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1. What worked well for you in terms of preparing for mock exams?

I procrastinated until the point where I did not prepare at all for the exams.

2. What will you do differently to prepare for the May exams?

Actually study. And not cram everything the night before, instead do a little every day.

3. Make a list of each class in which you will write an exam.

Coordinated Science, History, Japanese, Spanish, English

4. Which topics are you most comfortable with? What do you need to review?

I think I am most comfortable with Japanese, because it is my first language. I need to review a lot on science, as a lot of information has to be memorized and nothing can be improvised. I also realized how much cultural information I have forgotten on Hispanic countries during the Spanish mock exam, and have to go over vocabularies and conjugations on different tenses to refresh my memory.

1. What are you most proud of in your semester 1 results? Why?

To be honest, I don’t think my semester 1 results were as good as I expected them to be, because my motivation to study and understand everything going on in classes quickly deteriorated this year compared to last year. Although I got better at English, I got worse at Maths.

2. Given the comments of your teachers, what do you need to work on?

I need to work on vocalizing my opinions, contributing in class, and asking for help when necessary.

3. How will you work on #2 above?

Although I can be shy, I shouldn’t be afraid to speak up. I don’t ask for help in teachers unless there is a major confusing problem, because I usually have friends I can quickly confirm with if my understanding is correct or not. I should be getting help from teachers for more accurate responses.

4. How do you feel about your Approaches to Learning (ATL) feedback?

My organizational skills were mostly good, but reflection and communication needs a lot of work.

5. Review the learning goals you established in semester 1. In what ways have you met them? What remains to be done?

I have kind of met one of the goals, which was to get used to Spanish orals and be able to speak more fluently with confidence. Although I am not entirely fluent or grammatically correct at times, I realized that I shouldn’t think too much and use easy sentences that best answer the questions asked. I still need to memorize more vocabularies for SAT, because I don’t get more than half the words that appear in the Reading Section. I made some flashcards, which is a start.

My Father’s Side

My grandparents from my father’s side never moved or relocated their home to anywhere else. In fact, they are still living in the house that has been shared in the family for at least three generations in Shibacho. Up until my father (who is a dentist) and his brother (also a dentist), every man of the family were fisher men. Therefore, they needed to be near the sea all the time. Indeed, they live right near Sea Paradise, an amusement park known for being close to the sea. It is pretty normal for anyone related to me to not have relocated their home to elsewhere, since everyone is Japanese (except for my Cambodian aunt) and moving places is usually unnecessary and rare.

My uncle moved from Japan to Los Angeles, because he had strong memories of when he home stayed in a family in America, and also because he wanted to learn about American dentistry. He now works in a Japanese descent dental laboratory, involved in management.

From my father and uncle, the occupation of the family changed from fishers to dentists. The reason is because of pollution, the construction of bay bridge and reclaiming the land over on top of the sea, which decreased the habitation of fish and shells and changed the current of water. Therefore, my father decided to change the job in order to be successful in a suitable environment. He became a dentist since it directly helps people and ceases pain.

My Mother’s Side

My grandparents from my mother’s side is pretty different. My grandmother stayed in the city (Tokyo) all her life. Her father was a banker and then became a local welfare commissioner, listening to citizens’ consultations. Her mother died a week after she was born from sickness. My grandfather moved from living in Mine (near Nagano to Tokyo) for his university. His house is still there. My grandfather’s family was the head of the village (landlord) in the countryside, owning huge land, therefore through generations they never relocated home. They lost a large portion of land while my grandfather was in university (since he left it to be taken care by others). He then led on to being a Fukushima bank president. My uncle (his son, my mother’s brother) is the 17th generation.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg222/Gerardaholic0409mcr/GetAttachment-16aspx-1-1.jpg?t=1266059132

I decided to explore the website Photobucket (www.photobucket.com) in order to create a collage of my cats. The purpose of this is to gain some knowledge about using this site and tool and also to create something that necessitates skills that may be useful in the future in working on projects or assignments.

Making a collage helps educationally by either showing many pictures at the same time or by juxtaposing pictures. It is also appealing and easy to understand, as if a diagram for clearer explanation. For this, I put pictures of my kittens and put them in order from when they were young until now. It shows how they grew within 9 months. This can be used in other projects like in science experiments, history, art, drama (scenarios), how-to steps, and anything involving visual changes under circumstances or by time.

Photobucket is a free site where you can upload photos and videos, make collages, special effects, and slideshows by making an account.

Cambodia is one of the best countries in the whole world. I truly love Cambodia and I’m proud that my aunt is Cambodian. It is a beautiful country, in which I traveled to last year’s winter break.

When I arrived, I met my uncle and tons of geckos, scaring my father out of his wits. I took this as a warm welcome from Cambodia. My uncle was there for a soccer organization managed by charity, where he taught as a coach to young soccer players, because he is a referee. He lived there for 10 months in an apartment right next to a slaughterhouse and claimed that he hears pigs squealing at night.

