To: Mike+Melanie Easton Family

Mike, Melanie, Brandon, Elya, Shaylyn and Rachelle, thank you so much for everything you've done for me. It has already been almost a year since I first came to this house, and now, it's time to go back to Japan. How time flies It's so hard to believe I still clearly remember the day when I arrived in Canada and met you for the first time. I was so nervous when I was looking for my host family at the airport. I was imagining what my host family looked like, how my studying abroad would be, how much I could improve my English, and so on. For me, the biggest anxiety was actually, if I could get along well with my host family or not, because as you know, I had had a bad experience before. But after I met you and spent a few days, the anxiety was completely removed from my heart because I found that my host family was exactly my ideal one

When I look back on the last year, a lot of pleasant memories come vividly to my mind. I have had a really great time in Victoria. During the past year, I went on a trip to so many cities in both Eastern and Western Canada, I enjoyed shopping, hanging out and drinking with my buddies, and I also had a lot of fun with you. I was so happy to share lots of enjoyment with you, like Shaylyn and Rachelle's softball game, halloween, thanks giving day, the musical "Anne of Green Gables", christmas, new year's eve, Elya's hockey game, Hilary Duff's live concert and so on They are all my unforgettable, wonderful memories

Thank you for being kind, nice and friendly to me all the time. It's so hard to say good bye to you guys. I do want to stay here with you guys longer, but I can't. I'll miss you so much... I'll never, ever forget you and this wonderful time I had with you. I truly wish you good luck, and hope to see you again

To: Bonnie

Bonnie, thank you for being my wonderful roommate W've lived together for only three months, but I feel you have become really really close to me During the last three months, I had a really great time with you. Do you remember, Bonnie? Even in this short time, we actually enjoyed a lot of things together. Lunar new year's day, UVic bowling activity, small trip to Sook, and so on!! They were really great memories, weren't they

I was very happy to live and have a lot of fun things with you. When we met for the first time, you introduced yourself to me with a big smile on your face  I got a really warm friendly feeling from you, and I immediately felt I would be able to get along well with you And you were exactly the kind of person I thought you were at that time. You were very cheerful, friendly, funny and kind to me. I really enjoyed talking to you all the time

You know, I really envy you because you can stay here at least 3 more years, right? Oh, gosh! I do want to stay here and study at UVic with you, but... I know I can't do, and I have to go back to my university to continue my study. So, what I want you to do is, of course, come to Japan to see me, Bonnie Or, I'll go there to see you ...Well.... this sounds more workable for us to meet, eh? Coz I can easily expect what your parents would say if you ask them to let you go to Japan. You told me how your parents are so many times!! lol  Then, I'll try to go to Victoria to see you again as soon as possible  Bonnie, don't forget me and the time we spent together, ok?? I'll miss you so much but I believe we can meet again in the near future 

Take care, Bonnie, and see you soon!

Mt. Washington !!

March 18, Sat  

This morning, Neil, Yoshi, Kanoko and I left the cottage at 7:50 and went to Mt. Washington to do snowboarding. Don gave us a ride to the mountainside, and we got on a bus to the ski area on the mountainside. Each of us rent a snowboard, boots and a  snowboard  suit, and bought a lift ticket. We all got ready to do snowboarding soon, and started snowboarding on the snow

Kanoko had never tried snowboarding before, so she learned how to snowboard from her brother, Yoshi  for the whole morning. In the meanwhile, Neil and I got on a lift and enjoyed snowboarding together. It was the second time for me to snowboard. Last January, I went to Whistler to snowboard with Yoshi and Neil. At that time, I was a totally novice at snowboarding, so I struggled for many hours before I could get used to it.
 

 

 

 

 

★St. Patrick's Day★

March 17, Fri   /

This afternoon, Don, Yoshi and Neil's host father, drove me to Miracle Beach, near Mt. Washington, with Yoshi, Kanoko (Yoshi's younger sister) and Neil. The reason why we went there is that we were going to enjoy snowboarding on Mt. Washington this weekend. Don and his wife, Audrey have a great cottage at Miracle Beach, and they offered to let us stay at their cottage for two nights from today What a wonderful offer it was Before their offer, we were actually faced with a serious problem of accommodation because we couldn't arrange our accommodations on Mt. Washington because of the busy season. That's why, when we knew we could stay at their cottage, we were so happy because their offer totally ironed out our problem.

Yoshi, Neil and I left our class one hour earlier than usual and met Kanoko and Don in UVic campus at noon, and Don drove us to their cottage at Miracle Beach. It took just under 5 hours to get there from Victoria. On the way to Miracle Beach, we went over some mountains. We stopped on the top of the first mountain and enjoyed the view at the summit of the mountain for a while

We arrived at their cottage at about 4:30. When we got there, Audrey who had arrived there earlier than us greeted us with a smile at the door She showed us around their house first. There were enough rooms for all of us, so we decided who was going to use which room and took a short break in our own rooms.

