Class Lunch 2011.09.02

We had a nice lunch at Osteria Hada after our class on September 2. Here are photos from Marumi, a fellow student who has just returned from a year abroad in Scotland. She took this class last year until she left so she might join us again for the second semester.
We evaluated the atmosphere and ambience and found it to be good. As for me, I enjoyed my lunch a lot. But the best thing was talking with everyone. Don't be surprised - it was water in those tall bottles!

Frank Gehry

We will study about this famous American architect in Unit 8. He has designed several buildings in Japan, one of which is Fishdance Restaurant in Kobe. Watch this video for a photo tour of this amazing place.

Fishdance Restaurant, Kobe

We will watch part of a documentary movie about Frank Gehry called Sketches of Frank Gehry, directed by Sidney Pollack in class.

In the meantime, here are some more photos of his buildings. View a long list with photos here.

Two famous buildings are the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao Spain

and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, which I have visited many times.

AGO, Toronto

How cooる is this?

I noticed this vending machine on my way home today. Check out the logo on the side of it. I think this slogan is a play on words to express the idea that Coca Cola is eco-cool and being eco-friendly is a cool thing to do. What is your interpretation? I'd like to hear your opinions below.

Joke advertisement

Read the writing in the bottom right corner. 

(click on the photo to enlarge it)

What do you think of the humor in this ad? Also, do you think this ad is effective? If yes, why? If no, why not? Write your comments below.

Chupa Chups is a lollipop company. Check their website to get to know a little about it.

Student Interns - Get job experience while you study

It looks like some Japanese universities are offering their students interning opportunities abroad. Here is an article from The Japan Times (June 4, 2011) about Nagoya University of Foreign Studies and their program for sending students to California to study at UCLA and work at Disney World.
Disney has some information about their internships on their website.

What do you think about interning, in general? Would you like to do something like this Disney program?
Write your comments for us all to see.

Broadening horizons: Students listen to a briefing on the Disney internship                         program at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture

Intern at Disney, get credits

Chunichi Shimbun

Nagoya University of Foreign Studies in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture, has launched an overseas program to give its students the opportunity to study in the U.S. and work at Disney World in Florida.

This year, 11 students are set to carry out seven-month internships at the theme park to learn about Disney's culture of hospitality. As such overseas internships help students gain work experience and improve their English-language skills, other universities have been introducing similar programs.

The Disney internship program is aimed at giving students wishing to work in the tourism or service industries work experience at a global company.

"It is not easy to study while working abroad. But this should be a living experience for the students who are going out into the world after their graduation," said professor Akito Ozaki, director of the university's international exchange programs.

The students will study in at the University of California, Riverside, from September and take courses on practical English or the tourism industry through December. They will move to Disney World in Florida next January and work as interns while living in a dormitory.Like other Disney employees, the students will work as guides for attractions, sales staff at souvenir shops, waiters or waitresses at restaurants, or hotel staff.

The credits students earn at UCR will count toward their Nagoya University degrees. Disney will also pay them for their work at the theme park.

Risa Inada, 20, a junior in the Department of English and Contemporary Society who is going to work as a sales clerk, said: "I want to become a flight attendant in the future, so I wish to learn the hospitality of Disney. I am very excited about how much I can grow through this program."

Aichi Shukutoku University, based in the town of Nagakute, launched an overseas internship program several years ago sending students to Washington, D.C. for a month during their spring holiday. While staying with American families, they take care of children at a day care center or work with the elderly at a nursing home in cooperation with a local nonprofit organization. This experience counts as university credits.

Nagoya Institute of Technology also provides an internship program for its students to work at firms in Asia and Europe.

Haruyoshi Nakaya, a study abroad consultant at J.A. Study Abroad Center in Shinjuku, Tokyo, said the number of students seeking internship opportunities overseas has been on the rise in recent years.

"Today it is not that unusual to have language study experience abroad. So it seems a growing number of students are looking for internship opportunities to differentiate themselves from other students," he said.

This section, appearing Saturdays, features topics and issues from the Chubu region covered by local daily Chunichi Shimbun. The original article was published May 28.

The Japan Times: Saturday, June 4, 2011 (C) All rights reserved

Contemporary Topics Unit 4: Restaurants

You can download and listen to the lecture here.

Restaurants in Tokyo

Are there any restaurants you like? If so, please recommend one of them to us. Tell us the name of the place, where it is, and what kind of food they serve there, the price, and your recommendations. Also give us the URL of the shop or a link to a food page with more information.

