Mubarak Steps Down

What a amazing news!!


Egyptian President Mubarak steps down!!




Breaking news is saying "Egypt is FREE!"


And we can see the crowds erupt in cheer.



That moment must be Egyptian Independence Day!!

My Links

I creat the lists of my favorite sites on the left side of my blog.



My facebook and twitter pages are also pasted on the lists so that you can see my photo albums on my facebook page or you'll find some English news sites from following lists of my twitter page.


In addition, I set some English learning materials.

English Phonetics, which is produced by the University of Iowa, might be a great help for your English pronunciation practice. You can learn how to pronounce each segment in American English.


ONE PIECE and SLAM DUNK are my favorite mangas. When you jump to the sites, you can read mangas in English. Of course there are many kinds of Japanese mangas uploaded on this site Manga Reader.


If you're interested in it, go to its manga lists http://www.mangareader.net/alphabetical and have a look at your favorite manga!!

ROMANCE DAWN

The latest ONE PIECE manga volume 61 is on sale.

I've told you umpteen times that I'm a great fan of ONE PIECE.

※See also http://eh-take.blogspot.com/2010/08/yesterday-i-bought-new-manga-one-piece.html, http://eh-take.blogspot.com/2009/12/strong-world.html

I was overpowered with the author Eiichiro Oda's ingenuity as soon as I saw the cover of volume 61.

This volume contains the final chapters of Part 1 and the beginning chapters of Part 2, so Eiichiro Oda seems to draw characters in almost the same poses as volume 1.

And the title of volume 61 is "ROMANCE DAWN -for the new world-", which means the beginning of the adventure and riminds us of the very first chapter of volume 1 "ROMANCE DAWN".

Look at and compare them.

Volume 61

Volume 1

What's more, illustration of the first of Part 1 and that of Part 2 is quite similar.

Illustration of Chapter 1

Illustration of Chapter 598

Eiichiro Oda obviously expresses the new embarkation after two years of separation with using the same forms on the book covers and illustrations.

Not only its stories but also its illustrations and titles fascinate people deeply, indeed!!

Setsubun

Yesterday was 節分(Setsubun).

節 means 'season' and 分 means 'division', so Setsubun is the day before the biginning of spring according to the Japanese lunar calender.



And the most commonly performed Setsubun ritual is the throwing of roasted beans around the house.

When we throw the beans, we are supposed to shout "鬼は外、福は内(Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!; Devils out! Happiness in!)"

Afeterwards we eat the number of beans which corresponds to our age.



Of course I did that ritual (except shouting) yesterday.

I really hope 'happiness in'!!

17th Place

Japan moved into the top 20 of the FIFA world rankings after an absence of almost five years.


FIFA world rankings:
http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html


Japan's record fourth Asian title lifted them 12 places to 17th, making them the Asian confederation's highest-ranked side.


And Japan's success is not the only one.



European champions Inter Milan made the last-ditch loan signing of Japan left back Yuto Nagatomo from Serie A rivals Cesena just before the Italian transfer window shut on Monday!!

Here is the Inter Milan's top page at that time!!

I'm really looking forward to seeing his play as a member of Inter.

200th Post!! - A Big Change -

Yesterday I was formally hired on the condition that my contract as a full-time worker be for one year.



Compared with the past two years I worked as a part-time teacher, my salary is going to be higher.


In addition, I'll have a social insurance and my working hours will be 14:00-22:00.




Very big change for me!!!



I hope to do my best on working here in Eigonoie and learn a lot from Mr. Ogura, Ms. Araki, and all the other staffs.


And of course, I'll devote all my energies to my students!!!!!

My Cactus

This is my cactus.

I had a great interest in animals and plants in my childhood, and I bought this on impulse.

It was a palm-sized cactus at first, but it grew bigger and bigger without any care.

And finally, its roots broke through the bottom of the pot.

Have you ever seen the root of a cactus?? (^□^;)