３－１堀田美沙樹

みなさんは今日誰かに「ありがとう」と言いましたか？
心を込めたありがとうを言いましたか？
「ありがとう」、
それはとても単純な言葉ですが、
実はとても大きな力を持った言葉だと私は思うのです。
　
私は今年の春、
国際交流で一週間フランスに行きました。
そして、現地の家庭でホームスティをしました。
フランスではなるべく日本語を話さないようにしようと思っていたので、
知っている限りの英語を使う努力をしました。
日本で２年間も習った英語でしたが、
実際に使ってみると、
なかなか自分の思いが相手に伝わらずに苦労しました。
日本を出発する前日に、
英会話やフランス語の本をたくさん読み、
いろいろな場面での言葉を覚えていったつもりでしたが、
実は、実際にたくさん使った言葉は「ありがとう」でした。

　一番初めに「メルシー」を使ったのは、
フランスに着いて２日目です。
パリを観光中にお昼御飯を買うとき、
店員さんの言った値段が聞き取れずに困っていました。
後ろにはたくさんの人を待たせていて、
ドキドキしていた時、
その店員さんは親切にも紙に書いて教えてくれたのです。
その時、自然に私の口からメルシーと言葉が出ていました。
私の心からの感謝の言葉でした。
その発音もままならない「メルシー」という言葉に店員さんはにっこりと笑いかけてくれました。
その時、私は解放されたような安心感を抱いたのを覚えています。
そして、その「ありがとう」言葉で、
今までの私の考え方が変わりました。


　私はいつも、
言わなくても分かるだろうと思い、
ありがとうを口に出して言いませんでした。
しかし、フランスに行って初めて、
普段何不自由なくしていた生活が、
言葉が違うというだけで大変になり、
その不安や悩みに温かく手を差し伸べてくれる人のありがたみを心で感じ取ることができたのです。
よく考えてみると、
外国に行った時ばかりではなく、
実は普段の生活の中で人の優しさに触れていることが私たちにはたくさんあるのです。
一番身近にいる人には、
甘えが出てしまい、
素直になれないことが多いです。
ですが、一番に自分のことを考え心配してくれている人は、
そういう自分のごく身近にいる人なのです。
こう思えたことが、
フランス滞在での一番の収穫でした。
大人になっても、
感謝の気持ちを忘れずにこの言葉を言えるそんな大人になりたいです。
そして、「ありがとう」の言葉の大切さを知った私が、
今一番ありがとうと言いたい相手は家族です。
この時まで何不自由なく生活できて、
フランスに行くことにも協力してくれた家族。
そして、さらに自分の夢を応援してくれる家族。
いま改めて、家族のみんなへ言いたいです。「ありがとう」  ¶ 1:39 PM (0) comments

 

Top Ten Foreign Language Songs

these are my favourite songs which arent in english. i totally have no idea what these songs are about, but they sound nice to me =) if you want mp3s then just email me or msn or icq or something and ill send them over =)
yeh ok theyre almost all jap.. that happens =p

10. Shimatani Hitomi - Amairo no Kami no Otome
i just downloaded this song at random from kazaa by typing in "jpop". its really nice, and she is hot as well. =p
9. The Brilliant Green - Forever to Me
i probly couldve written this list as "top 10 brilliant green songs" but i restrained myself =p this is one of my favs =)
8. Utada Hikaru - Hikari
this is the theme song to Kingdom Hearts, the jap version is heaps better than the english version.
7. The Pillows - Runners High
this is off the ever popular OST for FLCL. i liked the soundtrack before i ever saw the anime =p
6. Hysteric Blue - Haru Spring
i saw a poster for Hysteric Blue on the wall of istarzone. they looked cute, so i went and downloaded their mp3s. heaps pop, but still fun =)
5. Ayumi Hamasaki - Fly High
Everyone always talks about her, so i got some of her songs. this one is cool =)
4. Rammstein - Du Hast
phew, a non-asian song =p i first heard this in the background of CKY2K.. but its featured in quite a few other things ive seen.
3. The Brilliant Green - There Will Be Love There
more TBG, this has a few english lyrics, but its still awesome.
2. B-Dash - Cho
i heard this whilst walking past a CD store in japan, and i jsut had to buy the CD. high recommended
1. The Brilliant Green - Ai no Hoshi
this song pretty much started me onto jpop. ppl like linda and kath kept trying to sing it at karaoke, and i sjut sorta got hooked.

