November 2008 Archives

 Oita Godo Newspaper (morning edition on November 18th, 2008)

                The world’s Figure Ice Skating Princess, ASADA Mao (hometown: Aichi prefecture), finished the Grandpre Series, the first competition of this season, at the second place. However, as the one who possesses the highest score of 199.52 in her competition history, 167.59 score she got this time is deemed as very low and disappointing.  Surprisingly, the reason seems to be at her jumping which was not good enough though it is actually her adroit point ever.

                “I tried to do the Russian-oriented style but it seems I need to practice more and more until I get used to it.” Another obvious reason is that she has been trained in a different way from the last season.

                ASADA got a new coach from the beginning of this season, Tatiana Tarasova, a Russian figure skating coach who has coached more world and Olympic champions than any other coach in the world. Before the competition, she was trained in Moscow in order to heighten the jumping. The training was only in a short term thus intensive. She had to be trained Russia-oriented style for 2 – 3 hours per day which is more than others. She said she was actually worried pretty much about everything including the result. Then the anxiety noticeably affected her jump in the competition.

Comment:    Everyone gets unfamiliar and tends to fail when doing something new.  That is not wrong but natural. Absolutely, we can learn from our mistakes so that we can be successful on the next stage. Mao-chan, ganbatte!!

PUNTHUCHAT Siripun

Thailand

APS3, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

Oita Godo Newspaper (morning edition on November 15th, 2008)

...many encounters...happiness...

A popular model who is attached to a female fashion magazine Camcam, Maki Nishiyama, came to Oita Prefecture for a fashion talkshow which was held in Tokiwa Assembly Hall and she was interviewed.

This twenty years old model is from Niigata Prefecture. Although this new "Camcam's face" has been attracting attention recently, this lady said that "rather than always focusing to the future", she is trying her best "to live in today without any regrets".

On the contrary, "this year I've been running around and concentrating on my job, so I thought that it would be nice to pace my life more slowly", said her with a carefree smile. "When I look back at my life, I felt that there were times when I have felt empty and lonely.　Apart from my job, I want to live a full life too. A girl who lives a full life, she will shine no matter what she does. I also want to be a woman who lives with self-confidence".

She started modelling from the age of four. "Recently, finally I can think that it is OK to be myself, it is good to treat myself better. To smile from your heart".

She has lean arms and legs, also beautiful skin. What is her secret for beauty? "I don't do anything. I don't exercise my body and instead I eat a lot. The thing that I am particular about is to remove my make up properly. After my job finishes, I will remove my make up then go home. Often I don't wear make up in front of many people in  private".

She does not wear accessories. "Different from her appearance, and refreshing" is what people often say about her. "Because I was raised up among brothers, that's why I naturally became like this. But in this magazine, I want to become a girl who looks nice in Western clothes. While trying to improve myself to be an ideal woman, I'm doing modelling".

She said that expressing the effort and hardwork of stylists, hairmakers, cameramen, editors, and staffs with her body is her job as a model. "And I feel so happy that I have many encounters with them, and I am also grateful to work in a place whereby I can do what I think is right, and to pass it on to other people as well".

Last but not least, she gave message to fans in Oita. "As a woman myself, I want to care about my appearance, beauty, and figure. Let us be beautiful together!"

Comment: I agree with her that sometimes we are to pre-occupied with our hectic schedule and tons of activities, and we often forget to stop and take a deep breath. At times, it is good to reduce our activities and relax, as relaxing does not necessarily mean that we are being unproductive, but instead we can allow ourselves to re-evaluate what we have been doing so far. It is good to be able to do reflections abot our priorities in life, to ask ourselves whether we have lived the life that we want, and whether we are going towards achieving the goals that we have set. Often, doing less things with a focused purpose is actually much more productive than doing many things without knowing the purpose. And I agree with her, that it is important for us to have self-confidence because everybody is unique and each of us can shine in our own ways. ^^

Oita Godo Newspaper (morning edition on November 9th, 2008)

Senior Citizens' Accidents Occur Frequently at Home

According to the information from National Lifestyle and Welfare Centre, senior citizens' (above 65 years old) accidents often occur at home. The features of senior citizens' accidents at home are as following.

Accidents that often happen are "bruises", "contusions", "puncture wounds", "cuts", "bone fractures", "burns", etc. Especially , when compared to people who are under 65 years old, those senior citizens who live independently tend to have bone fractures.

According to the order, stairs is a place where the accidents happen most frequently. Following are floor, beds, and bathrooms.

Almost 60% of the accidents occured because of the senior citizens stumbled and fell down.　Even though there are cases when they fell down from the roof or high places, many of them fell down when they are walking normally on the floor.

Burns are the most frequent cases which have caused death. For example, burns happen when they got into bathtubs filled with boiling water, and when the clothes that they were wearing caught fire.

To prevent "stumbles" and "falls" are similar, some inventions can be made. For instance, reducing the distance of steps of stairs, providing handrails to hold, and providing lights or illuminations on the floor so that they can walk safely. Also, accidents can be prevented by not putting the things that people might stumble over, or not wearing shoes and slippers that slip easily. When working on high places, as much as possible ask professionals and young people for assistance, and do not perform the work or operations alone.

So as to prevent from "burns", "drownings", and "heart problems" in the bathrooms, it is necessary to warm the bathrooms first before taking a bath. Also, pay attention and be alert to the temperature of the hot-water supply and the showers. Moreover, it is quite hard to realize that the clothes catch fire, it is good to be careful with the sleeves and hems of the clothes.

In order to prevent "chokings", after sipping tea to wet the throat, it is recommended to eat slowly, little by little. Cut the food that are sticky into small slices. The surrounding people also have to care and they should not start a conversation suddenly..

Comments: Today, Japan has a growing population of senior citizens. It is necessary to pay attention to their needs and as much as possible look into their problems in life and help to solve them. When human beings get older, the bodies become weaker so accidents will happen more easily. It is important for every one of us to realize that we have to support them in any way we can. Helping them to prevent accidents is one of the things that you can do to make a differernce in their lives.

NUGROHO Katarina Marsha Utama

Indonesia

APM2, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University