We are now in the very last part of the school year. This is a very interesting time of the year. The third year high school students of Otemae are leaving us. They are going to start a new life from April. It is a very exciting and important time for them. We wish them every good thing. We wish them every good experience as they start a new chapter of their lives.
For all the students here at Otemae, this is a time of year when you are one step further on your path. Your final tests are done. Your final classes for this year are coming soon. Spring vacation is coming, and you will have some time to recharge your mind and your heart.
This is the end of the school year, but it is also the beginning of spring. We end our work for this school year, but we feel a new energy coming into us as well. The trees are growing leaves. The flowers are getting ready to come out. We will soon have a world of color and warm wind. Spring is a great season of change, of hope, of new excitement, and of new life.
There are many spring cultural traditions around the world that celebrate the coming of the spring season. In Poland people have a big water fight. It is called “Wet Monday” and people splash water on each other to welcome spring. Thailand has a water festival as well. In Switzerland there is a custom of burning a giant snowman, who is full of fireworks to welcome spring. In Canada we have a custom of visiting traditional maple syrup farms and making maple syrup candies. “Holi” is celebrated in India and “Nowruz” is celebrated throughout the Middle East.
But of all the festivals and customs we see in the world that celebrate spring, the one that is known by people all over the world is Japan’s celebration of the cherry trees and “O-hanami”. The cherry blossoms that grow here at Otemae are a wonderful reminder of what it means to be a student. It is a great reminder for us about how we come together, we grow together, and one day leave this place and start again somewhere new.
The cherry trees of Japan are a source of inspiration. Many people take photos of the cherry trees. We sit by the cherry trees and look up into them. We see cherry trees in photos and paintings. We see cherry trees in movies and on television. We feel some kind of inspiration from them, like some kind of special power. Maybe they give us some special information about life.
We notice that the life of the cherry blossom is short. The flowers suddenly bloom almost at the same time. They move in the wind. They are beautiful and they are loved by many. And then, almost like magic, they fall away from the trees. They fall like the rain and are moved by the wind. And it is over. The green leaves come out, and the season moves ahead.
The cherry trees here at Otemae are not ready to bloom yet. That will come in a few weeks. Now they are getting ready to show us their colors in the next school year. We expect the trees to be beautiful. We expect you to be here with us. We expect you to grow and bloom and be beautiful and interesting in the year to come. Just like the cherry trees.
We come to the end of this school year with a grateful heart. We come soon to the next season that is waiting for us with a heart of hope, expectation, and excitement. Please enjoy your spring vacation, be safe, and come back soon.
Mar 11th 2015
3-11 Anniversary
Today is the anniversary of the terrible earthquake and tsunami of the Tohoku region of this country. It was only a few years ago, but the memory of it is still very strong. We remember the television reports and the videos of the water crushing houses, schools, buildings, and companies.
So many people were killed. So many people taken by the sea. So much lost
under the water. We cannot believe it even today. We cannot understand
why these terrible things happen.
But we need to remember these things. We need to not forget that so many people in the Tohoku region lost everything. We need to remember so that we know how important life is. We need to remember so that we know how important our friends and our families are. We need to remember so that we know in our hearts that life has meaning, and that our lives have purpose.
Every day we are very busy. We are busy with our homework. We are busy with tests. We are busy with our clubs, with our study, and with our friends. Our regular schedule does not change much from week to week. Our regular rhythm of living does not change from month to month. It is easy to forget how important and how delicate our lives are. It is easy to forget how important we are to our friends and family.
Time moves quickly and we do not see it moving away from us.
The huge damage to the people in Tohoku is an important lesson for us. It is like a shout to our ears. It is like a voice that tells us to remember to live well. It is a message to us that we need to remember other people around us, and that we need to keep peace and harmony with others.
Life can be so short. Each day is a precious thing. Each person in your life is someone who can teach you something, or give you something to help you grow. We should remember that.
To be a teenager in junior high and high school can be a very difficult time. It is a time in your life when you grow the most. It is a time when you can make good friends, and learn things that you will remember forever. It can also be a time that is hard, and a time that is lonely. Your time today is a very precious thing, and the most important thing that we have is our short time together.
On the anniversary of this day maybe we should think about a few things. Maybe we should ask ourselves a few questions.
How do you and I want to spend our short time in this world? How do you think we should live in this world together? How can you and I make good changes for our world?
So many people lost their lives in the tragedy of 3-11. But you and I can live today. We have a big responsibility. Maybe we live today because the world needs us to improve our society. Maybe we live today to reduce the hurt and pain of other people.
We can live today, so we should do our best to make a better and brighter future for our families, our friends, our school, our community, our city, and this nation.
There are a lot of things to remember. There are a lot of things for us to think about too.
Feb 25th 2015
Test Season
Winter is finished and spring is almost here. We can see the first flowers of the spring season. The first insects are coming out. The wind is not so cold as it was before. This is a great season of new things, of new chances, and of new experiences.
But this is also the season of your final tests for this year. I am sure that you are very busy these days with your final study. I think you are busy with your planning and preparing for the final exams. Maybe you will feel some pressure this week and feel uncomfortable. Please do not panic. Everyone must complete their tests, and so must you. You can do it, but you must remember a few things so you can be successful.
Here are a few suggestions:
Make sure that you have all the information and papers from class. Are you missing some prints? You will need to ask your teacher to help you.
Study information in blocks. Do not try to read everything in one study session. Break a big topic into smaller topics.
Look at all your tests and quizzes from this year. What mistakes did you make? What did you do that was correct?
Do you have a friend you can study with together? Ask each other questions from the class. Ask each other questions from the textbook? How are the answers? You can learn a lot about the class from a classmate.
Before your test you need to have a good night of sleep. If possible, try to sleep for eight full hours. You need to be rested and ready to do your best.
Before the test you need to eat something. It is very difficult to do well on your test if you feel hungry and not comfortable.
Make sure to bring enough pencils and an eraser to the test.
Before the test begins try to make your mind quiet. Inside your head is all the information you need for the test. If you could study well you should know a lot of the answers to the test. Relax if you can and let the answers come out of your mind.
These final tests are very challenging and difficult. I hope that you are making good plans for doing well on your tests. Very soon this school year will be finished, so I hope that you can look back on your experiences and be happy with your study and work.
You need to make this last final push through these exams. I really wish you good luck in your study, and hope you will remember to take care of your body and mind through these tough times too.
Feb 18th 2015
The Things We Worry About
Maybe you hear from your mother or father this expression, “Life is not easy.” Maybe you hear the same expression from your teacher. Maybe the expression is true. Maybe, sometimes, life is not easy. Sometimes life can feel very difficult. Sometimes we have a lot of trouble, and a lot of worry.
What are the things that you worry about? What are the things that your mother or father worry about? Maybe the things that you worry about are very different than what your parents worry about. That is interesting, so let’s talk about this idea for a few minutes.
There is some research about the things that teenagers worry about the most. Here is the data that I found about worry and teenagers.
Number One Worry is School.
Most teenagers worry about their school work. Most teenagers worry about school grades and tests the most. There is a lot of pressure for teenagers to have good grades and good results in classes.
Number Two Worry is Friends and Classmates
Teenagers worry about friendships and relationships in school. Maybe you worry about what your friends think and what they feel. If they are unhappy, you are unhappy too. It is difficult to understand what other people think. It is difficult to understand how other people feel.
Number Three Worry is Love.
Teenagers are not small kids. They are also not adults yet either. But this is a time in life when teenagers may feel something for another person. Teenagers worry about love. They worry if they can be loved by another person, and how to express these feelings to someone else.
Number Four Worry is Family
Teenagers come from families. Sometimes the relationship with mother and father can be good. Sometimes there is not much communication. Sometimes there is trouble at home. Teenagers have a lot of worries about their family.
Number Five Worry is University or College
The future is scary. Your job as a student is to get into university. Teenagers worry about getting into university.
Those are the top five worries of teenagers today. That is really a lot of things to worry about. But, if you are worried about something do not panic. Your worry today is probably something that someone around you has had too. Talk to your friends. Talk to your classmates. Talk to your teacher. Talk to your mother. Talk to your father. Someone will understand your problem. Someone will understand your worry.
Here at Otemae there are many people around you. There are many people who care about you and who believe you are important. Don’t keep your worry in your heart. Talk to someone. When you talk about your worry to someone you can see the worry clearly, and it won’t seem so bad. People will stand with you. People will listen to you. You are bigger than your worry. You are more important than your worry. You are not alone here.
Feb 4th 2015
The Earth is Not the Center
Everyone here knows that the sun is bigger than Earth. Everyone here knows that our Earth moves around the sun. Everyone here knows that the sun is the center, and many planets move around the sun.
