Room to relax

The light of the candle makes me relax. I like to watch it in a dark room. Everytime the light of the candle shakes, the shadow in the room also shakes. Then I feel like I am in different place from my room.





I like simple candles the best. I usually put them on my desk or on the table in the living room. Then I can make myself relax more.

Your room is the place you feel relaxed! I recommend you to use candles to make you relax more.

It is also good to display flower shaped candles in the entrance of the house instead of displaying flowers.
Welcome your guests to your house with the fragrance of the flowe shaped candles and shaking light of the fire of the candles.

You can display some food or drink shaped candles as like sweets, fruits and coffee in the kitchen. They will make your kitchen pretty.
When you have a chance to have a dinner party or something in your kitchen, you can prepare food shaped candles as many as guests you invited. I'm sure you will have much more fun at the dinner party!

By Kurumi

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Dream of Future

Do you have the dream of your future? If you do, what is that? Are you ashamed to talk about the dream of your future to somebody? If you are, do not be ashamed any more.

It is great to have your own dream of your future even if it is big or small. Dream teaches us the meaning of our life and at the same time, dream gives us vitality to live forward.

There are 5 principles to make the dream come true.
1. Have your own dream.
2. Have friends whom you can share your dream with.
3. Have somebody who can support your dream.
4. Have friends who continue making their dreams come true.
5. Believe your dream will come true.

The most important thing to make your dream come true is to believe yourself. Do not doubt your talent. Your efforts for your wills are your talent.

I want to work at the front desk of a hotel, and I want to meet a lot of people from all over the world. This is my dream of the future. To make my dream come true, I need to study English more and more. I believe I will make it come true someday.
Have a dream, chase a dream, make a dream come true, and give a dream to somebody. I want to live like that.


By Kurumi

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Dogs' Body Language

Dogs are popular as pets. They are adorable because they always let us know their feelings and minds with their body language. To understand their feelings, we need to know what their body language means.

HAPPPINESS
When they waggle their tails, wriggle their bodies and bark with cheerful voice, that means they are happy. And some dogs show us their teeth. It is said that they have learned how to smile from people.

RESPECT
When they drop their body on the ground, that means they don't think of us as their enemies. When they lie down on the ground and show us their tummy, that means they obey us. This is the strongest expression for them to express that they respect us.

CAUTION
When they turn their ears forward, close their mouths and raise their tails, that means they caution about something. They stand in an upright position like that so that they can see wide view then pay attention.

CALMING SIGNAL
Calming Signal is their body language to avoid fighting when they are upset, scared and stressed out. For example, they yawn suddenly, withdraw their eyes from our eyes, blink more than usual, screw up their eyes, move their tongue in and out of their mouths many times, shake their bodies, scratch their bodies, smell their paws suddenly, etc. That means they don't want to fight, they try to calm themselves down, and they are anxious.
If your dog did something bad, you would be upset with him. In this situation, have you ever seen your dog start yawning, shaking his body or scratching his body? Then you might have thought that he didn't understand what he had done was bad thing. Then you might have started yelling at him. But actually, he did understand that he had done was something bad and you were upset with him. So he was trying to calm you down because he didn't want you to upset with him.

By Kurumi

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History of Chess

Have you ever played chess? Did you know that chess is the oldest skill game in the world?
Our chool has one chess board and sometimes we play a chess.
chess is more than just a game of skill. It can tell you much about the way people lived in medieval times. If you look at the way a chess board is set up, then study the pieces and how they are used, you will realize that chess is a history of medieval times in miniature. The six different chess pieces on the board represent a cross section of medieval life with its many ceremonies, grandeur, and wars.

Chess was played many centuries ago in China, India, and Persia. Korea and Japan also have similar one, which came from China, called Jang-gi(korean) or shogi(Japan).
No one really knows for sure in which country it originated. Then, in the eighth century, armies of Arabs known as Moors invaded Persia. The Moors learned chess from the Persians. When the Moors later invaded Spain, the soldiers brought the game of chess with them. Soon the Spanish were playing chess, too. From Spain, chess quickly spread throughout all of Europe.

