About last Friday class - Mizuki

The sky was dark, with feeling humid wind and smell of rain, I hurried to Peace Museum. Raining had started just before class started. When I entered the meeting room, atmosphere was quite blight and different from usual raining day; I did not know why but not just because of the different room, which was small and had four white walls. When Professor Stan came into the class, everyone quit talking. “What is Academic Writing?” “Does anybody give you any format that you follow?” Serious faces showed everyone started focusing on thinking. We could not answer. First, I heard there is no definition of Academic writing, I thought that “Is it true?” then I found out it is true, after my classmates read out paragraphs from some books. The way of Writings were all different; the one had detail explanation of surrounding and made me feel like reading novels, the one had dialogue between two or three people, which was like I am watching a play.

A Great Woman in MSF

A Great Woman in MSF

In my last blog, I explained you Doctor without Borders (Medicines Sans Frontieres) from historical perspective and their fundamental idea, policy and activity. So this time, I would like to introduce the voice of this organization’s staffs.

So I will talk about Ms. Matsumoto Akiko who has participated in their activity many times. Her position is a nurse or field research coordinator in this organization. Each time the end of the work, she fills out a questionnaire. So I translate it from Japanese into English and show the part of it to you.

Sending state: Nigeria

l  Why did you participate in the project that dispatches you to foreign countries?

Because, after I had joined various projects of other organizations for a few years, I thought that I want to participate in a program that treat malnourished children and an emergency aid project.

l  What kind of work did you do? What kind of experience is useful in the activity?

I had experienced various works for about 8 years in Japan. For example, treatment in an emergency hospital, going into action by a doctor car, nursing of internal medicine, surgery, neurosurgery, relaxation care, pediatrics, orthopedics department, gynecologist, cardiovascular internal medicine and so on. And I acquired MPH (Master of Public Health) in foreign country.

In 1995, a great earthquake occurred in Hanshin and Awaji area. At that time, I was a victim, but I was also position to do emergency aid. I learned that we can help people even if we cannot use water, gas, electricity and the newest medical instruments and we, human have a great power. I make use of this experience to life and activity in foreign countries.

l  What kind of project did you participate in this time? What kind of duties did you do?

In this dispatch, my role was starting on research project and handing it over to next staffs. I connected malnutrition to other disease and research a way to prevent people from malnutrition by using a nourishing food to cure (RVTF) and a small amount of nutrient powder (MNP).

l  Please tell me home environment at the actual location.

We had air-conditioners installed in each room, because temperature in Nigeria was beyond 50 degree during the day. I had to live with 14 staffs, so there were many opinions about a meal. It was difficult for us to fit opinion like some wanted to eat only vegetable, but others wanted to eat meats every day. We divided into teams and cooked, so meals were rich in variety. It was fun.

l  What are you doing after this project?

I stay in France to acquire franchise, because if I can speak franchise, I can help more people in various areas.

l  Good things, Bad things

Good: I could meet good company.

Bad: Children dead of diseases that should be able to recover.

l  Please give some advice to people who want to join this activity in the future.

If you want to do it, you should try! I think you should judge whether you can continue or not after you do and feel it actually. You cannot know without doing. I think you will be able to discover who you are.

I could understand how people can join MFS from this, and I really respect her. She even studies Franchise now because she wants to help more people. I want to something to support their work!

The life of Muslim women

The life of Muslim women

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Kato Satona

I didn’t think that Islam was kind to women. I heard Muslim women can’t wear what they want to, can’t drive car and can’t fall in love with man they chose freely. Are those true?

Fashion and Shopping

     Enjoying fashion is important things for women. Can Muslim women enjoy fashion? I am going to write about fashion in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is one of the countries whose state religion is Islam. When I hear Saudi Arabian women, I imagine women wear cloth that coverer the whole body and masks. We can only see their eyes. So we think that they can’t enjoy fashion.

But, actually, there is no rule that decide what they should wear under the cloth called Abaya. Abaya is a cloth to cover from neck to foot like a mantle. Saudi Arabian women wear modern cloth under the Abaya. This is not only in Saudi Arabia but in many Islamic countries.

 Muslim women enjoy fashion, but they can show only women, their husband, parents, brother, father-in-low, nephew, a little children their cloth under the Abaya. This is the rule written in Koran (“Koran” chapter24:31). But, women want to stand out when they are in the place only for women or only relatives.