After a while, Audrey suggested we go for a walk on the beach near the cottage. It was sunny day this morning, but it was getting cloudy and a little bit chilly outside in the afternoon. The beach was very quiet and only a few people were there. I could see beautiful snowcapped Mt. Washington very clearly from there. Tomorrow, we are snowboarding on Mt. Washington!! I got excited about it seeing the view

After walking around on the beach for about one hour, we came back to the cottage. Soon, Audrey got ready to supper. We ate some Chinese dishes that Audrey bought at the grocery store. We sat round a table and each of us put each dish on a plate. They looked very delicious!! I had a good fun dinner with them 

By the way, today is St. Patrick's Day, a national celebration  from Ireland. St. Patrick was the patron saint of Ireland and he devoted his entire life converting pagans into Christians. He died March 17, over 1500 years ago. To this day, people celebrate St. Patrick Day on the 17th and in North America, the day is turned into one big excuse to party. Lots of myths and icons are linked to St. Patrick's Day. The shamrock and Leprechann are two major symbols. Both bring you good luck. It's also customary to wear green. It symbolizes the greenery in the springtime.

So, today, the majority of my classmates and teachers were wearing green clothes, including me. Also, on the way to Miracle Beach, we dropped by a liquor shop and bought six-pack of Guinness Beer, an Irish, very famous dark shout beer (a type of porter.) for St. Patrick's Day. And at night, Yoshi, Neil, Kanoko and I drunk the nice cold Guinness Beer in the living room

Hey!! Let's toast St. Patrick's Day with a glass of Guinness Beer!!!

Mexican Food is Killing Me!!

March 3, Fri   /

Today, at 6 p.m., Miguel, one of my classmates, took me and another 6 my classmates to a Mexican restaurant. Miguel is the only one Mexican in my class. Few days ago, when I talked to him in the classroom, he told me about a really good Mexican restaurant in Victoria. He emphasized that it was the best one of all the Mexican restaurants in Victoria, and his story whetted my appetite to go there a lot  I asked him to take me to the restaurant someday soon. Some of my classmates also wanted to go there, so Miguel asked all of our classmates if they would like to go together or not, and as a result, he made a reservation for 8 for today.

 

 

 

 

The restaurant "Los Taquitos" was a little far from downtown. It was very crowded when we got there. I had "Carne Asada" (=Mexican BBQ) and a margarita (the pic at the upper-right corner). The grilled steak with salsa sauce was not hot at all, and so delicious I was very satisfied with the meal 

...At that time, I didn't expect that I would have an awful time soon at all ...

Miguel gave all of us a small piece of  very hot tacos which he ordered. Kouhei knew he couldn't handle hot food, so everyone except him ate it. As soon as I ate it, I almost died It was extremely HOT!!!!  I felt my heartbeat quicken and had a burning sensation in my throat I thought I was going to die...It was really that hot I had never eaten such a spicy food before. Even when I ate some very spicy food in Korea, I didn't feel that way!! Anyway, after I ate it, I was worth more dead than alive for a while You can hardly imagine that pain ...  It gives me a chill just to remember that... I will never ever forget the horrible experience  Anyway, thank you for taking me to the restaurant, Miguel

○○ bowler award !!!

March 1, Wed   /

This evening, Bonnie and I joined "Rock'n Bowl", one of ELPI activites. The activity was actually really beneficial to us because we were able to have two FREE games at bowling, and even bowling shoes reatal fee was FREE How wonderful

At about 7:00 p.m., a lot of ELPI students got together at the Mayfair Lane. Everyone had to play bowling in a team of 6 people. Bonnie and I teamed up with our friends; Yoshi, Neil, Kenichi and Dino, and we all had a lot of fun together today It was for the first time for Bonnie to play bowling in her life. She didn't really know how to roll a ball, so Yoshi, Neil and I taught her how to do that with enthusiasm

Bonnie had difficulty hitting the pins. Unfortunately, in the first half of the first game, whenever she rolled a ball, the ball went in the gutter. However, in the middle of the game, she gradually got the knack of bowling, and she eventually got 28 points at the first game. At the second game, she made an improvement over the previous score, and got 45 points or so. Her score was still much lower than anyone's score, but all of us were so happy and excited to see her amazing improvement

