New experiences

By Saori Kaita

I had a precious time and valuable experiences in Fort St. John, Canada.
First of all, I’ll tale about college life. I thought English grammar wasn’t difficult to study for me because I’ve been studying it hard before I came here but it wasn’t true. It was very difficult to learn it in English. For example, I can explain it in Japanese. On the other hand, I can’t do it in English. So I mean that it was hard to come up with English words.

Next, Michael and Pamela are good teachers. I learned many important things from them, especially in pronunciation. It is difficult to pronounce R and L for Japanese people. I practiced it very hard.

Then, I’ll talk about my host family. My host mother’s name is Misty and her daughter’s name is Brianna. They are always kind to me at any time. Misty really likes cooking and Bri really likes playing gymnastics. I think they are busy on weekdays because Misty leaves home at 7a.m. and comes back home at 4 or 5p.m. Bri plays gymnastics from after school to 8p.m. However, they always have a smile on their face when they are talking with me.

I enjoyed playing board games, sliding, watching TV and movies, going shopping and so on. And it was a great time for me on December 6th. My friends gave me a cake, birthday card and song. Also, my host family gave me another cake. They were hiding that. I was so happy, so I shed tears. It was the greatest birthday in my life. I deeply appreciate their kindness.

Finally, I’ll talk about Fort St. John, Canada. It was too cold for me. I had never experienced over -20 degrees before I came here. My hair and eyelashes were frozen. I was so surprised and I couldn’t believe it, but I think I could experience it fortunately because I can’t do it in Japan.

Let me add a few words in conclusion. I had many great experiences her, so I want to say “Thank you very much” to my host family, teachers, friends and parents. I’ll never forget it. Many thanks.

My Hometown

By Jin

My hometown name is WuYi Shan of FuJian, China. It is 2798 square kilometres. There are many small mountains. There are many interesting stories and historical facts, such as XiunGuang DaHongPao, the famous city XiaMen is south of my hometown and 500 kilometers from my hometown.

There are some colleges and universities in my hometown. There are many shops in the city. It's a World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site.

There are many interesting things to do and see, such as by the bamboo boat, climb mountains, Qinglong waterfall, nature park, and so on. The people of my hometown are all friendly. It is warm and humid and it seldom snows. Its average temperature is 17 degrees so it is very cool.

Book Review: The Nightmare Game

By Austin Au

I’m going to talk about a sad story, The Nightmare Game. This story talks about a sad time in Canada in 1970. In that year, the Quebec residents wanted to run their province themselves. They wanted to kick the other people out of the province. For a long time, the English Canadians ran Quebec. They ran many factories. They ran the banks. Some of the people in Quebec got angry. A few people in Quebec formed the FLQ. They wanted to make the government sit up and listen. The FLQ wanted to free Quebec.

On October 5, 1970, the FLQ kidnapped James Cross. James Cross was the British Trade Commissioner in Montreal. They demanded from the Government many things. They wanted the government to free 23 prisoners. They wanted a lot of money, and they wanted a plane to Cuba or Algeria. For sure, the government would not deal with them.

Then on October 10, Pierre Laporte was kidnapped. Pierre Laporte was a member of the Quebec government. The FLQ kidnappers made the government know again. The government might be ready to talk about freeing the 23 prisoners, but only if it was sure that James Cross and Pierre Laporte would be set free. Unfortunately, the talks broke down.

On October 16, the federal government put the Emergency War Measures Act into force. The police could now pick up anybody who might have had anything to do with the FLQ. It was the worst time for Canadians.

In the end, Pierre Laporte lost his life. James Cross lost his freedom, and the government lost a lot of support. Finally, the police closed in on the kidnappers. The FLQ knew they were cornered.

Everybody lost something in the Game. The FLQ got only one of their demands granted: the plane to Cuba.

Why did I choose this book? Because I don’t think in Canada, this peaceful place, also has some bad things that would happen at any time.

Stabalization of Nuclear Power.

By Peter Bae

Nuclear Power is so safe. I had worked at a manufacturing company for three years. This company makes Nuclear Power Plant’s equipment – auxiliary generator system, debris filter, condensate tube cleaning system, strainers and filter of variety , hangers and supports for pipe. I want to talk to you from purchasing of materials to set up of the products. I show you how to manage the products. So, I’ll introduce manufacturing, testing, and arranging of Nuclear Power Plant’s equipment.

Manufacturing is started by contracting with a customer. If we pass the price tendered from the customer, we’re starting to work on a project. First, I receive the Job Order from the business part of my company, which includes the price of the contract, the term of the contract, who my customer is, what my customer’s requirements are, what equipment I make, and so on. After the technical team draws the equipment by Computer Aided Design(CAD), and the drawing is followed by Nuclear Power Codes(NPC), the team gives the list of materials to the Purchase Team. The Purchase Team also buys all materials following by the NPC. When the materials come into the company, the Quality Assurance(QA) Team inspects that by the NPC. And then the materials are moved to the Manufacturing Team. This Team checks quality and quantity of the materials, then these are moved to the workplace for manufacturing. Workers make the equipment following by the NPC and the drawing. The QA team inspects the equipment everyday. Even if workers make mistakes on something, I don’t need to worry about it. We can find some problems when the QA Team inspects the equipment. Although we can’t find some mistakes, we will find some problems in the process of tests.

Testing is most important for identification of performance. We test differently for importance of the equipment. Tests are divided into visual, pressure, pneumatic, magnetic, ultrasonic inspection, and final tests are painting and visual inspection. When we do the test, almost all my customer’s inspectors attend to the testing place. We also do the test following by the NPC. We set the maximum value of pressure by the NPC. If we didn’t success the test, we must check specifically the equipment until we find problems. If we find some problems quickly, we test it again. If we need a lot of time to find the problems, we make an appointment with my customer when we’re going to meet. After a few days, we meet and test again. If we will pass some kinds of tests, we can move to the equipment to the next process. The next process is Painting. First, workers remove the rust by sand blasting. Second, they paint on the equipment by the NPC. We should wait for the equipment until it’s completely dried. And we will pack the product following by customer’s requirements. We ship the product to the place of shipment.

If our scope is manufacturing and testing, Arranging is the customer’s scope. So we can’t involve the equipment’s arranging, but we check the construction field day after day. Sometimes we visit the construction field to check that they’re arranging the equipment correctly and following by the NPC.

The government makes a decision to establish a Nuclear Power Plant(NPP) for increasing electric power. Many companies are involved to in manufacturing each other’s equipment for the NPP. My company is one of the companies to be able to make Nuclear Power equipment. We need a month to make equipment or sometimes we need over a year. It depends on the equipment’s importance. We should spend more lots of money and time to inspect the NPP’s equipment to compare with the other Power Plant. Because of the stabilization is connected by to people’s lives.

I explained the process of the NPP. We do inspect and test to the equipment step by step and very carefully. So, I am convinced of the stabilization of the NPP.

Causes of Heart Disease

By Irasema Tirado

Heart diseases affect so many people that it has become a serious concern for medical science. The heart is a complex organ that is vulnerable to hereditary as well as environment risks. Cardiologists think of these risk factors as either major or minor causes of heart disease. There are 5 major causes and 3 minor causes.

The first major cause of heart disease is the family history; you are at a higher risk for developing heart disease if your parent or your grandparents have had it. The second major cause is high blood pressure; this one causes the heart to work too hard and can damage arteries. The third major cause is high cholesterol levels; this is dangerous because fatty deposits build up in blood vessels. The fourth major cause is Diabetes; this one can lead to hardening of the arteries and heart attack. The last major cause of heart disease is smoking cigarettes; smokers are two or three times more likely to have a heart attack than nonsmokers.

The first minor cause of heart disease is being a type “A” personality, which means that you are easy stressed, competitive, aggressive, and intense. The second cause is having a sedentary lifestyle; this is when you don’t do enough exercise. The third and last minor cause is obesity. Obesity is a person who is extremely overweight and doesn’t have a good diet.

After knowing the major and minor causes of heart diseases the only thing we can do is avoid the facts that put in risk you heart. To lessen the risks of heart disease are: Don’t smoke. Nicotine raises your blood pressure because it causes your body to release adrenaline, which makes your blood vessels constrict and your heart beat faster. Control your blood pressure. If you have high blood pressure, your doctor can suggest ways to lower it. If you're taking medicine for high blood pressure, be sure to take it just the way your doctor tells you to. Do exercise. Regular exercise can make your heart stronger and reduce your risk of heart disease. Eat a healthy diet. Add foods to your diet that are low in cholesterol and saturated fats, because your body turns saturated fats into cholesterol. Try to keep in clam. Remember that if you are aggressive, intense, stressful and competitive help to have a heart diseases.

The Macau Tower

By Elise Chan

The Macau Tower was built 9 years ago. The builder is the Gorden Moller team. It is almost 1109 feet in height. And the Macau Tower has many facilities, such as a revolving restaurant with two tiers, and exhibition and meeting facilities, and you can gamble also at machines in the Macau Tower.

Also, the Macau Tower has many recreation facilities, like bungy jumping, sky jumping, mast climb and sky walk. Bungy jumping and sky jumping are my favorite diversions at the Macau Tower.