 So there are a lot of shopping malls. Recently, people in wealthy Islamic countries came to get information about the latest fashion by developing Internet, increasing the number of people who travel abroad. There are some European and American brand shops. Of course, there are a lot of shops that sale Abaya. There are many Abaya whose figure is modern.

And shopping malls also develop. Some shopping malls have the floor only for women. Men can’t enter that floor. Women enjoy shopping without Abaya or their mask called Niqab.

Love

     Generally, in Islamic country, women marry man who their parents introduce. There is little marriage for love. Muslim women don’t have opportunity to communicate with man except relatives. Muslim men can’t see even face of women except relatives.

Car

     In strict Islam country like Saudi Arabia, women can’t get a license. But there is movement to get the light to drive by women.

Women who are treated cruelly

     In Afghanistan, when the Taliban control country, women were treated cruelly. We can see cruel information or picture about their treatment of women. These have great influence on us. Some of us may have a misunderstanding of these. Taliban is one of the groups of Islamic fundamentalism. They are radicals. I want to write about radicals someday.  We should understand not all Islamic countries treat women cruelly.

Conclusion

     What do you think after read above? Is Islam country discriminatory for women? Is Islam country kind for women? There are a lot of rule restrict women’s action. Is it a rule for protecting women? There are a lot of answers because of our different perspectives.

References

Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). (2012, March). A market survey of women fashion in Saudi Arabia. http://www.jetro.go.jp/jfile/report/07000937/sa_fashion.pdf

Sakurai, k. (2004, November). Women in modern Iran and Islam culture. ACCU News, 346, 4. http://www.accu.or.jp/jp/accunews/news346/346_01.pdf

Living room sweet living room by Jasmine

Tired? Have a rest at the world’s largest living room...outside your house.

Image taken from http://www.longville.ch/m-galerie.php

Located at St. Gallen, Switzerland, a collaboration project by architect Carlos Martinez and visual artist Pipilotti Rist

Nothing complicated. This project is just about having an ultra big piece of red carpet rolled out, spreading throughout the whole Bleicheli District.

BUT, it is a big piece of red carpet with protruding tables, benches, chairs, sofas, fountains, cars and some funny objects that are left for your imagination. 

For your information, Bleicheli District in St Gallen is a central business district (CBD) and like any other financial business district in the world, it is filled with a good concentration of retail and office buildings. 

And also for your information, CBD is ranked the least appealing place to work in my list. Formal wears, corporal name cards, 9am to 6pm, mondays to fridays (sometimes saturdays), clients, phone calls, staff ID card, rigid bosses, the general list of goes on. You will never want to imagine yourself relaxing in such an area. However, this piece of art successfully transformed Bleicheli District into a 24-hour accessible leisure, relaxation, and business oasis. The red carpet effect invites you to linger and offer a perfect setting for meet-ups. Glowing lamps suspended overhead, bathing the neighbourhood in diverse, subtly changing lighting moods. 

Image taken from http://freshome.com/2008/05/28/the-largest-public-living-room-city-lounge/

So, what is the "red carpet effect" that I'm talking about? A red carpet is traditionally used to mark the route taken by heads of state on ceremonial and formal occasions. In recent decades, it has been extended to VIPs and even to celebrities at formal events. In other words, if you are welcomed by the red carpet, then you must be a somebody rather important. In current general interpretation, when one say the "red carpet treatment" or "rolling out the red carpet", it refers to any special efforts made in the interests of hospitality. [1]

The choice of colour and material within the Bleicheli District has a positive side effect towards visitors who patron the red zone. E.g. drivers making their way through the lounge will have to act more carefully towards their surroundings as well as the pedestrians. 

Also, what was once designed as an over-sized open air living room does not only make people living here sleep less, but their nerves are all on edge too. Just a little history of what had image Bleicheli District had portrayed before coming to the hands of the two designers. Previously in St Gallen newspaper,  the problem with the district is always parties till late night littering. In a radio feature, Swiss radio station DRS once called the District a "place to be avoided", and local innkeepers are suffering from low patronage. [2] After the revamp, people certainly overlap this space as an alternative of their personal living room. You do not want to destroy your own relaxation space, do you?  

