Honk!!

OLYMPUS E-410 "Confuuuuuused!"


Oh my runny nose...I can't stop blowing it.
I can say that I've used the same amount of tissues today as I would usually use in a month.

I remembered Japanese small sized tissue papers.
Japanese companies use tissue papers for ads.
They insert their ads into the pocket of the small package of tissue papers.
We Japanese call small sized tissue papers (= facial tissue?) as "pocket tissues."
Anyway, I realized a pocket tissues are very useful.
We could get them anywhere because they were given out in front of most major stations.
We didn't have to carry our "own tissue papers."

I miss pocket tissues...they're very necessary for me, for today.


By the way, I watched this video which Barack Obama is giving his top 10 (funny) campaign promises in January, the Late Night With David Letterman Show.



Every promise is so funny.
He has eyes on jokes...or someone made that?

No.4
"I won't let Apple release the new and improved iPod the day after you bought the previous model."

is exact what I want!!

I have a bad memory of that just two weeks after I bought a new iPod, Apple came out with the new model which was the same price but had double sized storage and half thinner body of mine.

"That's why I approve this message."

lol

A Blue Sky on the Ground

OLYMPUS E-410


Let's stop looking down.

Time To Fly by Un-known Bird

OLYMPUS E-410 inspired by "It's time to fly by seagull"

Ellie My Love

There were times I left your heart it pain
Time again I’ve turned and walked away
I’d get to where I’m going just to find
Won’t be happy in this world if you’re not by my side
Ellie, my love so sweet

My heart told me to break away
Now I’m out here far away
Wish that I could hold you in the night
Then I’d wake up to a morning
that is warm and bright
Ellie, my love so sweet

Smile for me, won’t you, baby
Forever you’ll be on my mind
Drink with me, won’t you, baby
We’re gonna make it right this time
There’s no one else like you
Anything you want, I’ll do
Ellie, my love so sweet

My heart told me to break away
Now I’m out here far away
Wish that I could hold you in the night
Then I’d wake up to a morning
that is warm and bright
Ellie, my love so sweet

Smile for me, won’t you, baby
Forever you’ll be on my mind
Drink with me, won’t you, baby
We’re gonna make it right this time
There’s no one else like you
Anything you want, I’ll do
Ellie, my love so sweet
Smile for me, won’t you, baby
Forever you’ll be on my mind
Drink with me, won’t you, baby
We’re gonna make it right this time
There’s no one else like you
Anything you want, I’ll do
Ellie, my love so sweet


Wow! I didn't know Ray Charles covered this song!!
This song was originally Japanese popular song.
What a amazing work...he covered the song perfectly!
In my opinion, covered songs tend to lead bad imitation...especially in case songs are translated from other languages.
But Ray did a great job. I really love this song!

You know, my name is Erie...sounds similar to Ellie.
So my father always sang this song to me, and some of my co-workers did too when we went to Karaoke together in order to make me happy.
Next time, I'll ask them to sing in English...it's much more pleasant!

Who's bad?

OLYMPUS E-410 "Remember Japan"

Guys!
Finally, I found a TRADER JOE'S in Virginia!
I supposed there is no T.J. in East Coast...
But I saw, some people trashed T.J. paper bags outside and I thought...
Oh, it seems here is T.J. nearby!
I searched on the Internet and found it is 1km distance from the station.
Thank goodness and Information Technology!
Of course I went there after school today.

I bought a soy milk, honey, ginger, and Udon.
I've got a cold since Thursday and it's getting worse...
My friend told me that a cup of 'ginger honey soy milk' would help me to be better.
I made it, drank it, and ate Udon.
What a typical treatment for a cold!
Hope get well soon...

I won't be able to go out tomorrow.

That's toooooooooooooo bad.

異邦人 -foreigner-

OLYMPUS E-410 "Catch the Clouds"

子供たちが空に向かい　両手をひろげ
鳥や雲や夢までも　つかもうとしている
その姿は　昨日までの何も知らない私
あなたに　この指が届くと　信じてた
空と大地が　触れ合う彼方
過去からの旅人を　呼んでいる道
あなたにとって私　ただの通りすがり
ちょっと振り向いてみただけの異邦人


I was like a child until yesterday.

Because I hadn't known anything --- I'd believed that I could catch birds, clouds, my dream, and you.

The sky and the earth are holding each other on the horizen.

I could reach there by way of this road -- this journey.

Nobody knows me here.

I'm just a foreigner here.


Oh my goodness...it's really difficult to translate Japanese lyrics into English.
(It's not a complete translation. I gave up some expressions 'cause I couldn't describe the feeling of those words.)

異邦人(ihoujin) is a very famous folk song in Japan.
It's an old song played by Saki Kubota in 1979.

One of my favorite folk songs.