Honorable Mentions
Ayumi Hamasaki - Trauma
Hysteric Blue - Naze
Utada Hikaru - First Love
Shonen Knife - Buttercup
The Brilliant Green - Rock n Roll
(the last two didnt make it cos they actually have english lyrics)
  ¶ 2:28 PM (1) comments

 

Top Ten Upcoming Movies I Want To See

i was just thinking i havent seen a movie in ages... but theres always a bunch of movies that i would like to see. i rarely get to see them though cos no one likes the same sort of movies as me and im too insecure to go to the cinema alone, so i usually jsut divx them. anyways heres some i want to see in the near future..

10. Fahrenheit 9/11 - link
I found Bowling for Columbine pretty incredible... i was pretty anti-american before.. and i still am =p Ive found that the majority of anti-war debaters are pretty ill-informed and just say stuff like "yeh america just wants oil" .. which is a pretty weak arguement. itd be interesting to see some actual stories instead of anti-war bandwagoners.
9. 2046 - link
i like sci fi movies about people escaping and altered realties. this has had good reviews and Ziyi Zhang.. *jaw drops* =p also has Faye Wong =) not much news about this around though (not in english anyway) but initial reports look good. i can probly get a divx off some anime club person long before it comes out in the cinema here =p
8. Spiderman 2 - link
yeh i still havent seen it.. if you also havent seen it and u wanna go see it, then drop me a line cos i think everyone has seen it already. um.. this speaks for itself. Doc Ock looks awesome...
7. Wonderful Days - link
i had to have an animation in here somewhere =) this one looks mad. but apparently the story isnt that flash, apparently matrix-like but more crap like matrix 2 =p
6. The Control Room - link
This is one of those "other side of the story" movies. its a doco on the Iraq war from the view of this Arab News network. I dont really need to be made any more anti-american.. but im pretty sick of CNN hype n stuff.
5. Garden State - link
im not a huge fan of dramas unless theyre weird or silly or funny... and this looks like being at least two of those things. its one of those writer/director/lead actor movies, where the movie is like something the guy has worked on for years. doesnt hurt that natalie portman is in it either =p
4. Sky Captain and The World of Tommorrow - link
this just looks mad in so many different ways. giant robots and bi-planes .. mmm.. good cast too.. i like the whole style of it too. its like a propoganda film from world war 2.. cept a whole movie =p
3. The Terminal - link
im a pretty big Tom Hanks fan so this looks cool. but it looks like it is gonna be heaps clever and cute.. although possibly romantically cheesy. it will be entertaining at least and not likely to be full of plot holes and illogical stories like most other movies.
2. Shi mian mai fu (Lovers) - link
ok i didnt really like Hero that much.. but this looks better i reakon, more action and less attempting to be deep n meaningful. I needed a token kung fu movie anyways.. also ive never actually seen a movie with Andy Lau in it..
1. Coffee And Cigarettes - link
this movie has potential to be awesome.. but also to be boring. its jsut a quiet lil movie about converstaions a bunch of ppl have, not suprisingly over coffee and cigarettes. it features Jack and Meg from The White Stripes, who look funny and the rest cast looks pretty incredible. Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Roberto Benigni, Steven Wright... looks mad =)  ¶ 10:29 AM (0) comments

  me missing a goal
  ¶ 12:29 AM (0) comments

 

Top Ten Songs which have helped shape my life (or at least my taste in music)

have u ever heard a song, and just wanted to hear more of the same.. it happens to me all the time. most of the time there is nothing the same.. and u jsut take what u can get.. but some songs spawn me off into a new direction in life.

10. Buttercup - Shonen Knife
i saw this on cartoon network as part of a promo for the Powerpuff Girls. and i was like "this song kicks ass" .. and i discovered this japanese punk band called Shonen Knife. i proceeded to leech tons of their stuff off napster.. including many cover songs like Top of the World and Daydream Believer. which are now two of my favourite karaoke songs. but more importantly it lead me to the lovely world of Punk Cover songs. also led me into japanese music...

9. Old Time Rock and Roll - Bob Seger
ok this is the only song on the list i dont have in mp3. we used to sing this song in primary school, and i was obsessed with it for ages. my dad still reminds me of it =p its pretty funny though.. like imagining me singing it when i was about 9 years old.