But this idea is only about 400 years old. In Europe people believed for a long time that the Earth was the center of the universe. They believed that everything moved around our Earth. They believed that the sun, and the stars in the sky moved around our Earth. This wrong idea did not come from science. This idea, that the sun moved around the earth, came from the church and from religion.
Fortunately for us, that time was not completely empty of intelligent men. We learn of Nicolaus Copernicus, (who lived from 1473 to 1543) and then after him Galileo Galilei (who lived from 1564 to 1642). These two great men, these two incredibly intelligent and brave men, showed the world through science that the Earth moves around the sun. The church tried very hard to stop them. Religious leaders used their power to slow them down and to damage their work, but they continued to learn and show the world more and more science. In the case of Galileo, he went to prison and died there because of his research and understanding of science.
Galileo is called “The Father of Science” in Europe and all over the world. His research in astronomy, engineering, physics and mathematics was very advanced for his time. He started a great movement of thinking that made our world very new and different.
It seems that only long ago some religions were anti-science. It may seem that those problems we do not have today, but I am sad to say that not much changed. We have a world where some people who have very strong religious ideas do not believe the information and data we get through science. Some people, especially in America with strong feelings of church and religion, do not believe the science of global warming. They do not believe much of science. Some other people are anti-vaccination because of religion. Some are anti-medical research of any kind too.
It is very hard to try to show such people that an anti-science feeling is not good for anyone. They have such very strong ideas, and they will not change. We see how such strong religious ideas are also so damaging in places like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia. There has been too much damage and trouble because of anti-science feelings and ideas.
We cannot change these kinds of people. We cannot so easily change a hard human heart. So, we have only one choice. We must keep moving forward. We must keep a strong science education in our schools. We must help kids learn more about the natural world. We need to keep learning more about space. We need to keep learning more about energy and how to use it better. We need to keep learning more about the human body and how to keep it safe and healthy.
We need to keep our eyes up to the stars, the same stars that Copernicus and Galileo looked at. We move through space. We move through time. We are not at the center of the universe, but we are part of something unique. Let’s not allow close-minded people to stop us from looking up at the stars and planets that move so beautifully. Science is wonderful and real.
Jan 28th 2015
Science Says, “Be Happy”
When you talk with your family about your future, maybe your mother or father says, “What do you want to be in the future?” They are asking, “What kind of job do you want to have in the future?” It is a good question, and it is a question you need to think about.
You are here as a student in Otemae. You get a great education here. You meet friends you will know for many, many years. You get the training and the counselling you need to choose your university and then the job you will do in the future.
That is great. You are very lucky to have these great chances. But to choose your job is only one part of your future. You have another thing to think about. You need to think about how to be happy in your life too.
Science teaches us that being happy is good for your health. Happiness helps you be stronger. Happiness helps you live with less stress. Happiness helps you work harder. Happiness in life helps you to help other people around you. Happiness is good for you, and for society too.
So, how can you be happier, and as a result, healthier too?
1. Go outside. Scientists tell us that it is important to be outside for at least 15 minutes a day. The outdoors helps us feel brighter and happier. The sun gives us vitamin D. Being around nature for part of the day is good for your happiness.
2. Exercise. You should sweat a little to make a stronger body. Sweat helps your body be healthy and your skin clean. Exercise is good for your body and your brain.
3. Sleep. You are busy students, but it is important to have enough sleep each day. Do not sleep in class, but please go to bed at a good time each night. But first, please finish your homework.
4. Have a hobby. Study is important, but you should have a hobby too. It can be something simple and fun. Watching TV is not a hobby. Playing video games is not a hobby. Playing music, making something, learning something unique… THOSE are hobbies. Find a hobby and make it fun.
5. Listen to music. Music makes people happy. We listen to music. We dance to music. Music is food for the soul.
6. Write your troubles on paper. Keep a diary for your thoughts and ideas. Writing your troubles on paper helps you think clearly. It also helps reduce stress. When you write your feelings on paper you become the owner of those feelings. Then you can control your feelings better too.
7. Be a good friend to someone. Keeping a friendship is important for your mind. Friends give us support and confidence. Friends help us laugh and feel better. Be a good friend to your friend, and make new friends too.
8. Let it go. Just like the song says, “Let it go”. Do not keep bad feelings in your heart. Do not keep hate in your mind. Anger is a poison for your heart. Hate is poison for your soul. Let go bad feelings and thoughts about other people. Your stress will come down. Your mind can think about good things for the future. Anger makes you slow. Forgiveness of others makes you free.
These are just a few of the things that science teaches us about how happiness can make your life longer. Be happy. Be truthful. Don’t just live day after day. Make each day full of fun and joy.
Jan 21st 2015
Take it Easy
We have an expression in English that I like. The expression is “Take it Easy”. It means, “Stop being angry” or “Please do not get so excited” or Enjoy your life” or Have a good day.” It is a very flexible expression and I use it a lot.
For example, if one of my kids is crying about something too much I say, “Take it easy! Stop crying. You are too noisy!” For another example, if I meet my brother Dave in Canada and I must come back to Japan we both feel a little sad. He will say to me, “Mark, take it easy.” It means, “Don’t be sad. I will see you soon. Travel safe.”
If you have a friend who is getting very angry, you should say to them, “Hey, take it easy!”
Recently in the news there was a very angry woman in Korea who did not, “take it easy”. The woman is Cho Hyun-ah. She also has the English name of “Heather Cho”. Heather Cho is the daughter of the chairman of Korean Air Lines. Maybe you saw the news where she was very angry with the staff on the airplane. Heather Cho yelled at the flight attendants because she was served macadamia nuts in a way that was not correct. Heather Cho got a little crazy and made the airplane return to the gate. She made the staff leave the airplane and made a lot of trouble for the airplane company, the pilot of the airplane, the airplane staff, and many people who were on that flight. Heather Cho’s behavior was like an angry spoiled princess.
There are times when we get angry. There are times when we feel stress. There are times when we want to yell. There are times when we want to punch something, or kick something. There are times when we feel like we will explode.
But , no matter what happens, you must “take it easy”.
Maybe someone was rude to you. Maybe someone said a bad thing about you mother. Maybe someone tried to hurt your feelings. Maybe someone told a lie about you. These are all good reasons to get angry. These are all reasons why you might yell or fight.
But, no matter what happens, you must “take it easy”.
You must “take it easy” because you should be the person who controls your feelings. You should be the person who controls your reactions. You should be the person who controls your response. You should be the person who decides what to do next.
You should learn to “take it easy” because you are the master of your own heart.
Self-control is a very important thing for you as you get older. If you can control your emotions and you feelings you can decide the pace of many things around you. If you can control your reactions you do not give your power to other people. If you can control your mind you can use your energy in a better way. It all begins with three important words.
Take. It. Easy.
Thank you very much, and take it easy.
Jan 14th 2015
Fight for your Belief
Maybe you saw the news a few days ago about the terrible trouble in France. On January 7 two men went into a magazine company and killed 12 people. It was terrible. The news told us that the killers were from the Islam religion. The magazine made some cartoons about that religion and the angry men went to kill the cartoon artists.
Killing someone because you don’t like how they talk seems unbelievable. You have some ideas. I have some ideas. Your teachers have ideas. Your parents have ideas. All our ideas are different. The ideas are different because we are different people. Different people have different ideas from each other. If you do not like my ideas, that is OK. If I do not like your ideas, that is OK too. We don’t attack each other because we have different ideas. That is not right. That is not what people should do in a modern world.
It is good to have a strong feeling about what you think is right. It is a good thing to think about what we should do. It is a good thing to think about how we should live. But we have trouble when people demand that we have the same ideas. We have big problems when some people demand that we share the same religion.
The world has many different people who believe different things. Some people like to have religion in their life. Maybe that is OK. There are a lot of good people who have a religion. They believe that meeting together with other people who share the same ideas can help them work together to serve society. Most religions want to help people. Most religions want to find peace in the world and to find answers for difficult questions.
But sometimes there are people who want to push their religion on another person. That is not so good. We need to live in the same world. We need to live with people from many different places. We need to live with people who have different ideas. If you push your idea on me, or if I push my idea on you, we cannot have peace.
So many people die in the Middle East because of extreme religion. So many people are killed in places like Nigeria, Syria, and Iran because of extreme religion. How should we fight the hate that some people bring to us?
The biggest problem is that members of extreme religions come from places that are very poor. Also, many people in these extreme religions have poor education. The way to slow down extreme religion, and one day to stop them, is through education and economy.
Education about the world helps. Education about other people and their cultures and ideas can help. Education about human feeling and community and history can help. An economy where people can work, and have a home can help. An economy where people feel that everything is fair can help.