Switzerland has a good reputation abroad, despite the clichés about the wealth of neutrality, discretion, Swiss cheese or other golden reserves. Last, but not least this reputation has been backed up by a study carried through by the Hochschulinstitut für öffentliche Verwaltung (IDHEAP) (college institute of public administration). However, the fact that the Swiss are capable of more than being able to keep things to themselves has been given proof of by the Raiffeisenbank through re-designing the Bleicheli District in St. Gallen. ”The architecture is a supporting pillar of Raiffeisen’s corporate identity“, says Martin Kaiser in 2005, Raiffeisenbank’s principal’s consultant. The same year, the Raiffeisen superstructure has taken over a major part of the Bleicheli Quarter. [2]

The logic result was to create a connective element of the building through cultivating the free areas. Martinez and Rist's idea of a “city lounge” has nothing to do with any clichés of neutrality, which is particularly true of the coloring.

source:

[1] Red Carpet. (n.d.). in Wikipedia. Retrieved on 12 July 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_carpet


[2] Galinski, A. (2011, Dec 01). Mapholis architecture. Of coolly caculated art: Carols Martinez- St. Gallen City LoungeRetrieved on 12 July 2012 from http://architecture.mapolismagazin.com/carlos-martinez-st-gallen-city-lounge-st-gallen 

Sharifi Amin. (2011, May 10). My Landscape. St Gallen, Switzerland. Retrieved on 12 July 2012 from http://landscapeissharifi.blogspot.jp/2011/05/st-gallen-switzerland.html.

The Friday Class by Yangee

The great motivation was given in the humid class. There was no sound except for great challenge and the sound of dropping rain. What made me only write on one way? Knowledge and motivation for the challenge was given. Only choice is left. Everything is up to me. ‘Remain or Overcome?’ The last Friday’s class casted this question to me. Now, I come to the fork of a road. It is time for me, who  is standing a point, to restructure my thought.

Review

When I entered the classroom, I saw many books on the table. I thought "what do I have to do?" after looking at the books. After listening to the explanation, about that books, I realized the Academic Writing style can be written differently from my original style. This class was a good chance to change my thinking.

Review

Professor asked Mitsumi to say “Shameless” emotionally in Japanese. Mitsumi said “Hazisarasi!” That means “bring shame on you”. I laughed because classmates laughed. But, actually I didn’t know the mean of “Shameless”, too.

Kato Satona

Feelings After the Class By Kunika

The class started with quiet and serious atmosphere; also, it started with the question of “what is academic writing?” I thought I knew what academic writing is, but I could not come up with any answers, and then I realized that I usually just follow what professors say and have never thought about what it is. After that, we begun to read out the paragraphs from many different types of books which professor Stan choose. Moreover, I was surprised when I listened my classmates reading out the paragraphs because the paragraphs were not what my professors have been teaching us as an academic writing, and it was like a story. In addition, I noticed my academic writings that I turn in to the professors are not my writing. It is like my opinions put it into someone else’s writing style and does not show my personality.

The true academic writing ?

 Lilia   

The class last Friday started out with a question, “what is academic writing?” I had never thought much about that before, and I had just been trying to write the way I thought the professors and the books wanted me to write. But while listening to what everyone read out loud in class, I noticed the uniqueness that I never show in my own papers. That class made me think “okay, why can’t I start writing the way I feel most comfortable?” Now I consider the best way of writing is the way you can express yourself the most comfortably, and maybe academic writing really isn’t just one set way.

What are you hungry for?

Lilia Yamakawa

 All the stress you get from the tests, final reports and presentations in this season, what do you feel like eating? Well right now, I’m starving for tatakigobo (beat burdock roots!) and macaroni and cheese. I think you all have a particular dish you are yearning for right now, right? This is called a comfort food.

Comfort foods are foods that make you relaxed, and you sometimes have this craving for it. It isn’t necessarily a fancy special dish that would take a long time and a lot of effort to make.  It often tends to be a daily dish like miso soup or even rice.

For me, as I mentioned above, it is tatakigobo and macaroni and cheese, but my Japanese side also yearns for yakisaba (grilled mackerel), kimpira gobo (braised burdock root), nikujaga (meat and potato tumble), and akadashi (red miso soup). The American side craves pecan pie, catfish, gumbo and so on. It seems like all my comfort foods reflect my culture or it is something that I have been eating since I was small. Tatakigobo is a dish that Japanese mainly eat at new years, but we eat it year around at my house. And everybody makes it totally different.  I also likeおひたし. That is spinach made with sesame seeds. I always had it in my bento and my mom called it spinach mountains. But I like it with peanut butter better than sesame seeds.  About food I am  雑種 a mutt! 

