Final Post : what have I learned in Hawaii

Recently, I strongly feel that the day when I leave here is comming. I already said good - bye to a couple of my friends. Once I think that I may not be able to meet him/her again, I feel very sad. And I realize that friends or people who are close to me are really precious.
As a reflection of my studying abroad in Hawaii, I will write things about what I have learned in Hawaii in this time.
The biggest thing which I grabed in Hawaii is, I suppose, to be good at socializing with new people and being active, not English skills. You know, in Hawaii, there are so many Japanese people. Besides, in HELP, the number of Japanese students reaches to eighty percent. This situation was predictable since here is Hawaii, however, I didn't expect such holy pile of Japanese. So, it was almost impossible to make foreign friends if we don't try to make foreign friends.
That's why I can be (a little) active and good at meeting new people and socializing with them.
As for English skills, I don't think that studying abroad is the best way to learn. If someone just only wants to get high score in TOEIC, TOEFL or these kind of tests, (in my POOR opinion,) memorizing impractical vocab for TOEIC and TOEFL and doing dictation for listening is the most effective way since we don't really talk about topics which we have to use difficult vocab and grammer in real life.
But I feel that my super poor speaking and listening skills were kinda improved thanks to HELP and daily life in Hawaii. On the other hand, I realize I need to study more to be able to speak fruently. One of my friend said "Honestly it is hassle to speak slowly since I usually speak faster." I think that we usually meet people who are belonged to international something. Basically they are used to speak slowly for international students and social. Yet I feel diffirent for other, usual students. They are sometimes very cold with international students since I sometimes can't completely catch up with their usual conversation. They are not interested in international students, for them, international students are just troublesome.

Week 7 : Welcome to the weird, wonderful world of "1Q84"

Have you heard of the name of a book, "1Q84?" If you don't know this, I want you to remember it now. Or, at least, I want you to remember the author's name of this book, Haruki Murakami. He is my most favorite novelist and (In my opinion,) the most famous living novelist in Japan.
I read a review (which was written by Leanna B. Ehrlich) of 1Q84. The review summarized 1Q84, so I will share this this time.
This novel begins in 1984 Tokyo and alternates between the life of Aomame, a fitness instructor and part - time assassin, and Tengo, a math teacher and struggling writer. They have been isolated for a while, however, they can't forget each other. So basically this novel is a sort of love story which they try to meet up with overcoming many hardships, however, it includes many insidents - being hurtled into a subtly strange world, a sort of parallel universe "1Q84" and meeting a chief of a cult and his death. I'm sure that this novel will take you wonderful imaginary world.
Leanna said, "Murakami's vivd descriptions enliven a world that is frequently bleak and unforgiving." Take an example, "The sky remained dark, as if covered with a rid, and the world wore a heavy dampness,"Murakami writes at one point, conjuring  up a dismal, unsettling mood. This kind of his evocative language is a characteristic of his writing style.
Interestingly, he is a professor of UH now and lives in Manoa now. Plus, incredibly, I encountered Haruki a week ago....! I got the best memory of Hawaii at that time.

evocative
(a) evoking strong images, memories, or feelings.
(ex) The smell was evocative of spring.

bleak
(adj) not encouraging or giving any reason to have hope
(ex) His future is bleak since he dropped out his university.

Week 7 : Student reports nose - picking at a restraunt in UH

Most people believe the hygiene of a dish in a restaurant. But, Ka Leo reported a surprising news which shake our trust in a restaurant. According to an article from Ka Leo, Nicole Nonaka, a university of Hawaii at Manoa student majoring in social work, saw a worker at Paradise Palms stuck his right pinky finger in and out of his nose for several seconds and went back to serving customers  without washing his hand on Nov.16. As she explained what she witnessed, Boyadjian, who is the owner of the store, prepared Nonaka's sandwich instead and apologized. But according to Nonaka, the worker said, " I wasn't picking my nose, I was rubbing my mouth. You're a bitch." In an interview with Ka Leo, Boyadjian said "She is totally fantasizing and she's a liar."

We can't know the truth of the incident since there aren't other witness. But, I assume that the worker really did nose - picking. Because there is no reason which Nonaka tells a lie. Yet the worker has a reason to tell a lie since he doesn't want her to release that he did nose picking in front of his owner. Anyway, we can't know the truth.

allegedly
(adv) used when reporting sth that ppl say is true, although it has not been proved.
(ex) According to himself, he is allegedly the funniest person.

fantasize
(v)to imagine that you are doing sth that you would like to do, or that sth that you would like to happen is happening.
(ex)I'm fantasizing during the class.