Here is an example of a place I like.

I often go to a soba shop in Ikebukuro called Bikkyo (美蕎). It is a 5-minute walk from the east exit of JR Ikebukuro station.
They serve only soba (no rice) and a la carte items like tamago-yaki and other things. During the daytime it is a regular soba-ya, and at night it becomes a soba-ya/bar I think. However, I have only been there for lunch. I usually get かけそば or 鳥ネギ南蛮 orとじそば. You can take a look at the menu and the prices here. I think the atmosphere is nice. It is not a regular soba-ya. The waiters are kind of cool and they play jazz as their BGM. The atmosphere is pretty laid back so I can feel comfortable there. The only thing I don't like is they allow people to smoke, even at lunch time. Despite that I go there quite often. The soba is high quality 十割そば. And besides it is 手打ち! The soba and the broth both taste really great.
Doesn't it look good?

Bon Appetit!

http://bikyo15.com/pc/index.html

Names lecture UPDATE! (Homework for May 6 class)

I found away to upload audio files to this blog, so if you need the audio file for the homework for May 6,
you can get it as a quicktime file here.

Give it a try and let me know if it works for you!

Contemporary Topics Unit 1 - Names

Homework for May 6 class


Since I cannot post audio on this blog, I will email you the audio recording for your listening homework on pp. 6-7 of Contemporary Topics. There are two exercises:  Listen for Main Ideas and Listen for Details. If you do not get the email from me on Friday, April 29, please email me to ask for it.
   In addition to this, remember to read the article on names and do the homework for your discussion with your partner next class.
   And, in between, Happy Golden Week!

Being Caribou - Canadian film

In this feature-length documentary, husband and wife team Karsten Heuer (wildlife biologist) and Leanne Allison (environmentalist) follow a herd of 120,000 caribou on foot across 1500 km of Arctic tundra. In following the herd's migration, the couple hopes to raise awareness of the threats to the caribou's survival. Along the way they brave Arctic weather, icy rivers, hordes of mosquitoes and a very hungry grizzly bear. An amazing expedition worth watching. See it on the website of the National Film Board of Canada's site. Watch it during Golden Week!

The Japan Times: VIEWS FROM THE STREET

Fukushima Dai-ichi Power Plant

Hiroshima: Should Japan abandon the use of nuclear energy?

Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Four people in Hiroshima were asked the above question. Read their responses:

Chiyo Sadatomo, 40s, Housewife
Abandoning nuclear energy is out of the question right now. We get something like 25% of our power from nuclear energy. We should scale down and find alternatives like wind or wave energy. We need also need to invest in better safeguards and maintenance of our current power plants.
Derrick Tran, 33 (Australian), Life Coach
What's the alternative? Scaling down is feasible only with viable alternatives. Whatever happens it will be a difficult choice to make.
Eiko Ito, 50s, Shop owner
I think we don't know enough about the cons of nuclear power plants. For example, the cleanup from the current crisis will take too long and cost too many lives and resources. But Japan does not have any energy sources like coal or oil. So even though nuclear power has lots of minuses we have no choice until we can find better energy sources.
Peter Goldsbury, 66 (English), Retired professor
Japan has no natural resources to mention if you exclude hydro-electric sources. I have not seen much in the way of wind and solar production like in Europe. Given the lack of resources, Japan needs a more vigorous investment in safeguards — as well as a more transparent and accountable management and response infrastructure.


What is your opinion on this issue? Discuss your answer in a group and write a comment for homework (by April 28) below. If you don't have a gmail account, use this login:
     email: gakuenglish@gmail.com
     password: gakushuin 2011
Make sure to write at least your first name at the bottom of your comment.

Dress for success

Complete the sentences below using these words. 

Nouns: style, suit, uniform
Verbs: avoid, judge, prevent, sew, wrap
Adjectives: concerned, tight

1. I can't wear these shoes. They're too                          .

2. The school principal is                            about the boy's poor work.

3. At his other job, he wore jeans. For this one, he wears a                                        and tie.

4. Every policeman wore a blue                                   .

5. We will try to                                              making the same mistake twice.

6. You must pay extra if you want someone to                       the gift.

7. He learned to                           in the army, so he can mend his clothes by himself.

8. That magazine says that long hair is not in                              this season.

9. Can you                          which story is better?

10. Did his low grades in math and science                        him from getting into that university?