Book Review: Girl Against the Jungle

By Anna Kim

This book is Girl Against the Jungle. The author is Monica Vincent. This story is about a girl in the jungle. It was Christmas Eve. Suzanne was with her mother at the Lima Airport in Peru. And she was aboard the plane. The plane took off and started to climb up into the sky. She looked out of the window. The sky was very dark. Then the rain started, and there was a flash of lightning. The plane started to spin. A bright yellow flame flashed out of the right wing of the plane.

She was wet and cold. “Where was I?” She could still feel her seat belt and she was still in her seat, but she wasn’t in the plane. She could see the jungle very clearly.

Suzanne’s father waited for his wife and daughter. He looked at his watch. The plane was very late. He sat close to the loudspeaker and listened carefully to the news. He heard a man’s voice: “This is the news. There have been terrible storms today. The 7:30 plane from Lima to Pucallpa took off late this morning. It crashed in the jungle this afternoon. There was 80 passengers on the plane. We are looking for the plane but we don’t know.”

He turned the radio off and he thought about his wife and his daughter. In the end, he went to bed, but he couldn’t sleep.

The rain hit her face. “I must get up and find my mother,” she thought. But she couldn’t get up.

She knows the jungle, so she was not afraid.

“Where is my mother? Where are the other passengers? Where is the plane?”
But her head felt strange and she couldn’t think clearly.
Night came suddenly.

And she woke up early the next morning and got up, but she still felt strange.
“It’s Christmas Day, and I’m in the jungle. The plane crashed, but I’m still alive.”
She thought about her home and her parents. “Dad’s waiting for us at home. I must find the way home.”

She started to walk. She took four or five steps but the world started to spin again.
“What am I going to do? I must find a river. I must not stop,” she thought.
Perhaps there were snakes or poisonous spiders under the leaves. She wasn’t afraid and she didn’t feel any pain, but she was very tired. Sometimes she saw fruit in the bushes and on the trees.

“I was a lucky girl. I am still alive. Now I must find the way home,” she thought.
Then she woke up very late the next morning. The sun was high in the sky, so she got up quickly and started to walk along the bank of the stream. She could smell dead bodies. She was afraid.

“Are all the other passengers dead?” she thought. “A, I alone in the jungle?”
She started to walk along the bank.

Suzanne’s father tried to work. He was alone. His wife and daughter were dead so he only had his work. It was eight days since the crash. Men flew over the jungle for three days but they didn’t find the plane. People can’t live in the jungle after a plane crash.

Suzanne had to lie down, so she looked for a safe place. She saw a boat in the river.

“Some hunters have come here,” she thought. “Perhaps the hunters will come back soon.”

Suddenly she heard men’s voices. “Hello!” a man shouted. “Who’s sitting there? Who are you?”

“Hello,” she said weakly. “I’ve lost my way home. I was in a plane. It crashed on Christmas Eve. I fell from the sky and now I’m trying to find Pucallpa. My father is waiting for me.”

“Come on,” said the hunters. “We must find a doctor.”

They washed her and gave her some food. Then they took her to the boat.
She was very weak and very tired. but she felt happy.

She lay between cool white sheets. Her father came into the room. He cried. And she felt tears in her eyes.

“I know,” he said, “but you’re still alive.”

“My mother really is dead,” she thought and her eyes filled with tears. For the first time sine the crash she started to cry.

A Story about a Plane Crash

By Young Dae Jang

This story is about my host father.

One September 17, 2008, Bob Burdge had a singing group. Group members are Bob, Werner, Esther, Mallory, and Brian. Simetimes, they traveled to other cities. They usually took a car or a bus, but on that day, they took an airplane. That was the third time they took the plane. Werner flew the airplane.

The singing group went to Medicine Hat, Alberta. After they performed in a show, they planned to come home. They got on the plane. The plane stayed up about 8 minutes and suddenly hit the trees and it directly crashed into the South Saskatchewan River because the right hand engine was not working.

After a few minutes, all members in the group were seriously injured by this airplane accident. The pilot, Werner, banged his face against the dash. His nose was broken and his lower lip was bleeding because of his teeth.

Mallory also banged his head against the window of the plane, and he was bleeding from his head.

Bob severely dislocated his left and right foot bones and ankles. He had to stay in the hospital for six days in Calgary, Alberta. Now he still can’t use his legs freely and had to use a wheel chair for two months.

Fortunately, all the members are ok now.

How to Annoy Your Parents

By Mika Nakasako

Have you ever annoyed your parents? Maybe many children have done and thought how to annoy them. It is not good for you, but it is very interesting and exciting for you to do that. It means you are a bad boy or girl if you annoy your parents, but it is as necessary to do as knowing how to be polite. Trying to annoy them is educational to grow up. There are several steps involved in annoying your parents.

First, you need to break rules. It is important to obey rules, but it is easy to break them and annoy your parents. For example, you need to go to school every day and study, but you skip school or a class without permission. Then teachers worry about you, and they call your parents about your absent. Your parents will be upset that you do not go to school or a class. Moreover, you stay out beyond a closing time every time. It is very important to obey because your parents always think about you whether you are safe or not.

The next step is to behave very rudely. Screaming, shouting, acting up and so on look so crazy and strange, but these are good ways to annoy your parents. It makes them angry because they raise you not to be impolite in a society. Maybe they are disappointed in you and feel somewhat ashamed. For instant, you eat ugly when you have a meal with your parents. It makes your parents open their mouths and breathe quickly. They might think where you learn how to eat finely and who teach you how to eat beautifully. They are confused about you and have headaches. Your parents are so sad, but you are excited to do this.

Then, you should steal money from your parent’s wallet and waste money. Using money uselessly is interesting for you, but your parents feel unhappy. Many children do not often steal money, but devious children may do this. Almost all children want to get money and buy snacks or snacks whenever they want to buy it. The reason is money is important to live, and people need to know how to use it properly. Almost all parents hope their children should spend money well, so they would be distressed if you sink money in toilet.

Finally, coming back home at midnight with a noise gets them irritated more. Sometimes you should continue to have a party at your home from another party. Your friends and you continue to drink, eat and sing at midnight. Your parents would feel crazy, and they will suffer from insomnia. Your parents worry about you, and they hope you go to the right way to behave politely.

These are easy to take action. You do not need to lead a loose life, but if you are interested in annoying your parents, you should try to do these. If you follow these suggestions, you will succeed in annoying your parents. You should behave nicely and show that you are not a crazy and strange child when you succeed to do it. Then your parents will be happy about you.

Customs That Canada Needs

By: Irasema Tirado

I am a woman from Mexico and I love my customs. I moved to Canada a long time ago and I think it needs some customs from Mexico because Mexico has so many interesting and fun customs. I think those customs should be in the whole world. These are the three customs that I found most interesting: kiss on the cheek, day of the dead, and carnival.

The kiss on the cheek is one of the most beautiful customs that we can have. We use the kiss on the cheek to say hello and good bye. Most of the time people who do that are especially younger than 35 years old. This custom is in many countries already but so many people in Canada don’t have it and I think could be really interesting if we all try it.

The day of the dead is on November 2nd. It is a celebration for all the people that had died. All the families go to cemeteries and bring to dead familiars flowers, food and the favorite things that they used to like. The people pray for the family members who have died. Most of the people stay at the cemetery all day and all night. They bring their own food and music and stay there having a big party.

Carnival is a festive season which occurs right before Lent. This event comes from Roma. The best celebration is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil but there are in other cities like Mazatlan, Mexico or Veracruz, Mexico. This event is usually during February or the beginning of March. The length of the event is about 7 days. Carnival involves a public celebration or parade with some elements of a circus, mask and public street party. We select a Queen for that day and we call her “the Queen of the Carnival.”

These are personally my favorite customs and I would like everybody to try them. I guess I have to start this with my closest friends. I would like these customs everywhere in Canada. But do Canadians want these customs? We don’t know but if we try maybe in some years it will be normal for Canadians.

The Pressures of Being a Student

By Kazuo Kawaoka

When you enter a university, how do you feel? Happy or excited? There are also some people who feel nervous, uneasy, and so on. They will have the pressure against them after they entered, and it has some influences on them. They can’t ignore what depends on their circumstances of life, some new things, and their future.

Your life condition decides your motivation for your campus life. For example, if your family were rich and let you go to university without any special purposes, you won’t feel pressure. If you were poor, your attitude to studying will be great. Your motivation and pressure are really connected to each other. Sometimes the pressure makes you a good person. In other words, you can study hard, or do your best with it.

In addition, you may feel pressure when you are compared with your brother or sister by your parents. Some parents want you to get high grades, to be intelligent the same as your brother or sister, or to study hard to hand over your father’s great job. Family situations frequently affect how much their children feel nervous, or not.

While you are going to the university, some new things to you to handle by yourself will often come to you. It’s because you have to be independent from your parents gradually. First, you should do a part-time job and earn enough money to buy almost everything you want. As you become more adult, you need more money, so it’s difficult to take care of you for your parents. Moreover, in university, you have to decide what courses or classes you take to make you way sure. You have to spend time carefully not to waste it, so you should feel pressured about it.

