As I am writing this blog entry, I am sitting at Gate 26 in Narita Airport. In about 3 hours, my flight will depart for Portland, Oregon, where I will go spend the next few days with my family. I'm pretty excited about it, because even though I speak to my mother about once a week over the phone, I haven't seen her or any of my other relatives in over a year. This will also be my first Christmas in the States in three years; I have spent the last two in Tokyo.


Before I came to Japan, I had NEVER been away from home for a major holiday. I had always been with my family. The last two years, then, have been a learning experience for me, to say the least. I have had the chance to learn how other people think about and celebrate Christmas (among other holidays) and have also had to get used to being creative about how I celebrate. It's a lot different when you aren't able to take part in the same family traditions that you had when you were growing up.


Whenever I am in Japan during Thanksgiving, for example, I try to invite friends over to my house so we can share the holiday together. While this is never the same as being with family, I have found that it is a great time to make memories and even to learn new things I never knew about them before, like what their own holiday traditions are.


My first Christmas in Japan was a real eye-opener for me. I had never considered that people would go to work on December 25th or even on Christmas Eve! I was used to people staying home with their families and loved ones, eating big dinners and opening presents. So when I had to go to work that year, I was miserable. That night I came home to an empty apartment because my roommates had gone back to see their families for the holidays, but I was too poor to buy a plane ticket back, so I was stuck in a tiny, freezing cold apartment in Azamino. I remember thinking to myself, "I'm never going to spend Christmas alone in Japan again!"


Another thing that surprised me about Christmas in Japan was that it is usually considered a holiday for couples. "How strange," I thought. "Being single in Japan during the holidays must be rough."


But after all the surprises, I began to notice a few small things here and there that I actually kind of liked. Instead of letting myself get too wrapped up in disappointment about not being able to go home, I have learned to take pleasure in observing the differences between my home country and my "adopted" country. For example, I love watching Japanese people look at Christmas lights. Everyone takes pictures with their cell phones and utters little "ooohs" and "aaahs". I have also found it fascinating that Kentucky Fried Chicken seems to enjoy such popularity on that particular occasion. That is definitely not something I would see at home. :)


I think that one of the most difficult parts of my first two years in Japan was being away from home on holidays, but I have found that as time passes, I am able to create new traditions. That being said, I'm sure that this Christmas will be a very special one for me. Having spent Christmas away from my family will help me to appreciate even more the times that I am able to be with them. And I hope for everyone else, as well, that you are able to enjoy the holiday season with people that you love.


(2006) Washing dishes with my roommate after my first Thanksgiving dinner in Japan.(2007) Sharing a traditional Thanksgiving meal in America with my family and neighbors. I'm not in the picture, though, because I was behind the camera...










▼▽▼▼Melanieの過去の記事を読む━━━━━━━━━━━
・【Fun With Morphemes】2008.10.17 (Fri)
・【More About Morphemes】2008.11.21 (Fri)

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Today's entry is mainly directed at my many SAT students, bright young people who are on their way from high-school to college. Many of you ask me about your college application essays, and in reviewing them over the years I've noted trends in successful essays, and in those less successful.


There are two principal, consistent components to good application essays: They are interesting, and they tell admissions administrators that you can work independently, outside your comfort-zone. Interesting essays are those that tell the reader something about your personality, what "makes you tick," as the saying goes.


This is a problem for some students, who feel like they're not interesting people, or who just feel that--since they're so young--they haven't had any life-experiences that might interest the old folks who evaluate their essays. It's certainly true that not all people are equally interesting, or equally able to make themselves sound interesting. Some of us just have a way with a story; we can make mundane events sound amusing. But remember that this essay is your best chance to really communicate directly with the people who are making the decisions about your future. Also, remember that you're not writing "Gone with the Wind," you're just telling some people (who ARE interested in helping bright young people to succeed) what makes you an individual.


So, to make your essays interesting, try thinking of an anecdote (a story about yourself) that defines your character. For instance, I would write about how I decided to go skydiving before I began studying for the bar exam. I figured that if I spent all of that time studying, and then my parachute didn't open, I'd be really upset. But, on the other hand, if I was falling toward earth and certain death and hadn't started studying yet, at least I could think "Well, that's one more annoying thing I won't have to do." That story tells you something about me; I'm an optimist, and I try to live in a way that allows me to enjoy myself, and take risks while still seeing the positive side of things.


The other thing your essay should do--and this is just as important--is to let the application administrators know that you can function with minimal supervision in a new, diverse environment. See, colleges know what kind of grades you got, and they know how you scored on the SAT, but what they don't know is whether you're responsible and adaptable. As high-school students, most of us didn't have much freedom; our parents and teachers watched out for us and made sure we did our work, and punished us if we didn't.


But in college, no one is going to care if you don't work; they'll just flunk you out, and that will be the end of it. If they let you in and you don't work hard, the college really loses TWO students: you, and the person whose application they had to reject in order to let you in. Remember, colleges only have so many openings for each class, so if they let you in they have to reject someone else.


So write an essay that tells administrators that you can work without supervision, and that you understand that you have to be independent and self-motivated. That's the reason that so many of the essay questions ask things like "Tell us about a time you went outside your comfort zone," or "Tell us about a time you had to be a leader." Young people who have shown those skills before are more likely to adapt well to college.




