Surprising Cherry Tree

Look at this tree.

This breaks a big rock and keep growing to bloom flowers.

This is telling me "constant dripping wears away the stone".

Many a little makes a miracle...

Iron Will

Last Friday, my husband borrowed a movie "Iron Will".

This story is based on a dog-sled race in 1914 of true story.
It describes a parents-son relationship, human and animal relationship and media and society along with the race.
I felt Will (a main character)'s strong determination to win the race for his father who died in a mushing accident. He and his father are very close, and his father wished his son to study at a university. However, his family did not have enough money to study at college, then he decides to run the dog-sled race which his father wished to attend. Will's pure and upright attitude really inspires heart of event sponsors and people of America who read articles written by a newspaper reporter.

See Wikipedia, Iron Will, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Will (optional description here) (as of Apr. 20, 2009, 05:16 GMT).

I really recommend to watch this movie when you loose your goal and heart to move on.

My husband watched already three times; he first watched this 8years ago and 5years ago and this time. I guess these times are when he got lost and tried to move one step forward.

Mobile Phones for teens

As the same with other developed countries, the mobile phones situation in Japan has been changing every day. According to a research done by Benesse Corporation about mobile phones among teenagers, over 93% of high school kids have their own and 29% of elementary school kids have phones either with family or of their own. The percentage increase age by age, but number of holders increase differently based on sex. At age 10, only about 30% have phones among both boys and girls; however, at age13 (only after 3 years) the percentage jumps up to 49% for girls, but stays 31% for boys. Then at age 16, 94% of girls and 87% of boys and at age 18, both of sexes reach as high as 93%. What is more, the manners among teenagers are different from that of adults.
The research reports that 80% of teen users enjoy phones either taking pictures or movies and downloading music and playing games when adults use phones for communication both private and business. Elementary schoolchildren use phones often when they need to call family, whereas junior high schoolchildren use them mainly to exchange e-mails with friends. Again, girls exchange e-mails more often than boys and junior high schoolchildren use e-mail function than high schoolchildren. They answer e-mail right after they receive them. They do not mind if a person who is in front of you starts answering or writing a reply by his/her phone.

“They consider face to face communication and communication by phone is equal. Therefore, some attitudes which are not acceptable to elders are natural among teenagers,” says Akira Sakai, a professor of Otsuma Women’s University. Though there is a difference between junior high schoolchildren and high schoolchildren, both of them obviously have different perspective from elders.

I understand that mobile phones are so popular that it is hard for kids not to look at or hope to own under peer pressure. However, time of school days never comes back. They have their job such as study and student clubs to get themselves into shape and learn teamwork and harmony.　It is not too bad to use or own mobile phones. Yes it is useful and has a lot of information. Nevertheless, they have things to do before having their own phones. Schooldays should be the basis for living a normal life as a member of society. I would allow my daughter to have one when she has certain knowledge and keeps a good standard in school (no absence, study hard, and make good friends).
Some schools ban to bring mobile phones; however, since most of high schoolchildren have their own phone, schools need to teach and educate on advantages and disadvantage of mobile phones. Teaching at home is a must. Sakai commented regarding this research, “It is very interesting that sense of teenagers today; we need to look into minorities who feel discomfort and doubt on some attitudes, and then take those into topics to discuss in the school education”.

Cakes before flowers? Early Cherry Blossoms

It is a spring time!
Most Japanese love "Hanami". Hanami means viewing and enjoy the beauty of flowers, but we usually say it as viewing cherry blossoms in springs. People gather with friends and co-workers to enjoy food and drinks under the trees, even at night (Yozakura). Some parks put small lamps that illuminate cherry blossoms.
"Hamani" seemed to start about 1,200 years ago in imperial court, and then became popular in the Edo period. The cherry blossom is at their best only for two weeks, poems would be written praising the delicate flowers, which were seen as a metaphor for life of Samurai, luminous and beautiful yet fleeting and ephemeral.
We have the cherry-blossom forecast to inform when the cherry blossoms will come out everyday. Since Japan is slender island from north to south, the forecast starts usually from the middle of March to the end of April.
However, the time of cherry blossom seems to come gradually early every year. .
The cherry-blossom front has already arrived at Iwate today, but it is kind of too early for Iwate; we usually hear the news of cherry blossoms at the end of April.It must be because of the global warming... It is over 20°C today.
It is so nice to have early cherry party and shorter winter, still it is not good.
Am I strange to care about global warming while enjoying early cherry blossoms?
I do not want the earth to have a life like cherry trees. No way.

Influenza type B is still around!!

Last week was "influenza week".

A teacher of my daughter's nursery school called me during my work on last Monday because she had a high fever of over 39°C. I immediately went to the nursery and brought her to a clinic I usually go.

The doctor tested for flues and waited for 15 minutes. I was told that she got influenza type B. Since then she had to stay home and rest until fever was gone.

The doctor gave her "Tamifuru"which is a killer medicine for the flue, however, it might cause side effect. My daughter got better because of the medicine, but she started to say something weird and cried so hard for almost three hours. I wondered why and consulted with the doctor, she told me to stop the medicine. Then she was back to "usual" for the day, however, the following morning, she again had a little fever and looked exhausted.

Then I wen to see the doctor to ask for different medicine. I just wanted her to get better to attend an entrance ceremony on Saturday.

Friday afternoon, when I was at home to prepare her to go the clinic, her teacher of the nursery called me to inform the entrance ceremony was cancelled due to the wide-spread of influenza type B. She was not the only one.

During weekend, she got really better and was able to go to the nursery on this Tuesday.

Yet still, many kids are still absent due to the flue.

Please wash your hand and gaggle after coming back to home!