You also have the pressure for your future to get the job you want after the graduation. As I said above, the campus life is the most important time to decide your future way. With studying, experiences in social situations, and new challenges, finally you can find a job you want. However, today, it’s terribly difficult to get a job in Japan because many companies don’t want to hire any more freshmen for economic decline. Therefore, it really depends on your effort in university. For example, getting some kinds of license, high score in come examination, and so on. If you didn’t have anything special, it verifies that you wasted time in the campus life. The pressure will help you get a job.

Pressure sometimes makes you nervous, but, on the other hand, it makes you a better person. You can surely try or challenge better with it in your studying field.

Traveling is Fun, Educational, and Fun

By Mika Nakasako

Traveling is lots of fun, and there are some ways to be economical and educational. If you can do the things below, you can enjoy traveling more.

First, it is important to save money when you travel. Traveling needs a lot of money, so to search a cheap hotel at a safe area is necessary to enjoy. Moreover, almost all hotels do not have a breakfast, so it is a good idea to bring some meals. Especially, Japanese do not have a habit to give tips, so to escape from paying tips is the easiest way to save money. You can know which restaurant needs tips by the atmosphere.

Second, traveling is an educational experience for everyone and makes you grow up. Trying to use public transportation is interesting to know local people hapbits and systems. It is very educational for everyone to do it, and you can learn local specialities to eat local food. It is very fun to eat it, and at the same time you can communicate with local people. That is a good chance to learn about that place.

Finally, there are many fun tings in the world. An amusement park is the best place to enjoy in particular. When you go on a Ferris wheel, you can see a good view. If you ride on a roller coaster, it is difficult to enjoy seeing views, but it is very joyful to scream. In addition to tak photos makes you enjoy it more, and later you can remember that time with photos. That is a nice idea!!

These points make you trip greater, and these are not difficult for you to do. If you can do it, you will be happier.

Music

By Lin Lin

Music is really important in our life and I could not imagine our life without music. Music makes our life full of colours, such as listening to the music, playing music, and dancing with music. For me, I like to listen to the music every day, especially classic music. I downloaded a lot of classic music in my mp3 and I listen to them when I have spare time. Music makes me feel relaxed and full of emotion in my heart.

How to Make New Japanese Friends

By Mai Shiiba

I think how to make new friends is difficult for foreigners in Japan. First, Japanese are shier than people in other countries. Second, most Japanese cannot speak English or other languages. Then, Japanese become nervous when they meet foreigners because they rarely have a chance talk to foreigners. Finally, most Japanese do not talk to foreigners. So, how to make new Japanese friends is difficult for foriegners, but most Japanese are polite and kind. So, foreigners try to talk to Japanese!

How to Make New Friends

By Eri Takashita

I think if you want to make new friends, you should do three things. First, you should make a good impression. It is very easy. You just smile every day. Second, you should introduce yourself. For example, your name, hobby, hometown, and things you like and so on. Then you should ask about someone’s e-mail address or telephone number. Finally, you should communicate with new friends. You ask someone’s facebook ID, send e-mail or talk by telephone. If you do these three things, you can make many friends.

If I Could Live in Any Time

By Erika Tanaka

If I could live in any time, I would choose the end of the Edo era. Because I watch a Japanese drama “Ryomaden,” and I’m interested in the times. Japan has started to exchange among many countries since the times. It makes to mix other cultures into Japanese culture. I want to experience the moment. Also I would like to meet Ryoma Sakamoto, one of the revolutionaries in the times. He had foresight. Also he tried to unify Japan. That’s why I want to go the times.

How to Make New Friends

By Mika Nakasako

There are some necessities to make new friends. To make new friends makes you more energetic to live. First, you need positive characteristics. For example, these are talkative, happy, outgoing, cheerful, thoughtful and so on. It makes you fast to make new friends. If you have these personalities, people will come around you naturally. Second, you should go to new places where people gather. A party is a very good place to meet because there are many people who want to meet new people or to enjoy the time. Moreover, school is a good place, too. Through a class, you can talk with new friends, share the time and enjoy with them. It is an easy way to make new friends. Finally, you need to understand about new friends. To go into the feeling of people makes the time briefer to make new friends. When you respect one another, you are able to get special things. It is very good for you. Your new friends would be irreplaceable for your life. These things are very important to make new friends.

My Trip to Vancouver

By Yuka Funatsu

I went to Vancouver with my friends from last Friday to this Monday. We had looked forward to going there for a long time.

First, we left from Fort St. John to Vancouver after school on Friday. We arrived there at about 6:00. So we just ate supper in an Italian restaurant, and the restaurant was very good. Because two men played the piano and drums, we could eat supper comfortably. Then we went back to the hotel and went to bed.

On the second day and the third day, we enjoyed shopping. I bought some clothes for myself, and I bought many souvenirs for my friends, my family, and my relatives. Because I bought many souvienirs, it was very hard to carry them to the hotel. We also enjoyed sightseeing by the Big Bus. There were many high buildings and a beautiful sea. A very big church was so beautiful. We also saw the Olymopic flameholder.

I didn’t know details about Vancouver until I went there. So Vancouver has many Japanese, more than FSJ. I was surprised. Moreover Vancouver was more urban than I thought.

A four day trip was too short. I have many things I wanted to do in Vancouver. I wanted to go to the sea, Stanley Park, and the church. Therefore I want to go to Vancouver with my friends again. Also, I want to take my family there.

But I could really enjoy this trip!

I Love Vancouver!

By Arisa Tsujimoto

I went to Vancouver with my friends. We went to Vancouver for the first time.

The first day, we left FSJ at 4:20 p.m. and we arrived at 5:49 p.m. After we received our luggage, we took a train to Yaletown Roundhouse station.We road a train for the first time in Canada. After we arrived at Yaletown, we searched for our hotel. We found the hotel easily. But something was happening at the front desk! We reserved a room for two, but we were five. We can't speak English very well, so we were confused. We asked my host mother for help. She was very helpful. We went to our room a long time. The hotel man brought a cot for us. We were sleeping soon, after we came to the hotel, because we were tired.

The second day, we walked to the bus stop. But we are weak in map, and we have no sense of direction. So we took so long to look for the bus stop. We rode the bus, and we went to "GASTOWN." GASTOWN has many Canadian stores. Next, we went "ROBSON ST." ROBSON ST has a lot of stores for young people and few Canadian souvenir stores. This day is just window-shopping.We also went around "Stanley Park." It has a very beautiful English Bay, a Vancouver Symbol and a wonderful garden. In the evening, we came back the hotel, we had a happening again. In our room the bathroom was broken. We called a hotel man and we repaired our bathroom.

The third day, first we went to "GASTOWN." We bought a lot of souvenirs for my family and friends. For example, I bought maple syrup, maple cookies, mitts, a muffler, moose dolls, and so on. Then we also went to "Pacific Center Mall" and "ROBSON ST." We were satisfied! In the evening, we went to a hamburger restaurant. After we came back to the hotel, I packed my clothes and souvenirs and so on in my luggage.

The final day, we left Vancouver at 10:50a.m. Our Vancouver trip was such fun!!!! I will come back again sometime :)

Vancouver

By Mami Yoshida

Vancouver is a very nice place, but I was surprised by many things.

First of all, we needed to catch the Sky Train. We bought the tickets, and got off at the nearest hotel. We took the tickets out of our pocket. We thought we must go through the ticket gate, but we didn’t use the tickets. We were surprised because we didn’t need the tickets!

Second, we arrived at the Ramada Hotel and checked into the hotel. The desk clerk said, “You booked two people, but you’re five people, so you must give me $45 per person and each day. OK?” We just nodded our heads. I didn’t know why we booked just two people! We took a lot of time to enter the room. I leave out writing about between what the clerk said and when we entered the room because I need to have a lot of time.

In addition, the next day, we had to find the Big Bus stop, but we didn’t know where the bus stop was. So we asked many people, but everybody said different things. We must have walked a lot of time in the beating sun. I was very tired.

Next, we went shopping on Robson Street and in Gastown. There were many shops. I bought clothes and souvenirs for my friends. I bought maple syrup and maple tea, cookies, coffees, etc., a lot of maple things. Moreover, there are many Japanese people and Japanese restaurants, so I heard a lot of Japanese. In addition, I saw many, many Seven-Elevens (convenient!)—long time, no see! Japan has many Seven Elevens, too; in fact, there are many Seven Elevens around my house.

We had a lot happening, but I enjoyed Vancouver. I could see beautiful beaches, parks, and towns, and I could go shopping. If I can go to Vancouver again, I want to stay more than one week.

My Trip to Vancouver

By Rikako Yanagawa

I traveled to Vancouver on June 11th to 14th. I went there with my friends-Asuka, Arisa, Mami, and Yuka. We made a plan in April. I was looking forward to go there all along!

We went to the airport after school on the 11th. But I'm afraid of planes. I didn't want to get on the airplane. We arrived in Vancouver. After we went to the hotel, we looked for the restaurants. The next day, we rode to the Big bus. It is very big and confortable. We went around the downtown. The bus passed near English Bay, so we could watch it. The Bay is very beautiful. Many people spend wonderful time there. The view made us happy.