We visited Angkor. It was an overwhelming panoramic scene of beauty, in which I was left open mouthed. We got to ride on elephants close to Angkor Wat. It was a shame that a lot of statue’s heads were sliced off, because of war a long time ago. A Japanese explorer found all the heads in a pile deep in a forest.

Then, our family went to Tuol Sleng and the Killing Field. There were all these emotions filling up my heart and about to explode by what Pol Pot had done to all the innocent. The images of thousands of skulls and clothes of the victims had burned into my eye and I’m pretty sure I will never forget the realization that humans are the scariest living creatures on earth, and humans are the ones to stop and desire change.

The people there were so friendly and played a very distinctive game that is like juggling in soccer but with a shuttlecock-like object with strangers. The country was so open and warm in hospitality. If the conditions of this country get better, I believe it will be the most successful as a society, because they help each other and barely have any greed. I love Cambodia for this reason.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia

I’m passionate about justice. I’m passionate about morality and the evil that exists as long as human beings are alive. I’m passionate about nature and aware of global warming and destructions humans are causing to the planet Earth. I’m passionate about the safety of animals and the mistreatment people give them. I’m passionate about stepping on crunchy autumn leaves on the sidewalk. I’m passionate about seeing flowers on the road, keeping strong while being blown by the wind created by cars zooming by in the polluted air. I’m passionate about staring up at the night sky, wondering how many people in the world are seeing the stars as I am now and what they’re thinking.

I’m passionate about life. 

What interests me is that life is so individual, where none is alike, whether human beings, animals, or plants. Existence is so precious and most of us forget how all of us can belong anywhere. This is why I come to be passionate about my dream of becoming a surgeon in the future. Even if a being is extremely malevolent, every life is equally important than anything else in the world. All the wrong doings can be changed later and doctors have to concentrate on saving the life that’s facing death toe to toe. When I grow up, I wish to join the organization Doctors Without Borders to help those who need treatment in LEDCs.

And I’m passionate about making my dream come true.

1. Take a warm bath. Do not overdo it, because it may bring exhaustion. Just enough will help body be relaxed.

2. Get a massage. Tensed muscles should be loosened up by back, face, and scalp massages very effectively. 

3. Drink warm milk/herb tea. This way, the nervous system will be relaxed. Most drinks will do unless they contain caffeine. 

4. Listen to music right before sleep. Loud music can keep the mind awake, therefore will not be any help. Soft, composed, and maybe instrumental or classical songs should soothe you to sleep. You should not get up in order to stop the music and should continue to drift off in bed without any large movements. 

5. Keep regular bedtime hours. The body clock is affected by circadian rhythm, and mixing up this rhythm causes inability to sleep and lessens concentration since of confusion within the body. 

Other tips: Do not go on the computer or any illuminated object, since the brain detects light, assuming it is daytime. Getting physical exercises during the day is a big help, making the body want rest. If nothing works, seeing a doctor can be considered. Different methods work for each individual, so some may work for others and some may not. 

“Hunger Games” is a science fiction novel written by Suzanne Collins. It is now a Sakura Medal book of 2009 and I believe it deserves a lot of attention, since this book is addictive from its inventiveness and unconventionality that is thrilling and thought-provoking at the same time. The story takes place in unidentified future. 

Katniss Everdeen is a 16-year-old girl who keeps her family alive by hunting animals and doing most of the housework ever since her father’s death. When her sister is selected as one of the unlucky participants of the Hunger Games from District 12, she offers to take place in order to protect her. Hunger Games is an annual televised event where a boy and a girl from 12 to 18 is chosen randomly (although with certain chances, increasing as one gets older) from each of the 12 districts. They are to kill each other until only one remains alive. It is held by the Capitol, the richest city in the center of Penam (what used to be of South America before disasters), as a reminder and punishment for citizens of their rebellion against the Capitol years ago. With Peeta, the other chosen participant (“tribute”), she goes to the arena where the battle takes place. 

This book was extremely interesting, because of all the ideas on survival and what it takes to live. It also has a philosophical theme to it and makes the readers think about morality. Upon reading, I realized how privileged I was with food and education and all essential needs and even wants. 

I recommend this to those who are tired of their daily lives, living with numbed senses towards their surroundings, and always walking alongside boredom. Suzanne Collins takes us to a whole other world that strikes readers like lightning.

Volleyball World Grand Champions Cup is a volleyball competition always hosted by Japan and taking place in Japan as well. This year Japan’s male team was quite successful, ending up in 3rd place, receiving a medal after 32 years. Brazil is an all-time winner, the most victorious team, which won the competition this year again, Cuba coming in second for men. For the female competition, Japan came in fourth. Italy came first, then Brazil, and Dominican Republic following. The women volleyball had more delicate techniques with a great setter, and the men volleyball was speed and power. The men had a very close game with Brazil, the undefeated team, but eventually lost 3 – 0. Each set was very intense and many were probably watching the game on a couch in front of the TV on the very edge of their seats. The game against Italy was pretty difficult to win, considering their height. Although Japan only has one two-meter tall player (a male), they did a great job on making good use of what each individual player had. They never gave up and played very well. There are a lot higher expectations for the next competition.