Falling love makes us more creative

This is a very interesting research!!!

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=does-falling-in-love-make

When you are in love, you think things more creative. According to the article, there are several experiments that support this theory.

I'm looking forward to hearing this following researches report soon!

refresh

I haven't played tennis these 5 weeks because I go to a library or prep school every weekend. But I realize that without playing tennis, I can't concentrate on studying well. Also, the lower back or the knees are starting to pain as if they want to do some exercise.

Although I take part in a yoga lesson almost every week, it is not enough for my body. Actually, after playing tennis, I felt refreshed. And I can concentrate on studying, maybe.

Tomorrow is Monday. That means another stressful week starts soon. But I'll manage to do that, because I played tennis today.

Action

The great end of life is not knowledge but action.

- Thomas Henry Huxley

Knowledge exists to be used to do something.
Knowledge itself is not the goal of life.

What I'm doing now is accumulating knowledge.
For what?
To do something important for the future.

However, it's too late to get knowledge just before I do something important, because getting knowledge takes a lot of time. In fact, studying English is a long way. Studying English is only one example. If you want to learn world history, it also takes you a lot of time. If you want to learn camera, it also takes you a long time although learning camera is interesting. As the proverb says, Roma was not built in a day.

The most important thing is to clear the goal. Then, accumulate knowledge for that.

the Sound of Nails on a Chalkboard

I found this article at the site of Scientific American.
The title of the article is 'the Sound of Nails on a Chalkboard.'

I suppose that everybody knows this sound. And I believe everybody hates it. Who likes such kind of sound?

But I'm very surprised with the fact that there are people who research this sound. The researchers have to hear this sound during experiments. If I were them, I couldn't bare at all.
Why do they choose to research this sound? There are many things they could choose. Their choices are really mysterious to me.

Last September

I clearly remember what I did last September.

First of all, I traveled to Finland and Estonia! I visited Helsinki, Tallinn, Rovaniemi, and Kilpisjarvi. Helsinki was a really beautiful city, with artistic buildings and trams. Tallinn was also a memorable town. It was the first time for me to walk such stone-paved streets. I felt pain in my ankle, though. In Rovaniemi, I met Santa Claus! To my surprise, he spoke Japanese. Honestly speaking, I don't want him to speak Japanese, because I thought he was fake... And in Kilpisjarvi, I trekked all the way to the three-country border. The atmosphere of Kilpisjarvi was so sacred that I thought of myself and many other things very seriously. I can say that it was a precious time.

Second, I visited some rural areas of Tokyo, such as Isumi, Koma, and so on. At that time, I worked hard to prepare for the photo exhibition with my fellows. We went to many places to take photos and also printed photos in the dark room. It was very tough but I'm satisfied with our work.

On the other hand, this year what am I doing?

Well, I took several tests, including TOEFL, TOEIC, and GMAT. I have a TOEFL test this weekend, too. What else? I often go to a library to study. I often go to the prep school to study.

Still, I enjoy something. For example, I met Swiss friend in Tokyo. I found an interesting second-hand bookshop. I eat tasty sweets.

What am I going to do next September? Let me see...

Tokyo Heritage Week 2009

If you're interested in Japanese traditional culture, or old buildings, you have good opportunities to have a look and learn a lot about them. Tokyo Heritage Week 2009 will begin on October 31th and will continue until November 8th.

Unfortunately, this event has no official English homepage. But maybe you can get some information, when you go to a public office near your house. Or if you have some Japanese friends, ask them.

Love is

Today, I bought this book on impulse.



The title of the book is 'Love is walking hand in hand' written by Charles M. Schulz.

What would you say if you are asked what love is for you?

There may be a various of answers.
My favorite song, 'The Rose', says, '...Love, it is a flower(razor etc.).'

In this book, the author shows many answers.
They are all simple, but persuasive.
(When your love becomes complex, that means your love is on the edge.)
For example, 'Love is hating to say good-bye', 'Love is being happy just knowing that she's happy...but that isn't so easy.' When I'm falling in love, I feel like that.

But I also think 'Love is to be honest in all you do.' This sentence is derived from my experience. What kind of experience is that? It's a secret.

Novel

I had a fever today, so I studied at home. I couldn't go out.