We got off at Gastown. It has many Canadian shops. I bought a lot of souvenirs for my friends and my family. For example, maple syrup, maple cookies, maple coffee, maple tea, and so on. It has many things of maple. I hope they will like it! And we went Robson St. It has a lot of shpos too. Yuka and I chose good ones and bought the same clothes. I want to wear them this summer! Shopping made us so happy and fun!

Besides buying the clothes, I also purchased earrings. We were very tired because we walked a long time, but we had the same feelings that were so happy. When we stayed at the hotel, we talked all the time. I love my friends. I was really happy to go to Vancouver with may friends. We had trouble the second day, but it was even fun!

I will never forget this memory of Vancouver. It is a very good experience for me. I want to go to Vancouver again one day. I will study English hard so that I will go there and enjoy more!

Why I Love Music

By Asuka Nagaura

I love listening to music very much. First of all, when I'm listening to music, I feel happy, fun, sad, and sleepy. Also, I'm reminded of my memories. In addition, most of the people love music. Probably, everybody has listened to music. Most importantly, music helps people in many ways. For example, if people are sick, music therapy can help people. Another example, when Michael Jackson made music for
Africa, people paid attention to African problems. I think that music can save the whole world. For these reasons, I love music vrey much.

If You Could Live in Any Time Period, What Would You Choose?

By Yuka Nakada

If you could live in any time period (past, present, or future),which one would you pick?

If I could live in any time period,I would pick the present. I have some reasons why I would choose the present.

First,I'm satisfied with my life now. I'm enjoying learning new things and I study English. Besides,I can know about other countries from class mates.

Second,I wouldn't be the person I am today if I didn't get through my experiences even though it was rough. I regret what I did sometimes, but I learned from my mistakes.

The most important reason is my friends. I have made great friends since I was a child. They always helped me when I had a hard time and they had great influence over me. That's why I choose the present.

On Friday of Last Week (April 30, 2010)

By Jihyun Lee

On Friday of last week, I went to PriceSmart with Mami who is Japanese taking the subjects of Group1 with me. She wanted to buy some chocolates and said she will help me. I was so happy to hear that because I had to buy lots of food, so I needed some hands.

We got off the bus at the bus stop nearby the mart. Everything went well until standing in front of a register that scans the bar-code of the products. There were a pack of onions, a pack of apples and some food in my cart. The register scanned a bar-code of a pack of onions and required me to enter the quantity of these. I counted onions in a pack and push the number 8. After that I counted apples in a pack and push the number 13. Then, it showed me the total, around 134 dollars. I felt that it was a bit too expensive, but I paid for these.

Mami and I moved to a bus stop, and I checked my receipt while waiting for the bus. At that time, I knew that something is wrong. The pack of onions’ price was $22.33 and the pack of apples’ price was $64.61. I grasped two packs and started to run to the mart for getting money back.

Fort St. John is a small town where it is very quiet and never busy. When I ran with the packs through the middle of the street, people saw me like a marvel. Because a little Asian girl ran crazily, this sight might not be ordinary to them. At last, I arrived at the customer counter and explained to a staff what had happened to me. Then suddenly the staff started to laugh. “I have never seen a Chinese like you,” she said. I was really ashamed. “I am not Chinese, I am Korean,” I whispered.

After the refund, I had to run again because Mami was waiting for me at the bus stop for a long time. I couldn’t make her wait any longer. When I almost arrived there, Mami was eating a chocolate next to the bus stop signboard. I was going to go across the road, but unfortunately, two cars were getting nearer, and I waited for them to pass. The first car passed fast, but the second car did not. I felt annoyed and glared the driver of the second car. It was Michael, my teacher. He was smiling and waving his hand to me like a child.

Difficult Things about Living in a Foreign Country

By Mami Yoshida

It is difficult to live in a foreign country.

First, using a different currency can be confusing if you come to this country for the first time. You should remember about how much this coin is. When you buy something, you can only pay with bills, but your wallet has many coins right now.

Second, you must get used to unfamiliar customs. If the country’s custom is to take off shoes when you enter a house, you need to keep this custom to live there.

In addition, you may feel homesick because of different customs. You may want to eat your country’s food or meet your family and friends. It is possible to meet your family and friends, but you can’t meet them every day.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you must speak a new language to communicate with foreign country people. The language may have different grammar or pronunciation, so you should study a lot of things. You may learn it soon or take a long time. It depends on how you study it.

Living in a foreign country brings a lot of hard things.

My Family

By Marina Hong

I am the eldest in my family. I have two sisters and two brothers. When I was 10 years old, my dad passed away. My mom had been working very hard since my dad died. When my dad was alive, he took care of everything. He was a very responsible man and a good father to all of us in the family. He provided us shelter, food, paying bills, and school fees. Since my dad passed away, my mom has to take care of everything. She’s never been to school and doesn’t have any education at all. But during that time, she doesn’t have any choice but to find work to provide food, pay bills, school fees, etc.

When we were little, my mom had to leave us behind to go to work. She had to leave early in the morning and got back at 7 p.m. She has been working very hard all her life. At that time, my younger brother was only two years old. I and my twin sister are helping a lot in the house like cleaning and taking care of my brothers and sister. Consider that we are very young, 10 years of age. And we had to help a lot already. And at this same time we had to walk to school without money and food.

Though all of us went through a difficulty and have had a very hard life at times, we never regret and we always remember all the good and bad times. I am very proud of my mom.

Summary of "Taylor Swift: The Phenomenon"

By Vincent Chan

Note: The original article appeared in the December/January 2009 issue of CosmoGirl, p. 102-105. The assignment was to write a summary of the article.


In “Taylor Swift: The Phenomenon,” the author discusses Taylor Swift’s success of being a singer. Since she started singing in public, she has struggled with the underwhelming responses. However, nothing could stop her ambition. All the disadvantages only contrarily made her work harder. As a result, she has become famous by releasing her records, earning lots of music awards and influencing more people to have an inclination to country music. Moreover, lots of contributions and donations that she made prove her true philanthropism.

The Frequency and Effects of Earthquakes around the World

By Nicky Lee

Introduction

Recently, one big shock damaged Haiti. It caused numerous effects to wound many people and damage many buildings. Earthquakes are one of many catastrophes. Sometimes an earthquake is related to a Tsunami which is a hazardous natural disaster from the deep sea or ocean. According to the experts, “Tectonic earthquakes will occur anywhere within the earth where there is sufficient stored elastic strain energy to drive fracture propagation along a fault plane. In the case of transform or convergent type plate boundaries, which form the largest fault surfaces on earth, they will move past each other smoothly and seismically only if there are no irregularities or asperities along the boundary that increase the frictional resistance” (“Earthquakes”). As you read, the natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis or avalanches damaged nature and people who are especially poor and completely destitute. Of course, some of the geologists who are specialists of plate tectonics are still studying up on earthquakes and researching the makeup of the soil. A great amount of pressure will occur underneath the mantle of the Earth while the Earth’s plates are moving in the opposite direction of each other. The lithosphere, which is the rigid outer layer of earth, would break when the pressures from the Earth break out. For instance, think about a little stick. When you give a force to each side of a stick, it is easier to break than when you just set it in a normal position. Actually, this is similar to earthquakes. It means that two forces between different sides of the lithosphere are powered to each side. When these pressures and stresses are great enough, the crust will break. After the crust breaks, the pressure will decrease as energy is moving among the Earth's layers in form of waves, and earthquakes happen. People need to recognize some information about earthquakes, especially, the size and frequency of occurrence, records of earthquakes’ effects, and how to measure the earthquakes’ degrees.

Size and Frequency of Occurrence

Usually minor earthquakes are taking place nearly constantly around the world like in Alaska or Oklahoma in the U.S. as well as on the Asian continent. Also, these usually occur in Chile, Peru, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, the Azores in Portugal, Turkey, New Zealand, Greece, Italy, and Japan, but earthquakes can occur almost anywhere, including New York City, London, and Australia. Larger earthquakes, however, come about less frequently. Therefore a few countries or cities are damaged badly seismically by magnitudes 4~6 in a particular time period.

Most of the world's earthquakes (90%, and 81% of the largest) take place in the 40,000-km-long, horseshoe-shaped zone called the circum-Pacific seismic belt, also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, which for the most part bounds the Pacific Plate. Massive earthquakes tend to occur along other plate boundaries, too, such as along the Himalayan Mountains. With the rapid growth of mega-cities such as Mexico City, Tokyo and Tehran, in areas of high seismic risk, some seismologists are warning that a single quake may claim the lives of up to 3 million people(“Earthquake”).

