!