The macaroni cheese is very American. My mother’s hometown is the southern part of the USA, Louisiana. When I visit there, I always eat many different dishes.  Pecan pie is a southern dish made from a kind of nuts. I love it! My grandpa used pecans he picked up in the yard and shelled for us. Fried catfish and hush puppies are also southern and maybe not so healthy but so tasty! Other dishes like gumbo reflect the Cajun cuisine of Louisiana where my family lives. (Those are dishes that came from the people who migrated to Louisiana from French Canada.)So when I eat these dishes I feel like I’m at home with my family, and can relax.

Back to the subject of my blog: Japanese food. I made an informal survey about “what is your comfort food?” in Japanese on twitter. And the answers were quite interesting. One guy said fish, and his home is right next to the sea and his parents are fisherman. Others said onigiri (rice balls), oden, kimpira gobo, heshiko and so on. (You don’t even want to know about heshiko, mackerel pickled in rice bran – it is gross.) They all seem to be something that comes out in a daily menu at home. The most interesting answer was, “my mom’s miso soup, anything that's ofukuronoaji”. Actually, 5 out of 10 said “my mothers ____” Ofukuronoaji means moms cooking. It is a Japanese word that describes something that your mother made for you since you were a little kid, and the taste you are used to. Therefor it seems that comfort food for Japanese is ofukuronoaji.

I also made a very informal survey among non-Japanese friends. A few said chocolate. And others said oranges, chips, kimuchi, pizza, etc.…. but out of 10, no one said “my mothers _____”. Isn’t that strange? I think they were just surprised by the question and didn’t really think too much. I’m sure everybody’s got their ofukuronoaji that they love. (I wonder if Korean moms make kimuchi at home?)

On Wikipedia in English, it says something interesting about Americans: “males preferred warm, hearty, meal-related comfort foods (such as steak, casseroles, and soup), while females instead preferred comfort foods that were more snack related (such as chocolate and ice cream).”
It also says “Further studies suggest that consumption of comfort food is triggered in men by positive emotions, and by negative ones in women. The stress effect is particularly pronounced among college-aged women, with only 33% reporting healthy eating choices during times of emotional stress.”  So men want comfort foods when they are happy and women want comfort foods when they are unhappy? And us college age women pig out on junk food in this season of tests and papers?
I wonder what comfort foods my GS and IR friends from all over the world are craving during this time of stress? Maybe we should all try some tataki gobo. It is eaten at new years because the deep root stands for stability and joy aplenty. 

References
Comfort food (n.d). In Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_food
Shizuo.T, (1980). Japanese Cooking - A Simple Art, Kodansha International, Tokyo and New York, 

The Voice

‘walanghiya!’  

The room resounded with the Mayumi’s strong voice. The word, ‘shameless’ in Tagalog, reached all of us. Everyone was in silence trying to sympathize with the Filipino woman. By listening to that in their language, the reading became real. She was not in the book anymore, but who was the vivid one shouting in front of us. Indeed, everyone was thinking about this very seriously until Mitsumi repeated this word.

Young Ah Kim

Little by little by Yukako

Raining on the Friday, surrounding around me seemed darker than usual but the air of my class was lighter. Everyone gathered in one small class to be ready for the lesson start in great tense as thinking what the professor was going to talk about. Looking around and I felt the atmosphere of international again. When classmates started reading various books, the others strained to hear what they were telling and shared ideas with each other. We again learned and felt something, something new that we’ve never got before.

What exacerbated the Greek government into the huge debt?

Shunya Asano

              Strong economic European Nations such as Germany first hesitated to rescue Greece. However, when they realized this problem will be one of the hardest and obliterate the currency and credibility of the European Union, developed countries in European Nations started to provide financial aid to Greece. Furthermore, European Central Bank and IMF which is one of the most famous specialized agencies also supported finance to Greece in 2010, and the amount of financial aid was approximately 1100 hundred million euro. They also provided 7500 hundred million euro and established the Euro Defense Fund which is aimed to alleviate the next financial crisis (Odawara 52). This movement indicates implicitly that ECB and IMF deem there will be next financial crisis in Europe. Nevertheless, the main point is that why the Greek government was hiding the debt until they confronted huge economic crisis.

