NZ's Sports Speech

Our group researched about New Zealand's sports!! Do you know what sports are famous & popular in New Zealand?

I’m going to talk about rugby. New Zealanders love rugby very much. Rugby is the national sport of New Zealand like Sumo in Japan. New Zealand’s national rugby team is called “the All Blacks” because of their black uniform. The All Blacks is very famous team due to two reasons. One reason is their special ability. In fact, the All Blacks has been ranked top of IRB (=International Rugby Board) World Rankings. By the way, Japan ranks sixteen in the world. And the other reason is their performing, the haka, before the game. Haka means action song and war dance in Maori language. The players dance it to raise their morale and fighting spirit.

The symbol of the Japanese national team is cherry blossoms. The All blacks’ symbol is a silver fern. For Maori, ferns are important for their lives and silver ferns mean holy things. Ferns are used by other New Zealand sports teams such as netball. So, the women’s netball team is called Silver Ferns and the women’s rugby team is called Black Ferns.

I hope you understand about New Zealand's rugby well and came to be interested in "the All blacks"!!!

NZ's Sports

Next speech is about Japan & New Zealand. Our group decided to research about sports. In Japan, I think, soccer and baseball are major sports. According to my research, rugby, cricket, golf, swimming, tennis are popular sports in New Zealand. These are not so popular in Japan. And also, bungee jumping was first established in New Zealand, and more over, the first person who climbed Mt. Everest was New Zealander, Edmund Hillary. He appears on the current five-dollar note.

Today, I’m going tell you about “Rugby”. New Zealander loves it very much. I have been to New Zealand and I felt it so strong!! Rugby is the national sport. New Zealand’s international rugby team is called “All Blacks” because of their black uniform. All Blacks is very strong team and famous for their performing, haka, before the game. Haka means action song and war dance in Maori language. To arouse the morale, the players dance it.

La Tomatina Speech (Tomato Throwing Festival)

Our group researched about “La Tomatina”. It is a tomato throwing festival and I am going to tell you about the place.

La Tomatina is held in Buñol in the province (=state) of Valencia, Spain. Valencia Committee is composed of 3 provinces; Castellón, Valencia and Alicante. The provincial capital, Valencia is a sunny city and famous for oranges and paella. If you are a soccer fan, you know it because of Valencia CF. Buñol is 40 kilometers away from Valencia and lies in 30 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea (in Japanese 地中海). It also has a good network of roads such as motorways and rail to Madrid. The nearest airport is in Valencia and then you have to take a bus or hire a car to go to Buñol. Also, you can go there by train from Valencia or Madrid.

Buñol has a population of about 9,000. However, more than 30,000 tourists come to this festival, so Buñol fills with many people and tomatoes on the day of the festival.

Autumn Festival

In autumn, there are a lot of festivals around the world. My group decided to research Tomato Festival (LA TOMATINA). I am personally interested in two festivals; Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri and Diwali. I would like to tell you about them.

“Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri” holds in Kishiwada, Osaka in every autumn (on the Saturday and Sunday before Respect for the Aged Day). Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri is also the most famous Danjiri festival in Japan. However, what is Danjiri? Danjiri is one of the floats (dashi 山車). The Kyoto-Osaka dialect for “dashi” is “danjiri”. On this festival’s day, many tourists come to watch it. The highlight is “Yarimawasi (やりまわし)” that people make float pick up speed and turn it around all of a sudden in the town, and moreover, it turns right-angle even it is very fast. There are some rules for sightseers to watch it. First, to obey police and the person’s concerned this festival. Second, don’t watch it with climbing up on a stool and a stepladder. Third, don’t throw out the garbage. Fourth, please use a raincoat instead of an umbrella if it is rain. Fifth, please use the public transportation. And finally, don’t hinder Danjiri from passing. I reckon that this is a very exciting festival in Japan.

Next is about “Diwali”. It is the Indian festival and is very important for Hinduism. During this festival many schools and companies take holiday and the town fills with beautiful ornaments and lively people. It is decided to hold the day by Hinduism calendar, so the day is difference every year. Probably it holds October or November in Western calendar. It is often called “Festival of Light” because people decorate their house with miniature bulbs, candlelight, and so on. Also, they set off firecrackers and fireworks. It cerebrates the New Year(in Hinduism calender), so people say “Happy Diwali” each other like “Happy New Year”. People drink and make merry all night. India is a big country, so the way to cerebrate is difference from region to region.