(口：口）

OLYMPUS E-410 "A Station"

Cansei de esperar por você

Quando cansei de esperar você
Vi minha estrela maior renascer
Vi minha vida mais colorida
Cheia de encanto e de mais prazer

Vi quando o mar se abriu
Deixando passar todo o meu sentimento
Até na chuva e no vento
Vi a luz da poesia

Minha alegria voltou
Brilhando no alvorecer
Quando deixei de amar
E esperar por você


I really love her songs.
I wish I could sing these beautiful Brazilian songs in Portuguese.

秋分の日 -Equinox Day-

Thanks Bob, reminding me that today is the Autumn Equinox Day in Japan.

Yes...fall season has come.
We say "according to the calendar."

It's still hot, but we can feel autumn breeze and autumn flavors everywhere.



Sometimes, in fall, we feel like remembering the past and thinking how we were at that time.

Most of the time, it makes me feel sad.

It is a mysterious power of fall.


I like fall.


Canon IXY DIGITAL 10 "Half Summer, Half Autumn"

It's a little early for Halloween

He knows it.


Hi there!

My school has midterms now.

We took a written exam last Friday which included grammar, reading, and two essays.
(Sounds like a big test? Yes it was!!)

Also we need to give a five minutes presentation tomorrow.

I'm preparing for it.

I'm going to talk about "Salmonella."

Yikes!!!

US Capitals

"Capital from the East"

"Capital from the West, over the crowd and a few ducks"

"Capital from the East again, in a pink"

"Capital on the wall"


This is America, this is Washington D.C.

Today, I walked, walked, walked, and walked.
It was nice weather to walk around.
I didn't need to carry my "emergency umbrella."

Nothing special...but nice Capital sights.

Arlington Cemetory

"Silence and Respect"




OLYMPUS E-410

I dreamed...

being the same place

where I was

in 23 years ago.

A Picture

"Up to the real"

headache...

Sept.17th NE-MU-I

OLYMPUS E-410 "...Why are you taller than me?"

Sometimes, I feel like a grizzly bear in winter sleep.

I mean I'm so sleepy.

I couldn't wake up this morning.
I didn't notice any alarms or radio sounds.
This is my very first time to "oversleep completely."

It was 8:30 when I woke up even though I'm supposed to be in school at 9 everyday.
Actually, I was woken up by the sound of my host mom's laundry.
If she has done a laundry later ...terrifying!!!

My brain is utterly dead.

I needed to sleep again after I came home.

Tomorrow's morning, my body might be covered with thick fur and my fingernails might be changed to claws....

I'm a grizzly bear!
OLYMPUS E-410 "Stop, anyway."

Sept.15th The Afternoon Sunshine

OLYMPUS E-410 "Rocking Chair for Dwarfs"

I was studying outside, in the porch, this afternoon.
My room is in the basement so I seldom see sunshine after I come home from school.
Studying in my room tends to make me feel sleepy everyday...you know.

Needless to say, the afternoon sunshine was very comfortable.

Oh I love it,I really really love it...I thought.

BUT, I had forgotten about the tiny, miserable and most hateful creatures in this world.....

It was "mosquitoes"!!!!!!

I've been bitten by them countless times.
Somehow they seem to love me so much.
I couldn't live without anti-itch cream and special repellent aroma for insects during the summer in Japan.

I don't have that kind of aroma here...just I was a big feast for the mosquitoes.


I was not able to tolerate staying there more than one hour.

I went back to my room and felt comfortable in another way.


I got seven mosquito bites.

Parade!


OLYMPUS E-410 "It's not a real dog"

A Station

OLYMPUS E-410

I failed to reset the aperture...everything is out of focus.lol


I walk 30 minutes to this station everyday (because there is no bus pass).

Sept. 13th KENNEDY CENTER OPEN HOUSE

I went to The Kennedy Center.
There was an art and music festival of celebration as the 24th anniversary of this big building in George Town.
I was informed about the festival by an ad on a free paper.

It was a really nice festival!
I was able to see many concerts for free.

The most unforgettable experience for me was a live stage of Mr.Jake Shimabukuro.
He is a top Hawaiian ukulele musician. I've known him for years but I'd never gone to his concert.


Not to mention technique,he was awesome!!!
Jake said he is on a Japan tour now.
He flew from Nagoya yesterday, and needs to return to Japan soon.
If I were in Japan, I would have to pay for his concert !!
(Of course it's worth to pay. But anyway, I'm so lucky!)

He played Japanese old song "Sakura Sakura" (means cherry blossoms) .
The song is usually played by "Koto", a Japanese ancient strings instrument.
He imitated a Koto sound by his ukulele, and it sounded totally like Koto.
I was very impressed and touched.

