Settsu Station

By Masami Koguchi

In order to get from my house to Settsu Station, follow these directions. First, go west. Then, turn right on 3^rd Avenue. Keep going till the railroad. Then, turn right. Walk for a few minutes. The Settsu Station is on your left.

My Friend's Home Town

By Masami Koguchi

I'd like to visit Amandeep's home town, which is Roma. It is located in Punjab, India. It is a small town like Fort St. John. There is no geographical feature and no mountain, just flat. Her home town doesn't have any college or university, but there are some schools. It doesn't have a shopping mall, but there are some interesting things to do and see there such as Guruduwala Sahib, gym, and temple. The weather is hot and dry. Best of all, the people are nice and kind. I think her home town is nice and peaceful.

Getting a Driver's License in Japan

By Masami Koguchi

In order to get a driver’s license, you need some process. First, you need money, about 3000 dollars. Then go to driving school. Second, study the traffic signs and traffic laws. Third, try to drive a car with a teacher of the driving school. Practice driving many times. After that, practice parking a car. Then study first aid. Next, drive on an expressway. Finally, take a big test of traffic signs and traffic laws and driving skill. If you pass all tests, you can det a driver’s license.

How to Get Good Grades

By Amandeep Dhillon

There are many ways to get good grades in a program. First of all, if you want to get good grades, you must study hard. We all know it is very important to get good grades.Then, when a teacher hands homework, we had better do homework every day. For example, test, assignments, and practicals. If we don’t do homework every day, it starts bothering us. In addition, we should listen to lectures very carefully. If you don’t get something, you had better ask your teacher. Next, you had better make notes in your class; it’s very helpful when you will review. Also, you try to attend all classes; it helps to get good grades. We all know attendance increases the grades. Moreover, you had better take all midterm tests with excellent preparation. It’s also very useful to increase the grades. If you have labs in your program, you should perform well in labs. Finally, you must take care of your health. It’s rightly said, “A sound mind in a sound body.”

Young People are Influenced by the Media

By Yuri Nishitani

Media have a powerful influence on young adults. First of all, the latest young people like to watch TV. They could hear some vogue words and see some popular persons. Young adults are influenced by comedians or actors. Secondly, young people always use the Internet. They could get a lot of information which is music or news or movies, etc. It’s easy for young adults to be exposed to media, so they are influenced by media.

Haste Makes Waste

By Yuri Nishitani

The expression, “Haste makes waste,” is usually true. Here is a good example. I’m a member of the ballroom dance club, so I participated in a training camp last summer. The first day’s meeting time was 8:00 a.m. at Kansai Gaidai College. I left my house at 7:20 a.m. and waited for a bus. A bus hadn’t come. Unfortunately, a time schedule of the bus had changed becauise it was Bon (a Japanese Buddhist festival that takes place in August, when people show respect to the dead). After I noticed it, I walked to the college with my heavy bad so as not to be late. After a few minutes, a bus passed me. I didn’t have to walk!

Book Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

By Masami Taguchi

The title is "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." It was written by Arthur Conan Doyle. This story is very famous. It takes place in London, England.

The main characters are Holmes, who is a great detective, and Dr. Watson, who is Holmes’ assistant and the narrator of the story. The book has four chapters. Each chapter tells about crime. Holmes infers and solves a lot of crimes, and Dr. Watson helps him to solve a crime without realizing it.

Chapter One tells about a secret message. It is my favorite chapter. Holmes found the key of the secret message easily, and he solved the secret message. After that, I guessed the suspect. Then he found a suspect.

I recommend this book. I was deeply absorbed in reading this book because it is interesting and I read it easily. I was impressed with this sentence in the book: “Every problem becomes very simple when you understand it.” I was satisfied with this sentence.

Variety is the Spice of Life

By Asami Kawamura

The expression, "Variety is the spice of life," is usually true. I was born in Hokkaido. When I was a junior high school student, I was planning what to do with my life, but when I was twelve years old, I moved to Osaka. I didn't want to leave Hokkaido and transfer to junior high school. In those days, I disliked Osaka, but my feeling changed as time went by. Now I love Osaka. I'm nineteen years old now. I live in Canada. I enjoy Canadian life. Sometimes, I make mistakes about something, but I learned from repeated mistakes. I never know what will happen next. Life is what I make it, so I want to visit more other countries. I want to enjoy my life.

The Influence of Family

By Asami Kawamura

Many things influence young adults. I think the family has more influence on them. Parents' views influence their children's perceptions of the world. For example, if your parents are racist, you might become racist, too. It's a baneful influence. If you spend a happy family life, you will never take to misconduct. In addition, your family sometimes gives good influence to you. For example, if you are worrying about what to do after graduation, then your family is the best adviser.

