Last blog

It is a little bit early to say goodbye! We have a lot of ALP events this week so have to enjoy parties!! I have been thinking about Pizza party!!

I am really happy to have studied with you. Section 3 is the best because the instructor and all students are the most beautiful and handsome in ALP !!(is this true?) I like you.　

皆が大好きだよ。お世辞じゃないぜよ。もちろんSean もだからね。

Ryoko

Although I am taking a lot of classes in ALP, I like Sean’s composition class the best. Frankly speaking, this class is one of the hard classes for me but I can tell this class is the most helpful because of two reasons.

Firstly, we learned a lot of different types of essays. Actually, at the begging of this semester, I had written only two or three types of essays so when I checked a course syllabus in the first class, I was really surprised. However, as we learned new essays and a research paper, I found that I came to read academic articles more easily. It means that writing essays and a research paper were unable me to improve not only my writing skills but also reading skills.

The most important reason I like this class is that we learned how to use database and refworks during the class. Even native students do not know refworks!! I will study next semester in this campus so it will be really helpful. Also, I had a lot chances to discuss my research paper with librarians so I came to know a lot of librarians. They also helped me a lot. However, almost all librarians remember my face so I sometimes feel embarrassed (this is serious!).
Learning how to use database and refworks saves our time when we write a paper, and I hope Sean continue to teach how to how to use database and refworks.

In this class, there are students who are really good at writing and grammar such as Sunny and Kurt. Personally, one of stressful academic tasks is witting a paper. As you know, my essay is sometimes miserable. However, they always encourage me mentally and checked my essays many times. I appreciate them and Sean.

Baraka

Baraka is the one of the philosophical and emotional movies I have ever seen. It describes people’s life, religion, nature, and so on, and I felt that the film makers try to convey the realistic world. Although I think that if he focuses on one subject, it will become a deeper and more sophisticated movie but I like this movie. The most impressive scene for me was three Japanese dancers.

They wore traditional cloth and danced with mysterious faces. Although I watched that scene again, I honestly cannot understand what they express. However, I think the dance is innovative because Japanese traditional dances attach importance to a posture. It means that straightening their backs is really important. Also, usually they dance with expressionless faces. Nonetheless, the dancers are really relaxed and they danced with mysterious faces. Probably people who are not Japanese believe that is a Japanese traditional dance but I believe that the dance is modern and progressive. I had never seen such a soft dance so I was impressed.

Baraka is actually esoteric for me but I think watching Baraka was a good opportunity because I had never watched a silent movie. I will find a next impressive movie!! 　

Confucius Quote

I really like Confucius’s words because he broadens our outlook and gives us chances to live lively. "Find a job that you love doing and you will never have to work a day in your life." This quote means that when people get a job we love, we enjoy the job and enhance our life. I hope I will find a vocation. However, human minds are not simple.

My job is a student like you. I definitely love to study my major and I have strong passion for my study but I often feel stressful and disoriented. I do not know the reason. Furthermore, sometimes I lost my confidence and I become seized with disquiet even though I study what I like. Thus, I do not agree with this quote. Probably this quote indicates people’s desire.

Personally, I have been seriously depressed and I have not wanted to do anything for a month. To forget my boy friend, I cut my hair, focused on study, and spent time with my nice friends. However, I still cannot change my mind and regain my passion. Everyday I am sad. Also, to tell the truth, I do not know what I want to study and what I should do. However, I decided to keep my study to get a job that I will love in the near future!!




Kurt and sunny

Anticipating your Parents' Objections - marriage

Dear Mom and Dad,

As I told you, I really want to marry him and I can not live without him. You always respect my opinion and my choice so I really appreciate your understandings everyday. However, I can not give up my true love.

I totally agree with that I have a lot of chances to meet kind and handsome men in the future because I am young. Nevertheless, you do not need to worry about my study because after I met him, I have maintained high grade. Whenever I see him, I really feel comfortable. What is more, he makes me happy and relaxed. Even though I am depressed, his smile encourages me to concentrate on my study. Therefore, I can keep a good record. Furthermore, although you are concerned with his character because you have never met him before, he is really sincere and sophisticated. I had never seen such a perfect man. I believe that you are happy now because you found a best partner and married. I want to share happiness with him like you. I think that when you got married, you might have felt this emotion. He complements me and I have a confidence to support him forever. Thus, I hope you understand my passion.