Before dinner, I looked at my bookshelf, and found a novel, 'Ryusei wagon.' I read this novel when I traveled to Hakodate this February. It has passed 7 months since then. I realized that I haven't read any novel these 7 months. It's quite unusual for me, because reading novels is one of my hobbies and usually I read at least 6 novels in a year.

I wish I had enough time to read novels. The novel I wanted to read most is '1Q84' written by Haruki Murakami. I like his book!

Sky

When I'm sad, I look up at the sky.

When I have trouble, I look up at the sky to find something.

When I'm happy, I look up at the sky.


It seems that I always look up at the sky. Maybe it's true.
It's because the sky is so big that I can find something I want in the sky.

The sky of Tokyo, where I live, is not so big because there are many buildings that cover the sky, but still I can see something that is vital for me. I have no idea what it is exactly. But it must exist.

Surely, the skies in the mountains or country sides are more attractive since few things object the skies. Also, in the night I can see a lot of stars, which I can't see well in Tokyo. So when I travel or go to the mountain, I often look up at the night sky. I think of a lot of things while watching stars. That's a precious time.

One day, I'd like to live some town where I can see massive sky all day long.

Serious situation

It seems that I'm in a serious situation on work. Everything doesn't work well this week. What happened to me in the world?

From Monday, my cellphone rings at 6:00 in the morning because the batch of the system fails every morning. I can't find out the cause of this failure. Usually, I can detect bugs or something within one day at most. But this time, it has already passed four days!

I want to study English more. I want to have time to write essays. I want to sleep more in the morning.

There is a more serious problem that was revealed today. This is really a serious problem. I know why this problem happened. But I don't know how to solve it. What should I do? I have to think about seriously, anyway.

But someday I'll solve these problems. Tomorrow is another day...

Depression

Why are they so depressed?
Who doesn't have any worries?
Everybody has his or her own worries.

I have a lot of worries, too.
But worries make me think of myself seriously.
In that sense, we ought to have a few worries.

But it is time to start solving some of the troubles.
I think I have too many troubles now.

Then, I want to be like him!

Is it for a customer?

I opposed my co-worker's questionable proposal. It had no merit for a customer. It might bring only trouble.

He told that we had to propose a change of the business process. But I believe not every change brings a good change. In political world, a lot of changes cause unrest.

Maybe he wants to make a large profit. But customers are not so stupid to accept such a proposal. Why do they pay a lot of money for making trouble?

This ridiculous argument will continue for a while. This means I feel much more frustration in the following few days. I'd like to convince him as soon as possible.

Goal

For what am I studying English now?

To get a good score in TOEFL or GMAT?

Absolutely no!

Then, to be accepted by business schools.

No.

Then, to get MBA?

No.

Then, for what?

To achieve my future goal, and ultimately to contribute to our society.

Sometimes, I tend to forget my real goal, because getting a good score in TOEFL or GMAT is kind of a great wall for me. But, my goal is not such a small thing. To keep this goal in mind must be the most important thing for me now.

Financial crisis

One year has passed since the global financial crisis began. Many people all over the world suffer from this crisis. And many governments insisted that they need strict regulations.

However, things don't work well. Some financial institutions have started money game again. Do they forget what happened a year ago? Does this mean another financial crisis will happen in the near future?

I believe we need something strong regulation to stop this trend. Otherwise, we fail again, and more and more people would suffer from more serious recession.

Invitation from Nicaragua

I got a letter from my foster child in Nicaragua.

In this letter she said,

"I would like to invite you to come to my country again and to my graduation because you are special friend to me..."

She is going to graduate from primary school this year.

I'd like to go and attend the graduation reception, but I haven't finished preparing to study abroad yet. When do I finish? Although I want to finish it as soon as possible, it will take a little more.

Where is the most attractive town in Japan?

According to the survey conducted by Brand Research Institute Inc., the most attractive town in Japan is Hakodate, Hokkaido Prefecture. The ranking is below.

No.1 Hakodate(Hokkaido)
No.2 Sapporo(Hokkaido)
No.3 Kyoto(Kyoto)
No.4 Yokohama(Kanagawa)
No.5 Kobe(Hyogo)
No.6 Otaru(Hokkaido)
No.7 Kamakura(Kanagawa)
No.8 Furano(Hokkaido)
No.9 Kanazawa(Ishikawa)
No.10Karuizawa(Nagano)

I'm not sure whether this survey is conducted fairly or not, but at least I agree with the ranking.