Measuring the Size of An Earthquake

Magnitude (“Earthquakes and Volcanoes”)

Modern seismographic systems precisely amplify and record ground motion (typically at periods of between 0.1 and 100 seconds) as a function of time. This amplification and recording as a function of time is the source of instrumental amplitude and arrival-time data on near and distant earthquakes. Although similar seismographs have existed since the 1890's, it was only in the 1930's that Charles F. Richter, a California seismologist, introduced the concept of earthquake magnitude. His original definition held only for California earthquakes occurring within 600 km of a particular type of seismograph. His basic idea was quite simple: by knowing the distance from a seismograph to an earthquake and observing the maximum signal amplitude recorded on the seismograph, an empirical quantitative ranking of the earthquake's inherent size or strength could be made. Most California earthquakes occur within the top 16 km of the crust; to a first approximation, corrections for variations in earthquake focal depth were, therefore, unnecessary.

Largest and Deadliest Earthquakes by Year (1990 – recent)

The largest earthquakes since 1990 occurred off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra in Southeast Asia. Many people who enjoyed the leisure on the beach were killed or wounded by the biggest earthquake. Actually it was the Tsunami made by earthquakes. It was initially reported as moment magnitude 9.0 (“2009 Sumatra Earthquakes”). The hypocenters of main earthquakes were approximately 160 kilometers (100 miles). According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a total of 227,898 died and this is one of the ten worst earthquakes on record (“2009 Sumatra Earthquakes.”).

The deadliest earthquake occurred in Haiti in January 2010. Until now, it is impossible to count and estimate how many people have died because there has been a lot of destitution and rescue and search team have had problems.

Conclusion (Prevention)

As you know, earthquakes, which are kinds of natural disasters in the world, are shaking of ground caused by movement of the earth’s crust. Although the Earth’s plates are moving in the opposite directions of each other, they make great impacts on the lithosphere. When the plates move, they stress on each other and themselves. When these pressures and stresses are great enough, the crust breaks. After the crust breaks, the pressure will decrease as energy moves among the Earth's layers in the form of waves, and earthquakes happen. Many scientists are continuously thinking of ways to try and reduce earthquake power. Some are trying to lessen the friction between colliding plates. According to the special instruments that are now in existence to give warnings in California, Japan, and New Zealand, little vibrations show if land has begun to shift dangerously on a certain side of a fault. Other instruments are used to detect certain gases collecting in groundwater.

Architects are also designing earthquake-proof buildings, constructing on rock instead of gravel, or on soft sand or clay. Large structures are made with strong frameworks of steel or reinforced concrete, so that the frame stands firm even if the ground is shaking. The pyramid-shaped Transamerica building in San Francisco was designed in this fashion. Researchers are always trying to reduce the impact of earthquakes. They continue to study and experiment with ways to tame the Earth. However, we all still have much more to learn before we can control the power of one of nature’s most amazing phenomena.

Works Cited

“2009 Sumatra Earthquakes.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Sumatra_earthquakes
Archer, Jules. Earthquake! New York: Crestwood House, 1991. 10 Feb 2010.

“Earthquakes.” Wikipedia. Web. 28 Jan. 2010.

“Earthquakes.” http://mediatheek.thinkquest.nl/~ll125/en/earthqke.htm

Lampton, Christopher. Earthquake. Brookfield, Connecticut: The Millbrook Press, 1990. 10 Feb 2010.

Spence, William, and Stuart A. Sipkin, and George L. Choy. Earthquakes and Volcanoes. Volume 21(1). Web.1989. 4 Feb 2010.

Van Rose, Susanna. Eyewitness Books: Volcano & Earthquake. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. 10 Feb 2010.

Finding a Solution to Smog

By Vincent Chan

People who live in cities and metropolises are facing the problem of pollution. If a city’s economics were flush, it would make lots of pollution by the economics developing, people consuming and traffic discharging fumes that pollute the air. Nowadays, more and more people would rather commute a long distance betweena city and a suburb for working every day because of the effect of pollition. They give up living in the centre of a big city and ove to a suburb. However, when a place becomes crowded with people, the problem of pollution is inevitable. Therefore, cities are always covered by hazy smog. Everyone knows smog is made by air pollution and is bad for our lungs. Learning how to conrol the pollution is what everybody has to pay attention to. There are three workable solutions to the smog problem: technology improving, policy revising, and habits changing.

Human technology has been developing quickly in different fields, such as exploring outer space, devising new weapons, inventing hi-tech products, and so on. But how about the inventions for reducing the smog appearance? Car companies and oil manufactories should take on this responsibility first. Of course, they can’t stop manufacturing cars and drilling for oil, but they can invent a solar car and refine virgin oil more purely. Those are practical ways and they are good for the environment.

Restrictive policies are also good ways to control the pollutants, not because we want to reduce our civil freedom, but because we don’t want our cities covered by toxic smog. So the policies should be revised to restrict manufactories to not over discharge pollutants. If manufacotries can reduce the discharge, the blue sky will be brighter and the air will be fresher.

Because of our selfish attitude, every day we are making lots of pollution. For instance, people like to drive their cars instead of taking public transportation. Moreover, traffic jams could hold up cars and make more and more discharded pollutants. To solve the smog problem, everyone has the same obligation to support the solution. Start using public transportation, ride a bicycle or even walk instead of driving your own car. As long as people can change their bad habits, the smog will disappear faster than we expect.

In conclusion, after listing the problems and solutions in this essay, of all we can do the priority is to REDUCE and CHANGE. The future is in our hands: the less the pollution, the clearer the city sight!

Worth Living Again

By Viviana Rodriguez

It is never easy to say good bye to great experiences. I remember when my family and I moved from our first house. I was six years old and as my dad drove away from our first home, my tears ran down my face, and all the memories you can possibly have at the age of six were flashing in my mind.

About twelve years later I was, again, saying good bye to another important and remarkable part of my life, my high school life. Melancholy and excitement filled my heart at that time. School has been the best time in my life, thus every single memory from my school life makes me smile and sigh. Nevertheless, I understand those moments have to finish in order to allow new experiences to come.

The year and 3 months I spent in Fort St. John will also be recorded in my mind as one of those experiences that have added spice to my life. My classes at the college, the weather, and, of course, the people I met and the friends I made are unforgettable.

When I first arrived at Northern Lights College (Fort St. John Campus) I felt scared and anxious. It was a whole new world to me. People spoke a different language, the weather was definitely different than the one I was used to, and I was by myself.
The college offers a variety of programs, and English as a Second Language (ESL) is one of them, in my opinion the best ESL program in the world. The ESL classes are incredible; it’s like going to meet with friends every day, and have fun, rather than going to boring lectures and sleeping through them. The classes are interactive and you actually feel as an essential part of them. The fact that the classes are small in number of students makes it easier to give your opinions, to ask and clarify questions, and to get more personalized attention and help. I think these are, without a doubt, a fundamental advantage when learning another language.

These, of course, would not have been possible, and as fun as it was if the teachers and the staff who work at the college would not have been as wonderful and dedicated people as they are. They are creative, patient, responsible, comprehensive, and always helpful. While I was there I could feel they do love to teach and care about the students, thus they do it in a high quality manner. Everything I learned at the college I learned because I had people who cared about me and motivated me to improve day by day.

Besides having the experience of having classes in a different language, during that year and three months I also experienced having classes in winter. This is normal for Canadians or people who live in countries that get all the seasons, but for me it was a complete new experience. I remember the day when I first saw snow. It was November 11, 2008. That morning I woke up and when I looked through the window I was shocked as I saw everything was white. I cannot describe the way my heart jumped and shrank when I saw the backyard of the dorms. I remember wanting to take pictures the whole day, as if the snow was going to disappear that night (of course it didn’t; in fact, it stayed until the beginning of May 2009). During the winter time I experienced what the word "cold" really means. It feels like if the heat of your body is being sucked by, pretty much, everything that is around you (while being outside).

Winter is the season that starts a new year and the one that lasts the most in Fort St John. Besides winter I also experienced the incomparable smells of the spring, which filled me with new energy and fed my senses with beautiful colors, odors and sounds. Most of these features stayed through the summer, yet the summer has its own sparkle. The colors are brighter and the sun, finally, seems to work. With the end of summer, the fall arrives and it becomes the perfect ending for such a lively season that summer is. Fall is the season that turns the summer lights down, the colours are a little darker and brownish, but still unforgettable. During the fall I used to go for a walk in the forests that were around the college and feel the peaceful agony of the bright summer. I am so thankful and happy that I had the opportunity to enjoy all the four seasons, for first time in my life.

One of the best things of studying abroad is the chances you have to meet people. For the most part, while I was at Northern Lights College I meet Canadians and people from different parts of the Asian continent. Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China, and Nepal were some of the countries from where my classmates came from. I also met a Hungarian, Turkish, Austrian, French, Nigerian, Ethiopian, Swedish, and Spanish speakers. Having met all of them was my favorite part of being at the college.

Canadians are very welcoming people and surely excellent hosts. They are very helpful, generous, and, up to now, they are the best pastry cooks for me; no wonder why people like to come to Canada! Besides Canadians, the other big group of people I shared with were the Chinese people. I have to admit I did not know too much about their culture, and it was a pleasure to get to know them. In particular I met a big group of guys from Macau, a former Portuguese colony in China. I learned that it is something like "Las Vegas" of China. It sounds like a very interesting place to visit. They were also very friendly and kind. They care about their friends and they are very helpful.