Ryoko

Kurt, mai, and Ann

Analyzing argument

Daily titan editorial staff. (2009). Editorial: the price of beauty. The Daily Titan. Retrieved April 12, 2009, from http://www.dailytitan.com/opinion/editorial-the-price-of-beauty-1.1629265

The writer (2009) argues that although Cal State Fullerton concentrates on making campus beautiful to attract a lot of attention such as an improvement of the east and west field, increasing student fees for campus beautification is a wrong idea. He or she uses the “Pathos” and “Logos”, and tries to convince all students in CSUF that instead of using student fees for campus beautification, the university should allocate money for increasing summer classes. In fact, seniors graduating in August of 2009 are limited to take only 10 units because of budget cut (par.9). What is more, they are hard to enroll summer classes owning to the number of students in CSUF (par.11). It means that there is a possibility that some students will delay their graduation. Therefore, the writer believes that the university needs to think twice about how to use student fees.


Kurt, Anna, and Mai

Summary

Debbie, Cafazzo. (2009, March 27). Baby sign: parents can communicate with babies by teaching them sign language. The Wenatchee World. Retrieved March 29, 2009 from http://wenatcheeworld.com/article/20090327/FAM/703279984/0/ARTS12?Baby-sign--Parents-can-communicate-early-with-babies-by-teaching-them-sign-language.

Cafazzo (2009) reports that the use of American Sign Language (ASL) is beneficial to babies. It means that even though a vocal area in a baby’s brain has not developed adequately, he or she can communicate with their parents and friends using sing language. Utilizing sign language contributes young children to develop their language ability and keep their emotion stable. Also, compared with the children who did not learn sings, the children who acquired the skill have richer vocabulary.

These pictures are one of the sings....

The first child expresses "awake"

The next baby indicates"eat"

First sources - Intercultural conflict

I found two sources about my topic ....

Frost, J, H., and Wilmot, W, W. (1978). Interpersonal conflict. Dubuque, IA: WM.C. Brown
Ting- Toomey, S and Chung, C, L. (2005). Understanding intercultural communication. Los An geles, CA: Roxbury publishing company.

Joyce Hocker Frost and William W. Wilmot mention that there are four factors of interpersonal conflicts: “an expressed struggle, perceived incompatible goals, perceived scarce rewards and interdependence and independence” (indivisalism and collectivism). Firstly, when people express emotion, conflict occurs. For instance, when one party does not agree with the other, and when a student insists this class is futile in a class, people often experience goals. I think when a party communicates with the party who has a different cultural back ground. Secondly, they argue that different goal issues are attributed to conflict. Also they mention three different types of goals: content goals, relational conflict goals, and identity based goals. The third set of factors is perceived scare resources. Ting- Toomey, S and Chung, C, L classified two kinds of perceived scare resources and named tangible resources such as money and water and intangible resources such as love, esteem, power, and respect. From Joyce Hocker Frost and William W. Wilmot’s research, they found that if people lack the power and esteem, they are easy to get involved in conflicts. Lastly, personally I believe that the most important factor of intercultural conflicts is interdependence and independence (individualism and collectivism). Also, Ting- Toomey, S and Chung, C, L. state cultural value patterns such as individualism and collectivism often make our basic idea and appropriate behavior. If we contact other people who are belong to different culture types, there is a high possibility to clash with each other.

In my research paper, I want to focus on the factor of intercultural conflicts. I agree with Joyce Hocker Frost and William W. Wilmot’s opinion. However, I want to emphasize interdependence and independence” (indivisalism and collectivism).Thus I will find other sources which are related to interdependence and independence” (indivisalism and collectivism). Writing research paper is not easy but I believe that this is a good chance to deepen our knowledge!!!

sunny and mai

impressive advice for me

Although I have never given good advices, I have gotten a lot of inputs. However, one of the most impressive advices for me is “be insensitive.” I extracted this advice from a famous philosophical book published in Japan about two years ago. According to the author, Japanese are so sensitive to anything so we need to be more insensitive, and we do not care about what people say.