"Shimabukuro" is a kind of Japanese family name but he is not Japanese.
Even so, he could express the feeling of that old Japanese song.

It reminded me that music doesn't need any languages.


Also I saw a brand-new great performance today.
It's called "Step Afrika."


Isn't it cool??

The Kennedy Center offers a free concert every evening.
I will go to see it as often as possible.

Presidental Candidates

So, you don't like both....

9.11

Today, I went to Pentagon after school.
There was the 7th anniversal celemony for 9.11 in the morning.

It has been seven years...
I didn't even expect that I would be in America on September 11th.

I remember that I was watching the terror attack on TV on the same day in seven years ago.
My mother was almost crying because the twin towers in New York was one of the memorial places for our family. I didn't remember because I was a baby at that time but she told me we would go there sometimes, especially when we had gusts from Japan.
"Oh there was a gift shop I remember. Your grandmother bought a post card there..." She muttered.



While I was taking pictures, two police officers came up to me.
They made me show to them the pictures and I had to delete some of them.

Sept. 10th CHURCH

I'd never been to a church before, even though my university was Catholic.
Of course we had a small church in the campus, but it was not a real one.

Today, my host-mom took me to a church in Washington D.C.
She goes to the church four times a week.
I have no idea which sect does the church belong...but I got to know that my host-mom is a Brazilian-American, because everyone there spoke Portuguese! So it must regard with Brazilian religions.

Mom was surprised when I told her that I knew some Brazilian Portuguese. Also i said I really wanted to go to Brazil someday!
She still loves Brazil although she immigrated to America when she was a child and she owns two houses there.
Mom was mingle. She introduced me to almost everybody there and said "She wants to go to Brazil!" "She wants to go to Brazil!"
You know, she is so nice and cute person!!!!

I sang some anthems (of course I don't know how to sing them but never mind!) and listened to the worship.
Mom gave me a English Bible but the Father and every participant read the Portuguese one, so I couldn't catch where he was reading...that's funny.
Anyway, I was able to enjoy them.
I like to hear Portuguese.



Also, I opened a bank account today.
So....send me money please!!!

NEW DAY

I woke up at 6:30 this morning. Wow it's incredible for me...
Because I was a little bit nervous to go to the new school today.

My host-mom took me in her car.
After five minutes later...I saw Pentagon.
Pentagon!!
I was so surprised because I didn't expect there is Pentagon such close place.
It was huge fortified building and I saw four big missile radars (I guess so...) faced to the outside.
Mom said to me, "I heard the sound of the airplane hitting Pentagon when the 9.11 happened. I was in the living room and felt like big metals were crushed."
Oh my...how scary!!


My school is in the city named Rosslyn.
After I arrived to the school, I took a 35min. placement test (just has reading section) first. It was calculated immediately and I talked with a counselor.
He explained me there were three choices for me: taking a reading/writing emphasized class, taking a speaking/listening emphasized class, or taking a academic course --doing all four subjects in the same time.
I chose a speaking class and he gave me a "challenging" class. It means the level of the class that I was given is a little more difficult than my ability.
Yes that was true...everybody there was able to speak English very well...
I have to catch up with the class soon!

At 1PM, my class was finished.
You know how was my feeling...I was tired.
But I didn't know I would get tired much more after I open the front door of the school...
It was RAINING !!
And you know what I said at that time...
OH S**T!!

Why today, why.... I spoke to myself.

I took Metro to go home.
I'm gonna commute by Metro from tomorrow.
Do you know the fare system of Metro here is different from L.A.?
It is more expensive and there are no reasonable passes to get for me.
The worst thing is that I have to buy two passes for buses and trains.
Bullshit!

Anyway, I got back to my home without losing the way. Of course.
(...Thanks God!)

I went to CVS, my most favorite pharmacy ever, and cleaned up my room.
One of my friends always said to me, "You don't have any sense of keeping your room neat!!"
Don't you think it is rude?

However, he was right.
My room is still messy. Absolutely.

Oh it's 22:30 already here...
There are three hours time difference from the city that I used to live in.
I'll do my homework now.

Sentimental Journey

Gonna take a sentimental journey
Gonna set my heart at ease
Gonna make a sentimental journey
To renew old memories





Dear all,

I've safely arrived in my new home in Virginia.
Thank you for all of your support to take me here.

I'm gonna start to attend a new school tommorow.

Prepare to enjoy my new photos here...!

ERIS

on the wall

Actually, it's sight from a window.

THE BEACHISTS

OLYMPUS E-410 at New Port Beach

"WE DON'T WANNA GO BACK TO OUR DAILY LIFE !"

TiMe Goes bY

A Ferris Wheel

Sometimes you go up.
Sometimes you go down.
And you can go to the top only one time.


What is it?



It's not a life.