After the second game was over, Kazu, one of my friends, won a trophy for being the best bowling player of all of us. At the same time, UVic CA (Cultural Assistant) came close to Bonnie, and handed a small trophy to her. Her trophy was totally different from the one Kazu got. His trophy was big, nice and looked an "usual trophy". On the other hand, her trophy was very "unusual" and looked funny because it was "the rump of a horse-shaped trophy." I felt it was very original, but anyway, I was really happy to see her receiving the trophy because I thought she got it for being the most improved player

On the way home, I asked Bonnie to show me her trophy and looked it carefully. Then, I noticed one thing that I had never noticed before... On the trophy were the words "ELPI WORST BOWLER AWARD" .......!!!??? What I was openmouthed at what I just saw!  When I noticed it, Bonnie still didn't quite know what her trophy really meant. She belived she got the trophy because of her great improvement. Oops!! I hesitated a little to tell her the real meaning of the trophy, but let her know that anyway. Bonnie seemed to be slightly despondent, and at the same time, she laughed about herself

After we came back home, we told the whole story to our host family. They had a hearty laugh at the really funny story Well, whatever, we got a lot of enjoyment out of playing bowling with our friends today 

"Bonnie, even though you got the worst bowler award, you actually did really great job todayI'd love to sincerely praise you for your achievement"

Irresistible Kids ヽ(^o^)丿

February 24, Fri    /

Today, I went to an elementary school downtown called "The George Jay School" as a school activity and introduced one of  the very popular Japanese cultures, origami to kids

One week ago, my classmates and our switch classmates  had the initial meeting for this activity and we devided into small groups by national origin: Japan (ｘ3), Korea (ｘ3), China&Taiwan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia&Turkey. Each group was going to give 2 classes to introduce something that was its own culuture to kids. My group was "Japan 3" made up for 5 members: Kiyo, Yumiko, Kohei, Mai and me, and we decided to teach how to make origami, the Japanese name for the art of paper folding.

This morning, we met the principal of the elementary school first. According to her, original Canadian kids account for only about 20% of all the number of pupils of this school, and the majority of the students are from all over the world, so it is a very multicultural school

Our group gave classes to the kids who were all in the first grade. They were soooooooooooooooooo sweet They had a lot of energy and actively took part in our classes. We taught them how to make "Armet", "Talking Dog" and "Spiky Star" by folding paper. They seemed to have a lot of fun making origami with us Some kids could follow us without any difficulty, but some kids couldn't. One class consisted of about 15 students, so while one of our group members explained and demonstrated the way to make origami in front of kids, the others gave a lot of  personal attention  to them so that every student could complete his work anyway

After lunch time, I took a school tour and looked around a lot of places such as the principal's room, a music room, a school gym and so on, and after that, I played basketball with kids outside All the kids were very energetic and had dazzling smils! While I was playing with them, I felt like I'd gone back in time...

When our school activity was over, I was so exhausted. On the way home, at the suggestion of Kiyo who was one of my classmates, I dropped by the coffee shop near the elementary school with Kiyo, Yumiko, Jack and Ray. There were some comfortable couch in the coffee shop, so we all sat on the big couch and I unwind myself with a cup of Caffe Mocha

This evening, I was going to attend my class party at Jack's house, but I actually have had a caught since last night and suffered dizziness.  After I came back home from the coffee shop, I took a nap for about 2 hours, but I still felt sick, so I decided not to go out this evening and get a good rest. Hopefully, I'll be ok tomorrow

Way To Go! Arakawa!!!

February 23, Thurs    /

The Olympic is a beautiful celebration of athletes and people in the world coming, and the 2006 Winter Olympic is in Torino, Italy now.

Last night, I read a news article about the result of the figure skating women's short program which was held this Tuesday. According to the article, Cohen, Slutskaya and Arakawa were ranked in the top of 3 and were grabbing for gold. Cohen, the 21-years-old Californian, got 66.73 points and beat Slutskaya, the reigning world champion by 0.03 point. Japan's Arakawa who was third in the program got a personal-best 66.02 points. Also, Suguri, 25, of Japan got 61.75 points and was 4th among 29 skaters in the short program.

JOC (Japanese Olympic Committee) predicted Japan would win 5 medals regardless of color of medals at the 2006 Turino Olympics, but having said that, Japan had had no medals until yesterday Women's figure skate was the strongest medal possibility for Japan, and a lot of Japanese were pretty much looking to Japanese figure skaters to get medals. I was one of these Japanese

Today, on February 24th in Ital, the free skate was held. After school, I went to CALL Lab and checked the result of it on the Internet. What jumpped to my eyes were the words "Arakawa" "Japan" and "Gold"

Olympics: Arakawa wins gold to give Japan 1st medal

TURIN, Italy, Feb. 24

Japan finally got one of those shiny round things everyone has been raving a bout -- and it happened to be the best of the bunch. Shizuka Arakawa came from behind to win the first gold medal ever for her country in figure skating Thursday after giving a near flawless performance in the women's free skate at the Turin Olympics. (C) Kyodo

I was so surprised at the news It was very gratifying to me!! In the evening, I watched the rerun of her performance in the women's free skate on TV. Her performance was so wonderful and perfect! I was so impressed by it

"Congratulations on the fantastic victoriy, Arakawa"

Eight Below !!