Actually, in 2004, 32,325 Japanese committed suicide. The author mentions that the reason a lot of people kill themselves is Japanese are so busy and we care about other people too much. It means that Japanese are sensitive. I think that this is somewhat true. If we are so busy, we become sensitive to everything because we cannot take enough time to relax and we care about what people say and think too much. Therefore, they feel stressful and they finally kill themselves. Probably, Japanese are not good at relieving their stress. However, if people become insensitive to other people, notice the importance of their existence, and admit their individuality, we will reduce stress and live more lively. Thus, ‘”be insensitive” is important

Also, he states that the first step to be insensitive is that Japanese need to express their opinion directly and honestly. In this respect, I agree with him. I believe that compared with other Asians such as Korean and Taiwanese, Japanese are humble and hide their true opinions. Even though I am Japanese, it sometimes makes me confused and frustrated when I talk with Japanese. I believe if we tell our opinions honestly, we will communicate with other people smoothly.

The author’s opinion is so complex; however, I was really impressed. What do you think Japanese are more sensitive? How about your countries? I think almost all Japanese might disagree his advice and do not follow his advice but I think it is an interesting idea.

Kurt and Sunny

research paper! yeah!!

My major is Intercultural communication and I focus on studying culture. Actually, studying intercultural communication is not so popular……. However, I believe that studying culture is important because of globalization in these days. Therefore, my research paper will discuss one of the most intercultural communication topics, nonverbal communication.

Many professors estimate that “about 65 percent is inferred through nonverbal channels in every encounter”. It means that we depend on nonverbal communication such as a gesture unconsciously in daily life. Sometimes it is stronger than verbal communication. For example, although you make a big mistake in your company, your boss does not shout at you but he just stares at you seriously. I think you probably feel scared and stressful. In this situation, nonverbal communication is stronger than verbal communication. Furthermore, gestures are different among counties. For example, when Chinese counts from one to ten, they count the number with one hand. It is really impressive for me.

I have not decided supporting details at all but I think this is a good opportunity to deepen my knowledge about nonverbal communication. Also, I think that my topic is interesting for you so if you have chance, can you become my peer editor? Be careful !! my English ability is surprisingly terrible!! HAHAHA!!


sunny and kurt

Are Japanese foods healthy?

Some people have negative images about American foods because they think that American foods are high calories and somewhat oily. Also they think Asian foods are healthier than American food. However, I do not think that it is always true.

Actually Japanese foods contain a lot of salt. Although the body only requires salt about 200 mg a day, the average Japanese consumes 4500 mg salt per day. This number is the highest in the world! Why do Japanese consume a lot of salt? I guess that Japanese foods are often seasoned with soy sauce and fermented soybean paste which is called MISO. These seasonings contribute us to eat a lot of salt. From my experience, I have never eaten salty foods since I came to America……….

Furthermore, consuming a lot of salt causes cancer. The number of people who develop cancer is the largest in the world. Japanese doctors and scientists reported that this is related to our eating habit. Not only cancer but also high blood pressure is also a serious problem in Japan. This is also linked to our traditional diet styles.

With these reasons, I think that Asian foods are not always beneficial for our health. However, In Japan, life expectancy of people is more than 85 years! Foreigners think that Japanese foods make our health but I think that there are other reasons.


Kurt, Sunny, and Y.

I believe that this quote indicates that an optimist tries to find positive aspects spontaneously in daily life, and a pessimist tries to see negative aspects involuntarily. I think that I am really a positive thinker, and I like my positive and optimistic ideas and behavior. Although some people state that optimists are careless, and they are not practical, I strongly believe that optimistic attitude is better than pessimist attitude.

Optimists can encourage me. Whenever I am depressed, I try to talk with optimists because they usually look on the bright side. Also, they try to overcome problems, and resolve difficulty. Therefore, they make us relieve our stress. Optimists have a splendid power!! However, negative thinkers and pessimists often make me frustrated because they do not try to change terrible situations. They just lament how they are sad.

Our life is not flat so we face difficulty and troubles many times but we have to overcome these situations. Therefore, we need to be optimists. Yesterday I read a Japanese magazine. It said that popular men and women are usually optimists. It means that if we become an optimist, we will have chance to get handsome and beautiful lovers!! Everyone let’s smile!

