Top 10 New Year's Questions for 2024

Top 10 New Year's Questions for 2024

Hi! I came back here for the first time in two years!!

Today, December 17, 2023, l am pretty good at reading English articles, thus l think that l want to write a lot of things again!

In 2021, I lost my motivation to study English because l was laughed at by many English teachers. Thus, l decided not to write summaries of TED talks until I can speak English well. I used my time to practice pronunciation a lot. 

1. What did you learn about yourself from this year 2023? 

The best remedy was hard work. 

2. Which relationship meant the most to you this year and why?

Believe yourself. Don’t listen to other people’s advice. 

3. What was one of the biggest challenges you faced this year and how did you handle it?

I could continue to take lessons and practice pronunciation. And Then I came back here.

4. What was one of your proudest moments from this year and why?

l try to write something here…

5. What was one of the most meaningful compliments you received this year? Why was it so meaningful to you?

It’s not too late. I can continue to work, study, and dance!

6. What did you do for fun this year? What was one of your favorite memories?

I worked hard, and my company is doing well. 

7. If you could change one thing from this year, what would you change and why?

I should get up early…to study English and to train my muscles. 

8. What was the most meaningful thing someone did for you this year?

You emailed me for the first time in a year. Thank you so much. 

9. If you were to brag about one of your accomplishments from this year, which one would it be and why?

I don’t tell big talk but also small talk. 

brag / big talk, tall tale

10. Given all your experiences, insights, and lessons learned from 2023 what's the best advice you could give yourself for 2024?

Just, I work hard.

Awe

My English textbook taught me the word: Awe. It was the first time when l knew about it. 

I was in awe of your presence when I met you. And then, l want to say thank you to you, now. 

Awe means a feeling of deep respect mixed with fear or wonder. It can be found in nature, music, visual art, architecture, etcetera, and occurs when we encounter things that are vast, beyond our understanding, and mysterious. It is not simply about shock value, as it invites us to learn, and “GROW”… that is my favorite word.

However, recognizing feelings of awe can be challenging. People don’t often understand what it feels like and miss it, but it is important. 

In conclusion, creating awe can have great effects on our well-being and overall satisfaction in life. By seeking out experiences that inspire awe, whether in nature, art, or everyday observations, we can find greater happiness, improved social connections, and a sense of wonder in the world around us. 

I am happy thanks to you. 

Father’s Day

Thank you for reminding me my father. 

A dead body has to be cremated by law in Japan. On the day of my father’s funeral, my brother’s sons put their letters that were written by Japanese characters they just started to learn on my father’s body in the coffin. They are too small to understand about death. However, they picked up his bones to bury. 

The life is inherited.

My father often told my mother, my sister and me that boys are important to protect a family lineage and its grave.

My mother gave birth to a boy finally. My father was so happy and he told a baby: my brother about a successor every day. He was a kid yet. 

I was worried about if my baby would not be a boy. Miraculously, my brother was proudly relieved when his wife had a boy. 

My father’s dream came true and he  sleeps in the grave that he told us always. 

l think this is the reason l couldn’t talk to my father anything, however, there was love. l have no regrets. 

I’m sorry that I’m not sure about when l would visit my father’s grave. 

It’s because…

The spiral

“The spiral in psychology means that when you make a spiral you always come over the same point where you have been before, but never really the same, it is above or below, inside, outside, so it means growth.” 

My English textbook gave this story. I was really moved. I think that all things, e.g. businesses, studying English, thinking of something, and human life are like this spiral and it means growth. l want to spend my life like that.

1. Do you agree that the spiral is a fascinating shape?

Yes, I agree that the spiral is a fascinating shape. The greatest part that l think is that it means growth. I was really moved about it.  I think that all things, for example, businesses, studying English, thinking of something, and human life are like this spiral and it means growth. l want to spend my life like that.

In the article, there were many examples of the spiral that it is in the whorl of our fingerprints, a snail’s shell, in the double helix of our DNA, the eye of a hurricane, in the path of draining water, and winds through the heart of our galaxy.

2. Do you think it is better for architecture to have simple or complicated designs?

I think it is better for architecture to have simple designs. It's because it is really difficult to remove something that is an unnecessary thing. We have a lot of things that we never use always somehow. Simple makes me comfortable, and understand something easily. 

