Hi, ladies!!
Plum, thank you for your warm concern about my daughter. After she graduated from the elementary school a week ago, she has spent most of the week meeting and playing with her friends, some of whom will entrance into the same junior-high, some will not. I only have to drive her to and fro between home and her destination.
My younger daughter is busy, too. When the two were away from home, without realizing it, a melancholy feeling sometimes came over me. Was it the so-called empty-nest syndrome??
But, I have something great to do. Yes, learning English. Without this big task, I must have felt more emptiness. Moreover, without the theme given from Plum, I must have been unaware what to do with it. So, I'm very lucky woman, I suppose.
So, have a nice weekend, good bye!
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Hi, ladies.
If I didn't study English, I wonder how I have spent my time? I have always had something to read or write in English since I became a member of NWSRC. Maybe I am the laziest of the group, even though I feel as if I’m being driven by time constraints. Cherry, I am sure that you will never have a time to feel ‘empty nest’s syndrome. Your life will become fulfilling through English. I envy you that you can develop with your fantastic daughters. Congratulations on the graduation of your daughter!
By the way, through writing essay, I have learned that there is no perfect justice. Masako Ogawa had never thought that the era when she was blamed for her self-sacrificing activity to shelter lepers. History very often teaches us that the right turned to the evil as time goes. Bev sensei mentioned that the root of the discrimination against lepers is the same as the discrimination against Aborigine, the Jews, homosexuals, and mentally and physically challenged people. Masako’s good intention to save lepers flatly rejected by her. Alas! Bye everybody. Have a good dream. A
Hi, ladies!!!
It’s Saturday, March 25, 2009 today.
Cosmos, thank you for telling me about Dr. Ogawa and Bev’s response to your essay, which was tremendously interesting to me. I quite agree with Bev in the point mentioned in the latter half of your message. I am very sorry to hear that Masako’s good intention to save lepers was flatly rejected by her. (Alas, alas, alas…) (I sort of expected that Bev would come to this conclusion when I heard your essay plan last year.) That’s English language culture logic, sorry…
By the way, my lovely friends, have you read Sentiment and Intellect: The Story of John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor Mill? It is an excellent text to learn critical perspective. Have you noticed the author’s debate on not only the effect of Harriet on the works of Mill but also Harriet’s personality? I found her debate quite fascinating but how about you?
This is a new quiz for you and me. The article is from the BBC English Learning and the answers are listed below.
Romania crisis aid
27 March 2009
After two weeks of intensive talks in Romania, the head of the IMF mission Jeffrey Franks said there was agreement on (1) overall aid package worth twenty seven billion dollars, most of which will come from the IMF and the EU. The aim of the loan is to finance the country's gaping budget deficit and improve (2) investors' confidence, after (3) sharp drop in (4) foreign capital inflows.
In just a few months, Romania's economic fate has turned. From a country which last year registered the EU's highest growth rate, it's now shedding thousands of jobs, mainly in (5) car and steel sectors, and facing the collapse of (6) property boom.
(7) Bailout may give some temporary relief to the economy, but in (8) embarrassment to the centre-left governing coalition which came to power late last year promising to raise wages and pensions in what remains one of the EU's poorest countries. Some trade unions are reluctantly backing (9) deal, but others are threatening (10) strikes if spending cuts are enacted.
Oana Lungescu, BBC News, Brussels
Answers:
1. an
2. ---
3. a
4. ---
5. the
6. a
7. the
8. an
9. the
10. ---
Dear Cherry and friends,
Hello. How are you?
While studying what happened during the 16th century, I have encountered cruel words such as, "beheaded" or "burned at the stake." One of the most haunted places might be the Tower of London. Some stories are horrifying.
An article compared between the cruelness of Henry VIII and that of Mary I. From my point of view, their conduct was similarly outrageous. Both killed a lot of people for high treason, dissension, or heresy. Most martyrs during the age of Henry VIII were Catholic monks, while Mary I denounced Protestants as heretic.
It is fascinating to know that a variety of religious views came arise in the early 16th century. Anticlerical movements had been growing up in European countries.
Before Henry broke away from the Roman Catholic Church, Henry's negative attitude towards Luther's ideas could not prevent the prevalence of Protestantism in England. The English Church also had been facing lay opposition because ecclesiastical authority was seemed to be abused. In addition, the educated had already learned Christian humanism which has been brought by European intellectuals such as Erasmus.
OK, let me go back to our world.
Cherry blossoms are half blooming. This weekend will be not good for viewing Cherry flowers. Probably, we can expect full bloom flowers next weekend. The current chilliness is preventing cherry buds from blooming so that cherry flowers in full bloom will cerebrate people's new beginning. They are particularly for children who start new life like your daughter, Cherry.
Good night.
Have a good weekend.
Hello, Cherry and my friends.
It’s Saturday. Manato’s father visits us every weekend to meet Hiroko and his two kids. Today he took out Manato to a car museum operated by Toyota near Nagoya station in the afternoon and to hot spring bath at night. Yes, Manato likes to take a hot spring bath, called "Raku no yu", a great hot spring facility near my house. Luckily enough, it takes a few minutes to go there by car.
By the way, I got Bev to check my essay four times. Finally she told me I was ready to hand it in. I asked her how she evaluated my essay with lots of compliments but without any critical perspective. She kindly responded me.
***
There is a lot of information in this report, and I think it is a good account of this woman's life.
A more critical inflection could be added in a number of ways.
It might perhaps consist of a closer critical reading of Muyuge -- what is she saying and is there anything hovering between the lines?-- or perhaps counter readings of this admirable life.
For example, you mention that she was criticized -- who criticized her and what did they say? Are they valid criticisms? If not, why not?
And if they are, how do you weigh them against her life?
Another possible critical angle concerns her view of women's education -- you mention that she saw women's education in terms of creating efficient domestic managers and moral models.
Did this busy woman herself conform to this idea of a household manager?
I am not suggesting you revise this paper to include these, but if you are wondering where a critical seam might be opened, those are possible entry points.
I appreciate her comments very much.
Hi, friends,
It is Saturday, March 28, mostly sunny. The other day I watched a movie on Ann Boleyn and her sister. As Alice mentioned Anne was executed for adulterly. I'm not sure the movie is based on the history. If so, she is so sinful because she tempted Henry while her sister who was loved by him was pregnant. The Boleyn clan made use of her, which reminds me of the Korean drama. Human conduct is not so different place to place.
Cherry, congratulations for your daughter's graduation. Feeling of emptiness is what I can undersatand well. Please enjoy being with them now. Feeling of being mentally tied is very important.
The temperature is very low. Please take care.
Hi Cherry and friends,
I finished my first essay finally thanks to Bev and Plum. I had very helpful and constructive advice from both of them. In this essay I wanted to introduce Mieko’s endeavors to pursue her desire and her contribution at the leprosarium as the first psychiatrist for lepers. It was very difficult for me to write this essay with critical perspective because I only collected information to get Mieko’s great achievements. I learned that I needed to widen my eyes to see various aspects from different points of view when I research something. Anyway, I could see a lot of progress in my essay though it was not enough. This time I could not argue about the political and social background related to Mieko’s works. I think I should learn more about the society and history a person lived next time.
Among Bev’s comments and suggestions, one of them which I will not add in my essay was very interesting to argue, so I will put it here.
There is a connection to be made between Mitsuda and Kamiya’s father, who are both motivated by “love”, but whose ‘policies’ nevertheless have a negative impact on people they care about. However, since you need to keep the essay at 10 pages, I don’t suggest you add anything else.
Thank you for reading my writing. Have a nice day, my precious friends.
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