Ryoko and Hiromi

I think that my best friend is Hiromi. She is my younger sister. We are really busy so I have not talked with her for a while. However, I believe that our relationship is rather a sister than a best friend. When I compare with her, we have some similarities.

Firstly, we are interested in culture and language. My major is Intercultural Communication so I am really interested in cultures, and I really like to study English because studying English makes me a man with a broad outlook. Also Hiromi’s major is culture. She is in Spain, and she is studying Spanish culture and language.

Next similarity is that the type of men we like is exactly uniform! Whenever I watched her boyfriend, I feel scared because he looks like my ex boyfriend. We like the man who has big and round eyes and a high-bridged and shapely nose. I have to avoid having an affair with her boy friend and her husband in the future. Hahaha!

Finally, the color and the clothes we like are similar. We really like shocking pink and red. Also, a few years ago, we went shopping separately but we bought same clothes and shoes. All clothes and shoes are similar…. However, I believe that my sense of beauty is superior to her sense!

I love her so much. However, I sometimes want to have another sister who is completely different from my character and taste…………

Doraemon

I have been wanted to be good at memory work so I would like to have the ability to remember anything which I listen and learn such as vocabulary, people’s names, and telephone numbers! I strongly believe that everyone wants this ability. Probably, only the special robot helps us.

Have you ever watched Doraemon? It is one of the most famous cartoons in Japan, and it is broadcasted more than 30 countries so I guess you know this character. He has a lot of special tools in his four-definitional pocket! I think that the best tool is “Ankipan”. This is a loaf of bread but if you write words which you want to remember on this bread and eat it, you can remember these words!! For example, if you eat this bread before a test and quiz, you do not need to study!

However, one of Doraemon’s friends, Nobita, ate Ankipan too much before his test so he became sick and he missed a test. What a sad story! In Japan, scientists and engineers are approaching a big project to make new robots, and their final goals are to make a real Doraemon!! This is not a joke, and they deal with this project seriously!! Anyway, I am looking forward to meeting a real Draemon, and I need “Ankipan”as soon as possible!!

Talking with animals?

I like this kind of imaginative question! If I talked with animals, I would ask two questions to animals. These questions are “Can some birds talk with people without special ability?” and “Do you have a hobby?”

The reason I want to ask whether animals can talk with human beings is related to my miraculous experience. When my cousin was two years old, he suddenly said “Ryoko! the bird on the tree wants to drink water”. I felt so strange. Then I asked him why he thought that the bird needed water. He said “the bird asks me to bring water ”. At first time, I though he made fun of me but he kept speaking seeing the bird; what is more, the bird also twittered! Since this day, I have had a question that whether birds can communicate with children or people.

Furthermore, I want to know how animals relieve stress. People play sport, watch movie, and eat delicious foods when they are stressed out. We know that many ways to reduce stress. However, I am wondering that they feel stressful like people. If they control their desire and emotion, I want to know how they control their feelings.
I think that relationships among people are often complex, and it is troublesome. Moreover, stress of relationship sometimes attributes people to a serious disease. If we have ability to talk with not only humans but also animals, we become crazy! (a sarcastic opinion?)






Sunny, Kurt and patty

She

I think that everyone likes songs, and everyone has special songs. I often listen to Japanese pop and I really love it but my favorite song is an English song. I would like to introduce my favorite and a romantic song.

Have you ever watched “Noting hill”? It is a really heart-warming movie and my favorite song, She, is used in this movie. This music is also romantic since the singer, Elvis Costello, whose low voice is so sexy, and I am all charmed by his voice whenever I listen to this song. Furthermore, he composed the song for the movie “Noting Hill” and he describes women’s beauty and how men need women. In addition, the word is straightforward so it is easy to understand. I believe that all girls in the world love this song. Boys! I recommend presenting your girl friend this song.

Notting hill is a real place and it is located in London. After I watched this movie, I had wanted to visit there. Finally, last year I went to there by myself. As I had imaged, it was really beautiful, and Notting hill is the best place in my life. If I have a chance, I want to visit there again. Now I have another dream, when I hold a wedding party in the future, I want to use this song as background music. Oh! I have to find a handsome, rich, kind man! Ha ha ha!