▼▽▼▼Douglasの過去の記事を読む━━━━━━━━━━━
・【Smoke and Makuuchi】2008.10.01(Wed)
･【It's Always Something】2008.10.22 (Wed)
・【Working the Corners】2008.11.12 (Wed)
・【Logic Games】2008.12.03 (Wed)

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12月初旬に10日間ほどミャンマーに行ってきました。


今年の5月にミャンマーを襲ったサイクロン「ナルギス」。
7ヶ月経った今、被害にあわれた方々の生活は
どのくらい再建できているのか。


私たちが行なってきた支援事業に対して
中間モニタリングを行なっている同僚に同行させてもらい
ミャンマーのデルタ地帯まで立ち入ることができました。


ヤンゴンから悪路を車で４時間、その後ボートで１時間半。
そこからさらにボートで3時間移動したところに
支援している村の1つがありました。


そこでは、サイクロンにより家財はもちろんのこと、家族さえも失った人々が
生活再建のためにNGOと共に取り組んでいました。


私が訪問した村は漁業で生計を立てている方が多かったのですが、
住民のみなさんは、これまで知らなかった家計という概念も学び、
漁獲量に左右されにくい生活を目指しているとのこと。


このようは支援の方法は「Build Back Better」（より良い再建）
と呼ぶそうです。


被害にあったみなさんが、
よりよい幸せな生活を送れるようになることを心から祈ると同時に、
他人の人生に介入することの重大さをひしひしと感じた
ミャンマー訪問でありました。




▼▽▼▼瀧田さんの過去の記事を読む━━━━━━━━━━━
・【ハートで支援する】2008.10.13 (Mon)
・【投資とリターン】2008.11.10 (Mon)

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Hi everyone.
Last time I talked about the invasion of England by the Germanic tribes, the Angles, the Jutes, and the Saxons. You might remember how the word "England" actually comes from "Angle land", because so many Angles settled in England.
Of course these tribes spoke a language similar to German - in fact English, German and Dutch (the language of Holland) all come from the same language. So, for a long time after the Anglo Saxon invasion, people in England mostly spoke this version of German.


Around this time, most people in the North of Europe were not Christian. They followed a religion we call Paganism. Paganism is a little similar to Japanese Shinto; there are many gods and people worship nature and their ancestors. Paganism actually varied from place to place, with people in different areas worshipping different gods, or using different names for the same gods. In England people often worshipped the Germanic gods, also called Teutonic gods, which were also worshipped in Germany and Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway and Sweden). These gods still leave their mark on the English language today. Let's have a look at some of the gods, and where their influence can be found in our language.


The gods at that time were all part of a family; the head god was the father of the family, his name was Odin, also called Wodin, or Wotan. Have you ever wondered why we spell the day Wednesday with a "d" before the "n"? Why Wednesday? This is because it comes from the word Wodin. Wednesday is actually Wodin's day.
Wodin's wife was called Freya. Many other gods are sons and daughters of Freya. If you go to Scandinavia, you can still find women named Freya. (I met a beautiful Norwegian Australian woman in a bar called Freya once) The word Friday comes from Freya's day.


Wodin and Freya had a son called Thor. Thor was the god of thunder; during thunderstorms people believed he rode across the sky banging a hammer, and that is what they thought made the sound of thunder (in fact, Thunder is another name for the god Thor). Thor's day is Thursday, so if there is a thunderstorm on a Thursday is very appropriate!
Last, Tuesday comes from the god called Tyr (pronounced by the Anglo Saxons as "Tiw"). Tyr was the god of war and had his hand bitten of by a wolf called Fenrir. The Anglo Saxons said Tiw, so Tuesday is actually Tiw's day.


So, we can see the old religion still partly remains in the English language today. Gradually this religion became overtaken by Christianity, and at that time the language of Christianity was Latin. The priests spoke Latin and the Bible was written only in Latin for many years. Why did people give up their traditional religion and change to Christianity? What effect did the new religion have on English? For these answers and more, you will have to read my next blog!


Thanks everybody!




▼▽▼▼Eddieの過去の記事を読む━━━━━━━━━━━
・【A Short History of English】2008.10.10 (Fri)
・【The Anglo Saxons invade!】2008.11.14 (Fri)

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There are many factors to consider when choosing the right school for you. Location, quality of faculty, diversity, range of courses, class size, test score requirements and so on. Cost is also an important consideration for most people, as studying for 2 - 4 years with no income can amount to a serious amount of money - not to mention the missed potential earnings from time taken off work. In real terms, this can be measured as a large deposit on a property or paying off a significant amount of your mortgage. This is clearly a risk and should be analysed carefully as part of your criteria for choosing a school.


Nobody wants to graduate laden with a large amount of debt, although many students do - especially those attending law, medical and business schools. Minimising this debt burden on graduation means you can hold off a little and focus on the best opportunity for you, rather than being tempted by the first option to come your way.


With the JPY currently so strong against currencies like the USD and GBP it is an excellent opportunity for people earning JPY (or with yen savings) to take advantage of courses being offered at a considerable discount in JPY terms compared to just 12 months ago. Likewise, if you are currently considering studying at a Japanese institution, take the time to consider the foreign alternatives as the current exchange rate doesn't only mean the courses themselves are cheaper, but the cost of living too.


However, just before you slip your rose tinted glasses back on, don't forget the risks involved, although you can hedge against exchange rate fluctuations to some extent, you can still lose out. Moreover, the weak USD and GBP is a double edged sword as many other international students will be thinking the same thing. More international applicants at prestigious schools means admissions departments can afford to be more selective, which brings us back to test scores again. Higher test scores, although not the be all and end all, can add value to your application and make you stand out from the crowd.


As some of you may know I will be leaving Kaplan on Sunday and Amberly will be taking over the blog.
Best wishes with your studies and I hope you have a prosperous New Year!
Paul




▼▽▼▼Paulの過去の記事を読む━━━━━━━━━━━
・【The Pareto Principle】2008.10.15 (Wed)
・【There's more than one way to skin a cat】2008.11.05 (Wed)
・【Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today】2008.11.26 (Wed)

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