8. Leaving Home - Jebediah
i liked this song after seeing the stupid clip on Recovery. it involved this daggy superhero running about the place. I had no idea they were an australian band.. but Slightly Odway was the first album i ever bought.. and it propelled me into Australian Indy music. the album includes probly my favourite australian song Harpoon.

7. The Launch - DJ Jean
this was probly the first ever dance song i ever liked. it was heaps big back in the days when i first starting going clubbing.. back in those days WildFM was still a radio station and dance music was regularly in the top40. im totally off house music nowadays.. but its still a pretty cool song, it makes me wanna go dancing..

6. Ai No Hoshi - The Brilliant Green
i first heard this song at karaoke.. i think linda was attempting to sing it or something. it totally rocked my world. i went home and downloaded tons of their stuff (man it was hard to find). i own more brilliant green albums than i own fo any other band. they led me into other jpop but i still like them the best.. the have some pretty incredible english lyrics for a jap band too.

5. My Favourite Things - Sound of Music
meh.. i love musicals!! and this song is mostly why. it was my favourite song from my favourite muscial for ages. i used to sing it in class at high school.. pretty funny.. luckily no one was realy paying attention.. the teachers were too busy confiscating cigarettes or something.

4. Dont Mug Yourself - The Streets
this song kidna got me into some non-american hip hop.. it was was pretty catchy and all that jazz. lead me to appreciate hip hop which rhymes beats instead words. but the words are pretty significant too "why should she be the one who decides whether its off or on or on or off or on?". this line kinda impacted me.. it made me realise that i kinda let myself get jerked around heaps by girls. it made me step back and not be so desperate.

3. Sell Out - Reel Big Fish
this was the first song i ever downloaded as an mp3. my and my brother picked it at random from a leech ftp server we stumbled upon (this was the pre napster days). and i loved it. it got me into ska music. it mustve been destiny. Reel Big Fish is a mad conversation starter.. its like theyre not mainstream.. but well known enough that theres lotsa ppl to talk to about.

2. Whoomp, There It Is - Tag Team
this song pretty much got me into basketball. there was this clip on NBA Action which was Reggie and the Pacers kicking someones butt (probly the knicks) and this song was the bg music. its heaps mad, lotsa reggie nailed fade-away threes.. and doing a dance.

1. Tommorrow - Silverchair
along with Come Out and Play by the Offspring, this song came about the time when i was feeling the pinnacle of teenage angst. this song kinda brought about a lot of changes.. the rebelious side.. *cough* ahem.. well its all relative =p

  ¶ 11:24 AM (0) comments

 

Top Ten Contagious Words

these are words ive caught of other people jsut by hearing them over and over.. they are all words i commonly use and make up my rather unique everyday vocabulary.

10. sketchy
i got this one from Dan Lynch, a guy from my high school, who u most likely have never met. he is a pretty sketchy character. =p he made a point of purposely saying this word alot to spread it to other ppl.. and ive been stuck with it for about 4 years now...

9. crapsticks
this is a present from hunt. this probly deserves to be higher since ive even managed to spread it to the odd person here and there... i dont really like this one, but i cant really weed it out of my vocabulary.

8. whack
this is whack.. im heated up like a thermostat. doesnt really like in the conventional sense, but it sounds good in the song Lovesick by Gangstarr (get the mp3 on kazaa). its like the only line from the song i really remember well.. and whilst in japan we did a lot of attempted rapping. so i started saying everything was totally whack..

7. sic
i dun really know where this came from, but i do remember deehunt saying it a lot whilst we were at Blackstump last year.

6. mad
this has slowly been replaced by sic, but after working with this guy mike karbouris at work, i kept saying that everything was mad.. grr..

5. lightbulb
this is a term i picked up whilst in HK, apparently some word in canto for lightbulb vaguely sounds like some other word which means something like third wheel. i have no idea really.. but when i use it context around a honkie they always seem to find it funny.

4. ludicrous
i got this from repeatedly watching the movie Spaceballs. i used to say "ridiculous" all the time, and i kinda palmed that off onto Chito.. cos he says it heaps now. but i personally am saying ludicrous more and more everyday =)

3. wah lao
wah lao.. this ranks high cos pretty much every1 picked it up for a while from hearing sheralyns Singlish all the time =p its sorta been phased out though with the dissipation of anime club into some hardly recogniseable vapour.

