funrick’s blog

I haven't had time recently to go to the movie theater, and anyway there haven't been any movies that I really wanted to see. But I did get a chance last weekend to see Gran Torino on DVD. Gran Torino is Clint Eastwood's latest movie; he directed it and starred. Many people think it might be his last movie, too, because he is now very old (79 years old). He has acted in and directed many movies. Do you know the Dirty Harry series?

Anyway, Gran Torino is about an old man, played by Clint, who lives in a neighborhood that used to be all-white but now has many Asians, including his next-door neighbors. Clint is very grumpy and appears to be hostile to his neighbors, to the point of racism. But as the movie progresses, he discovers that his neighbors are human beings just like him, and that in fact they have more in common with him than his own family does. I recommend that you check out this movie!

• Greece (especially the Greek Islands, of which there are more than 1400!)
  
• Finland (my brother used to live there)
  
• Italy (particularly Sicily, Sardinia, and Tuscany)

Italy has the 8th highest quality of life index score in the world. It's also known for its natural beauty and of course the great history of the Roman Empire. Greece is an even older civilization than Rome. Finland is a very cold country and it's dark for about 20 hours per day in winter, but it's very beautiful and the food looks interesting! (Try reindeer with lingonberry vodka and cheese!)

I like traveling and I used to travel quite a lot, although I haven't traveled much the last few years. The first country I visited was Germany; I went there three times when I was a secondary (junior high and high school) student. I also went to France for a homestay for a few weeks when I was a high school student, as well as visiting Paris for a week on a school trip. I also stayed in France for a year before I went to University.

At high school I liked languages very much, so at university I studied Chinese. We had to go to Shanghai to spend our second year. I enjoyed my stay in Shanghai, and while I was there I had many chances to travel around China. I went to Beijing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Kunming, Harbin, and Qiqihaer. My longest trip was from Shanghai to Kunming: it took 52 hours by sleeper train.

In my third year of University I went to the Netherlands. And since I came to Japan I have been to Hong Kong and South Korea.

Recently, there have been many international soccer matches. Through most of the world, there have been important qualifying matches for the 2010 World Cup. Japan has already qualified for the World Cup but Japan has had to play qualifying matches for the 2011 Asia Cup. It has also taken the opportunity to arrange friendly matches with teams that have also finished their qualifying campaigns, whether they failed or succeeded to qualify. Matches have included Holland, Ghana, Togo, and Scotland.

Japan lost 3-0 to Holland, and many journalists were very critical, but they won all the other matches, and there were many good signs. Finally, Japan appears to have 2 good strikers (Morimoto and Okazaki), and they also appear to be able to change the members while maintaining the system.

• Akihabara
• Fudougan
• Onnojou Park (map)

Akihabara is a famous district in Tokyo. Many people go there to buy electronic goods, because most of the stores are computer stores and electrical goods stores. It's not necessarily very cheap, but there is a big variety.

Fudougan is a park on the side of a mountain in Yamaga, Kumamoto Prefecture. It has three very attractive peaks.

Onnojou Park is in the Itsuwa area of the Amakusa archipelago, also in Kumamoto Prefecture. It's not as lively as it was shortly after construction, but it's very pleasant.

In today's class I want to make sure that everyone has a Vox blog and has become a member of the Human Habitat Group. Please ask for help if you haven't got a Vox blog or if you haven't been able to join the Group.

RECENTLY, I HAVE HAD A COLD. NOW THE COLD IS BASICALLY BETTER BUT I STILL HAVE A SLIGHT COUGH. THIS IS PROBABLY BRONCHITIS. i PLAN　to go to the doctor's this afternoon.

Don't you find the keyboard controls on these computers a little difficult. Just now, my computer went into CAPS LOCK mode but pushing the CAPS LOCK button didn't change anything. I found that I had to use the mouse to click on the CAPS mode in the bottom left of my screen. And sometimes, even though I don't remember touching the hankaku/zenkaku button, the computer switches to Japanese input. Maybe I touched it by accident?

Does everyone have lots of ideas for juppun ha juubun? Sometimes I don't know what to write about. But that's OK. It helps us to develop a stream of consciousness (Japanese version here)!

In the 1st class

Recently, I read two books, both in the Trickster series from Harcourt. According to the American Folklore web site,

A Trickster is a mischievous or roguish figure in myth or folklore who typically makes up for physical weakness with cunning and subversive humor. The Trickster alternates between cleverness and stupidity, kindness and cruelty, deceiver and deceived, breaker of taboos and creator of culture.

The first of these stories is about Jabuti the Tortoise, a story that comes from the Amazon region. It tells us how the toucan, macaw, and hummingbird got their bright colors, and why vultures can't sing.

The Raven story is from the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and tells us about the time when the world was dark and cold, and how it became lighter and warmer.

Raven is 593 words long, while Jabuti is 592 words long. And both books are quite simple. I recommend you give them a try, and perhaps look for other Trickster books.