Do you like festivals? I like festival because I can enjoy it with a lot of people. There are many kinds of festival in Japan. Needless to say, there are many festivals around the world. It will be fun to know them. Why don’t you participate in them?

Movie *Bridge to Terabithia*

Recently, I went to a rental video shop and watched “Bridge to Terabithia”. It became one of my favorite movies. However, to be honest, I was not planning to rent it. I intended to rent other movies, but those DVDs which I wanted to watch were already rented, so I stretched out my hand to pick up “Bridge to Terabithia”.

Originally, “Bridge to Terabithia” is a children’s literature written by American author, Katherine Paterson in 1977 and won Newbery Medal in 1978. The author wrote this story under the influence of her real experience that a friend of her son was killed by lightning at a beach. And “Terabithia” comes from the imaginary island of The Chronicles of Narnia.

There are two main characters, Jess and Leslie. Jess is good at drawing and he feels loneliness in his family. Josh Hutcherson played him. She has a talent of making story. AnnaSophia Robb played her, and moreover, she sings a song, “Keep Your Mind Wide Open” which you can listen in this movie. Maybe you have watched her because she appears on “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.　These two actors are active in the today’s movie world.

Jess lives in countryside, southwest Virginia. He is the only boy among five children, two older sisters and two younger sisters. This is a poor family. His father is always busy with his work and his mother just takes care of daughters. Jess feels very lonely and does nothing but draw the imaginary world on his sketchbook. One day one family moves in next to his house. This family’s daughter, Leslie is an activity and talented girl. Jess and Leslie gradually became great friends. They create an imaginary kingdom “Terabithia” in the forest near their house that they can across the stream by old rope. After school, they always go there and spend a fun time as this kingdom’s king and queen. Although they enjoy their life in Terabithia, an unfortunate event happens when Jess goes to the National Gallery of Art with their music teacher……….

This is a heart-warming movie. I was moved to tears and this movie made my mind fill with heartrending sorrow and feel refreshed. And the characters that Jess drew were very good, attract people and make you feel nostalgia for your childhood. I recommend you to watch it. I am sure that this movie makes you happy. If you find “Bridge to Terabithia”, please watch!!

Keep Your Mind Wide Open!!

My Summer Vacation

This summer I hanged out with my friends a lot. It was not special such as going somewhere, travelling and so on. However spending time with them is very fun and comfortable for me.

First, I stayed at my friend’s house in Hosigaoka. 6 people came and there were 2 people who became 20 years old then, so we decided to hold a little party in secret to them. That day we tell them a different meeting time to prepare the party but they were going to come ahead of time. We were in a hurry and managed to prepare for a party. I made a cheesecake and we made a card with massage from us. I had our high school class teacher write the massage, too. We pretended to be natural until we gave them surprising presents. After having supper, we gave presents. They were surprised and glad to get them. Our secret party’s plan was a great success!! We talked and talked until midnight and some talked even until early morning. We had a lot of fun time.

And another day, I went out with basketball club friends. We had club activities almost every day in high school days, so it is natural to be together. We ate dinner and then go to a karaoke. One of my friends is really good at singing. I listened attentively to her singing voice. I took charge of playing a tambourine! Of course we talked a lot and a lot. Some people are busy and other live in other prefecture now and also some have got a job. Long vacation is a precious and enjoyable time for us to hang out and talk. I am looking forward to seeing them next vacation!!

I spent usual time in summer vacation, but it was very cozy. Spending with friends make me cheerful and encourage me.

Metabolic Syndrome

Do you know about the Metabolic Syndrome? Today, it is a big and timely topic in Japan. What is Metabolic Syndrome? What’s it bad point? I would like to tell you about it.

The first topic is “what is the Metabolic Syndrome?” It is the lifestyle-related illnesses including obese. And it causes other lifestyle-related illnesses such as the high blood pressure, the high blood sugar level and dyslipidemia. And each of them is a dangerous factor of arteriosclerosis.

There are some reasons of it; lack of exercise, obese (especially fat of internal organs) and overeating. And now, I will give you several questions, so please look back upon your life style!!
① Do you eat heartily?
② You often eat a snack.
③ You often use sugar in meal.
④ You like strong seasoning
⑤ You don’t eat vegetables much.
⑥ You like greasy food.
⑦ You have no habit of exercise.
⑧ You often drink for getting rid of your stress.
⑨ You smoke.
If you come under a lot these categories, you have to pay attention to your health and need to change your life style.

