BR8:Sally's Phone

Sally is always on her phone since she started dating Andrew. In the morning, Andrew called as always and told her to come out for dinner with his new boss, with wearing his favorite blue skirt. Blue was not really her favorite color but she said ok. But she figured it out that she can not really wear the skirt because it was dirty. She went to her work and talking to her friends about her boyfriend. They suggested her to get a new skirt. They went out for shopping and they found a perfect red skirt. ‘but Andrew does not like red…’ Sally said. Then her friends said ‘just forget him, wear whatever you want to wear!’ Sally agreed. She went for lunch by herself on that day. Then a guy, Paul accidently knocked off her bag that her phone in it. ‘Sorry.’ Paul said and picked it up quickly. Then Andrew called to sally’s phone. Then Paul picked the phone call and said ‘this is Paul’. Paul realized he has Sally’s phone. So he called her and they decided to meet up in the city. When they met up, they both liked each other from first impression. He asked her if she would like to go to his sister’s birthday party. At the end of this story she turned off her phone and smiled at Paul and walked off with him.

[233 words]

Lindop Christine, (2003), Oxford bookworms starters

BR7: Taking off

Anna was on her new skateboard bought by their parent and her. then her friends showed up, one of them, Tom really wanted to have a ride. he raced off down without anna's promission. anna took her friend's board and raced him. anna could see tom up ahead. there was a bump ahead tom. Anna shouted. 'Look out!' it was too late then. Tom went over the bump and fell off. and anna's board's some paint came off. tom appologied. and he told he had been wanting get one, but his family is not that rich. anna suggested to him to work and get a new board so they both can go for ride soon at the end.
i think anna is really nice. she never got mad at him. even though her board was kind of broken because of him. she was kind of sorry for him not having his own board. i hope he got a job after and got her board fixed somehow.

Carmel Reilly, (2007), Taking off, Thomson Learning Australia

[170 words]

News I found!

FIFA asked N.Korea to admit more visitors
Soccer’s world organizing body (FIFA) has written to North Korean soccer officials asking them to relax the limit on the number of Japanese media it has allowed to cover the national teams world cup qualifier against North Korea in Pyongyang on Nov.15, the Japan Football Association said.
The JFA on Saturday quoted the written request from the world soccer’s governing body as saying that the third round of world cup qualifiers is important and a game between the two countries that played at the 2010 World Cup was bound to generate a lot of media interest.
The request also said FIFA appealed to the North Korean soccer association to take extra measures for media covering national team games regularly, and hopes those measures match FIFA’s standards.
JFA　general secretary Kozo Tadashima last week said North Korea was only allowing less than half the number of Japanese journalists the association had requested.
The Japanese government is allowing supporters of the national team, along with accompanying press to visit Pyongyang to watch the match, an exceptional measure being taken by Japan, which has asked its nationals to refrain from visiting North Korea as part of sanctions imposed following North Korea’s missile launch in July 2006.

The Daily Yomiuri November 7, 2011(front page)

I watched the actual game on TV. I was so surprised to see all the north korean supporters. They were too organized. also i thought the Japanese people who went to the studium are crazy too. they all came back ok, but obviously it it not really safe there wearing Japanese team costume. I guess it was good to lost that game to save these people's lives.

[300 words]

BR6: Renovations

Jack was the only one who knows about the magic lamp and a genie. Gemini gave him a wish a day. but since the Gemini was really lazy, Jacks wishes never came true.
One night, he heard a noise from the lamp. so Jack rubbed the lamp. he wanted to ask what was going on with Gemini. then the grumpy Gemini showed up and told him he is renovating. Jack asked him to keep the noise down, because his mother is in downstairs. he said he does not care. 'only the owner of the lamp can see me.' he said.
in the morning, his mother asked him about the noise. but she found full of bricks and the room covered of dust. he just said he is interested in building stuff lately. right after his mother left his room, he rubbed the lamp and told Gemini not to mess his room. but he did not care at all. Jack wanted to Gemini to finish renovating. so he decided to wish for Gemini. after he wished for him, Gemini was so happy. it was his first time to see gemini so happy. then Gemini said 'so what do you want in return...?' Jack said 'stop being grumpy!' then Gemini said 'I am never grumpy' grumpily and left.

Carmel Reilly, (2007), Renovations, Thomson Learning Australia

[216 words]

BR5 : The Chalk Circle

At the lunch time, Amy left her mp3 player which she got for her birthday on the bench. Amy looked everywhere, but she could not find one. but on the way home, she saw Zae holding her mp3 player. she shouted at her 'hey! it is my mp3 player!' then the officer Day walked past. after she figured what was happening, she suggested them to get into the circle she drew by big chalk. then told them to pull the earphone as hard as they can. then the one pull the player out of the circle, the person can keep the mp3 player. but Amy worried about breaking it half, so she told Zoe to keep the player. then the officer said 'Amy can keep the player'. Zoe asked for reason. because Amy cares about the player more answered the officer. at the end of the story, Zoe told Amy that she is sorry.
i did not enjoy this story that much. i think Zoe could still care about the player. i wonder why did not the officer call their parents about the mp3 player. so Zoe's parents would have known what she has done.