Europeans gave chess pieces the names we know today; they probably had trouble pronouncing and spelling the Persian names, so they modernized them to reflect the way they lived. Today, the names certainly aren’t modern but a thousand years ago they represented the very way in which both ordinary people and persons of rank lived their lives.

The pawns on the chess board represent serfs, or laborers. There are more of them than any other piece on the board, and often they are sacrificed to save the more valuable pieces. In medieval times, serfs were considered no more than property of landowners, or chattel. Life was brutally hard for serfs during this era of history. They worked hard and died young. They were often left unprotected while wars raged around them. They could be traded, used as a diversion, or even sacrificed to allow the landowners to escape harm.

The castle piece on a chess board is the home, or the refuge, just as it was a home in medieval times. In chess, each side has two castles, or rooks, as they are sometimes called.
The knight on a chess board represents the professional soldier of medieval times whose job it was to protect persons of rank, and there are two of them per each side in a game of chess.

Knights in a game of chess are more important than pawns, but less important than bishops, kings, or queens. Their purpose in the game of chess is to protect the more important pieces, and they can be sacrificed to save those pieces just as pawns can.

There is a bishop in the game of chess, who represents the church. The church was a rich and mighty force in medieval times, and religion played a large part in every person’s life. It is no wonder that a figure that represented the concept of religion found its way into the game. A bishop was the name for a priest in the Catholic church who had risen through the ranks to a more powerful position. In the game of chess, there are two bishops for each side.

The queen is the only piece on the board during a chess game that represents a woman, and she is the most powerful piece of the game. In the game of chess, there is only one queen for each side. Many people do not realize that queens in medieval times often held a powerful, yet precarious, position. The king was often guided by her advice, and in many cases the queen played games of intrigue at court. But kings could set wives aside or even imprison them in nunneries with the approval of the church (and without the queen’s approval), and many women schemed merely to hold her place at court. The machinations of queens working either for or against their kings are well noted in history throughout medieval times, and often she held more power than the king did.

The king is the tallest piece on the board, and is as well defended on the chessboard as in medieval life. In medieval times, the surrender of the king would mean the loss of the kingdom to invading armies and that could mean change for the worse. It was to everyone’s advantage, from the lowest serf to the highest-ranking official, to keep the king safe from harm. The king is the most important, but not the most powerful piece in chess. If you do not protect your king, you lose the game.

Does it look too hard? No,just start and enjoy it. You will fall in love with chess.

By Dennis

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The things which we didn't know

There are many thing that we didn't know , so I'll introduce some facts.^^

1. crocodiles can't push out their tongue.

2. shrimps' heart is in their head.

3. pigs can see the sky. I heard that they can't raise their head. ^^

4. over 50 % people of world have never used a phone.

5. rats and horse can't vomit

6. "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" that is the hardest sentence in English.

7. If you sneeze too strong, you would be died. In addition, if you try to bear sneezing, you would be died because blood vessels in neck or head will burst.

8. If you wear headphone for a hour , number of bacterium will increase about 700 times in the ear.

9. A lighter invented faster than a match.

10. 35% of people who look for a dating person are married people.

11. most lipsticks include a fish's scale.

are that amazing?? ^0^


By Dennis

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Beautiful Rainy Day in Vancouver

We are having the rainy season here, in Vancouver. We do not feel very good when it is rainy. I have only negative image about rainy day. For example, my shoes and clothes will get wet, I can not make my hairstyle well, and I feel depressed.
I think there are not so many people who like the rainy season. Most of people usually feel depressed during the rainy season. But we can not escape from rainy season as long as we live in Vancouver so I would like to give you some ideas to enjoy rainy day.

I like coffee. I sometimes buy little bit expensive but unique flavored coffee (for example, maple flavored coffee) and I enjoy having it at home on rainy day. I can feel relaxed by having my favorite coffee at home.

If you like cooking, it is a good chance to cook something gorgeous dish on rainy day. Don't spend your day off just staying at home all day. You can try to cook something gorgeous dish that you can not cook in a short time.

You can also enjoy listening to music, reading books, watching movies at home. It is also good to try doing kraft, drawing pictures, growing small plants in home, etc. It is always good to have some hobbies that you can enjoy at home.