The most important thing for you and me is to work hard in our education. Education is the key to success. Education is the key to leadership. Education will give you power in the economy. From education we can make good change for our communities and do what we can to share our ideas with people from different ideas, and religions. Discussion and shared ideas will help keep us safe from terror. You and I have many things to do, and everything begins with your own ideas and how we can share our ideas with respect and kindness.
Jan 7th 2015
A New Year
New Year’s Day is my favorite holiday. In Canada, most people like Christmas or Halloween. Thanksgiving is popular and so are days like St. Patrick’s Day or Valentines Day. But for me, I like New Year’s Day. Maybe I like it more because I could live in Japan for so long. I don’t know, but I know that I really enjoy January 1st. I think that Japan has something very special in making January 1st a very important day as a holiday.
New Year’s Day brings us the new year. Everything is new. 2014 is finished. 2014 is behind us, and now we can look forward into the future for this next year. A new year is clean. A new year is fresh. A new year gives us a feeling of hope. A new year gives us a feeling of possibility. A new year gives us a new beginning.
New Year’s Day is one for hope and for the future. It makes us look forward and not look backwards to remember. Maybe that is what makes New Year’s Day special. It thinks about the future, and what is ahead of us. Other holidays are usually about remembering the past.
So, now here we are. We are here together on this first week back in school and back at work. Most of 2015 is in front of us. What shall we do? How shall we make 2015 a year that is important? How shall we begin our work and study for this new year?
A New Year has a feeling of looking to the future for inspiration. What will inspire you this year? What book will you read that will change your thinking? What music will you hear that will give you a special feeling? What art will you look at? What new thing will you learn? What new challenge will you attempt? How hard will you try to reach for your next goal? What will you do so that your 2015 will be something important?
A New Year also gives us forgiveness. We can forgive the things we could not do last year so well. We can forgive our mistakes. We can forgive the goals that we did not reach. We can forgive the people who hurt us last year. We can forgive ourselves because we are not perfect. A New Year is about “What is next?” and not about “Why did I fail?”
This New Year is also a good chance for us to see what we need to do between this day and the end of March. We are in the final part of the school year. This is the time for us to focus carefully on the next goal. For high school students this is a very important time to decide about the future. What university will you go to? What do you need to do from this day until the end of the school year? Every day is important. Every hour is important. You have tests to prepare for. You have many things to quickly learn. You are in the last 100 meters of a long marathon. How are you going to finish?
New Year’s Day helps us appreciate the time that we have with each other. A New Year teaches us that time is moving forward and we need to appreciate the people who are in our lives. We need to remember to show our feeling for friends and family. We need to not feel shame, or be shy to tell our family and our friends that they are important, that they are necessary, and that they are loved.
I wish you a wonderful. great, successful, exciting, and inspirational New Year. Let’s make 2015 our best year yet.
Thank you very much, and Happy New Year.
Dec 17th 2014
Nobel Prize 2014
Akasaki Isamu, Amano Hiroshi, of Nagoya University and Nakamura Shuji of
the University of California, created LED the light and for this they also
received the Nobel Prize for Physics this year. In 2012, another great
Japanese scientist, Yamanaka Shinya, also won the Nobel Prize, but his
field was in Medicine.
It is wonderful that the research of these great doctors is seen around the world. It is an amazing thing to make something that is a benefit to the world. I was very interested to see these men receive their Nobel Prizes on television. It was great to also see them talk about their work and explain their ideas in English.
For these great scientists, they needed to do a lot of work and study to be the winners of the Nobel Prize. They needed to do their homework, talk with their teachers, work hard, and remember many things. As they grew older they studied more, researched more, and needed to talk with people around the world who did the same kind of work. To do that, they all needed to know how to speak English. When I watched some of the reports and interviews in English I was very happy to see how easily each man could talk and answer questions. They all seemed very comfortable speaking English.
I think that we can look at these scientists and know something very important. It is important to know a lot. It is important to study. It is important for all students to think about their future job and make a plan to go forward. That is the work you have to do.
But to move your future career into the bigger world, you will need to speak English. Maybe your English will not be perfect like a Nobel Prize winner, but that is okay. You do not have to speak like a native speaker, but you do need to know enough English to speak your ideas, and to ask questions of other people.
In the future you might study science, business, music, art, psychology, medicine, engineering, computer science, or many other things. You will need English to any of those areas. Science plus English is a powerful combination. Medicine plus English can help you talk to doctors around the world. Business plus English can help you grow your idea into your own company and be powerful anywhere.
No one knows if you will be a future Nobel Prize winner for Japan. No one knows if you will be famous or rich or powerful. No one knows what you can do in society. No one knows the kind of woman or man you will become. But education is a great tool to help you go where you want to go. You need to choose your career and you need to work hard. And English can help your career in so many unique and special ways. English is a great tool to take your life everywhere around the world.
Remember that Dr. Akasaki, Dr. Amano, Dr. Nakamura, and Dr. Yamanaka were students just like you. They woke up every day to go to school. They had homework. They had tests. They had all the same pressures that you have today. But look where they are now. They have taken their hard work and won a great prize. Now they can talk to anyone they like about their ideas and dreams for the future, and that voice that they use is one that speaks English.
Dec 10th 2014
Human Rights Day
Every year, on December the 10th, the United Nations celebrates Human Rights Day. This day was first started on December 10th, 1948. The most important part of the celebration of Human Rights Day is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That document is very big, but it talks about all the rights that humans should have.
Here is the short list of rights we have as humans:
1. Everyone is free and should be treated the same way.
2. Everyone is equal. Skin color, language, religion and gender have no meaning.
3. Everyone should be free and safe from violence.
4. No one should be a slave.
5. No one has the right to hurt you.
6. Everyone is equal in the law.
7. You cannot be pushed out of your own country.
8. No one should enter your home, read your letters or bother your family.
9. Everyone should travel anywhere they like to.
10. Everyone has the right to belong to a country. You can change your country if you want to.
11. Everyone has a right to marry and have a family.
12. Everyone has a right to own land and have things.
13. Everyone has a right to their own religion.
14. You should be free to say anything you like. You are free to read anything you like.
15. You should have a right to join meetings and join groups in a peaceful way.
16. You have a right to get a fair salary for fair work.
17. Everyone has a right to a clean environment.
18. Everyone has a right to rest from work.
19. Everyone has a right to an education and to go to school.
20. Everyone has a right to share in cultural activities and no one can stop you.
It is an amazing thing that we have so many important rights. We look to places like North Korea and know that those people who live there do not have any rights for freedom, education, and safety. We have much to be grateful for.
But to have so many rights also has an important job to do. We must work hard to protect our rights. We must work hard to make sure that our communities are safe and that human rights are for all our members. Sometimes there are people who have power who would like to take our human rights away. So, it is important to celebrate December the 10th every year, and remind ourselves that we are free. We must remind ourselves that we must not ever give our human rights to someone else.
Thank you very much and Happy Human Rights Day!
Nov 26th 2014
Live Long
You are lucky to be Japanese. You are lucky to be Japanese because you can have a long life. Studies show that Japanese people live longer than people in other countries. Japanese men live to an average of 80 years. Japanese women live to an average of 87.3 years. Many people want to have a long life, and if you are Japanese you can have a long life to enjoy your friends, family and many hobbies too. That is really great. If you live in Okinawa you live the longest.
But to have a long life it is important to also have good habits. It is important to take care of your mind and take care of your body. If you can do that, maybe you can live to be over 100 years old. That would be great but it takes some hard work. Scientists have learned how to make a long and healthy life. Here is their advice.
1. It is good to have a pet. If you have a pet you will be more active. If you have a dog you will go on long walks with your dog. To move your body will be good for you, and pets can make people feel good too. People who have pets usually are happier and more cheerful.
2. You should brush your teeth every day. You should also floss your teeth
every day. A clean mouth will help you keep a clean and healthy body.
3. You need to have a positive attitude. Many people who have a happy feeling in their heart can live longer. It is important to be easy-going, optimistic, and full of laughter. You should tell jokes and enjoy comedy. You should spend your time with people who make you laugh. You should spend your time with the people that make you happy.
4. Don’t be too shy. You should talk to people. You should communicate with the people around you. Good communication is important to a healthy and happy mind. Talking with friends can make your body feel healthy too.
5. Think about your life. You should think about what is your purpose for your life. If you have a goal for your life you will live a long time to reach your goal. If you have a dream you should go after your dream. These feelings will help you stay healthy and happy.
6. Sleep enough every day. You are very busy with your studies. That is very true, but you need to get enough sleep to be strong the next day. Don’t forget to rest your body and brain at night after your homework.
