what i think America is all about

video

I think this represents the complexity of American culture.

ticket

I purchased my ticket to go back home! It's weird... saying that I'm going home. It was $468 for the one way ticket and it's United. I swore to myself that I would never use United when I first landed at SF airport 6/23/1994, but to save money......I don't have a choice.
Too bad they don't have a flight from SFO-Narita using that Airbus plane. I saw the news the other day saying the only flight leaving SFO with the plane is to London.

26 APR 07 - THURSDAY
UNITED 837 COACH CLASS EQP-744
LV: SAN FRANCISCO 1123A
AR: TOKYO/NARITA 210P JOURNEY TIME-10:47 ARRIVAL DATE-27 APR

今日、帰国のためのチケットを買ってしまった。もう後戻りはできない。チケットはは格安で＄４６８だった。ユナイティッドはアメリカに15歳で来たとき意外はもう乗らないと決めていたけど、予算オーバーにならないように心掛けていたのでしかたがない。でも、これで本当に日本に行くんだなーという実感がわいてきた。楽しみ～！
今話題のAirBusの飛行機がSFOにあるとこの前ニュースでいってたけど、それはロンドン行きだけらしい。やっぱり私も乗ってみたい。

my GRE questions

Okay brilliant people help me out here. I know these are all trick questions that I keep stumbling on my GRE prep test and I must master these!!!

1)

X²= 16 Y³= 64

A) X quantity is bigger

B) Y quantity is bigger

C) Two quantities are equal

D) Relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

Answer: D Fumiko's thoughts: X²= 16=4 x4 Y³= 64= 4x4x4 i.e. answer is C?

*shit, is it because X²= 16 --> X= + and - 4????

2)

The Average (arithmetic mean) of 12 and 20 is equal to the average (arithmetic mean) of 15 and X.

A) X quantity is bigger

B) 16 is bigger

C) Two quantities are equal

D) Relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

Answer: A Fumiko’s thoughts: (12+20)/2= (15+X)/2 solve for X. X=7 my answer is B.

3)

S is the set of all fractions of the form n/(n+1), where n is a positive integer less than 20.

A) Product of all the fractions that are in S.

B) 1/20 is bigger

C) Two quantities are equal

D) Relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

Answer:C fumiko’s thoughts: NONE. (didn’t want to take the time to solve it)

One way ticket 片道チケット

今日帰国に向けて片道のチケットを買った。買ったことによって今悩んでることや不安なことに立ち向かう勇気と希望がわいてきた。私はとてもぐうたらで何事にも時間を無駄に使ってしまう癖がある。でも、それも今日で吹っ切れた。その理由がこのDVDの中に隠されている。内容はとても単純だが何か心に残るものを感じた。最初は冗談と興味半々でみていたけれど、途中なかされる何かがあったのは本心だ。
みんなもだまされたと思ってこのDVDを買ってみて欲しい。多分心に残る何かを見つけるのではないだろうか？

Today I bought a one way ticket to Japan. It's amazing how good it feels to finally buy this ticket. Just the action of buying this ticket made me re-think my obstacles and how little they seemed.
I have the habit of being lazy and not dealing with things in an efficient way. But because of this DVD, I felt as thought I moved forward. At first I was half joking and half curious about this DVD which was recommended by my mother in-law. But while I watched it, I did cry at some parts. (not because anything sad...)
I can assure you that everyone can benefit from this DVD one way or another. Even for those who do have their life put together can learn from it. I highly recommend watching this on your own. (it's better because you can be little silly, and i think the message will be more effective if there is no one judging you or to hear your opinion about what you saw on the DVD.)

漢字・kanji

今日漢字検定の本を買った。最初に手にとったのは3級で全然わからなかった。そこで5級を手にとってみたところ、結構わかったので安心していた。しかし、5級は「小学校第６学年までの学習漢字」っと記載されていて、3級は「小学校学年別」・・・って私は小学校5年生レベルの漢字しかわかっていない事が判明した。かなりがっかりした。それで私は4級を買った。でも実際ペンをとってやってみると、結構難しい。今日は、私の日本語がいかに「低レベル」っと感じた一日だった。
最近は日本語の小説や雑誌を毎日読んで、英語の方もGREのためにNewsweekやEconomistやScientific Americaなどを読んでいる。

Today I bought a Kanji Proficiently Test Prep Book. The level starts with 10 and the highest level is 1. So I picked level 3 book as a starter and glanced it inside. I didn't recognize most of the kanji and it seems really hard. So I moved to the level 5 book, I was happy to find out that i understood some of the kanji. I was feeling little relieved until i found this explanation on the test.
Level 3 : full understanding of all grades of ELEMENTARY school kanji.
Level 5 : kanji level up till 5th grade (elementary school).
So i was pretty disappointed and bought the Level 4, but as i start on page 1, it's already hard.
I knew unconsciously that I wasn't that good in Japanese, but this has giving me full proof that i SUCK at Japanese as much as ENGLISH!
I've been reading Japanese books and magazines every day. I also ready Newsweek, Economist, and Scientific America to improve my english reading for GRE.