If you do not want to stay at home, there are many places to visit even on rainy day in Vancouver. For example, Movie theater, Art gallery, Science world, Aquarium, Sports center, Shopping mall,etc.

Or you can enjoy walking in the rain actively if you buy your new umbrella or new rain shoes. Let's buy a colorful umbrella and fancy rain shoes, and let's enjoy rainy day!

By Kurumi

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Plants Have Souls

when I saw kurumi's blog, suddenly I curious about reaction of plants. So I found article about plants' thing. Plants are intelligent forms of life who are capable of intention, preference, and a will to survive, thrive and interact. Scientific research indicates that plants communicate with insects, animals, human beings and other plants in order to keep themselves alive and safe. Evidence also reveals that plants are telling us how to achieve health and wholeness for humanity and the earth herself.

Plants Are Just Like People

In research which spands more than 100 years, scientists have been documenting botanical adaptability and the amazing similarities that plants have with animals and people. Studies indicate that what metaphysicians, psychics, shaman, tribal people and sensitives worldwide have been saying about the plant kingdom for millennium is true: plants are intelligent beings who can communicate with us, and, we can communicate with them.

You Can Hurt a Plant’s Feelings

Plants respond not only to insects and animals but to human emotion and intention. Plants can distinguish between people who are feel kindly towards them and people who don't, and our green friends cooperate with people they like. In one experiment a new scientist came to study some test plants. Surprisingly, these test plants which previously had been very responsive, were completely non-responsive during the new scientist's tests. Investigating the change in the plants' response, it was discovered that the new scientist incinerated his plants in his own personal research once his tests were completed. Shortly after the new scientist left, the plants again began registering activity and cooperating. In another study, scientists found that vegetation reacted negatively to people who found the plants unattractive, even to the extent that the plants would "faint." When over stimulated by emotions, plants will "go unconscious" or numb and can stay " moody" for weeks. Scientific studies show that once plants attune themselves to a particular person, they are able to maintain a link with that person, no matter how far away. These plants register "knowing" not only when a person is returning to the plants, but when the person makes the decision to return. Other reports show that plants respond to people talking to them in a caring, loving manner, such as asking a tree to radically change its growth direction so that it won't have to be cut, or asking weeds not to grow excessively in a vegetable garden.

Is it amazing? Also I heard that plants can listen music. One flower garden uses classic music to improve their quality. After listening music to flowers, owner can earn more money.
Yes, even though they can't speak, they can understand at all.
Be careful in front of flowers and love them ^^\

voca:

botanical : the scientific study of plants and their structure.
incinerate : to burn stn until it is completely destroyed.
attune : make receptive or aware.

By Dennis

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Elephants never forget

They have a long nose, big ears and cute small eyes on their big face,, yes they are elephants.
People say that "elephants never forget". Let me talk about these wise animals, elephants.

Elephants are mammals. They are the largest land animals that alive today. The number of elephants has been decreasing because people hunt them to get their ivory and skin. They are endangered today.

They have great memory so people say that "elephants never forget". They can listen to our language. If I speak in Japanese and you speak English, it is said that elephants can notice that you and I use different languages. For example, people from Masai used to kill elephants so elephants are afraid of people who speak Masai's language. Especially elephants are afraid of men from Masai because men used to kill them. They remember that women didn't hurt them. They have high mentality.

In the Hindu religion, they believe the god named Ganeza. Ganeza has a Human's body with a big tummy and 4 arms but its face is elephant with a broken ivory. In the religion, people believe that Ganeza removes difficulties from their life then brings happiness in their life. People also believe the god as a god of wisdom and knowledge.

When I went to a zoo last year, I saw two elephants which were performing in front of many audiences. Then a trainer of the elephants told us that elephants are very wise so they never forget what they have experienced. After I heard that story, I looked over about elephants on Internet because I wondered if it was true story what the trainer of the elephants said at the zoo. The Internet says the exactly same thing "elephants never forget". And when I found the story about the god of Hindu religion, I thought it was very interesting because the god has elephant's face and it is believed as a god of wisdom and knowledge. I'm not sure if it is said so because elephants are wise animals but I was very impressed by these facts.