7. Eat lots of fish. This is great for Japanese people because fish is very important for Japanese food. Naturally Japanese people have a lot of fish and seafood in their daily meals.
So, there you have it. There are seven keys to having a long happy and healthy life. It is great to have a long life and a great gift you have. Enjoy each day you have. Enjoy each person you meet. As a Japanese young man or woman you have many years ahead of you. I hope you will have happiness, fun, and a sense of purpose and hope for each year that comes.
Nov 19th 2014
Knowledge is Power
We have an expression in English that you should know. The expression is, “Knowledge is power”. If you know many things you can have power. If you have a lot of information you can use that power to do many things. Maybe you will use your power to become a strong and important person. Maybe you will use your education and power to become someone that can be a leader or a boss. Your new power can give you a special place in society and everyone will know your name. That might be interesting.
But knowledge is not only to get power. To have knowledge about some things can also make you more interesting. If you can remember some important things, or some interesting things, you can be someone that other people want to talk to and know. This is also why your education is very important. It might be nice to get power for your life, but you might also want to have some friends to talk with also.
For me, I like to learn new things that are interesting and strange. I like to read, and I like to talk with people who know about things that I do not know at all. I have a friend who is a scientist. His name is Paul. Paul’s special field of study is about insects, but he knows a lot about animals too. So, when I talked with him I learned a few interesting things. I want to share my new information with you today.
I learned that ants do not sleep. I learned that mosquitoes have 47 teeth. I learned that lobsters have blue blood. My friend told me that sharks do not get cancer, iguanas can be under the water for over 20 minutes, kangaroos cannot walk backwards and that the human brain is about 80% water.
None of that information will give you any power. None of that information will give you money or a new job or a new life. All of that information has no value. But maybe that information is important for us to remember. Those details about animals and insects show us that our world is not so simple to understand, and that there are many things about our world that we do not know. Sometimes some small information about nature, or science, or geography, or art and music can give us some feeling about how interesting and complicated our world is. These small pieces of information teach us that life has many mysteries and many things for us to know and learn.
Knowledge is not really about getting power. Knowledge is about learning how complicated and beautiful our world is. We need to know more about nature so we can learn more about our own minds and hearts. We need to know more about science so that we can learn how to improve our society and how to serve other people. We need to know more about language and literature so that we have a heart that can be full of human feeling.
Your education is important to help you go to university in the future. Your education is important to help you be part of society. But your education is also important to give you power for your life, power in your understanding of nature, and power for imagination.
We do not know why lobsters have blue blood. We do not know why mosquitoes have so many teeth. We do not know why iguanas can be in water for so long. But we did learn that sharks do not get cancer. Maybe there is something we can learn about that to help society and to help other people. The road of learning brings us many interesting things.
Nov 12th 2014
November 11: A Day We Remember
We live in a great time of peace. We have had peace in Japan and peace in Canada for many, many years. We cannot imagine a time when we were in a war. In your life and in my life we have not worried about going to another country to fight in a war. For you and I, there is no war.
We know that in the past there were many wars. We know that many people died and many people lost people they loved. My family lived in Europe in the 1940’s. They lived in a time of terrible war. They lived through World War Ⅱ. After the war, my family moved to Canada. They started a new life, and like many people after the war, remembered that they lost many people.
November 11 is a special day to remember in many countries. All through Europe and Canada we have Remembrance Day. On this day we remember the people who died in war. For Canada and Holland we remember especially the people who lost their lives to fight fascism and hate. We remember them and are grateful for them. They stood on guard for us, and they stood on guard for the children and grandchildren that came after their generation.
You and I have a great gift in life. We live in a time of peace. The fighting of war, the hate, the violence and the loss of life is behind us. We have the gift of the future. We have the gift of lives that can grow and build. We have the gift of safety in our own homes. We have the gift of freedom of speech, freedom of movement, and the freedom to learn.
Many people lost their families and homes, and many lost their lives. They lost everything. But you and I have everything. Today we Remember the people who fought for our freedom, but we should do more than just remember and say “Thank you.”
We need to live well.
We must never allow hate to touch our lives. We must not allow noisy people tell us that people outside our culture are all bad, and that they cannot be trusted. We must not allow racism to be how we understand other people. We need to have pride in our own countries and do our best to keep our societies safe. We have the great gift of peace from the generation before us, and now we have the responsibility to pass that peace to our children and grandchildren in the future.
We have the duty to grow ourselves. We have safety and peace. We have the freedom to think and to learn. We have the freedom to deeply explore our education. We have the gift to become the people we choose.
The generations before ours lived in terrible times. They had to fight very hard to have food, clean water, and to not be hurt or killed. They would have liked to have the easy lives that we have today. We must be grateful for our great chances in life, and to work hard so that the people who lived before us could be proud of the people we are today.
Remembrance day is for remembering. We remember the years of war. We remember those who died. And we must remember to do all we can so that war will not touch our lives, or the lives of the children and grandchildren who come after us.
Nov 5th 2014
School Stress
Being a student in school can have a lot of stress. That is a natural and normal part of being a student, and in being a teenager. You have a lot of study. You have tests. You have friends. You have club activities. There are many things that you have to do. It is not easy to be a student. But, it is important for you to remember, however, that school life is not forever. In a short time, your time here at Otemae will end. The key to be happy with school is to know how to live with stress.
School counselors have many good ideas about how students can handle the stress of school life. There are five things that we need to do in school to make our school study less stressful.
Number One: Manage your time better. It is important for you to manage your time well. What time do you come home from school? How much time do you need for homework? What is important to do now? What can wait until tomorrow? Do the hardest work first. If you can’t do everything, you will have started to get a big job done. Also, if you have short times that you can do a small job, like when you are waiting for a bus, you should try to do the small jobs at those times.
Number Two: Be organized. Your work space should be clean and you should have the things you need nearby. If your desk is a messy place it is very difficult to do good work. Clean your working space.
Number Three: Study earlier. Your best studying is in the morning when you are awake and your mind is fresh. Late at night is not great to learn, so study your important classes, like English, first thing in the morning.
Number Four: Break a big job into smaller jobs. If you have a big test to prepare for you should organize the study by breaking it into smaller areas. If you can study some small parts of a big project, you will learn more and it will go well with the test too.
Number Five: Don’t delay. If you can start your work early, try to start early If you wait too long you will increase your stress a lot. Start quickly and do not wait too long. Don’t watch the TV or use your cell phone if you have a big test.
Of course it is not easy to quickly remove the stress of study from your life. There will always be some pressure and sometimes we have trouble too. But if you can use these five things well that can help a lot. Also, when you do have stress, make sure to talk to a friend about how you feel. That can help. If you need a short break, that is OK. Do something fun or something that you love. Then when you are refreshed, get back to the jobs you must complete.
Take care not to overwork too much. Get some rest too. It is important to rest well before coming to school. You have a big job to do, but you can do it!
Oct 29th 2014
Bad Advice
When I was a high school student there was no Internet. Yes, that is true. Long, long ago there was no internet. We did not have computers in my school and I wrote my reports on an old typewriter. If we wanted to know something we had to go to the library and get a book. Almost everything was done with paper and pen.
But today things are very different, and it is good. We have the Internet. I love the Internet. I use it every day to get information, to do research, to communicate with friends and to do my work. But the Internet is also full of trash. There is a lot of garbage and terrible things on the Internet as well. There is a lot of bad advice, and sometimes people can use the power of the Internet to access the ideas and thinking of a lot of people.
The best examples we have of bad advice we have seen on the Internet are
people who say that vaccines for children can cause autism. The first report
that said vaccines cause autism was made in 1998 by a man named Andrew
Wakefield. In 2010 it was found that his report was a complete lie. Sadly,
there have been many people who have believed this big lie and did not
give their children vaccinations that are necessary.
Vaccinations are important to keep people safe. Vaccinations have been found for polio, rubella, whooping cough, mumps and measles. There are over 160,000 people a year who die from measles, not only in places like Africa which cannot get vaccinations, but also all over Europe and North America too. There is no reason at all for anyone in the world to die of measles. In 2014 it is unthinkable.
Yesterday was the birthday of Jonas Salk, the scientist who created the vaccine to stop polio. Because of Dr. Jonas Salk, millions of people since 1955 have been saved from this disease. Polio kills and polio makes people unable to walk. Vaccines save human lives. They are important and needed for life. Thank you Dr. Salk.
Bad advice can be dangerous. Bad advice can give you all kinds of trouble. But your job as a student is to think for yourself. You should keep your ears open to all kinds of ideas and philosophies of life, but you need to decide what is best for you. Your job as a student is to think, and to read, and to check information, and to think some more. You have a brain in your head, and you have feet in your shoes. You can think and go where you like. Do not accept anyone’s advice too quickly. Be polite. Listen politely. Then check the Internet, read a book, and talk to someone who is smarter than you. Research, check your research, and read more.