Today's find on You Tube 今日の映像

*caution: this video contains animals that are being killed.
＊注意事項：すっぽんが好きな人にはお勧めできない映像です。
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6Tc8aPAqzU

War tragety 戦争の傷跡

I recently read an article on SF Chronicle about how Japanese government are denying government involvement in kidnapping Korean and Chinese women to be used as sex slaves for Japaneses solders during WWII. I know it's naive of me to think for the government to admit to its mistakes would solve issues like theses, and by apologizing everything will be forgiven. Nevertheless, I do feel that apologies is all they are asking for in return. While Japanese government criticize North Korea, who kidnapped many Japanese during WWII, asks for their apologies, women on the same continent asks for the same to our government.
Do you think for government to apologies in public regarding this issue would solve problems, or does it create more problems?
最近こんな記事をSFChronicleで見つけた。内容は日本政府が「外国人女性たちを拉致し、軍人用のお遊びに使った」という事実は認めないっと書かれたものだった。記事には以前日本海軍だった金子さんという人が、事実を語ってる。それなのに、日本政府はこれらの出来事が「起こったどうかは証明できない」とし、謝罪をためらっている。戦争はこんなにも傷跡を残すのかっと終戦６０年たった今、戦争経験のない私でさえ悲しく思う。日本が北朝鮮拉致問題で朝鮮からの謝罪を求めてる中、私達の政府にも同じことを求めらている。謝れば許してはもらえるとは思わないが、被害者の傷を浅くすることができるのではないかと思う。公に謝っても国際的問題なため、謝罪していいものか悪いものなのか、判断しにくい。
みなはどう思ってるのだろうか？

いつかは someday

今日海を見に行ってきた。とても天気が良く、すごくリフレッシュした気分で一日を過ごした。
渋滞に巻き込まれてもあまりストレスを感じなかったもの、そのおかげであろう。
私は前の職場の獣医さんがPoint Reyes　のあたりで家を持っていて、彼女の犬の面倒を見たのがきっかけにそこに足を運んだ。とてもきれいで「本当に心が安らげるところだ」って事が一番の印象だった。
今回２回目でまた同じ感覚を味わったため、「ここに家があったらな～」と考え始めた。もちろん家がほしいわけではないが、小さなコテージぐらいだったら週末に来れる距離なので「いいんじゃ？」と想像を運転しながら膨らませていった。PointReyesはBay Area から車で約１時間弱っと行ったところにある。もしスポーツカーなんかを持っている人なら楽しいドライブになるのは間違いなし。あんまり事故りそうな所もなく、トヨタのおんぼろでも４０ｍｐｈでコナーを曲がれるぐらいの緩やかなカーブばっかり。車の窓を開けてドライブすると、海岸にたどりつく少し前までは菜の花のいい香りが車の中に充満する。Point　Reyes の海岸のうち車で直接いける海岸は２つあって、でも今日行ったのは少し歩かないと海岸に出れないところに行ってみた。やっぱり少し歩かないといけないところには人はあんまりいなく、一人楽しくお昼ごはんを食べた。私は海育ちではないが、とても海が好きらしい。なぜか海を見ると元気になる。最近嫌な事や、ちょっと落ち込んでいたことがスーっとなくなるのがわかるくらい、元気をくれる唯一の場所だ。
そんな場所に家をもてたらどんなにすてきだろう？って考えているとやっぱり将来のことを思ってしまう。これから先どうなるのか、獣医学校に受かるのだろうか、日本に永久帰国するのだろうか、とかがぐるぐる回っていった。やっぱりいつかは家を持ち、落ち着いた生活をしたい。でも、今それを考えると選択肢があまりにもありすぎて、どうなるかって事だけで不安を抱く。でも、それを今心配したって仕方のないことだから、今日はいい一日だって！って思えただけでも幸せな一日でした。

I went to a beach today. The weather was nice, so I spent an refreshing day. (can I say that in English…?) Because I had such a nice time, even the drive home in the traffic didn’t bother me at all.

I’ve been to Point Reyes before because one of the veterinarian I used to work at my previous job had a house around there. Last time I was there, I felt at home. This time around, I felt the same. I thought about buying a home at Point Reyes area. I don’t want to buy a house right now, but if I had a little cottage that I can come and relax for a weekend, wouldn’t that be super nice? I couldn’t stop thinking about it while I was driving around. Point Reyes is only less than 1 hour away from the bay area. The driver is more fun if you have a sports car. Even my little beat up Toyota had fun going around curves at 40mph. What’s nice is that if you have the window rolled down, the smell of mustard flowers fills the entire car until you reach the beach. At PR, there are 2 beaches you can get to by car. The one I went to today, I had to walk a little. Because you had to walk, not many people were there. I was able to enjoy lunch with the whole beach all to myself. I don’t know what it is about the ocean, but it has miracle powers. I didn’t grow up around beaches, but something about them makes me forget all my worries and problems. I started to think “wouldn’t be cool a have a house around here?” but then that made me think about my future. What am I doing? Am I going to vet school? Am I going back to Japan for good? The ideas kept circling in my head. One of these days I would like to settle down and have a steady job and a home. But the way it looks right now seems like life can go in any direction. Just the fact I have so much choices makes me worry. Anyhow, either way, just worrying about it isn’t going to solve anything. The fact I had a wonderful day is enough to keep me happy (for the next few weeks).

first day

I don't have anything to write... just to say that I'm going to Point Reyes as a day trip. I feel like taking time for myself. So I'm gonna go. Maybe something will spark so I can write something interesting tomorrow.　See you tomorrow.


初日なのになにも書くことがない・・・ただ明日ポイント・レアズへ海を見に行ってくること以外は。自分の時間がほしいため、そうすることにした。もしかしたら何かいいアイディアが出てくるかもしれないので、それに賭けるこちにした。ではまた明日。