Learning by Observing and Doing

By Asami Kawamura

When I was an elementary school child, I belonged to the track and field club. I had taken part in the 100-meter hurdles many times. I liked to run. I wanted to improve my running skills. I learned by seeing things and by doing things. For example, I observed the good hurdler and I learned by imitation. I also learned by listening to people talk about things. For instance, I asked my club coach how to make progress with my running skills Then I practiced by following the good examples.

It's Impolite in Japanese Culture

By Asami Kawamura

In my culture, there are certain things that are considered impolite. For example, if you don't hold your rice bowl or a plate when you eat food, it's considered impolite. Because it is rude when you spill some food of your mouth on the table. It's also rude to talk with your mouth full. In addition, when you get an invitation and you go to someone's house, you should bring some present. It depends on the situation, but generally, some people bring a food or flower. It's impolite to bring a fragile article, kind of a glassware.

Learning by Doing

By Yuri Nishitani

Learning by doing things is the most effective way for me. First of all, when I buy a cell phone, I don’t read an explanation. I think it’s a waste of time to do such a thing. Secondly, when I play sports, I play it first of all. I understand with my body. Thirdly, when I study English, it’s important to speak or read or write. I think to do such a thing lets me have a good command of English. Doing things helps me to learn about everything.

Good Things Happen When You Least Expect Them

By Sae Kubota

Good things happen when you least expect them. Before I came here, I ate out with my high school friends. I met my friends after a long time, so we talked, laughed, and took some pictures. Then we ate many foods, and we talked and laughed again. After that, two friends stood up and went to somewhere. I thought that they went to the washroom. So I went on talking with my other friends. After a few minutes, my two friends came back with a cake. They were preparing a cake for me. A chocolate bar on the cake was written, “Sae, Hang in there!!” When I saw it, tears welled up in my eyes. We ate a cake and said, “Good bye.” My friends are very good.

My Busy Day

By Yohannes Feyissa

I had a busy day yesterday. I woke up at 7:00 a.m. and get dressed. Then I ate breakfast, read the paper, and checked my e-mail. After that, I took a bus to school and went to classes from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Next, I studied for a few hours at the library before I had a quiet dinner and went to work at the bookstore on campus. At 9:30 p.m., my friend drove me home. When I got home, I watched the news on TV and went to sleep.

My Uncle’s House Salon

By Yohannes Feyissa

It is 4 x 3 size and it’s medium and very clean. It has pieces of furniture, e.g., sofa and tables. There are 4 pictures. There are windows and they are sunny. There is a television and DVD player. The wall color is taupe. I like this room because I meet my cousin in there, and I never lived in this kind of salon, so that’s why I like it! This is the nicest salon I have every lived in.

Job Options

By Lin Lin

In a life, we rarely go through into the junction, and it is really hard to choose which way we have to go. After two years of contract work, the other intersection will come to me. It is to change my job. Since I arrived in Canada, I was non-stop to search job information for my future career. After two years of collecting, I got a few options: nurse assistant, medic job in the oil patch, and administrative assistant.

Firstly, a job is located in a health centre. To be a nurse assistant is related with my last two jobs. I had studied nursing assistant for a year and worked in a nursing home for one and a half years. This background will give me a choice to apply for the job in the health Centre. I like looking after people. For every time when I saw patients smile to me, I felt so happy and proud of myself. On the other hand, in the two where I live now, a new hospital was built. They request more staff. I qualify for the job, so I want to get it.

The second option is to be a medic. I will work in the oil patch. This job requests several tickets, such as Level Three First Aid, H2S, etc. But the disadvantage is people who work in the oil patch have to stay in the camp for 6-10 days. They can’t go home every day. That is what I don’t agree with. Fortunately, the pay is really good, so this option is on my top list.

The last option actually matches my personal style. I love to wear fancy dress. My few friends always say, “You should work at an office.” Even my mum wants me to work in the office because she was an administrator. She wanted me working in the office. At the time, my family moves with me. I will have time to look after my daughter. However, I still need to upgrade my personal skills. For example, improve my typing skill, my English writing skill, and communication skill. That is the reason why I am studying English in NLC now.

These options are my targets. I want to spend all my available time to upgrade my personal skills, and do as much as I can. I think it doesn’t matter which offer I will get, I will be so happy with that because this will be my other milestone. I try my best even though I might fail all of them. I still wouldn’t be disappointed. I will be working harder. I will give myself and my family a good life.