By Kurumi

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C/F feet/m lb/kg

It was below 22 degrees fahrenheit.It means it was below 30 degrees celsius.

MEANS>>>>>>>>>>>>COLD!!!!

Which do you use Celsius or Fahrenheit to describe temperature?

In North America, some people use Fahrenheit.

When you hear this conversation on the street, what do you think???

"It's going to be 32 degrees tomorrow."

"Really???oh,,,It's gonna be cold,,,I need a heavy jacket, gloves and a scarf!!!"

32 degrees?????It is hot!!!!!!you might think like this.

Actually they are using Fahrenheit instead of Celsius to describe temperature.

32 degrees fahrenheit means 0 degree celsius.

Now you understand,don't you?

It is very interesting to know different measurement.

When I was asked my hight by my friend, I answered 1.6 meters.

My friend was puzzled and asked me to describe with feet.

I DON'T KNOW! was my answer.

It was 5.2 feet.

1.5 meters is 5 feet.

2 meters is 7 feet.

1 foot is 0.3 meters ; means 30 centimeters.

So, it is about meter times 3.3 is foot(feet).

I can't tell you my weight,,,but here is a tip for lb(pound) and kg(kilogram).

100 lb is about 45 kg. 110 lb is about 50kg. 154 lb is about 70 kg.

Can you calculate your weight now?!

I remember just kg is about half of lb.This is not true but,,,,easy.

I like below 22 degrees fahrenheit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!love cold weather!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by yo-yo

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Power of Tones

Do you know that tones have power to make you feel relaxed?

Don't you feel relaxed when you listen to your favorite music?
Don't you feel relaxed when you hear the sound of the wave and the murmur of the brook?
It is because those sounds have an effect to heal your heart psychologically.
The effect of the sounds have been attracting people recently.


Relaxation music has both regular sound like a metronome and irregular sound like a noise of the radio. These two sounds harmonize well with each other. We have the same kind of rhythms in our bodies. That is why we can feel the slight comfortable tones of the sounds and our brain and tension of the muscle can be relaxed.

I take TOEIC class at ATC. TOEIC class is difficult for me so when I finish it, I am always tired. But music is always played during our break time in ATC so I can feel relaxed even after the difficult TOEIC class.

My favorite relaxation music is Beatles' music.
What's your favorite relaxation music??

By Kurumi

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Gift Wrapping Ideas

Whenever I prepared a present for friends or family, I thought about wrapping.

Giftwrapping is first impress, so it's as importtant as real presents.

I also have a few experience for packing, but I want to let you know some tips. ^^

I think when you wrap gift, I recommend to use a dollar shop. In dollar shops, there are many chip and useful material that you can decorate. small dolls, gift bags, ribbons, wrapping paper, etc.

Elegant Gift Wrapping Idea

Materials

- Parcel paper

- wrapping paper of your choice

- Ribbon

- Cedar branches or any stuff what you want

- Clear tape

Directions

1. Wrap present with brown parcel packing paper.

2. Cut a single strip of wrapping paper. The strip should be long enough to wrap completely around the present and wide enough to be approximately 3-5 centimeters from the edges of the present.

3. Wrap a coordinating colour ribbon around the centre of the present.

4. attached a cedar branch with a bow to the top of the present.

Gift Wrapping with Cookie Cutter Topper

Material

- wrapping paper of your choice

- Ribbon

- Cookie Cutter

- Clear tape

Directions

1. Wrap the present using the gift wrapping paper of you choice.

2. Attach a festive cookie cutter to the top of the present with brightly coloured ribbon.

It's not hard, but it makes apearance better.doesn't it?^^

There is another method. Just look at it!

Yes, you can try. Makes it greater.^^

#voca #

a bow(N) :a knot with two loops and two loose ends which is used for decoration on clothes, in hair,etc.

By Dennis

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SHABUSEN

We went to All You Can Eat Japanese restaurant named "Shabusen" on Burrard street for lunch today.

After morning classes, we ran to Shabusen to eat a lot of food. There were so many people inside and outside of the restaurant. Fortunately, we have reserved table so we could have seats as soon as we arrived.

