My 3 Favorite Blogs

I've enjoyed reading all of your blogs x3

No.1
sacchan's room

She has put many good photographs and pictures in the entries!
There is a lot of intersting information in every entry :D
Plus, all of the entries are pretty easy to read.

No.2
Take it Easy♪

There are some good links and great information in every entry.
And I like how she emphasizes important words :)
I bet her blog is very fun to read, you should check it!

No.3
Live in Indolence

This blog is in great quality, the design is nice! XD
His writing skill is pretty good. All the sentences are very well-written, easy to understand.
And there is lots of good informations in each entry.

And, thank you for choosing my blog for one of your favorite blogs!

Speech: The Maori in Modern New Zealand

Kia ora tatou! / Hello everyone! I’m going to talk about the Maori in modern New Zealand.

For now, the Maori are 14% people in New Zealand, including children of Maori people and Europeans. Most of them live in the North Island and about two-thirds of them live in urban center areas, such as Auckland. Their culture and language have close relationships with lives of New Zealanders.

Many Maori people work in cities and the young generation doesn’t really have connections with traditional Maori culture. But Maori people are still keeping their traditions, like Marae, where they hold a meeting and ceremonies.

Maori language is used by only 25% of Maori people now, and it's one of the national languages in New Zealand. In elementary school, children must learn the language. Not many people can speak it fluently, but everyone knows expressions for greeting and how to count numbers in Maori. There is a Maori TV channel and 20 radio channels.

About Maori

The Maori are native Polynesian people of New Zealand(a.k.a. Aoteroa, Maori name for the country.)　They are said to have been come from Polynesia in canoes about 9th to 13th century AD. For now, 14% of people in New Zealand are the Maori and 95% of them live in the North Island. Their language and culture have a close relation with lives of New Zealanders.

Maori language is used by 25% of Maori people, and it's one of the national languages in New Zealand. In elementary school, children must learn the language. Not many people can speak it fluently, but everyone knows expressions for greeting and how to count numbers in Maori.

Cultural art of them are called as "treasure of the Maori." Traditional art, such as whakairo (carving), raranga (weaving), haka (group dance) and moko (tattoo) are known well. Daily goods like a fishing hook, an axe and goods for rites like Tokotoko (a stick which god dwells within), are not just goods but also artworks

There is an ancient way of Maori cooking called Hangi. First, men dig a big hole in the ground, while women prepare meat and vegetables for cooking. Second, they put big heated rocks in the hole and then, put food in baskets on the rocks. Then, put wet clothes on them and steam.

Speech: Thanksgiving Dinner

Families and friends come together and have a big dinner on Thanksgiving. The food that are eaten on this day originally came from the American Continent. Here's are said to be common dishes for the day:

Roasted turkey: it's the most popular main dish which is eaten on Thanksgiving dinner. It's usually stuffed with cereal, sage, chopped celery, carrots and onions.

Stuffing: sauted breads and vegetables.

Mashed potatoes

Gravy

Cranberry sauce

Pumpkin pie: The most popular dessert in Thanksgiving dinner.it's often served with whipped cream.

Sweet potatoes: It's cooked with brown sugar, mashmallows or maple syrup. It's a way of traditional American cooking.

Green bean casserole: It's a sort of stew which includes green beans, canned cream of mushroom soup and frenchfried onions.

Corn on the cob

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a national holiday which is celebrated in USA(4th Thursday of November) and Canada(2nd Monday of October). It's the day when people give thanks for the harvest of the year, and they celebrate the holiday at home with their families or friends. They also watch football games and eat large meals together on the day.

==Thanksgiving Dinner==

The food that are eaten on this day originally came from America. Each family have their own recipes for Thanksgiving dinner. Anyways, here's a common one. On Christmas, dinner which is like this is served too.

Roasted turkey: it's the most popular main dish which is eaten on Thanksgiving dinner. (That's why the day is also called "Turkey Day.") It's usually stuffed with cereal, sage, chopped celery, carrots and onions. Recently, deep-fried turkey is becoming popular.

Stuffing: sauted breads and vegetables. It's also stuffed in a turkey.

Mashed potatoes: It's usually served with gravy sauce.

Gravy: It's eaten with turkey and potatoes.

Cranberry sauce: It's eaten with turkey, but it's also eaten as a food itself.

Pumpkin pie: The most popular dessert in Thanksgiving dinner. Traditionally, it's served with whipped cream.

Sweet potatoes: It's cooked with brown sugar, mashmallows or maple syrup. It's a way of traditional American cooking.

Green bean casserole: It's a casserole which includes green beans, canned cream of mushroom soup and frenchfried onions.

Corn on the cob: they're boiled or baked.

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

I haven't seen many movies recently, since I don't have enough time to go to theaters. But I watched the movie called "Gake no Ue no Ponyo" in the September. (The English title of the movie is "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea".)

This is the latest Miyazaki Hayao’s movie, and the story is an original one, not based on novels (although, many people believe that it was based on Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid”.) One of the notable things about movie is, the film isn’t animated in computer graphics but in hand-drawn. It has taken 14 billion yen as of September 15th.

This move takes place in a port town in Japan, which name is unknown. One day, human boy called Sousuke saved a gold fish girl, Ponyo, who was stuck in a bottle. They became to like each other, even she wised to become a human girl. But her father, Fujimoto, took her away to sea. He was planning to cause a flood on Earth and turn it into part of sea, by filling his well with "Water of Life". When Ponyo managed to escape from there with helps of her sisters, she filled the well with the water, not on purpose. Soon, a huge storm started to blow and the town was being struck by a tsunami! The world’s destiny is in Sousuke and Ponyo’ clutches…

...Well, in some reviews on the Internet, they say "the story is not good, it’s just for little kids, unlike other Miyazaki’s movies". Surely, it IS for kids, so I didn’t expect the plot to be complicated. But I thought design of characters, props and backgrounds were simply awesome, they were very beautiful! Especially, when the most of the town disappeared under the sea… As for characters, all of them are nice people by heart, which made me feel good.

I recommend this movie to you, who wants to see sweet and heart-warming one.

My Summer Vacation

During the summer vacation, on August 21st to 23rd, I went to Osaka for a camp of university drama club. One week later of that, I went to Mie Prefecture for a camp of Department of British & English Studies. Both of them were good experiences for me, but this time, I’m going to write about my part-time job.

I didn’t feel like nor even wasn’t interested in working. But my mother had always told me to get a job and yarn money for my commuter passes & cell phone bill. So, I started to find one after the end of the 1st semester. At first, I applied to a cashier of a bakery store, but I was rejected. Next, I went to a job interview of a clerk at a bookstore, though I couldn’t get a job again. Then, I applied to a worker of a convenience store. Finally, I was able to get the job.

On the first day, I was very nervous about working at a convenience store. There are so many things to learn like: working at a cashier, putting products on shelves, making French fries and fried chickens…etc. I’m not good at memorizing and I’m clumsy, so I couldn’t do the job pretty well on that day.

But now, with the help of other workers and the manager, I’m getting used to working little by little. I can’t say that the pay is not very good, but when I finish working of a day, I can bring food products, which expired dates, to home.

I can’t be lazy on all day at weekends anymore, but it’s good that I don’t waste time and getting money. I want to save money for a trip to meet friends who live in other countries. Still, I still prefer drawing & painting pictures to working, though.

Word Count: 307 words