              It is estimated that Greece’s desire of participation to the European Union is the crucial reason why the Greek government hided their financial debt. European Union is organized by 27 different countries. In addition, 16 out of 27 countries actually implemented euro currency, and it is predicted to expand the euro currency nations more. European Union allows countries and people to intertwine and exchange products, natural resource, security, economy, diplomacy, and nuclear power plant freely and without any obstacles such as tariffs, passport, and customs house. All these processes will produce more profits and transportation efficiency. The remarkable point is 70% of the Greece’s Gross Domestic Products relies on tourism benefits. Moreover, Greece also depended on investing money and finance from foreigners approximately 70% of their entire budget (Odawara, 67). Therefore, participation of the European Union is absolutely crucial for political and economic movement.

              On the other hand, this participation of European Nations actually undermines and hampers the Greek government decision since European Nations are connected strongly. For example, when the Greek government attempted to reduce the interest of their government bonds for stimulating their own domestic economy, they were unable to operate controlling their government bonds because European Central Bank is the organization to make a decision whether they can raise the interest of their government bonds or reduce the interest. In addition, the government was often paralyzed by this disability, and it is possible to regard that the Greek government was suffering by participation of European Unions.

              It is also important to mention about whether Greece will stay in the European Nations or leave the European Nations. According to Institute for International Monetary Affairs, 54.5% of Greek citizens supported that Greece will eventually leave the European Nations, and 45.5% of Greek citizens supported that Greece will stay in the European Nations in the future. This statistic explicitly indicates that Greek citizens know that they are actually suffered from the European Nations. Moreover, according to this affair, one of the most crucial reason why Greek citizens thought they should leave from the European Nations is about the inferiority of international competence. This means that even Greece stays in the European Nations, citizens are sure that Greece will damage them since they have infirm international competence.

              It is obviously important to notice that the situation in Greece is connected with the world economy. Therefore, we, Japanese students, should also focus and pay attention what is going on in Europe.

Works Cited

Ikegami, Akira. Ikegami akira no manaberu news. Tokyo: Kairyusha, 2010. Print.

Odawara, Ken. Jijiryoku hattenhen. Tokyo: Riburu teku, 2011. Print.

“Kokusai Kinyu topikkusu.” Institute for International Monetary Affairs. 5 June. 2012. Web. 1 July. 2012.

Roumeliotis, Greg. “Blackstone president: Oust Greece from euro.” Yahoo News. 29 June. 2012. Web. 1 July. 2012.

Our Perspectives

Shunya Asano

Although the weather was raining and everyone seemed nervous, the lecture which my professor provided us was valuable and significantly important. I could not actually think carefully about what the education is, but I realized our perspectives and perceptions toward academic writing are crucial entities for our real education. I deem that when we achieve resolutions by our logical thinking and different ideas, these will create more confidence and motivation of academic. Therefore, it is not always necessary to follow typical orders and methods on academic writing, and I sense these entities will help to innovate our education system including academic writing. These were things that I learned from his lecture.

Formula One

Have you ever heard or saw the Formula One? Formula One is one of the most popular car races in the world. This racing car is called as machine.Because everything that equipment and devices are the most scientifically developed stuff. The average speed for a machine goes on 180~ 250km/h and is able to hit as fast as up to 300km/h. Contrastive from conventional structure of normal cars you see on the road, the wheel of a  machine  is out of the body, there is only one seat and there is no roof, in which we call it an Open-Wheel. There is also certain rules to follow when constructing a  machine :

1.     4wheel should be prepared

2.     4wheels should not set in same line.

3.     Turbo engine is not allowed.

4.     Including the diver’s weight, the total weight should over 670kg.

5.     Only patrol for fuel

6.     Displacement should under 2400 cc.

7.     Handle should be easy to pull out.

8.     The depth should under 140cm

9.     Only safe-belt that chosen by international car league should be used

Formula One is considered the highest level of car race in the world, with a number of ongoing races. The original name of Formula One is FIA Formula One World Championship and was later shortened into simply as just F1or Grandpre racing. F1 race first started in 1950 and was known to be the longest running race in history as compared to other car races.