Nicolas Brasch, (2007), The Chalk Circle, Thomson Learning Australia

[196 words]

my first class at the uni!

a few days ago, i had a class for イギリス事情. i took that class when i was in 2nd year. but this time, i was not a student there. i was asked to teach in that class by yoshida. he told me many students from that class are interested in England so he wants me to talk about england for 90 mins. i was not really sure that if i could talk about england for 90 mins. but since alex was here then, i thought it would make it easier. so i took alex there. and first 60 mins, i talked about my university life in england. especially everyone were interested in food. so i told them food there are really bad. i showed them many picture i took in england. since i had traveled around so many places in england, i had so many pictures. my favorite place i visited in england was York. i still remember i saw the most beautiful sun set ever there. i wish i can go back there someday. i also talked about cultural differences. i often feel cultural differences between me and alex, but i kind of enjoy it now. i used to feel bad when ever i find some kind of cultural differences, but i realized that i could actually enjoy it.
and after the class a lot of students came and asked me many questions about england and me and alex. it was really nice to talk to 1st year students. they told me that they actually want to hang out with exchange students more, but they feel awkward. so i invited them to the lounge this wednesday. i hope they will get comfortable there!

[283 words]

Tribute for YUKI

Hello everyone. Do you know the singer known as YUKI? She was in a popular band called ‘Judy and Mary’. Since the band broke up in 2011, she became a solo artist. I have been a big fan of her for more than 10 years. Today, I would like to talk about her life, her music, and why I think she is so great.
YUKI was born in Hokkaido. After she graduated from short term university, she started working as a tour guide. She met a guitarist, Kaito Onda, who changed her life completely. With his musical talent and YUKI’s unique style, they became really popular so quickly. They were one of the biggest bands in Japan in the 90’s. What I like about her is not just her unique style. When she was working as a tour guide, she had a nasty boss who did not treat her well. When she quit the job to be a singer, the boss laughed at her and told her ‘you can never be a singer. You are a normal person.’ Then Yuki replied ‘No, I will be a singer. In 5 years, I will be on TV shows everywhere and will be one of the most popular singers in Japan.’ 5 years later, true to her word she was actually on TV shows and became one of the most popular singers in Japan.
Her musical style is totally different from others. YUKI has a childlike voice. But her music has huge messages behind them. Sometimes it is about animal nature, human society and life. I really like the quirky style. Her songs are made of a mixture of innocence and maturity. Her music gave me power so many times when I was feeling down.
In 2005, her one year and 11 month old son died of an unknown illness. The night before her son died, she said good night and left him on the bed. In the morning she found him cold. She wrote a song for him called ‘long dream’. After that happened, her musical style changed completely. It was slow and sad. But after awhile, her smile and unique styled music came back.
I recently went to see YUKI performing live, and the experience is something I will never forget. At the end of performance, she stood on the center of the stage and said ‘Thank you for coming and being part of the stage tonight’ without microphone. That’s how she shows her appreciation for her fans.
She taught me a lot of stuff through her music. She also gave me the power when I needed it, and her songs taught me many things I needed for life. As I’ve been a huge fan of her, she is my hero and she always will be in my whole life.

[476 words]

MR-4: Camp rock

The story is about the main character, Mitchie Torres, who wants to be a singer and goes to a music camp for rich kids. Her family was not rich, but her mother managed to get a job as a caterer there so she was able to attend the camp. Then she made some friends and met famous singers.
I have watched this movie over 5 times with my American host family in America. My host sisters were huge fans of the Jonas brothers. I did not enjoy this movie that much. I think it’s a bad version of ‘High school musical’. The plot was awful. I could always guess what was going to happen next.
Since it was a music camp for rich kids, apparently, she lied about her family because of her pride. She wanted to get in to the group. It is too obvious that someone will discover the truth somehow. Her mother worked at the kitchen in the camp, so she also needed to help her. She needed to make more lies to make it sound real. I could not understand why would she lie about her family if she is proud of her family? Because of that part, I could not like Mitchie for rest of this movie.
Also the mean girl Tess suddenly turned into a sweet girl at the end for some reason. It just did not make sense. The characters were so stereotypical and I could not believe they were real people.
If I was the director of this movie, I would definately change the plot. I would not let Mitchie lie about her financial situation. I would also have more scenes to show how Tess had changed and why she became such a better person at the end. I also found the actress who played Mitchie to be bad for the part and not a very good singer, even though she was supposed to be the best singer in the camp. All the other people at the camp had been trained and had rich or famous families, but it didn't really seem to make sense. Why go to a camp for this kind of event? I think the camp and musical themes were popular at the time and that is why this film exists.

[384 words]