Week6 : an engineering major at UH

Ka Leo reported one of winners, Cheryl Chinaka  at " Manoa experience Arts competition. " The article caught my eyes because she seems to spend really hard colledge life and I assume that it's not common among other students.
Her major is engineering. Chinaka sometimes spends upwards of 12 hours a day on campus. According to her, homework load can take more than 10 hours on some days. Chika comes from a family of engineers, and although the job oppoutunities are good, part of her wanted to pursue a path in writing.
I think she is respectable because she works really hard and her carrer path looks smart. There are many people who want to be a writer, athlete, chairman, singer, actor, or something like that. But I assume that there are few people who really think about the dream and face the difficulty to make it to come true.

Week 6 : Assaults on campus

I assume that there must be many people who was surprised to see the first article of this week's KaLeo.
It says that two assaults on female students the week before Thanks giving have heated up discussions about safety for women on campus.
The first assaults occured on Nov. 19th at 3:20 a.m. near Les Murakami Stadium. The second happened on Nov. 22 at 6;40a.m. in a dressing room at Kennedy Theatre.
According to this article, Xian of Girl Fest Hawaii said, " Lower campus is known to have been a problem with sex assault attacks. It's still got little lightning, it's still a sketchy area, there's still not enough security personnel, and they have been warned."
I think that there must be several hardship to solve this problem, although it should not be allowed that such kind of claims occur on campus. According to the other article on Ka Leo, campus security tries to improve safty on campus better such as haring more security staff, settleing lights. Yet you know, there is an economic limit, so it is also important that each person is careful. At least female people shouldn't walk on campus at late night alone.

perpetrator
(n)a person who commits a crime or does sth that is wrong or evil.
(ex)The perpetrator felt nothing about the crime which he commited.

sketchy
(a) not thorough or detailed
(ex)The atmospher of this room is sketchy. There must be something.

week5 : three easy ideas for a casual night in

Imagin you are in the situation where you are obligated to have a party. What kind of party will you plan? It is a common thing to have a party among our family, friends, or colleagues to socialize wiz each other. But it is difficult to difficult to plan a party which everyone can enjoy it. Here are three suggestions from Ka Leo.
First of all, progressive dinner party is recommendable. It means a dinnar party where each course is eaten at a different location. I think it's the most basic and common style.

Second, BUNCO party sounds nice. Its great for getting different groups of people to socialize together. Bunco, also spelled Bunko, is a dice game typically played with 12 people, but can accommodate a higher number of players in multiples of four, such as 16 or 20. This game does not require any skill or strategy . This kind of luch - based game makes people shout and yell.
Lastly, as a final approach, Ka Leo suggeests SPA NIGHT. A basic start for spa night is manicures, pedicures and ficials. Each person should bring a small tub in which to soak her(or his ) hands and feet in warm water.

Vocab

pedicure
(n) a cosmetic treatment of the feet and toenails.
(v)give a pedicure to
(ex) My foot's nails are pedicured.

batch
(n) a quantity or consignment of goods produced at one time.
(ex)I harvested all of the apples in two batches.

Week5 : Choices of present for the person who has everything

Have you felt hard to choose a present for someone? I have. You may want to get a holiday gift for someone to express appreciation or show you care. Yet it is a familiar predicament : he or she already has everything and doesn't seem to want a thing. An article of Ka Leo showed a few easy suggestions.

First of all, practical gifts might be good. While they lack a "wow' factor, you can wrap them in shiny holiday ribbons. Also, food gifts might please him or her. Everyone needs to eat, so a gift of food is something that most likely won't go to waste. Next, the photo gift sounds nice too. Giving your friend a framed photo of the two of you is one of the easiest gifts to give. Lastly, the article suggested " Time" as a present. Whether it's taking a friend out to dinner or something as simple as meeting for a study date is one of the best ways to show you care.

In my opinion, practical gifts are most suitable for those sort of people. Besides, wrapping the gifts in shiny or gogeous materials can suplemment the lack of "wow" factor. Food is going to be eaten and disappeared. Photo does not cost and can give bad impression because of that. It seems defficult to make a plan in which  we use "Time." Hopefuly it will be helpful for your choices of a present!

predicament
(noun)a difficult or unpleasant situation, especially one where it is difficult to know what to do
(syn)quandary
(ex)It is a familier predicament you have to consider about a present for a person who seems not to want anything.

obligate
(v)compel (someone) to undertake a legal or moral duty
(ex)you are in the situations where you are obligated to give those sort of person a gift.