2. totally
i can blame the Tan family for this one. i think i first heard it from Tracey, but i caught it from Shelly. this ranks up high cos i use it in front of almost every adjective now and even in front of the occasional verb =p totally whack, totally sic, totally mad..

1. woe
its a fair ways off snow season, but i cant hurt to start early. woe is the word of the winter.. it always seems to surface in sentences such as "this is so woe, that woebag totally woed up my board". this is another hunt word.. so he gets to rank twice =p im suprised there havent been any basketball words in here....
  ¶ 11:59 PM (0) comments

 

Top Ten Interesting Things Ian Learnt About Japan

i jsut got back from japan.. and it is a rather interesting place.. heres somethings about it.

10. Silence is Bliss
whilst on a train in japan you must have your phone on "mana" (manners) mode.. which is like silent. it totally dishonors your family if your phone rings on the train. this poster explains to turn ur phone off.

9. Anime means pr0n
basically every anime store is 6 storeys high.. first two are manga.. next is merchandise.. then the top 3 are pr0n pr0n pr0n... of all kinds.. hentai comics.. hentai dvds.. live action cosplay pr0n dvds.. vcds.. school girl costumes.. panties for sale.. *shudders*

8. Amusement Centre means Pachinko
we search far and wide for a Dance Dance Revolution machine.. and only managed to find one in Shibuya (in a bulding filled with strip mahjong arcade machines), but whilst loking we found that looking for places normally associated with Street Fighter-like games such as Capcom, Namco or Sega "Amusement Centres" didnt really mean arcade machines.. it always meant isles and isles of middle aged jap men drinking and smoking in front of pachinko machines.

7. You Can Get Almost Anything From a Vending Machine
sadly the used panty vendign machines are a thing of the past.. but pretty much everything else is in a vending machine somewhere. some restaurants even have a ticket vending machine instead of a cashier. Although the legal drinking age is 20, u can buy beer from a vending machine on almsot every corner (sometimes 2 or 3 machines per corner). giant 1L beer cans come at a very reasonable 300Yen which is about $4. Cigarette vending machines are also heaps common.. as are instant ramen machines and those lil capsule toy things.

6. sars is hype
meh, on tv in australia u saw footage of jap ppl supposeldy "freaking out" by wearing these SARS masks... but ppl totally wear them all the time. see in japan it is common practice to wear a mask when u have a cough of a cold so u do not pass it on to anyone else. in fact ive heard that if u dont wear one you will dishonour your family in some way.. like for the net 4 generations.

5. pretty much everything dishonours your family
in japan there isnt much in the way of crime. its not like sydney where u have to grasp hold of your like you're trying t squeeze juice out of it. you can just leave your wallet and camera lying about feeling pretty confident that no one will take it for fear of dishonoring their family. this could also happen if ur phone rings on the train, or u forget ur sars mask whilst sick, if you put on make up on the train and to wear your shoe on the little raised bit in front of any hotel or anyone's house.

4. train system kicks ass
Cityrail sucks.. every1 knows thats.. but the rail sydney in japan totally rocks. we never waited more than 5 mins for a train ever! including the shinkansen. theyre fast and efficient albeit rather pricey. if you buy a ticket to the wrong station, the guy doesnt go "go fsk urself bitch" like they do in sydney. they have a Fare Adjustment Machine, where u insert your ticket, and then pay the difference. also if you are on a train and the inspector comes around, he doesnt slap u with a fine, he goes "where u going? .. oh thatll be 600 yen" and u buy the ticket and go on your merry way. we decided to pass on the chance to check out peak hour where ppl are crushed whilst trying to get on trains.. but ive heard its brutal. but other than that its better than Sydney trains in every possible way.

3. internet cafes kick ass
internet cafes are pretty swish over in japan. all the ones we went to were rather impressive. we could get private rooms, or at least a booth. they had manga libraries, DVDs, TVs, playstations, gamecubes and unlimited free drink refills =) twas so nice in fact, that we decided to stay a nite at one =p

2. niseko rox0rs my sox0rs
if i could rate snow other snow resorts as a percentage of goodness compared to Niseko, id give perisher a 0%. cos Niseko is inifinately better. the snow is a billion times better, the ppl are 10 times nicer (even though they dun speak english), the queue lines are so much shorter my brain cant comprehend it. they had electronic lift passes, so u could leave ur pass in ur pocket and jsut swipe it as u go past. also means no pass stealage like in perisher (although in japan thatd dishonor ur family anyway).