 3. Do you think it is a good idea to have gardens on a skyscraper?

Yes, I think it is a good idea to have gardens on a skyscraper. It is because to see only concrete is inorganic and mechanical. To be able to see something green is better not only from the outside but also in the buildings.  

4. Do you think it is important for scientists to study space? 

Yes, I think it is important for scientists to study space. It is because one day, people might have to live there, and studying space gives us a big dream that we might know about what we don't know now completely.  

5. Where would you rather live, in a skyscraper or in a small building? 

I would rather live in a skyscraper. It is because I like to see views from high places. The usual city looks so beautiful somehow. 

 6. Do you think you would like a job as a psychologist? 

I don't think I would like a job as a psychologist, though, I like to read books about psychology. 

It is really interesting in thinking about the human mind and its functions, especially how those affect our behavior. 

You know what!!

Do I look like Monica?
You know what!!
I was told that I looked like a model by an English teacher in a lesson. 

First, I didn't know about her, I researched it, and ... I was surprised !!
Surely, there were pictures that her hairstyle might be similar to mine...
#◇%●&△
I decided I pretend to be her and I speak, walk and live like her from today!! 
Unfortunately, I am sorry today, I wear glasses and I had no time to put on heavy makeup.

The war in Ukraine could change everything

The war in Ukraine could change everything 
Summary 

Yuval Noah Harari is an Israel. He is a famous historian, an author, and a professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His bestsellers are Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2014), Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (2016), and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century (2018). He appeared in TED talks sometimes when people were worried about our world because he had precise ideas that we wanted to ask.  For example, when the US president was changed, when technology was rapidly growing, when the coronavirus started spreading, we were troubled, then he gave his comments to us. 

The moment is probably starting the war between Ukraine and Russia. 

Yuval said that the key issue of the war is that President Putin has a fantasy that Ukraine must return to Russia, for Putin, it’s not related to whether Ukraine is an independent nation or not. It's a strong feeling of denial of Ukraine’s right to exist. Ukraine doesn’t want to return and the Russian people and Ukraine don't want to start a war. Ukraine doesn’t have weapons to win and Ukraine’s President said that in the past, Ukraine had made a mistake abandoning the nuclear weapons it had inherited from the Soviet Union. Countries that don’t have nuclear weapons are not better and are always attacked or threatened. Is it strange because they must be great countries that hope for world peace? Many countries give weapons to Ukraine now to help Ukraine. 

And then Yuval explains that we’ve built based on collaboration, in our future, it depends on being able to cooperate and understand, otherwise, we will become extinct as a species, and the war in Ukraine could change everything, because of the shock waves destabilizing the whole world and someone's technology leads to another regional conflict. It means that people have smartphones, and actively participate in the war, though, information isn't true. We should think that we don't know everything that is happening. In the end, I listened to the shocking words that as a historian, people should be liberated from the past... Even in Israel where Yuval lives, where people study their own history hard, people also suffer from too much history. Germany who is now the leader of Europe is also afraid of the Nazis' history. 

Everyone should kind of free themselves from the memories of the Second World War. The Russian people don't want this war and they are not rich but poor. They couldn't eat enough. 

When Japan lost WW2, the Japanese Emperor asked McCarthy to help all Japanese people without the Emperor and to give them food. 

Putin and China which might connect this conflict, and where Yuval is not an expert on, listen to your own country's citizens' voices. They don’t want this war and in your countries, there are many people who couldn’t eat enough. 

It’s difficult to be liberated from the past, it’s not the same as not learning or studying. 

Shabana Basij-Rasikh : The dream of educating Afghan girls lives on

By2026, I'm going to update my 940 articles!! It means I would read 2000 TED talks I like.

Shabana Basij-Rasikh·TEDWomen 2021
The dream of educating Afghan girls lives on 
Summary 

I've completely forgotten about the previous story of the speaker. In Afghanistan, women who could go to school were rare, thus the speaker was fighting the situation. It has changed little by little, though, the Taliban are back. Schools were burned, girls had to stop to go to shool or go away. The speaker started making plans to bring students in SOLA overseas for a study abroad program. 

The speaker ran a program where girls lived at SOLA to educate girls and to break barriers. 

This was what they do at SOLA in Kabul in Afghanistan, though, you can't see it in Kabul now. 

SOLA's girls now study different places. The speaker fights to be able to come them back to Afghanistan and all girls can go to school.