Many people will tell you what to think. Many people will tell you how you should live. But your life is your life. You need to decide what is right for you, but do not decide too quickly everything that is right and wrong. You need to check everything first. You need to read and to think. You also need to accept for your life that sometimes you can change your mind and change your thinking. Be careful and don’t take anyone’s bad advice.
Oct 22th 2014
Seeing the Forest and Not Only the Trees
We have an expression in English that says “It is hard to see the forest
from the trees.” This expression means that if you are very close to something
it is difficult to see all of it. If you are in a forest and you are standing
very close to the trees you cannot see all of the forest.
If you can see the whole forest you have a good view of everything. Sometimes we are too close to something we are trying to understand. Sometimes we need some space and distance to understand more.
Maybe you are thinking that one day you want to live in another country. Maybe you are thinking it would be a great idea to get out of Japan and see the world. I think that is a good idea. I mean, it is a good idea to go outside of Japan, but I think it is not always a good idea to live outside of this country for a long time. You really should see other places in the world. Please go to Europe. Please go to Australia. If you have a chance you are very welcome to come to my country too. Please come to Canada.
When you go to another country and look back to Japan you may have a chance to understand a few things about your own great country. I will give you a few reasons why Japan is a great place to live and a great place to come from.
Japan has great temperatures. It is true that it is hot in summer, but the seasons of fall, winter, and spring are great. Typhoons can make some trouble, but the seasons of Japan are great.
Japan has a great variety of nature. From the north of Hokkaido to the south of Okinawa, Japan has a wonderful range of natural environments. There are many great national parks all over Japan. Japan has a great variety of animals and plants.
Japan has a great economy. Japan is number three in the world of developed nations. It is true that there are some economic troubles in Japan, but compared to most countries in the world, Japan is strong. Japan has low unemployment and makes technology that is wanted and needed all over the world.
Japan is a leader in science and technology. Japan does a great amount of research in biology, chemistry, medicine, robotics, and engineering. Japan makes more than half of the robots needed in the world.
Japan has a great educational system. Over 75% of students in Japan go to university. The basic skills of students is number 6 in the world. That is incredible.
Japan has a great history of literature, art and music. Japanese culture is rich and beautiful. Sixteen sites in Japan are UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Japan has great food. Japanese rice and noodles are the best in the world, and Japanese food is very popular all over the world. It is also healthy and clean. Good food may be a reason why people live so long in this country.
There are lots of reasons to travel to other countries and see the world. It is good to experience many things, and to deepen your English ability. But remember where you come from and how unique and special your own country is.
You will need to leave the trees of Japan to see the forest of Japan from outside. Once you can see how beautiful and incredible Japan is, you can understand more clearly why you are lucky and why your place in the world is unique and important.
Oct 8th 2014
We Have Everything We Need
There is an expression we have in English when someone says they have some trouble. We say, “Count your blessings”. It means, “Try to think about all the good things you have in your life, and don’t worry so much about the bad things.”
This is a good expression, and it is something I try to remember for myself when I think I have some hard time in my life. Of course, some days are not easy. Some days we are too busy, have too many jobs to do, too much homework to finish, too many tests, no free time, so much pressure and stress. That is true. Some days we feel like we cannot continue and that everything in our study and work is too big to do.
But let us take a minute to talk about the good things we have too.
We have clean water. This is a big thing. Our water is clean and safe to drink. The United Nations has data that says that 783 million people in the world do not have access to clean water. That is a lot of people who cannot get clean water. We have it here, and it is almost free.
We have peace and are not at war. This is another big thing. Right now there are 26 countries in Africa, 8 countries in the Middle East, 16 countries in Asia, 9 countries in Europe, and 5 countries in Central America who are in some kind of war. That is 64 countries in our world who have trouble with bombs and guns and violence. We are very safe here in Japan. We hope it stays this way forever.
We have work. We have jobs. We have a strong economy. In Japan the 2013 unemployment rate was 3.9% and in Canada it was 7.1%. Most people have some kind of job. Most people can go to work each day and be part of their community and society. Many countries in Africa are very hard places to work. In many cases over 40% of the people do not have jobs. This can make a lot of trouble for society, for families and can increase crime and violence.
We have a free media. We have free information. We can say anything we like. We can write anything we like. We can argue with anyone. We can disagree with our leaders. We can express our own ideas and feelings without any trouble. This is a great freedom to have. Right now there are 60 countries all over the world that control the media. There are many places where you cannot have freedom to speak your ideas. You cannot have an opinion. You cannot disagree with the leader. This is a great thing about Japan. This is a great thing about Canada. We are free to say what we think.
We are very safe, compared to other countries. Compared to Honduras, Venezuela, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, South Africa, and Columbia, we have very safe places to live. Those countries have very high rates of violence and murder. We are very safe in our countries and we have much to be grateful to our leaders who keep us safe.
We know that we have trouble in life. We know that we have trouble with study, with work, with friends, with feeling alone, with pressure from other people. But we have many things that we do not have to worry about. We have good healthcare, good food, a clean place to grow. We can study, we can say what we like, we can start a new life, we can make mistakes and try again, and we can be free. Count your blessings! We have a lot to count.
Sep 24th 2014
Happy Birthday Mr. Henson
Mr. Jim Henson was born today in 1936. He was a puppet maker, artist, cartoonist, actor, writer, and film producer. Maybe you do not know his name, but you know the characters he made. He is the creator of Sesame Street and the Muppet show. He is the father of Kermit the Frog, Cookie Monster, Ernie and Bert, Grover, Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird.
Mr. Jim Henson was very busy through his short life. He created the Sesame Street program, several movies with his puppets, and many companies that came from these characters. Very sadly, Jim Henson died in 1990 when he was only 53 years old. It was very shocking that this man who made so many things for children died at such a young age.
Although Jim Henson was a person who made a big impact in the world, and taught millions of children how to read and how to count, he was not a loud person. He did not make a big noise for himself. His personality was quiet, and he was a little shy.
It is an incredible thing for one person to make so many characters, and so many programs that teach kids. But he was not alone in his idea. He was not alone in his dream for what he wanted to do in the future. As Jim Henson developed his work, he also met many other people who felt the same way he did. There were many other artists, many other people who were producers and technical people who helped make television and movies. Many people who shared his feeling that it is good to help kids, and it is good to make something to help kids learn. The beautiful dream grew with many co-workers and artists and together, sometimes hundreds of people together, they could make some magical television programs.
There are some great things for us to learn from the short life of Mr. Jim Henson. One thing is that you should do what you want for your own life. It is your life, and you should follow your dream. Another thing is that if you have a dream that can help other people, you can meet with people who share your feeling and together you can cooperate. And one more thing is that you can be a big person or a small person, a noisy person or a shy person. It does not matter. If you have a strong feeling in your heart and a dream in your head you can find a good way to live.
Mr. Jim Henson once said, “If you care about what you do and work hard at it, there isn’t anything you can’t do if you want to.”
This is a great message for us today. You should do what you want in your life, but you need to work hard too. To have a caring heart for your work, and for other people will make you much happier as you move forward.
It is a very sad thing that Jim Henson died so young. It was very surprising to many people all over the world. We can use more Jim Henson’s in this world. That is true. But he did something wonderful for the world too. He gave us inspiration. He gave us hope that we can make things good in our own world too. His life can give the next generation of artists and educators hope and inspiration.
Before he died, Jim Henson said, “ My hope is to leave the world a bit better than when I got here.”
Happy Birthday Mr. Jim Henson. Thank you for everything. We wish you were here.
Sep 17th 2014
A New Age of Invention
Watching the news these days can make anyone feel sad. There is so much trouble. There are so many problems in the Middle East, and there are terrorists who are on TV, the Internet, and in newspapers too.
But not all the news about what is happening in the world is sad. Actually, there are some very interesting things happening recently. Recently in the news we learn of a very interesting inventions, and all of them use new technology.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists have made the first robot-cheetah. That sounds like a crazy thing, but it is completely true. The robot can run quite fast, and is able to jump while moving as well. It is an incredible thing, and the technology is using very light materials to move quickly. The moving parts of the robot-cheetah are similar to how animals move. Scientists are looking at how robot parts can move like animal parts.
In Chicago, a local company called Local Motors made the first 3-D printer electric car. The name of the car is called “Strati” which is an Italian word meaning, “layers”. This is an incredible invention for the future. This company is planning to release 3-D printed cars to be used like a regular car from next year, in 2015. In addition, the Google Self-Driving Car project has created self-driving cars that have been tested and allowed to be used in a few states in America.