Nowadays I am in Ottawa, another stunning place in Canada. I am studying at the University of Ottawa and one day I will become a translator and interpreter. I would like to thank everybody who helped me while I was in Fort St. John, and particularly everybody from Northern Lights College. I own them everything I learned during that year and three months, not only my English – which allowed me to be here at this University pursuing my goal - but also for all the priceless lessons that helped me to become a better person.

The Effects of an Earthquake

by Yoko Omura

The Effects of an Earthquake

Japan is often said to beearthquake country. On January 17th 1995, my home town, Kobe, had a big earthquake: Hanshin Awaji Earthquake. Then I was only 5 years old, but I still remember it vividly. I think an earthquake affects many things to us. Do you know effects of an earthquake anything? Probably many people have not experienced a big earthquake, so they have never known something. Today I tell about them through my real experience.

First effect of an earthquake is to break something, for example buildings, view, and families. Then I saw broken Kobe, and I knew many people died. This view affects many people, because my hometown is famous to a beautiful city, but the view all was broken for one night, it was too shocked for many people! My family all was safe, but around many people died. In fact, my house was half destroyed. Many people were buried under buildings and they were burnt alive after the big fire. Especially one area, Nagata, all was fired, so after that the town lost all. Every year, we wrote compositions about them and watched their short movies from grade 1 to 12. This is to not forget our pain by earthquake.

Next effect of an earthquake is to lack various things, for example food, water, and electronic power. I remember many things. One of them, we couldn’t connect to TV after some days, so we couldn’t see the situation of the earthquake. Then we could know the earthquake’s real magnitude and the big fire happened in this city first time. Other things, we couldn’t get some water and food. In grocery store, all foods had gone somewhere. Other cities wanted to carry water and some foods for my city, but almost roads were broken and crowded, so it was too long time to come them here. Then many cities and other countries helped us for food and so on. We felt so warm and thanked a lot them.

However, the most effect of an earthquake is to become strong connects with around people, for example cities, neighbors, and family. If you have some troubles, you must need other powers. In fact, we were helped each other last earthquake, so we got along with them before earthquake. For example, we shared our water and some information. I introduce you Kobe has some events for earthquake. One of them is “RUMINARIE.” It is many arches of illumination in December. This event is called “lights of Kobe’s recovery.” It is the show held every year for repose of souls after this earthquake disaster. My home town has lost many people and many things by earthquake, but we cheer up ourselves and we will make new Kobe from now! Today, Kobe revives like 15 years ago, and “RUMINARIE” become a popular event in Japan. Every year, many people come here and enjoy them.

I have written some information throw my experience. What do you think about earthquake now? May be you feel more dangerous than before. I think we must not forget their pain, and we have duties to tell our experience for future’s people. In addition, we must not forget many people’s works for our help. An earthquake affects us many experiences and feelings. We can find some natural happy things in our lives after an earthquake. All in all, I think an earthquake doesn’t give us only pain, because we can find many natural happy in our lives.

The Effects of Natural Disasters

By Vincent Chan

People everywhere understand that the effects of disasters are formidable. That’s not just pecuniary loss; indeed, an intense natural disaster always involves countless sufferers and casualties. Common natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, tornados and tsunamis are disasters which human beings have to struggle with. Environmental scientists concentrate on searching for all the data and signs to forecast disasters. Nevertheless, even though nowadays the science and technology have been improving a lot, some disasters are still unpredictable. There are three common effects from natural disasters: the collapse of buildings, pecuniary loss, and human suffering.

An earthquake or a tornado can destroy buildings. Too many people have lost their houses because those disasters happened abruptly. When a place becomes a disaster area, can you imagine what will happen afterwards? Sufferers don’t have houses to live in. They live in some temporary tents and wait for the rescue. Otherwise, rebuilding housing and buildings or even the whole disaster area will give an extremely heavy load to sufferers and the government.

Pecuniary loss is another important effect after a disaster happens. For sufferers and residents in a disaster area, they may struggle with losing their property. It is unbearable. Moreover, the national economics in that country will become a serious problem to deal with. An actual example was the earthquake that happened in Sichuan, China, in 2008. After the earthquake, many people died, roads were blocked by rock slides, no electricity and drinking water, manufactories, schools and other companies all stopped working. Those above-mentioned instances are rationales why disasters would stop the movement of a country.

Nothing can compare with the importance of casualties. While a person is covered up in building fragments but luckily he/she is still alive, there are several disadvantages that he/she is facing. That person may probably face no water, fresh air and food. Moreover, he/she may get severely injured in a building collapse; therefore, his/her life all depends on the rescue team. So now we comprehend that in a vital crisis, the faster the rescue, the higher the living rate.

In conclusion, Nature is just like a wild animal. It doesn’t have humanity. There is no cue to stop disasters from happening. If we can exactly forecast disasters in advance, or people are aware of the intense effect, the casualties from disasters will be declined to a minimum rate. We are not able to struggle with the environment. Anyhow, human lives are fragile. For this reason, knowing how to protect yourself is essential for saving your life.

Effects of Earthquakes on a City

By Yurie Ikegami

When earthquakes occurred in a city, people around the city suffer from a lot of disasters that are effects of earthquakes. For example, we had problems of stopping of traffic, lack of food and water, stopping of supply of energy when Hanshin Awaji Earthquake occurred in Japan. Due to the earthquake, numberless people suffered and died, and it was a terrible memory for Japanese, so we have to recognize what will happen as the effects of earthquakes and know the way to prepare for such a situation. Therefore, I’ll talk about the effects of earthquakes: ruin of traffic, lack of food and water, stopping of supplying of energy.

For the first effect, almost all of the traffic in the city that is influenced by the earthquake will stop. People can’t use cars and buses because the roads and highways will be broken. Trains will be stopped because the supply of electricity will be stopped. Because of the same reason, we also can’t use planes. All of them are because of the shock of the earthquake. If all transportation is stopped, we can’t go to work, school, and see our family and friends who are worrying about our safety. Therefore, we have to remember we can’t use any transportation when an earthquake occurs around our city.

For the second effect, people will lack food and water that they need. As I mentioned for the first effect, traffic and transportation will be stopped because of the shock of the earthquake, so the city will be isolated from any other cities around it. People can’t order any food from other cities. In other words, they will not have the way to carry food from other places. People will also lack water. The water department will not work when an earthquake occurs because we will have no electricity. Water pipes might be broken. People will be forced to save water as much as they can. However, even if people save a lot of water, they will lack water to live. If people lack food and water, they will suffer from starvation. Therefore, we should know that we will lack food and water when we face a big earthquake.

For the third reason, earthquakes may cause the stopping of every energy supply. Earthquakes destroy not only the road but also gas pipes under the road. It may be a cause of fire accidents because gas in the air easily catches fire. Earthquakes also make electricity stop because people can’t work when earthquakes occur, so the electricity company doesn’t work. People will lack oil, too. We can’t use any transportation, so oil tractor can’t come to supply oil. When all the oil in the oil container in the city is gone, we will lack oil. If we lack such energy, we won’t able to warm up the room and cook food. Actually, when Hanshin- Awaji earthquake occurred, it was in winter and people suffered from the cold. Therefore, we should know when earthquakes occur, we will lack all kinds of energy.

In conclusion, we can prepare some things for the effects of earthquakes. For example, we can prepare some nonperishable food that we can eat without cooking and lots of bottled water. For the other idea, we can have a portable gas ring to cook without the supply of gas or electricity. We can also prepare a few tanks of kerosene to avoid suffering from cold. You can think of your own idea to save yourself when earthquakes occur. For thinking how to save yourself from these problems, you should remember that we have problems of the stopping of traffic, lack of food and water, stopping of supply of energy as the effects of earthquakes.

The Effects of Climate on Lifestyle

By Sanae Fukuda

Today is 13° C in Tokyo. When I lived in Tokyo, I thought that it’s cold today, so I protect against cold goodly such as I worn many clothes, a mitten and a hat. However, today is -20° C in Fort St. John. This temperature is the coldest I had ever experienced, so I’m scared of this temperature. This temperature gives me many experiences. These also are not only good things, but also bad things. There are both bad and good effects of cold weather on our life style.

One is cold temperature gives me bad things. First, this temperature makes me lazy. I can’t get up in the morning because outside is still dark even at 8:00 a.m. In the summer, it was bright almost all the time. It was called Night under the midnight sun. I couldn’t sleep early due to that. In the winter, I also don’t want to go to outside. Second, when I first arrived, I hadn’t adjusted to the cold temperature yet, so I can get a cold easily. Therefore, I have to keep my body warmer than when I lived in Tokyo. Third, I have to buy special clothes that I have never worn in Japan. These clothes are expensive, so I have to spend a lot of money or else I will be freeze. Fourth, when I went to grocery stores, I thought that some vegetables are expensive. I think it has a close relation to climate because growing vegetables is very hard in this temperature. Therefore, almost all products are imported from other places. Fifth, the ground is covered with heavy snow. Therefore, transportations effect from snow. Sometimes I used a bus, but I always waited for a bus. When I was waiting for a bus in the outside, I was almost dead. Finally, this temperature destroys our environment because we always have to turn on a heater.

