Tad comes back for a moment

Hi there! I'm back! You may think "This guy came back so soon." Actually, this is also homework for me. I have no choice!

Today, I must describe "the best thing" that happened to me during my time in Portland. (I'm in Portland now.) An idea came to me soon. I'd like to write about Halloween party.

Once, I posted an article about the party, but I didn't write about details. It was partially because I participated in it in a little while. But actually, I thought about many things at that time. Well, I'm introverted. So, I'm interested in how I feel or what I think about something more than what happened in the physical world. I'll write about such things.

On the day of the party, I was tired and had many things to do. I wondered if I should have gone to the party or not. (Actually, I often skip parties and school events.) But, finally I decided to go because I thought knowing American culture was also a part of study. And, although I joined it only for 40 minutes because of the bus, I could enjoy much.

It was so fun that my tiredness had gone! The enjoyment gave me much energy. I even thought that "It's fatal if our life is unhappy!" Then, I remembered late Dr. Hayao Kawai's words. (He is a Japanese psychologist whom I respect.) If my memory is correct, what he said is roughly given below:

"We tend to think that we must rest after we waste energy. But, the object of such way of thinking is a machine. It might be surprising for most, but we can gain energy doing something we like or something we can enjoy. This is one of the biggest differences between machines and us."

I apologize for my poor memory and bad translation (again). But, his words are true! Then, should we go to parties or something at any time even when we're totally tired?

In my opinion, we shouldn't overgeneralize all situations. Once, I enjoyed a party. But after that, I got exhausted. At that time, I couldn't do anything but rest. So, it depends. The important thing is that we necessarily don't need to rest when we're tired. We often can activate ourselves to enjoy something, like Dr. Kawai said.

Anyways, it was really good I could enjoy Halloween party and I could know a part of American culture. Moreover, it was a good lesson to me. So, I chose this topic for this assignment. Well, this may be my final post. But, if I found some topics I want to post, then I'll come back. See you later!

 

My twin brother danced at Halloween party. (I also enjoyed much!)

 

My final post?

Well, posting blogs at least twice a week is a kind of my homework in the fall term. 8posts of these blogs must be 150 words or longer, but I've already met the requirements, so this time, any length is OK!

This can be my final post. Thinking back to the past, I struggled to find topics. But, it was (usually) fun to post blogs. I can miss posting blogs in the future...then, I'll come back!

This time, I'll show you some pictures. They are squirrels I found near home. There are the umbrella man and some squirrels in the last picture. See you someday again!

Tad watched a movie

I went to a theater near my university and watched a movie "Wreck-it Ralph". It was really enjoyable especially because I have loved video games since I was a kid. But, everyone can enjoy this movie. Just try it!

(Mm...my camera didn't work well again...)

Thinking about fantasy

I have to give a presentation about American pop culture in my class soon. It took long time to decide the topic. Music? I've done before. Video games? It's a little difficult to explain. Once a doubt rise in our mind, it's difficult to decide. Finally, I chose a topic of a fantasy movie.

Well, I like fantasy movies since I was a child. For instance, "The Neverending Story", "The Dark Crystal", "Willow", "Kaze no Tani no Nausika"(I'm a Japanese), the trilogy of "The Lord of the Rings" and so on.

Some people might say that "Fantasy is not realistic. It's nonsense! " Well, fantasy cannot be realistic, but I don't think it's generally nonsense. In my opinion, truly great fantasy reflect reality.

Moreover, reality can include even our dreams and metaphor, I think. (It's sometimes called "psychic reality".) Some people might say that reality only consists of the world which we can observe. That is such a superficial idea. We can't see our mind. We can't touch our mind. Frankly, I think that all of the artworks shouldn't be auctioned. (At least, the prices are just tentative.)

Some people tend to emphasize material world too much. But, just think about a radio wave or economy. They can be beyond our perception, can't they? If we believe a religion only literally, it's definitely contradictory to other religions. People tend to forget importance of imagination.

What I want to say is simple: Fantasy can be important as much as reality. That's it.

Tad went to a hostel

Well, writing a blog is fun when we have some topics to write about. But, it can be a pain when we don't have any specific topics. Actually, updating this blog is a kind of homework and I don't have any choice. So, I'd like to write what I felt when I went to a hostel.

My classmates and I had to cook dinner for visitors at a hostel and make conversation with them as a part of our class. Before this event, actually, I felt gloomy; I don't like going out so much. I'm SO bad at cooking. I'm bashful. My English is poor. And I had a cold at that time.

Well, going to a hostel is fun when we want to go there. But, it can be a pain when we don't want to go there so much. Even so, we sometimes may judge things ONLY by results.

It was fun.

I failed to boil rice. My English was so clumsy that I often failed to make conversation with the visitors. But I tried hard. I did as much as I could.

So, after this project, especially when I drunk some alcohol with some of the visitors and classmates, I had some sense of achievement. Although I didn't get good at my weak point, it was really good to have such sense.

Now, I ask myself: "Do you want to try the same project again?" I'm not what I used to be! I would answer like this: "Well...I guess it's OK."

Something what Hayao Kawai said

Hayao Kawai (河合隼雄 1928~2007) is a Japanese psychologist whom I respect. He often referred to our "soul." A lot of people may think it's a fishy topic as a subject of scholarship. According to him, actually, nobody knows whether soul exists or not.

So, it's a kind of assumption. But, making such assumption is really beneficial, he said. Even if there was life after life, we couldn't bring money there. We couldn't bring our any job titles there, either. However, we might be able to bring our soul there. Anyway, thinking about our own life with such perspective can make our life better, he said.

By the way, I sometimes read books about information technology or the Internet. This is really big issue in "this world." But, in my opinion, we can't use IT in the life after life (even if there was life after life).

Well, what about Dr. Kawai's opinion about IT? If my memory is correct, what he said is roughly given below:

"Nowadays, we can talk to people who live in the back of the earth with IT. It's convenient and I even encourage the development of IT. But, don't forget that we can't understand our friend's, spouse's or children's mind thoroughly, even  if they sit next to us. It is the very feature of modern times."

I apologize for my poor memory and clumsy translation. But, if it makes sense, don't you think his opinion is much to the point? Some of his works are written in English. I recommend them to you.

Halloween

On Oct.31th, I went to a Halloween party with my mates! (Unfortunately, I had to leave early, though.)

I disguised with a "costume", so NOBODY can recognize me!!

Hahaha~!!! (I should have taken more pictures. Actually, my camera didn't work well...)

 (This crazy guy is not me! He is Luigi, my twin brother.)