February 18, Sat   /

I'd like to introduce one great movie which is called "Eight Below" to you I went to see the movie with my friend today. It just came out yesterday!! I actually had been interested in the movie ever since I saw the preview of the movie at a theater last September. The preview really whetted my appetite to see the movie, and I could hardly wait the release of the movie. And finally, today, I saw the movie, and  it  really  came up to my expectations Here is the synopsis of the movie

-Synopsis-
Inspired by a true story, EIGHT BELOW is an exciting action-adventure about loyalty and the bonds of friendship set in the extreme wilderness of Antarctica. The film tells the story of three members of a scientific expedition: Jerry Shepard (Paul Walker), his best friend, Cooper (Jason Biggs), and a rugged American geologist (Bruce Greenwood), who are forced to leave behind their team of beloved sled dogs due to a sudden accident and perilous weather conditions in Antarctica. During the harsh, Antarctic winter, the dogs must struggle for survival alone in the intense frozen wilderness for over 6 months. The film is inspired by the events of a 1957 Japanese Antarctic Expedition, which served as the basis for the blockbuster Japanese film, "Nankyoku Monogatari". (C) Walt Disney Pictures 
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie   I thought these 8 fine dogs kept that movie compelling very much!! They were so lovely and smart, and did an incredible job in the film  I'm interested in watching the movie again. I believe that this movie is of interest for those who like dogs, and even if you're not a dog lover, as likely as not, you will be moved and feel dogs are wonderful

I would like to conclude by saying that I highly recommend this film to you

St. Valentine's Day

February 14, Tues

This morning, my classmates and our switch classmates visited a law court as a school activity. I had never been to a law court even when I was in Japan. Today, we listened to two trials sitting in the court's gallery. One of the trials was the case of sneak thief, and the other was the one of murder. Listening to these trials actually sounded interesting for me, and also I thought it would be a good experience. However, contrary to my thinking, I fall asleep during the trial. And that's actually not all...

You know, court spectators must be quiet during a trial. We must not make any noise. But today, I actually did... and the worse part was the noise was very big!! During the trial, sitting in a quiet trial room caused me to fall in and out of sleep. I tried to keep awake, but I was so sleepy that my head was niddle-noddle, and finally drifted off into dreamland .....

 CLAP!!! I was awoken by the loud sound !! I was too surprised to take in what had just happened for a moment. But soon, I realized I made the noise!! To my shame, I hit my head against the wall while I was sleeping Oh, my goodness!!! Almost everyone including our classmates, judge and jury looked at me in surprise I was so ashamed that I wanted to crawl under the rug... Anyway, I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to everyone who was there. "I'm terribly sorry!!"

By the way, today is Valentine's Day Countries all around the world celebrate St. Valentine's Day. However, how to celebrate the day in Japan is totally different from the one in Canada. So, let me brifly introduce the differences first.

 Japanese Valentine's Day is for women to give men chocolates or gifts. This is a typical way to celebrate Valentine's day in Japan. Women are expressing love to men by giving chocolates. But it's also common for women to give chocolates to men who they don't actually love, such as co-workers and male friends. Men who received chocolates or gifts on Valentine's day are supposed to give gifts back to the women on March 14th called White Day.

In Canada, on the other hand, Valentines Day is a celebration for not only lovers, but also friends and family. Canadian enjoy giving to both men and women on Valentines Day. Flowers, chocolates, perfume, jewelery, and beautiful cards with romantic messages inside them are some popular gifts. It is also a very popular day to get engaged. Many men like to propose to their girlfriend on Valentines Day. Moreover, they don't have White Day.

As the proverb says, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". So, I celebrated Valentine's Day in Canadian way. Today, after school, I gave one piece of Banana bread that I made 2 days ago to each my classmate and teacher, and in the evening, I handed a small bouquet of mixed flowers, a box of chocolates and Vanelntine card with a message on it to my host family
Today, I also got some gifts such as a perfume, Godiva Chocolates and a teddy bear with candies from my lovely friends and host family I was very excited about their gifts!

It was a very beautiful day. I'd like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation for you...    "Happy Happy Valentine's Day"