Another is cold temperature gives me good things. However, good things are less than bad things. First, this temperature makes strong body because when I lived in Tokyo, I always felt cold and then I had a cold easily. However, now that I have adjusted to this temperature, I have hardly had a cold since I have been staying in here. Second, I can enjoy with snow such as make a snowman, a snow angel, snow fight and so on. I want to make a house which is made of snow in this year. The best thing is that we can see the northern lights. About 2 weeks ago, I saw the northern lights. It was amazing. I think the northern lights are one of the most beautiful phenomenons of nature.

Today is December 8th. I’m still reacting to Fort St. John’s cold temperature even now. Therefore, I’m worrying about temperatures that will be colder than now. However, after I pass the winter time here, I will get a tough body. When I go back to Japan, I will wear a T-shirt even in winter time because I won’t feel cold.

The Effects of Natural Disasters

By Gayane Ambaryan

Natural disasters, such as an earthquake, hurricane and others can have many unpredictable effects on a society, including economic, structural and even mental. Many people can be killed and lose their property. Many houses, schools and hospitals can collapse and many factories, roads and railways destroy. So there are various possible effects due to natural disasters. This essay is going to describe some of them.

The first effect of a natural disaster is economical. Earthquakes, hurricanes and other disasters strike suddenly and lead to loss of property and businesses and that can have severe long-term economic consequences. Thousands of people lose their financial resources and jobs which significantly slows down economic growth. Usually, rebuilding an economy that has been destroyed by a natural disaster takes a lot of time, resources and international financial assistance. It takes more money and time than originally expected. In some cases, especially in countries with an already poor economy, it can take more than ten years to get the economy back on track.

The next effect of a natural disaster is mental. Because disasters always happen unexpectedly, people lose not only their homes and jobs, but first of all they lose their relatives and that leaves them with psychological trauma. Emotional pain is usually hidden at the outset, but it often lingers, to emerge long after. People usually make adjustments, but for some of them it will never be the same. They will never again have what they had. Even those who try hard to put the disaster in the past and forget about it don’t usually live in quite the same way. They usually live with emotional scars the rest of their lives.

In conclusion, any kind of natural disasters can be really tremendous. They mostly occur suddenly, and people usually aren’t expecting them. Large numbers of people can become homeless and unemployed, and they can lose everything that they had. The natural disasters can have many other effects but we highlight only the two most significant ones: economical and mental. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, forest fires, and tornados are happening more often than ever before, and have great effects on our life.

Kinds of Dreams I Have

by Ryuka Sagawa

My mother often asks me, “What is your dream?” It’s her habit. I usually answer, “I haven’t decided yet.” Since I was a child, I have various kinds of dreams which I want to be. As I grew up, it’s hard to decide my dream because it’s not a reality but an ideal. Now, I’m 20 years old. I have to look for my regular job and I must decide which jobs match me. I still haven’t decided about a job. Below are three of my ideal dreams.

The first one is working overseas. This is the best ideal dream for me. When I was in elementary school, I went to Hawaii with my family. At the hotel desk, a Japanese woman was working there. She looked bright and her life seemed to have a sense of fulfillment there. I thought I really wanted to be like her. Now, I’m studying in Canada and I strongly suppose I want to work in foreign countries more than before. I can’t speak English well, so it’s not easy for me, but I have a possibility to do this.

The second one is working as a career woman. I have longed for this work since I was a junior-high school student because my aunt’s job is like this. This work needs a lot of intelligence and a lot of time. If I have this work, I have to sacrifice myself for the work, for example, I can’t meet with my friend or family frequently or it’s hard to have a family. However, I feel pride in this job. All my staff must respect me and I will become a necessary person for the company. Also, if I get this job, my mother may be really happy and she will be very proud of me. I want to be a dutiful person to my parents, so this work is a kind of my filial piety.

The third one is being like my mother. She is a beautician and my house is a beauty salon. When she was 20 years old, I was born. She did housework and her work at the same time. When I heard her life story so far, I really have respected her. It’s not easy to have kids for such a young lady. I can’t do like her. On the other hand, I want to spend my life like her. She looks very happy now though she had a difficult time in her twenties. She really enjoys her life. For example, buying fashionable clothes because she is young, obtaining some qualifications like a massage therapist, and falling in love with a young guy because my parents already divorced. She is getting more active as she gets older and older.

That’s why I have three types of dreams now. Anyway, I really like my mother, so I want her to be happy. I would like to live with her in the future. I don’t want to regret my decision about my future. However, I can challenge anything that I want to do because I’m young now. Therefore, the most important thing is don’t be afraid of failing. I can plan my dreams step by step and not be in a hurry.

Friends I Have Had

by jimin lee

What kinds of friends do you have? In my opinion, a friend is the most important person in our life except family. In addition, what kinds of friends you have are also important because people can change their personality by friends. I think male friends also influence female friends. Some people say men and women can’t be friends but I don’t think so. I have many male friends and I get along with them as friends. So I’d like to divide friends into gender. Of course I have male and female friends. Maybe you also have both, and like them. Sometimes we need female friends and we also need male friends. I think we need both and they make us happy. So I’ll talk about my male and female friends.

First, I have female friends. Actually I have more female friends than male friends, and my best friends are also female, because I went to girls middle and high school. When I need to chat with someone, I usually call them, and chat with them or go to a cafe. We talk about school, a boyfriend, and worries. After chatting, I can feel pleasure. Sometimes girls have some worry that they can’t tell male friends. When I need some advice about it, I tell female friends, and I can solve the problem. I have a friend with whom I have had a friendship for 16 years. As I have some worry, I always tell her. In addition, I go shopping with my female friends and I can refresh myself. However, I don’t like to go shopping with male friends. Actually it’s very uncomfortable to go shopping with male friends, because usually men don’t like to go shopping for a long time. When I go shopping with male friends, they always press me for sitting somewhere. On the other hand, as I go shopping with female friends, I can browse and compare many stores and ask them about clothes. If I ask male friends about clothes, they answer, “Good,” because they just want to go back home. So as I want to do something usually girls like, or I want to talk about girl’s problems, I usually meet female friends.

Second, I also have male friends. If you have male friends, you might know men are so cool. Even though I am a woman, I think women are so sensitive, and we have too much jealousy. If some girls are loved more or have good things like clothes, others are jealous them. However, men are not jealous of women. So as I meet male friends, I don’t need to worry about it. In addition, they are kind to women, and they don’t care about many things. So, sometimes male friends are more comfortable than female friends. I can do whatever I want. Moreover, as I have a boyfriend, I can get advice from male friends. I usually get advice from female friends, but as I have problems about a boyfriend, male friends are better than female friends because men know men. They might understand my boyfriend, but female friends can’t understand him; they just understand me. Moreover, sometimes I need help from men. In this situation, of course I call my male friends. They don’t hesitate, and help me. Sometimes just friends become a boyfriend but it’s not usual, and I think if he is a really nice guy, just friend is better than boyfriend, because we can meet for a long time.

Actually gender is not important. Personality and match with me are the most
important things, even though we need female or male friends in different cases. I have good friends who I can call or meet whenever I want, so I don’t need anything anymore. If you don’t have really good friends, first, make an effort to be a good friend to them. Maybe they will also become good friends. Don’t separate female and male; anyone can be good friends. As you have good friends, you can be happy, like me.

How to Get a Boyfriend

by Yumi Toshima


Nowadays people generally have had a boyfriend. A lot of people have good memories especially about school days. Why does everyone want a boyfriend? I think they want ease. If you find a good partner, you will have a good time. He will be a precious person. If you can keep that relationship, you may marry him. Then you can enjoy your life. By the way, what do you do to find a boy friend? Do you know how to make a good approach? If you follow these simple steps, it will help you to get a boyfriend.

First, there are many places to meet him. For example, at school, belong to the club or a part time job and so on. You can meet him at school. It will be the most popular place where people meet. Almost all students have had the boyfriend of the same school. If they are the same school students, they can be together for a long time. Some people meet the boy at the same club. If you belong to the club, you have more chances to meet him. Also many people meet him at the part time job. I heard well this case. Each person has many ways to meet him.
Next, it is important how to contact with him. The best way is meeting him directly. If you meet him directly, you can talk with him face to face and can know his feeling. It will be a great good time. But everyone is busy so it is difficult to have time for each other. Then you can contact with him easily if you send an e-mail to him. You can contact him anytime. The other way is to call him. You can’t talk with him face to face but you can hear his voice. I think that you are glad to hear his voice. There are many ways to contact him. You should contact him aggressively.

Finally, you should date him when you have a good friendship. It is good to talk at the café, park or somewhere at first. You should talk with him a lot, and will be more close to him. In addition, it is good to ask him to have lunch or dinner. It will help you to talk with him a lot. It will become a longer time to be with him. Also it is good to go theme parks. They have a lot of interesting rides. It will make you have fun. If you go there with him, you will be close to him. You will have a good time. You should go to a lot of places with him. So you can have a good relationship with him.