Sapporo is one of my favorite towns in Japan. I often visit there. Sometimes I go there to watch baseball games, because Sapporo is hometown of my favorite baseball team, Fighters. Also, Sapporo has a lot of things to see. For example, a zoo, parks, restaurants, and so on.

I like Hakodate, too. It was this February when I visit Hakodate last time. I enjoyed eating delicious food, and walking around the beautiful town.

And Otaru. Otaru is also my favorite town. I went there last October. Otaru is very cozy and nostalgic town. If you haven't visited there, you should.

Other than those Hokkaido towns, I love Yokohama, and Kobe. These two towns are port town. A lot of foreigners live in those towns for a long time. And I have to mention that these two towns have China Towns. I love China Town, because if I go China Town, I definitely eat something delicious. My most favorite food is egg tart.

I'm sure that there are so many attractive towns in Japan. When I finish preparing to study abroad, I want to visit some towns in Japan.

When I want to relax

This is one of my favorite songs.
The name of this song is Rainbow.



Also, I like this song.
I listened to this song when I first went to America.
It was when I participated our welcome party in New York.
One of the students there sang this song for us.
Very beautiful song it was.



These two songs are what I often listen to when I want to relax.

Nelke?

I got a letter from a company named Nelke Brains & Hearts inc.
I was not familiar with this company's name. Brains? Hearts? Some medical company?

As I opened it, I found this company is a production of GAMARJOBAT.

What's Garmarjobat? This is an explanation from their site.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ketch! -red mohican and HIRO-PON-yellow mohican both performed independently as mime soloists, and in 1999 they formed the duo that was meant to be- GAMARJOBAT, which means Hello in Georgian. Their performance transcends all cultural and language boundaries and they have created a great buzz wherever they performed, including invitations to more than 200 festivals in more than 25 countries around the world.
Their unique performance style is based on a dedication to well-crafted stage theatre works and hilariously energetic street performances.
GAMARJOBAT are highly regarded artists appreciated by audiences around the world and they spend half the year touring overseas. Also in Japan, their performances at events and on commercials and TV shows as well as various festivals and theatre shows have been highly praised and enjoyed by audiences of all generations.
They are selected as one of “100 respected Japanese in the world”from Newsweek Japan.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I saw their performance this spring. It was amazing! And, anyone can understand their performance because they don't speak any language on the stage.

By the way, the letter announced their 10th anniversary event in Tokyo. The event is going to be held 26th of November and 27th of November. I'm surely going to the event. I've already booked the ticket!

First try - GMAT

Today, I took GMAT test for the first time.
The result is below.

Q 48
V 27
AWA 4.5

Not so good, but not so bad as the first try.
But I want to get more score!!!

I should study more and more for the next test.

Preparing for studying abroad is like traveling.

Someone said, 'Life is like traveling.'

I agree with the statement.

But I also think that preparing for studying abroad is like traveling.

It is sure that preparing for studying abroad is a part of life. However, it's more than that.
Studying abroad is very important for me. I believe this will be the most vital part of my life.

Then, why is preparing for studying abroad like traveling.

First, it doesn't work out the way I want.
Second, there are a lot of troubles that block me.
Third, I meet a lot of people and we help each other.

Yes, these are the important elements of travel.

Now I feel anxiety because things don't work out the way I want and there are many troubles. But I have to keep trying. Fortunately, many people is trying for the same goal and many people support me. So, I have to stick to it.

Swiss night

Swiss friend came to Tokyo and we had dinner at Shibuya, with his Australian friend(Actually, she was not Australian but Japanese, though).

It was about four years ago that I met him. We stayed a same youth hostel in Sapporo. I was there to see baseball game. My favorite team, Fighters, was in the Japan Series. On the other hand, he was there to meet some Japanese girl.

Now, he is traveling around the world. Before he came to Japan, he visited Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, China, and so on. And he is going to leaver for China next week.

His story was interesting, because he saw many things that I didn't know. I want to travel like him before getting too old.

Mobile phone prohibited

Using a mobile phone in the office is prohibited from today, because of security concern. I work for an IT company, so our office has a lot of important data. Maybe our company think that someone will steal some of the data by using cell phones.

These days I think that the more advanced the technologies are, the more bans are made in our daily life. Technology makes our life inconvenient? Prohibition is the best way to avoid trouble?

I don't want 'advanced' life but more comfortable life.