夜明けのAmelie

Japanese Dances

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:32:45 +0900

One of my friends on Lang-8 asked me what kind of Japanese dances there were, but I didn't really know...^^;

So, I just did a little research on the Internet.

It seems that there are many kinds of Japanese traditional dances, but today I will only mention a few popular or famous ones.

盆踊り(Bon Odori): This is the most popular one among ordinary people. Everyone can join Bon Odori without training. I myself have danced it many times in my life. We dance it in summer festivals all over Japan.

歌舞伎舞踊(Kabuki Buyou): This is seen in Kabuki plays. Kabuki is a Japanese traditional play performed only by men. It's slow and can be boring sometimes. ^^; I have never seen it other than on TV. But I want to see one with my own eyes someday.

剣舞（Kenbu): This is a sword dance. The dancers spin or draw and sheath their swords quickly while they are stepping and jumping.

===Original===

The dancers spin or take in and out their swords fast while they are stepping and jumping.

Met My Old Friends

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:10:40 +0900

The other day, I met two of my old friends.
The three of us had been together from elementary school to high school.

One of them is now a government official. She works in a tax office.
There is no overtime work, so she seems to enjoy her after-hours enough.

The other one is a nurse. Her job is stressful because it deals with human life, and there are night shifts, too. It sounds really hard. However, she is given a big bonus. It's about two times higher than the average. She deserves it for her hard work.:)

I am going to meet several more of my old friends during the winter holidays.
It's important to meet one's old friends once in a while to catch up with each other.:)

===Original===

I am going to meet several more of my old friends in these winter holidays.

A One-day Job Interview

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:56:26 +0900

I went to Tokyo to take another job interview yesterday. It took a WHOLE DAY!

I already passed the first test a week ago and was regarding my resume.

The second and the third test were conducted all at once yesterday!
(It was getting to the end of the year so they wanted to shorten the process.)

The second test was a paper test and a group interview.
The paper test consisted of basic kanji, mathematics, and English questions.

In the group interview, we were asked 4 or 5 questions.
The results were conveyed to the candidates soon after we finished the tests. All of us passed.

The third test was an individual job interview.
I answered the questions well. The interviewers looked content with my answers.

The third test seemed to go well, but I am not sure if my ability is enough for the job.

The job is to be a manager of a schoolhouse of a famous leading English conversational school company. It requires management skills, communication skills, creativity and being a person of action.
There are quotas as well. If a quota is not met, then I could have my salary decreased or even worse, be fired.
But the company said that their employees had no special skills when they became managers and learned what they needed through experience in the job.

Anyway, the company will call me if I pass the third test. I will have to wait and see!

===Original===
I already passed the first test a week ago, which was examining my resume.

(It was getting to the end of the year, so they wanted to shorten the selection time.)

The paper test was basic kanji, mathmatics, and English questions.

The result was conveyed to the candidates soon. And all of us passed the second test.

The quotas are set, too. If one failed to full the quotas, their salary would decrease. Or worse, I think they would be fired.

Typical Japanese meal

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:58:32 +0900

I think this is a typical Japanese style meal.
It's thought to be well-balanced for your health to have a bowl of miso soup, rice, and a main course of meat or fish with some vegetables on the side.

So, the meal in the picture seems to perfectly follow the model meal!

===Original===

It's thought balanced for your health to have a bowl of miso soup, a bowl of rice, a main dish, which is meat or fish, and some vegetables as a side dish.

My personality

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 12:05:03 +0900

I'll try to describe my personality today...

Basically, I am a positive thinker.
I always try to smile, talk confidently, and take fast action when there is a problem.
I hardly complain about things.
Instead, I think about how to overcome problems and move forward in life. The future will get better.

However, on the other hand, I am a bit absentminded. For example, I sometimes forget where I put away things.
But, since I know I tend to be forgetful, I make a conscious effort to remember.

As for how I present myself to others, I don't believe that I'm two-faced. I always try to be myself!

It might be attractive for a mysterious anime bishie to be two-faced and untrustworthy, however, in the real world, those qualities won't be appreciated by others.

===Original===
I try to describe my personality today...

I always try to smile, talk in confidence, and take an action fast.

I hardly complain.
Instead, I try to think by what I will be doing, the future will get better.

However, on the other hand, I am a bit careless. But, since I know I tend to be careless, I try not to be.

As for a double character... I think I am not! To be exact, I try not to be!

It's attractive for a mysterious anime bishie to be a double character, but in the real world, it sounds troublesome to other people! XD

Character CD for "An AB blood type boy"

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:49:39 +0900

I bought this CD yesterday...
It's about a boy character whose blood type is AB.

In Japan, we often enjoy talking about blood types. Many people believe people's personality depends on blood types more or less.

A types are thought to be hard-working and strictly follow social rules, B a little selfish but passionate for their dream, O friendly and sociable, and AB a double character.

My blood type is AB, so I bought this CD.
It has 10 tracks, most of which are audio dramas in which this AB type boy takes a main role and develops a story with other blood type boys... Also, the CD also has a cast interview, which is really fun to listen to. ^^

===Original===
The CD also has a cast interview, which is really fun to listen to, too.^^

Sweet potato soup

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:55:07 +0900

I bought a cup of hot sweet potato soup on the street when I went to a Kawagoe city festival.
Kawagoe city is famous for sweet potatoes.
It seemed that sweet potatoes were simmered until they totally melted.
It was sweet. I liked it^^

Oden

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:25:01 +0900

Oden is one dish that my father cooks the best.
He cooked it for my family^^

Oden is a stewed dish consisting of ingredients such as Japanese white radish, boiled eggs, kelp(a kind of seaweed), potatoes, some kinds of fish paste, and konnyaku(a jelly made from devil's tongue starch) in a lightly soy sauce flavored soup.
I like to put a little karashi(Japanese mustard) on them.

My favorite one is konnyaku! Although, it's slick and hard to pick up with chopsticks.XD

===Original===

Oden is one of my father's best foods...

It's slick and hard to pick up with chopsticks, though.XD

Went to Tokyo Disneyland

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:51:36 +0900

I went to Tokyo Disneyland with my friend
It was a Christmas event season, so the park was decorated in Christmas style!

I really like roller coasters...
This is inside the attraction called "Space Mountain," which is a roller coaster going through the dark space with lots of shining stars.

I ate lunch at a restaurant featuring "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."
The heart-shaped hamburger steak was really cute^^

The castle's clock was decorated with a Christmas wreath that was lit up fantastically.

The whole day was like a dream!

===Original===
The castle's clock was decorated with a Christmas wreath, and lightened up fantastically.

My cat

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:11:01 +0900

He is our family's cat.^^
His name is "Jobs," named after Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Inc..
He is a mongrel.
We found him near our house and decided to keep him after we made sure he didn't belong to anybody.
Cats sold at pet shops are sometimes quite expensive, so we are lucky that we got him for free!^^

===Original===
We found him near our house and decided to keep him after we made sure he wasn't kept by anybody.