There are two forms of track used when holding a F1 race. The organizers either make use of the current existing road track or re-organize to fit the F1 track, or create new tracks to fit the race course. F1 has been held in a total of 19 countries, and each race is called the GrandPrix (GP) race. Basically F1 adopts a pointing system that allows drivers/team countries to accumulate points from the races. Ultimately driver who has the highest accumulated points will be crowned as the grand champion of F1. The trophy, also known as the World Championship Trophy will be presented. This Trophy is divided in to two honors. One is Driver's championship and the other is Constructors' championship.

Europe is the place for F1, be it in the manufacturing companies, hosting of the races or the origins of the drivers. But these days, other countries are trying to hold the Formula One. For example, the Byrne, china, Malaysia, Turkey, Singapore and Korea are the recent countries where the Formula One are held.

Since 1958, there are only 3 countries that won the final race and having the cars made in its own country. UK- 32times, Italy- 16times France- 3 times. And the person who won the most times is the Up to date, Michael Schumacher, a German F1 racer, had won a total of 7 World Championship. This is in fact, considered the most titles ever won by any F1 racer.

A F1 racing is expensive, so expensive that one car itself costs more than ten million US dollar. On top of that, running mechanics of the team cost more than one hundred million US dollar.This is another reason why F1 race car is called as machine. By looking purely at the expenses of how much to cost to maintain a F1 team; one might start thinking if the race itself is actually economically beneficial.

However, since this race is the most popular among other sports, even surpassing Olympic and World Cup, the race is able to attract more than 380million audiences among 150 countries. In which the race also attracts a total of two hundred thirty million TV viewers annually. Moreover, due to its viewership, this sport successfully attracts advertisers to sponsor for the race.

Reflections and Observations of last friday's class by JAKE

While the raining starting to fall we enter the meeting room. i observe that it is small, no bigger than any of the class in school and there are many people seated. We squeeze our seat and there is not much seat for the people. i take a seat myself and look at my surroundings. The environment is similar to kitchen that sink is available in the room, bright and white. The air is moist and cool. Suddenly, when professor enters the room holding with six books, we become silence. We become tense through gazing at bulky books. And professor starts the sentence with 'You folks ah ~~~~'.

Reflections and Observations on last friday's class By Candy

When I first walked into the room, people were chatting and laughing which made me quite relaxed. Some people looked tired, some looked energetic, and there was small number of people who looked aggitated for attending this class. All of a sudden, the room became silence. Professor Stan walked in, with his six difficult-looking books between his hands. At that time, the atmosphere in the room turned tense without any laughter anymore. In that serious moment, Professor Stan threw a question to us: what is academic writing.

To be Continued…..

about Academic style by Umene

The first moment professor Stan entered the discussion room he had a
lot of books in his arm and for a moment I thought we had to read all
those books in the class, but what the professor did was pick one
student per book and had them read one paragraph out loud to the
class. He said that it is ridiculous that most of the students believe
there is an academic style that we have to, and must, follow making
the essay more difficult to write and difficult to express in our own
thoughts, well, at least for me. It was a surprise for me to listen to
the paragraphs my classmates read out loud because they were like
novels in that they were really beautifully expressed  which made it
easier for me to follow and imagine the situation and the visions of
the book.  I learned in the that there isn’t one formal academic
writing style to express one’s own thoughts, but what we call academic
writing is only one example of the many styles people use which can
make it easier for students to write an essay for the first time.
These academic writings we were forced to follow was a style which was
laid down in the entrance of the academic world, and it is up to us if
we want to stop there, or choose to go more interior to find our own
style.

Review

   This class was good chance to think about academic writing. As usual I thought like academic writing should follow some rule like APA style and including introduction and conclusion. However when Professor Stan showed the book, I changed my thinking after reading a book which is without some rules. By that, I think academic writing do not have to follow some certain rules. But still I wonder that is it possible to write whole paper like what professor showed to me. 

Review

Today’s academic English class was held at Peace Museum. The atmosphere of the class was a bit different from usual, because some of the students were asked to read books with their own voices and emotions. When they started speaking, all the students listened to them carefully. One sounded passionate and another sounded calm.  I felt at that time, as each voice has a different and good style, I can develop my own style which is very different from what most professors tell us to write.