The food was very delicious but the waitresses and waiters were little bit rude. When they put plates on the table, they put just like throwing out. Sometimes, They spillt some liquid on the table but they didn't care about it at all.

But the food was very delicious so we ordered too much food. Suddenly one waitress came and warned us that if we left food, we had to pay extra charge for penalty. Then we canceled deep fried food that we were going to order at that time.



The price was $12 per person. (Including tax and tip around $14 per person.) We got soooo full after lunch!

We all recommend SHABUSEN for lunch! But be careful not to order too much!

By all ATC students

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City of Surrey

I have lived in Burnaby, downtown Vancouver and North Vancouver but now I live in Surrey.
I enjoy living in Surrey even though it is far away from downtown Vancouver.
Burnaby and North Vancouver are quiet and peaceful cities but I sometimes got bored when I lived there because there was nothing to do when I got used to living there.
Downtown is always busy. I was excited to live downtown for about a week, then eventually I got tired of living in a busy city.
And now, I live in Surrey which is a quieter city. Surrey is known as the city of parks and I enjoy taking walks at all the different parks on the weekends. There are also several shopping malls which I enjoy shopping at. Surrey is such a nice city with a equal mix of quiet and busy areas that makes it perfect place for me to live.

Let me elaborate about the City of Surrey which is my favorite in British Columbia.
Surrey is the second largest city in British Columbia which is located near the Canada and USA border.
The population is over 410,000. Most of the visible population is South Asian. There are many Asian people in Vancouver from China, Korea and Japan. Comparing Surrey with Vancouver, there are not so many Asian people in Surrey.
There are about 600 parks and a lot of green spaces in Surrey. They are good for nature walking, bird-watching, bike-riding, fishing and much more. If you like outdoor, it's good to live in Surrey.
There are not only parks and green spaces but also several shopping malls. They are not as big as Metrotown in Burnaby but they're big enough to enjoy shopping. If you don't like busy shopping malls, there are big box stores such as Wal-Mart and Homedepot. There are lots of small independent stores for all individual needs from hardware, laundry, movie rental, grocery store so you can get everything you want.

I just moved into Surry a month ago and I have already discovered so much. I heard that there are much more good places to visit like the art gallery and sports centers in Surrey. I will explore Surrey more and more so that I will be able to enjoy my life in much more.

By Kurumi

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Let's Drink Green Tea!

Do you like green tea?
I think most of Asian people like green tea. Of course I love it. I will talk about green tea today.

Do you have high cholesterol readings?
Are you scared of having cancer?
Do you have high blood pressure?
Do you have bad teeth easily?
Do you want beautiful skin?
Do you want to lose your weight?

If you do, you should start drinking green tea from now on!

Green tea has a lot of nutrition. Catechin is one of them and it has great effects for our health.

If you have high cholesterol, Catechin will clean your vein.

If you have a chance to have cancer because of inheritance, Catechin will protect you from cancer.

If you have high blood pressure, Catechin will decrease blood sugar in your blood.

If you have bad teeth easily, Catechin will protect your teeth from bad teeth. It also good for you if you have bad breath.

If you want beautiful skin, Catechin will make your skin smooth and beautiful.

If you want to lose your weight, Catechin will help your body to burn fat.



Let's drink green tea!


By Kurumi

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The Old Spaghetti factory

In March of 1970, the first Old Spaghetti Factory Restaurant in Canada was opened in the Gastown district of Vancouver, British Columbia. The concept was a very simple one; take an old warehouse in a historic part of town and fill it with antiques and artifacts, provide the finest pasta and superb service, to make an extremely unique dining experience. They're all decorated in a nostalgic theme using genuine antiques, stained glass, tiffany type lights, and usually an authentic trolley car forming a dining room within a dining room.The concept proved to be wonderfully successful and was soon taken to other cities across the country. We are now proud to serve over two million guests every year.

There is a trolley car which was made 100 years ago and really used. Before the trolley car become to disused, it was exhibited in gastown and moved into the restaurant. You can also have meal here.^^





If you order main dishes, you can also recieve appetizer (salad or soup), and as a disert you can receive coffee or icecream.

Most price is around 8~13 . It's very reasonabel price. Enjoy your Spaghetti !!!

By Dennis

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