Here in Japan, more robot inventions have been made with Pepper, the robot that can read and respond to human emotion. Softbank is planning to sell these robots to the public from next year. I think we will begin to see more and more things made for robot technology, and robots will be in our society in the next few years.
This is very encouraging and interesting news. So much of what we see on TV, or read in the news is dark. We read about violence and hate. We learn about terrible crime. We feel lonely and we feel unsafe.
But there is another power in our world. It is the power of hope. It is the power of finding solutions. It is the power of creativity and invention. It is true we will have trouble in our world, but when trouble comes we need to find creative ways to solve our problems. This is the reason why your education is so important. Here at Otemae, while you are a student learning and growing, you can learn and study many things. You can see the problems that are in the world and work with your teachers to find solutions to problems.
From education comes knowledge and curiosity. From your education here at Otemae comes a spirit of learning, hope, and invention. Let’s think about the world that we live in, and think about how we can find solutions to problems in our communities and society. We are in a new age of development and growing. How would you like to live in the future? Would you like to be part of the changes and solution? One day, everything around you will belong to you and your generation. How do you want to touch the future? How do you want to help find and make the changes we need?
Everything starts at the beginning, and the rest of your life will come from your time in school, and the dreams you have about who you want to be in the future. So, please study hard, let your mind and creativity grow, and join our society to help make the world a better place to live.
Sep 10th 2014
Your School
Last week Otemae had its annual Home Coming Day. It is a time of the year
when Otemae students, teachers, and parents can be together to enjoy and
celebrate the school. It was really nice to see all the students in the
“Soran” dance here last Sunday. I thought it was really great, and a wonderful
image to see all the students together in one group, sharing one special
feeling and experience.
Many people when they are older have different feelings about their school days. Some people remember many good things. They remember the fun times they had with friends. They remember a special teacher that helped them. They remember a time when they were free and young and happy.
Some people do not remember school as a place they enjoyed. They maybe did not feel so good. Maybe they could not have close friends. Maybe they had a hard time in their studies. Maybe they had some trouble in their life that was difficult to explain to other people.
For people with a happy feeling about school, and for people with an unhappy feeling about school, there is something the same for both. Everyone will have had some experiences when they were in school, and those experiences will be in their heart for the rest of their lives.
Otemae is a special school. The teachers are very helpful and want you to have a great future. The staff is kind and gentle. Every person who works here is very interested in seeing you grow and learn and be someone important in the future.
You experiences here at Otemae will be in your mind and heart for your whole life. Are you doing your best here to make good memories? Are you doing your best to make friends? Are you doing your best to master your studies so that you can have a unique and important life?
Scientific research shows us that people who are between the age of 13 to 17 have minds that are very powerful and able to input a lot of information. The teenage years are a great time for you to make good experiences, and to learn many things. This is the time in your life when you will find people who will have a connection to you for many many years. This is the time when art and music and friendship are important. This is a time when your school life is the first step to help you become someone in the future.
Otemae can do a lot for you. That is very true. What are some things that you can do for your school? What are some things you can do to make your school life, and your school environment a good place for other people?
It is true that you need your school. You need Otemae for your education. You need Otemae for your friends and for your club, and for things that are fun. But your school needs you too. Otemae needs you to be a positive person in your class, to help your classmates, to be a good friend, and to work hard. The good experiences you make in your school life can help you for many years in the future, and the people you know today can be friends for your whole life.
Thank you very much and have a great day!
Sep 3rd 2014
The Power of Writing Your Goals
If you have a dream for your future and you want it to come true, you need to write your goal on paper. If you want to be something special in the future, you need to write your plan on paper. If you do not write your dream maybe it will not come true. If you do not write your hope or plan maybe it will not happen.
There is something like magic that happens when we write our dream on paper. No one can explain it, but it is true. There are many examples of people who wrote on some paper their plan for the future and then it happened. A great example of this Honda Keisuke, the famous soccer player.
When he was very young he wrote on paper that he wanted to become a famous soccer player. Over the years he chased his dream like many young soccer players, but the power of writing his goal on paper may have helped him.
The Harvard School of Business did some study about the power of writing goals in 1987. In Harvard they learned that 84% of students had no goal and did not write any goal or dream on paper. 13% of the students had goals but did not write them down. Only 3% of students had a goal and wrote their goals on paper.
The results were that the 3% of the students who wrote their goals on paper were very very successful. The 3% had very important jobs and could make much more money in their careers. Writing goals on paper had a powerful affect for that 3%. We should talk about this more.
Many people do not write goals because they don’t know what they want to do. Maybe they are afraid they will not get their goal and do not want to be embarrassed. Maybe they think that their dream is not a good dream and have no confidence.
That is very sad. Our lives are not so long. It is a good idea to have a goal and to not worry about what other people think. Your life is your life. You should have dreams and make a plan for what you want to have in your life.
Do you want to be a professional sports person? Do you want to be a singer or artist? Do you want to have your own cake shop? Do you want to work in fashion? Do you want to try something unique and interesting?
If you have a dream you need to write it on paper. You need to put that paper in a place you can see it every day. Maybe in your room at home. Maybe keep it in your pocket. Maybe have a notebook with your ideas and dreams.
Your pen is like a laser for your future. It takes your feelings and passion and hope and makes your goal very clear on paper. Write your goal on paper. Keep it secret, but you must write on paper what you want to do, and who you want to be for the future.
It is easy to say, “I will do it later…” or “I will do it when I am older…” I think that is a mistake. You can use the power of your mind and heart to make your future come to you now. So, take some time to think in a quiet place. Let your mind and heart choose a way for your future. Now think about what you want to do, where you want to go, and what kind of life you want to have.
Start writing! Good luck with your goal! You can do it. You can reach it.
Aug 27th 2014
Variety Makes Life Interesting
Biology is very interesting. We can learn many things when we study our earth. We can learn many things when we study living things, like insects, plants, and animals. We live in a time in history when we can see many new things and explore many places that were closed before. It is a great time in our history to study biology.
The earth has many different kinds of plants. The earth has many different kinds of fish and animals. The earth has many different kinds of environments. The earth is full of variety, and there are many places we have not seen yet. There are many kinds of animals, plants and other living things that we have not had a chance to discover.
Right now there are about 1,200,000 different kinds of animals and living things that we know. But scientists believe that there are over 7,000,000 kinds of plants, animals, fish and other living things that we do not know yet, and many things we did not discover.
That is very exciting to hear, and good information for us too. The earth is changing so quickly. We lose animals that die and cannot be replaced. That is very sad, but we can also learn that we must still look for and find many of the plants and animals in the world. We should find them, study them, and learn how to be peaceful with our environment and with other people from other countries.
There is great variety in the sea, and in the jungles, and in the mountains and deserts. There are so many things that we need to see and learn from. We would like to believe that we know so much, and that we can understand everything we need about the world.
But the truth is that we do not know very much at all. Many animals and fish and plants do not need us to help them grow at all. The earth moves and grows at its own pace, and we have the very interesting job of watching while it changes and moves into the future.
Maybe our place in a world of so much variety and change is to be of service and help to people around us. We can learn how to live from other people. We can learn to be happy and to find our purpose as we are standing with other people. It is the differences of new people that gives us some balance and support.
It is very difficult, and also very boring to do the same thing every day. Do you try new things? Do you try new food? Do you listen to different music and watch different movies?
Variety in the world is teaching us that to do the same thing every day is a kind of unnatural thing. Variety is natural in the world and a way of living better in our world. Variety gives us a way to experience more, and also to understand our own histories and families too.
So, I hope you will try something new this week. I hope that you will give your life some variety. Try a new kind of ice cream. Read a different kind of book. Talk to someone who can teach you a new thing. Listen to a new kind of music. Try a new fashion. Watch a new kind of movie. Do something new, and give your life the variety it needs to live and to grow well.
Thank you very much and have a great day!
Jul 16th 2014
Books For Life
To be a student is not an easy thing. To be a student here at Otemae is a great challenge. There are many things to do. There are many things to study. And there are also many things that you must read.
Technology changes so quickly. We get information from the Internet instantly. The power of your cell phone to access the information and great ideas of the world is amazing. It is true that the Internet can give us a lot of data, but there are still many important things that we can only get from a book.
The great thing about the Internet is that we can get data. We can get information. But the greater thing about great books is that we can find truth, and we can find wisdom. When we read a book we take the time to hear the voice of the writer. When we read a book we can feel some kind of special connection between our life and the ideas of the writer.
When we read books we have the chance to change our ideas, and to also change how we look at the world. When we read books we can find new ideas. We can find new ways to think and to grow and to understand. Books open up worlds of ideas for us.