Metabolic Syndrome’s standard is that;
(Essential point)
● the girth⇒men: more than 85 cm ,women: more than 90 cm
(Elective points) coming under two out of three
● neutral fat⇒more than 150mg/dl　/ HDL cholesterol⇒less than 40mg/dl
● blood sugar level (hunger) ⇒ more than 110mg/dl
● blood pressure (shrinking time)⇒more than 130mmHg
If you fall under these categories, you are the Metabolic Syndrome.

You have to exercise, keep regular hours, eat well-balanced meal and quit smoking to improve and prevent the Metabolic Syndrome!! It is good for us to look back our life style by Metabolic Syndrome's test. Take care your bodies!!

Exercise

I researched about Yoga. You know, yoga is good for your health. It became popular because a lot of celebrities do it, for example Madonna.

Yoga has very old history and a lot of kinds. Do you know about them? Yoga began more than 3000 years ago in India!! Yoga means "union" in Sanskrit. It is good not only for our physical but also for our mental. So, you can get many benefits from Yoga. If you want to know about Yoga deeply, please watch 1 and 2.

Why don't you do Yoga? There are some good Yoga examples. Try to imitate their good examples and let's be healthy!!

⇒for Beginners

⇒for professional①

　 for professional②

　 for professional③

Laughter

(1) Interesting Information about Laughter
Do you know Patch Adams? He was born on Washington D.C., America. His real name is Hunter Campbell. He is famous not only as a medical doctor but also as a clown doctor. Also, he is a social activist, citizen diplomat, performer, artist and actor. The movie “Patch Adams” was shown in 1998 and it tells the life of him. If you want to know his life and career, please click on this link to watch his information.
Patch Adams Life and Career

He has had some doubts about medical treatment for moneymaking. He aimed to do a medical treatment that is a gentle for people. He built the “Gesundheit! Institute” in West Virginia. “Gesundeheit” is a German word means like “Are you all right?” in English. Patch believes that laughter, joy and creativity play an important part of the healing process.
Gesundheit Institute

Patch Adams's Interview


(2)　Comedy & Other Funny Stuff
I like several comedians and especially I like 99. They are one of the Japanese famous comedian’s pairs. I like them because their comedy programs on TV are very funny. They sometimes do worthless and silly things but they are very funny. Also, Okamura can dance very well!! There are TV programs that I like, why don’t you watching them?

1. TV programs①(Police)
2. TV programs②(Okazairu)
3. TV programs③ (Test)

Please enjoy them!!

**Christmas speech**

Today I had a last presentation!!!

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

*group1* Brazil

There are funny Santa's picture :)

Their PowerPoint have nice pictures!! ⇒easy to understand.



*group3* Australia

I wanted to listen to Australian Christmas song :*(

But it was a good information.



*group4* Italy

I could get a lot of new information!!

Nice pictures.



*group5* UK

Nice slides!!

I was surprised to hear that coins are hidden in the pudding.



*group6* Russia
Cute slides!!

*group7* Denmark

I was glad to know Denmark words

("Got Jul!!" = "have a nice Christmas!!")

*group8* Egypt

Easy to listen!!

interesting information!!

*group9* France

simple slides, but easy to understand.

*group10* Germany
St. Nicholas's story was interesting!!

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I was glad to hear various countries information!!

**ttfn**

**Santa Claus**

I'm looking into "Santa Claus".






And this is a draft of a speech.



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I'm going to tell you about "Santa Claus". As you know, Santa Claus is an old man who brings presents to children every year. He has a white beard, wears red suits, lives on the North Pole and flies around in a sleigh with 8 reindeer.
The Americanversion of a "Santa Claus, or St. Nicholas" originally came from the Ducth version called "Sintaklaas". The Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam (New York) brought this fun tradision to America in the 17th century. He did not become an important person at Christmas until he was put in a novel in 1809. This first Santa Claus didn't have his red suit and fly without any reindeer. Modern ideas of Santa Claus were made by an American cartnoonist in 1863. Santa was illustrated by him having red suit, pipe, and his reindeer and sleigh.
USA is a big country, so there are various Santa Claus. For example, in California and Hawaii Santa do surfing. In Hawaii the coming of the Christmas Tree Ship and arriving Santa Claus by boat are the symbol of beginning Christmas.

novel name: "History of New York" by Washington Irving

cartoonist name: Thomas Nast "Harper's Weekly"
**Forewell**