If you do not know this song, check this site!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHUt47afvEA



Sunny, Kurt

It was a beautiful day! and It was a marvelous date?

I really like a sunny day. When there is not a speck of cloud, I am really happy and comfortable. November and December in my hometown are always months of beautiful weather although temperature is low. There a reasons I like a suuny day.

Clear skies remind me of a first date on Christmas day. When I was a junior high school student, I had a date with my first boyfriend. It was a really beautiful day and there was not a speck of cloud. Although we went to an aquarium which is the largest in my hometown, we did not talk each other at all because we were so nervous. Although I did not talk with him, I really enjoyed spending time with him. However, few hours later, I got separated from him in the crowd. Though I looked for him, I could not find out him because the aquarium was so large and there were a lot of people. In addition, we did not have a cell pone. Therefore, I decided to come back house alone……

I don’t know where he is now but whenever I see a blue sky, it reminds me of funny first date and this memory makes me fun and happy. Therefore I like a blue sky.

Writing an essay and Saying " I love you"

One of my malicious American roomies said “Ryoko is dynamic and powerful so you are not seized with fear.” However, I am very scare of writing an essay and saying “I love you.”

First of all, I am fear writing an essay. Writing an essay is significant to international students because this is one of the most important methods to express our ideas clearly. However, for me it is so stressful because we need to use correct grammar, vocabulary, collocation, and so on. We have to pay attention to a lot of points. Furthermore, writing an essay needs a long time because of research. Research is so troublesome. It is so hard to find a books and journals which I exactly want. Research often makes me irritated. Nevertheless, I came here to get degree so I have to overcome this fear…...

The next is philosophical. I am scare of saying “I love you.” This word makes me so nervous. I am very straightforward so I like to express my opinion and I believe that express our feeling is valuable but I can’t say this short word. In my culture, the younger generation often use this word. However, I am worried that “I love you” become a cliche (a cheap word). I strongly believe that the meaning of “love” is so deep and only some people can understand the true meaning of “love”. Whenever I hear “I love you” or “Ai shit te ru”(this meaning is “I love you” in Japanese ) I feel strange.

What do you think?

Transportation system

There are a lot of car companies in Japan such as TOYOTA, MATUDA, NISSAN, HONDA, SUZUKI, MITUBISHI, and so on. However, there are also wonderful transportation systems in Japan.

In Tokyo, people often use subways and buses. It is said that people who live in Tokyo do not need have opportunities to use cars. The biggest difference between America and Japan is that trains run on schedule! Trust me!! I am pound of this. When you visit Tokyo, you should not need to use taxis!! You can go anywhere using a bus and subway. Be careful! In some countries, a taxi fare is cheap. However in Japan, a taxi fare is so expensive that I have never used a taxi in my life yet.

I think that using car is so convenient; however, we should use buses and subways as possible as we can to prevent air pollution but my hometown is Nagoya. There is a head office in TOYOTA and I strongly support TOYOTA. I recommend using buses and subways but in California it is difficult so I highly recommend buying cars made by TOYOTA!!

RYOKO FUNABASHI

Dear friends,

My name is Ryoko Funabashi. I came from Japan, Nagoya. My major is Intercultural Communication and I want to be a teacher who teaches Japanese in the future. Also, as you know, I am passionate about everything so some people often say that your character is not typical of Japanese. What do you think? Although my character sometimes makes me tired and confused, I like myself. I will introduce my strength and weakness.

My strength is that I am diligent. I never come to class late. In addition, I am take part in classes actively and insist my opinion every time. The next strength is that I am positive. Even though I run into troubles and difficulty, I believe I can handle troubles; in other words, I always try to see bright side. Final strength is that I often smile. Even though I am sad, I try to smile because Smiling makes people happy and combatable. I think when we smile, fortune smiles on people.

I also have a lot of weaknesses….

My weakness is that I can’t manipulate machines such as a computer, a washing machine, and a microwave. Whenever I touch machines, something happens. In addition, I often speak loudly. My American roomy always says “Ryoko does not need a microphone in your life!!” she is malicious isn’t she? The most serious weakness is that I am very outspoken. I often regret what I had said. I need to think twice before speaking out!

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses like me. I want to know your strengths and weaknesses; I want you to know my character. Any way I am really happy to study with you!