1. jap school girls cannot feel temperature in their legs.
so im walking around tokyo wearing every piece of clothing i bought.. and its about 3 degrees around town, and everywhere i look theres japanese schoolgirls wearing skirts shorter than a bad punk rock song. and its not like they wear stockings its jsut skirt, leg, sock in the freezing cold.. and they dont seem to mind.  ¶ 7:48 PM (0) comments

 

Top Ten Stupid Things Ian Might Do This Year

Just a bunch of things ive thought about doing at one time or another.. some are serious.. some are jsut silly.. ill let u decide which =p

10. Grow a Beard
this one is pretty likely.. some days i jsut cant be bothered to shave.. its actually quite unpleasant running a razor blade over your face. i doubt ill shave in japan.. so i might have one when i get back =p actually i saw Kush the other day with a full bushy moustache.. the kind both his and my dad have , mayeb itll work for me too... (heres a related link: http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-01-28&res=l)

9. Get a Cat
Jo is off soon.. so its gonna get even lonelier out here in Thornleigh... i really do like cats.. i kinda miss nige's cats. i wanna get a nice energetic burmese cat of some kind and name her mittens. =)

8. Get a Eye Brow Ring
i dunno how likely this one is really.. cos after my operation my eyebrow is still heaps sensitive and im not really sure i want to be piercing it with anything. but the idea has crossed my mind on a number of occassions, its my kinda style i guess.

7. Move Out of Home
i know ive been saying this for years now.. but this year is different.. =p actually the only difference is that i have heaps more money than i ever did before. im really finding the commute very tedious and its starting to affect my energy levels..im very lethargic nowadays, i think i may have chronic fatigue or something. i might go on a holiday to tuscany and just buy a house under the tuscan sun =p

6. Go Back to Dragonboating
this one is quite likely.. as crazy as it sounds, i kinda miss dragonboating.. i sucked at it a lot.. in fact most of the girls were better rowers than me. i could never ever get up in time for it though. this one is a bit of a tack onto the moving out one.. cos this wont happen until that does.

5. Not Get My License
this isnt that crazy.. other than ill get yelled at by my mother for another year. also it kinda restricts what i do a lot, if i had a license i wouldve added another point which was something like "jsut pack up and drive off into the sunset". cos i could literally fit everything i own into one tiny car.

4. Get a Girl..
man.. it has been a long time, and more than a few people have recently asked me how come i havent got a new gf. i have often said that girls are nothing but trouble, and lately ive seen little to sway me from this opinion. if anything, this new year has confirmed my previous claims... but every now and then i think that there were good things.. i am quite the sucker for hugs. and it is jsut so nice to have someone around who wants to jsut hang with me and talk and someone who doesnt have anywhere else better to be. my NY resolution held firm last year.. i wont make the same resolution.. but at the same time, i dont plan on doing any serious pursuing. i like to just let things happen. (sometimes a bit too much)

3. Go Back to Uni!
eep! this one is on the cards cos a few ppl i know have done it, strayed from computing to find a new career. atm im thinking something like Journalism. i know i dont have the writing skills atm, i do like to write, and i am rather opinionated. ive often read sheralyn's blog and been amazed at her grasp of the english language.. and i wish i could be like that. if not a journo.. maybe a GP.. =p

2. Quit My Job and Move to Canada
i love my job.. so this one is pretty weak, although i have considered the possiblities outside the RBA. im a bit tired of the routine of work atm. The people are great, the pay is substantial, the environment is fantabulous.. i just need to try something out of Sydney for a while. more likely ill take a long stint of unpaid leave at the start of next year to travel and do some volunteer work or some non-IT work overseas.

1. Go To Japan!
ok this one is the most likely.. cos i leave on Tuesday!! *dances around* im ever so excited. i cant wait to get out of this town, it reaks of angst.. intense ian-killing angst. ahh how i anticipate the peacefulness of japanese temples... and snow fields =) Hows the serenity?  ¶ 9:54 PM (0) comments

 

Welcome

this is the first post in ian's new section of blog: the Top Ten List. kinda like the bit on Letterman.. but much less political and less funny. although occasionally ill try and put some humor in there somewhere. ill try and update this at some sort of regular interval.. maybe once a week. or whenever i feel like it. you dont need to check this really.. whenever i update it, ill say so in my regular blog.
  ¶ 9:32 PM (9) comments