Murakami Haruki said, “If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”
I like this sentence very much. What are you and I reading that is different than what other people are reading? What are you and I doing to grow our minds and to explore new worlds of thinking and understanding?
This is the great challenge for our time. The world is full of data, and noise. The Internet is full of fast moving video, music, sounds and very short explosions of data. The quiet voice of a great book sometimes cannot be heard.
We need to understand that there is something very unique and special about the great writers that lived before us. They have deep wisdom and understanding and we need to find our truth in books in literature, in history, in social studies, in psychology and science.
Henry David Thoreau gives us good advice. He says, “Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.”
Great books are a mirror to the human heart and a light we need to see clear in a dark world. Great books give us a balanced mind and a patient spirit. Great books bring humans closer together in understanding, and are the place where trust and friendship can grow. Great books are not just for your homework.They are a part of our human history and a map for each of us into the future.
Jul 9th 2014
Stand By Your Friends.
When I was a university student I wanted to learn about Japan, and about Japanese culture and literature. My country is very young, so we do not have so many old stories about the Canadian past. But Japan is a country with a long history and a great culture of stories and poems. I always feel a little jealous of Japanese students who have such a great history and culture of characters and great stories.
One story that I really like is the story of Benkei and Yoshitsune. Maybe you know about these two great characters in your Japanese class. I used to live in Ishikawa-ken before, and my home was close to the “Ataka no Seki”. It is the place where Benkei and Yoshitsune were running away but they were stopped by the soldiers of Minamoto Yoritomo. Maybe you know the story of how they gave a performance about being traveling priests. It is a great story, and if you do not know it please talk to your Japanese teachers.
The feeling from this story that I like is that Benkei and Yoshitsune were good friends. They were connected to each other. They were important to each other. The human connection between them was very important. They were also great friends when they had a lot of trouble and their friendship became even stronger when the bad times came.
To have a good friend in your life is a very special thing. Having good friends who will help you when you have trouble is a great treasure. There will be times in your life, and time in everyone’s life, when hard times come. You will know who your true friend is when the bad times come.
You will know the quality of your friend when you have trouble. If your friend runs away when hard times come to you, that person was not your friend. You are better in your life without that kind of person. But, if your friend will stand by your side when you have trouble, that is the person you keep with you forever.
Some people have big money, or a beautiful smile. Some people have many fashionable things, or are very cool or have some great talent. Some people are very charming and can tell a good story and make jokes. But if there is no human connection between people, and no true friendship that is strong in good times and hard times the same, those beautiful things do not have any meaning. The most important thing for all of us is friendship, trust, and making a human connection.
Benkei was a friend forever to Yoshitsune. That is a great example for us, in any country, about what a true friend is. I hope that you will find a Benkei for your own life. A good friend who is with you in any situation is more valuable than gold, more beautiful than diamonds. Stand by your friends. Be a Benkei for them, and maybe they can be the same for you too.
Have a great day!
Jun 18th 2014
Distances
This is a great time to watch sports on television. The World Cup is on
TV and it is very exciting to watch the soccer matches. It is a great time
for the best teams from all over the world to come, to play and to test
their abilities with other world-class athletes. It is amazing how people
from so many different countries can come to one place. It makes us think
how far away other places are. Or, maybe how close other countries really
are.
From Japan to Brazil the distance is about 17,000 kilometers. From Japan to Italy it is 9,800 kilometers. From Japan to Indonesia it is about 5,800 kilometers. From Takamatsu to my home in Canada it is 7,882 kilometers. All of those places sound very very far away. But, if you travel by airplane it does not take so long. For example, when I go to Canada I know it takes about one complete day from my home here to my home in Canada. I would take one day to travel through airports, get on the airplane, sleep for a few hours and wake up in Canada. It is not so bad.
But traveling to different places is not easy to do sometimes. It is difficult for you to go to many places because you are students, because you do not have time, because you must study, and you do not have so much money yet. Traveling outside of Takamatsu is not so easy, so to go to some other country can feel impossible.
That is very understandable. But, you will not be a student forever. You will not need to study for tests forever. You will not be a teenager forever. One day, everything will change and you will be free. You will have chances to travel and to see more of your country, more of countries near to Japan, and more chances to go farther and farther.
The distance between here and every place in the world will not seem so far. Those chances will come to you.
There is another kind of distance that we should think about too. We should think about the distance we have from ourselves to other people. We should think about how far away we sometimes feel from others. In your heart how far are you from your family? In your heart how far are you from friends and classmates? How far are you from everyone around you? That is a kind of distance too, and something we should think about changing.
If you want to learn more about other people, and to have better friends and better connections to them, you need to make the distance shorter. How can we be closer to people that we want to share our lives with? How can you make those distances closer?
Sometimes the most important journey in life is to travel to the people who are important to you. Our lives are best when we share them with friends and family, and it does not cost money to become closer to other people. You do not need a passport. You do not need an airplane ticket.
Distance is an important thing to understand. Distance is how we measure where we are in the world, and how close or how far everything is around us.
Jun 11th 2014
The Next Invention
Reading history is very important. Reading history is important not only for students, but reading history is important for anyone. When we know what happened in the past, we can understand today, and we can look to the future for the next thing to happen.
When we study history we study a series of human inventions and human battles. In human battles and wars we have winners and losers, but in human inventions we see many winners. As inventions are shared with other people in other places, those ideas grow new ideas and new technologies.
In the early days of humans, we invented fire and cooking. In the early days of humans we invented cloth and rope and the wheel. As we developed we invented ship building and sailing from about seven thousand years ago. Five thousand years ago, in Egypt, humans invented paper and writing.
Two thousand years ago people invented many important things. They invented weapons for hunting and war. The wheelbarrow was made in Greece, so was the water wheel. In China, people made things from iron and paper and mapmaking was also created.
One thousand five hundred years ago, horses were used for farming and war. Pottery was created and money was made for business. One thousand years ago fireworks and printing was created in China. Printing was also created in Europe at the same time.
From that time we have had many very important inventions. The first eyeglasses were made in Italy in 1286. The steam engine was made in 1712. Trains were made from 1804. The telephone was invented in 1876 and music recordings started in 1877. In 1903 the first airplanes were made in America and in 1915, the first tanks were made in England. The medicine of penicillin was created in 1928, saving millions of people, and rockets and nuclear power were developed in the 1930’s putting millions of people in danger.
From 1957 we see the first computers and in 1958 the first laser is created. In the 1960’s the world begins to explore space with rockets and satellites. In 1990 the Internet is created for all people to access. In 1995 the DVD is created. From the year 2000, Microsoft, Nintendo and Apple make new technologies that are very powerful, and can be in the living room of anyone in the world.
So, does this mean that all the inventions are made, and there is nothing new to make? That is not true at all. The next wave of inventions will come, and then another and another. There is much to do in the future to build on the inventions of the past. Someone here may one day see something in the past to build further and better. Knowing the past is how we build the future. Our world is a continuing cycle of upward invention. What is the next dream to build? What does our world need? What do you think? Maybe you are the one to build the next great invention....
Jun 4th 2014
Why You Need Music
Maybe you have heard the expression, “No music, no life.” That is a very
interesting idea, and I sometimes feel the same way. I love music and I
listen to music every day. I like many kinds of music. I like rock, jazz,
blues, heavy metal, classical music, guitar music, folk music, big band
music, Okinawan music, Spanish music, piano music, soul music and many
more kinds of music. Music is good for life.
But there is also research why music is important and good for you. Here is the data!
1.Music helps develop strong language skills. If you listen to music you may be good at language. If you listen to music you can more easily learn foreign languages.
2.Music helps with spatial intelligence. So, music is good for mathematics study, and for doing things like packing a suitcase or making a bento.
3.Music helps you be creative. Some questions do not have one answer, but many answers. Music study helps you see different ideas.
4.Music can help you do better in many tests.
5.Music practice helps you understand “good” and “bad”. If a song is too slow, or not in tune, or messy you hear soon and then you can make changes to fix it.
6.Music study makes you work in a team of other musicians. Brass band is great for teamwork and to be together in a song. Music can make good teamwork.
7.Music gives you personal expression. Music can give you confidence and understanding about yourself.
8.Performing music in public makes you brave. It is hard to stand in front of other people to play music. Knowing music can give you strength.
So, now you know why music is important. Music is beautiful and music is important. Music can also help us learn more about other cultures. Music can help us understand other people and how they think. Music can make your brain stronger and help you understand difficult ideas. Music can make you feel better if you are sad. Music can save your life sometimes. Music can give you hope when the whole world seems black and lonely and hard.