In conclusion, it isn’t difficult to get a boyfriend if you follow these steps. If you can get a boyfriend, you can enjoy your life more. But you don’t need to hurry. You should have a relationship slowly. Then you can have a good relationship with him. You don’t give up when you aren’t in good with him. You should talk more and keep the relationship. Then you tell him your feeling. I wish for your happiness.

How to Get a Boyfriend

By Carrie Yun

Consider the fact that November 11 is Remembrance Day in Canada, and that is Pepero day in Korea, on which Pepero cookies (in Canada, it is called Pocky) are exchanged between lovers. People who are single don’t like this season, from November to December, because when Pepero day is finished, that means that Christmas and New Year’s Day are coming. Nobody wants to spend time with just their friends in these special times. There are many people, especially girls, who want to get their sweetheart, but girls usually think it is too difficult to get a boyfriend because if a boy doesn’t ask for a date first, they don’t want to ask no matter how good he is. However, getting boyfriend is so easy if you follow three major steps.

First of all, before you try to meet a nice boy, it is important how you appear. Boys like a gorgeous lady as girls like a handsome and cute boy. Lose your weight if you think you need to and dress up clearly. In addition, before you go out to meet someone, practice a tender smile although you feel somewhat awkward. If you smile sweetly and dress up stylishly, people will pay attention to your beautiful looks. However, if you make up your face too much, boys will think it would be difficult to ask you. Also, make your own sweet smell instead of a perfume which makes people hesitant to approach to you. Even if you are not prettier than others, you don’t need to get a plastic operation and buy expensive clothes. You need to show your own charm.

Second, just staying home, you will never get a boyfriend. If you have done the first step, you should try to meet and make many friends. Meeting people is not as difficult as you think. These are places that you can meet many people: schools especially in the class, part time jobs, hobby clubs, and online. Class mates or job friends could be people who spend a long time with you. As you are with them, you can have a lot of talk and help each other when it is needed. Taking part in a hobby club is also good for meeting people because there are many people who have the same hobby as you. Make as many friends as you can, and show your great personality and gorgeous appearance. Lots of good boys would fall in love with you. Moreover, even if a friend would not be your sweet heart, he can introduce his good friend to you, like a blind date.

Finally, if you meet the perfect person who you really wanted to meet, things you do when you are with him are very important. Don’t be afraid to ask for a date or phone number before he does. Even though you feel little shy, the man will be very happy if you ask for those first. When you have supper with him, don’t eat too much, but try not to have an unbalanced diet. In addition, you had better listen to his chat than talk continuously and brag about what you have. Let him feel comfortable while he is talking. When you talk, speak kindly and clearly, and you must not say bad words. Sometimes, drinking with him would be a good way if you are stuck for words because drinking helps people feel relaxed. However, don’t forget you should not drink too much if you don’t want to look a heavy drinker.

These three steps are useful suggestions when you want to meet a boyfriend. Before showing your attraction, you should realize you are really a gorgeous person. If you have thought that you are not, there would be one more step that suggests “love yourself first.” From this Christmas, I wish all people of the world would fall in love and love each other. If they do, the world would be full of a rosy color.

How to Get a Boyfriend

By Sanae Fukuda

In Japan, the population is aging and the birthrate declining. The Japanese government tries to counteract the falling birthrate, but I think that young Japanese are not interested in marriage. One of the big reasons is they can’t find a good partner. If they can find a good partner who loves them a lot, they will think about marriage and having a child. First, the most important thing is that we have to find a good partner. Therefore, I will tell about how to get a good boyfriend. If you refer to this essay, you may find a good boyfriend.

The first thing is that when and where you have opportunities that you can find a boyfriend. First of all, you have to go to many places where there are many men, such as cafés, parties, shops, or part time jobs. You will be able to choose a good man among many men. Especially, at part time jobs it is easy to get a boyfriend because we have to cooperate with each other, so we will talk a lot. Then you will feel that he is nice if he helps you, or he is kind.

The next thing is getting close to him. First, you may already have information about him, such as his name or where he always stays. Next, you have to research about him, such as profile, hobby, and what kinds of girls he likes. You can ask his friends, or you look at him very carefully, such as his behavior, his meal, his stuff, or what kinds of talk topics he talks. Third, you have to make the most of that information, so you will be able to find common topics, and then you have to sit closely and talk with him a lot. However, if you only talk about topics that he likes a lot of time, he will be scared of you.

Even though you don’t talk with him, you can do many things such as send e-mail, go into his view, and study about how you look beautiful that is how to make up, or lose weight. Finally, you have to ask him out. When you date, you have to make up, but don’t make up too much. You also wear clothes which are pretty and cute. You can go to his favorite place or your favorite place. After you finish the date, you have to e-mail and say thanks for your kindness, enjoyed my time and so on. If he was not nice on this date, you don’t need to send e-mail.

The most important thing is that you have to say your mind. I recommend you have to meet with him, and then you have to say exact words which are like “I love you.” You also can wait for the time that he says to you, “I love you.” Either one is okay!

Christmas is coming soon, so if you don’t have a boyfriend, you had better find one. Then, you can enjoy Christmas. I hope that everyone can have a good Christmas. After you enjoy Christmas with your boyfriend for several years, you have to think about marriage. If you guys really love each other, you want to marry to him. Then, you have kids if you like kids. Can you imagine your good future?

How to Lose a Boyfriend

By Ji Min Lee

Christmas is less than two months away so many girls want to get a boyfriend for a happy Christmas. People hope to be with someone they love during Christmas, like family, friends or boyfriend. Usually young people want to be with their boyfriend. However some people don’t want to be with them because some people may cool off love for their boyfriend or some people want to be with their family or friends. In addition, some people are sick of their boyfriend. Maybe they want to know how to lose a boyfriend so now I’ll provide information about it. Actually it’s very easy, if you follow these steps.

First of all, lie to him. The most important thing of a relationship is reliance so if you always lie to him, and he knows it, he can’t believe you anymore. Usually many people don’t like a lie and if someone lies to them, their relationship may be broken. If you slowly decrease connection and you lie to him about why you don’t contact him, he will be disappointed in you. Sometimes you can meet another boyfriend. If your current boyfriend finds out about it, maybe he wants to break up with you. So if you break reliance, you can lose your boyfriend.

Second of all, behave badly. You have to do everything he doesn’t like. Many men don’t like to be ignored because men have strong pride. If you ignore him, he will be really angry at you. In addition, if you express boredom whenever you meet him, he will also be bored and he will be not interested in having a date. Finally he will be sick of you. Moreover, as your boyfriend asks something or suggests a date, you should say “No.” He has to know you don’t like him anymore. If your boyfriend doesn’t like that you drink too much, you can drink too much and call him. You can annoy your boyfriend and you can say bad words so you can make him angry.

Third of all, get ugly and fat. Most men like pretty and slim girls. You have to eat too much every day and don’t move, so you can get fat. It’s very easy and you can enjoy just eating and sleeping but after breaking up with your boyfriend, you should go on a diet. In addition, as you meet your boyfriend, don’t wash your face, don’t comb your hair and wear messy clothes. You can get ugly and your boyfriend won’t like you anymore.

Now did you get all the information about how to lose your boyfriend? If you have all the information, just do it. Your boyfriend is falling in love with you more each day. You don’t have time to hesitate. Hurry up! If you succeed, it you can get freedom, and you can do what you want. Even if you are lonely, you have to bear it. Instead of being lonely, you can meet many boyfriends, drink a lot and do many things. Now it’s time to start!

How to Make Up after Arguing

by Gayane Ambaryan

We are not always perfect. We can’t be patient and control our emotions. Sometimes arguments just happen. It’s always hard to understand why they start and find ways to make up. Some people can do that easier, maybe just after arguing, but others need more time to cool off because of pride issues. So it depends on a person. What do you have to do if you’ve argued with your friend, or someone close to you? What should you undertake in situations like that? Maybe just call and apologize or do something else. We’ll find out it in this essay.

First of all, calm down and take a deep breath. Relax. It’s not so easy and sometimes takes a little time. After you calmed down, think about what led up to this argument and the reasons behind your reaction. If you did something wrong, make sure to point to your mistakes. In a different situation could your reaction be different? Give the other person time to cool off; he /she needs time to think over the situation too.

After you analyzed the incident, try to do something to fix the situation. First, call him/her up and try to talk it out and point to your mistakes. It’s always hard to find words in such situations but you can find some for sure. Be sure to ask the other person how he/she feels. If the person is still angry, ask what you can do to make it up. Be patient, control your emotions and don’t argue again, and try to find ways to fix the problem.

Then you can suggest a meeting and try to apologize. It may be the best way to make up and fix the situation. Sometimes it’s best to apologize as soon as you make a mistake, but there are times when you need to wait until you and the other person are no longer angry or in the middle of the argument. Only you are able to evaluate the situation. However, the sooner you apologize, the better. If you are apologizing, make sure to take responsibility for what you did wrong.

So, we tried to find the ways how to make up after arguing: analyzing the situation, calling up and talking and/or maybe trying to meet and apologize. It all depends on your personality and can take a long time, sometimes a few months or maybe longer. Be patient and always careful with your words. After apologizing for something, try to do your best never to do it again.