I hope that you will find a way to keep music in your life. It is true that you have many tests to study for. It is true that you have homework and clubs. It is true that you are very busy. But music is something that can help you in many parts of your life, and help you keep a healthy mind and spirit. It is good to keep a song in your heart and music in your soul.
No music, no life.
Thank you very much and have a great day!
May 28th 2014
Too Much Violence. We Need a Solution.
This last week has been very bad in the news. Every time we look at the
news we read stories of terrible violence and murder. There is murder in
America. There is murder in Japan. There is murder in countries all over
the world. We need to ask ourselves why this happens, and how we can prevent
future murder in the future.
Dr. Sohail, a psychologist and expert on mental illness from Pakistan,
writes about five reasons why people murder other people. The information
is very helpful. He says that people hurt or murder other because:
1. The killer may want revenge on someone. If a person is hurt and cannot forgive they can change from a normal person to someone who is full of hate. Many revenge murders are because of love that went bad and jealousy.
2. The killer is a person who is mentally damaged and takes revenge against a group of people. This kind of person has very serious mental trouble.
3. The person belongs to a gang or a violent group. Violence and murder are part of belonging to a group of other people.
4. The killer is someone who is a soldier in a war. The person goes to another country and feels in danger. They may react very violently and attack any person they see. The stress of being in a dangerous place makes the soldier very dangerous to anyone around them.
5. The killer belongs to a fundamentalist religion. Some very dangerous religions want their followers to do violent things against other people because they believe that God wants violence in the world.
We can see clearly that any of these reasons are not good reasons for violence. Each of the five kinds of violence is a kind of unnatural thing. Each kind of violence is about hate and revenge.
The problem is always about communication and understanding. The way to reduce violence is to know more about mental trouble and do help people who need medicine and doctors. It is very hard to stop other people’s violence so we must think about how we can control ourselves. We need some technique to slow down.
If you are ever feeling angry, and if you feel that you cannot control your anger, you must stop everything you are doing. Just stop. Stop and relax your mind. Do nothing. Say nothing. Do not move. Wait. Wait. And then wait some more. Your heart will slow down. You will feel more control. There is nothing to do. There is nothing to say. Wait and let your body go back to normal. When you have time to be calm you can think about what made you angry and think about how to not lose your control.
There are many things that can make us angry, and there are many things that can give us a lot of stress. But when you are feeling like you are alone, and that you have no control, you must stop, and wait, and wait some more, and do not anything. You must not raise your hand to do violence. You can choose. You can choose to control your reactions and control your mind and body.
May 21st 2014
Alone in a Crowd
Did you ever walk in a group of people and you did not know anyone in the
group? Maybe you were in a shopping center. Maybe you were on a train or
a bus. When you are going somewhere alone you can feel like you are not
connected to anyone. Did you feel a little strange? Did you feel a little
sad?
Maybe you are not alone in your classroom. Maybe you have some friends you can talk to. Maybe you can have fun with people in your club. Maybe you can enjoy your lunch with the same friends. You can laugh and enjoy yourself. That sounds really great. And it is wonderful that you have friends you can enjoy every day.
But maybe there are people in your class, or in your club who do not have a chance to laugh so much. Maybe there are people who feel like you do when you are alone on a bus, or alone in a busy place. Maybe there is someone that you see in your daily life who feels very alone. Did you see them? Did you notice them?
You are probably a good person. When you see someone who is a little quiet you don’t make any trouble for them. When you see the quiet person in your club you don’t say anything bad to them. Maybe some kids do, but you don’t. You do not want to hurt someone else. That seems Ok. Maybe that is the right thing to do.
Or, is it really the BEST thing for you to do?
What would happen if you talked to that quiet person? What would happen if you smiled and was gentle and kind to that person? What would happen? Maybe you would change someone’s life. Maybe you would be the great action of kindness that a quiet and shy person would remember forever.
That is really the magic of being kind to someone else. The magic of kindness has a deep impact on other people, and it changes them. It is not enough to “not make trouble”. It really is not enough to “not make life difficult for someone else”. You need to be the person who changes things in your classroom. You need to be the person who is openly kind to anyone. You need to be the person that includes everyone in the room.
It is too easy to be quiet when other people are in a dark time. It is too easy to walk away from people who are not easy to be friends to. It is easy to not give kindness to people who are very shy and who seem to want to be alone.
I will tell you a secret. I will tell you the secret about the quiet and shy people you see sometimes.
Those very shy and quiet people really want to have friends, and to laugh and to enjoy their life at school. They quietly wish for a friend to talk to. They quietly hope that they can be part of the group. Will you be the one to be kind? Will you have the courage and the strong heart to use kindness? Kindness is a magical power. It gives everything and it makes life for anyone wonderful and special.
Be kind. Give kindness. You will change the world around you.
May 7th 2014
Truth in Tragedy
Last month, on April 16, we saw on the news a terrible thing. We saw the
terrible accident of the ferry in South Korea that turned over in the sea.
On that ferry there were 476 people on the ship. More than 300 of the people
on the ferry were high school students.
The report yesterday said that they found 260 dead people, but 42 are still missing. For South Korea this is such a terrible thing to happen. We see the faces of the mothers and fathers who lost their child on television. It is almost impossible to watch. It is so very scary and so very sad. Our hearts are broken for those mothers and fathers. We cannot understand their pain. We cannot understand how they feel.
South Korea is much like many other countries. People wake up every day. They go to work. They go to school. They have friends. They go out to eat. They go shopping. They have boyfriends and girlfriends. They fall in love. They make families. They have children. The kids go to school. They go to elementary school. They go to junior high school. They go to high school.
Those high school students in South Korea are very similar to the students here at Otemae. Those high school students are very similar to the students I see in Canada. They have friends to talk to. They have sports they like. They have music they like. They have troubles like you. They have dreams like you.
So many times we see on television, or hear from people about how different we are from each other. The people in other countries are not like you. They are not like me. We are very different. We cannot understand their culture. We cannot understand their language. We cannot understand their way of thinking.
But I would like to say that the truth in this tragedy is very different. Every high school student on that ferry in South Korea had someone that they loved. They had friends. They had plans for the future. They had classes and homework. They had sports clubs and they had hobbies. They had mothers and fathers. They had hopes for the future.
I don’t know how you feel about this accident but maybe there is something that we can understand about South Korea, and China and North Korea too. Of course there are things that we do not agree about. But maybe we can understand that we have many things that are similar. We have many things that make us the same. We have many things that we need to keep and to protect. But,the most important things for all people are really the same. Family, friends, dreams for the future and a hope for a good life.
All our lives are very important and very valuable. We need to ask our leaders to think about the things that we have that are similar, and to be very slow to have angry words with other leaders in other countries. We need to always remember the things that make us the same so that we can all have a peaceful life for ourselves, our families and for the future.
Apr 16th 2014
Springtime and Being Young
Good morning! This is the first English speech for this school year. I want to say hello and welcome to the new junior high and high school students. Coming to Otemae is a big change for you, but I believe that you will see that this place is very special, and that you are at the beginning of making memories you will keep forever. I am very glad to be here too. Otemae is a great school with kind and friendly teachers and staff who are here to help you and to guide you.
In my country, in Canada, the beginning of the school year is in September. At that time, the air is cool and the trees are full of orange and red leaves. Autumn comes and wind begins to blow. The day becomes shorter and the night comes earlier and earlier each day.
But I like the Japanese way to start the school year. Now it is spring. The flowers are growing and blooming. The bees are in the air. The days are warmer and longer. Nature is becoming green and beautiful. It is an amazing time of the year. Everything is full of color and everything is alive with the sounds and smells of new life. Today is a good day to be at the beginning of your school year.
Today is also World Youth Day. It is a day that was made in 1984 by the Catholic Church and it is a day that is special for young people all over the world. It is a day when we understand that the youth of today will be the leaders of our cities, our countries and our world tomorrow.
World Youth Day is a time when the older generation must understand that the future is coming. The spring season brings us new green trees, new flowers, new insects and animals. Spring brings us new life. The old trees may be here. The old animals may still live in the forest. But the old will one day go away, and from the old the new will come, and grow, and be green and beautiful.
Maybe you do not feel like the future will be yours. One day it will come. That is true. That is nature. Everything will one day disappear, and the new things that grow will come and replace the old. But what is important is that the new green things that come from spring must grow well.
You are students now. You are young and becoming young adults. This is the time when you will grow the most. These few years at Otemae will move very quickly, but this is the time when you will have the greatest growing experience too.
This is the time to grow quickly and strong. This is the time to study hard and to do the work each day that you must do. It is not easy. It is not so fun sometimes. But growing and becoming part of the future is your destiny. Enjoy the springtime, but also you must think about the future and how you will grow.
Welcome to Otemae. Spring is here and your future begins.
