Greenland Rules!

Ken Sumida

Where is a gigantic icy island going? During week 10, we learned about Greenland. All of us seemingly didn't have sufficient knowledge about it. I'm really curious to know who has got a positive image of it. Maybe almost all of us have got a mediocre image, because the textbook which we use in our class offered an awful view of it. I mean, Greenland lies in the Arctic Circle and its landscape consists of huge icebergs and gray granite rock. Daylight time is very little, for half of a year, and this results in social issues, alcoholism and suicide. In the island, plentiful fierce polar bears loiter and sometimes they prey on men. With respect to its economy, almost all of its industries are immature so Greenland can't go well without Danish financial aid. I imagine, however, any country has its own strength. So, I went looking into Greenland and intend to add new tips to the information you already know.
 
Looking at the economy, as we know, Greenland depends greatly on Denmark. Actually, it has suffered from the economic immaturity but luckily it has gradually come to light that Greenland has incredibly abundant natural resources. In particular regarding oil, the amount of oil which exists under Greenland is speculated to be equivalent to tat in the Middle East, according to some experts' estimations. Moreover, recent global warming may be likely to enable Greenland to mine before long.
 
The findings re. the natural resources makes Greenlanders confident. As a result, quite a few of them commenced to claim they should be independent from Denmark. Interestingly, a referendum took place in order to ask citizens for expansion of autonomy. Surprisingly, more than 70% of respondents were for it. That means they believe their economy will get robust and Danish support will became no longer vital for them. Rather, Greenland's natural resources have become attractive to the European union and Greenland is expected to join the EU. Possibly, the EU will attempt to encompass Greenland in the future, I think.
 
Greenland's circumstances are changing and they got out from the conventional dismal situation. Perhaps, we are fortunate to learn about Greenland. This is because Greenland is one of the most promising countries.

The 'Fire' in Hiroshima & Nagasaki

Ken Sumida

As 9/11 is an unforgettable day for Americans, 8/6 and 8/9 are unforgettable days for Japanese. On these days in 1945, America dropped atomic bombs. This attack has been believed to be indispensable in order to cease the Pacific War. Actually, many people, in particular Americans advocate that. Was it necessary? Honestly, I can't understand why Americans have believed that. Contemplating that, there are several controversial points.
 
Initially, America defeated Japanese forces and occupied the Okinawa Islands by that time and so nobody anticipated Japan would launch destructive counterattacks. It was absolutely obvious that Japan was bound to sooner or later surrender to the US forces. Secondly, America dropped two different types of atomic bombs. For America, the series of attacks were large-scale experiments. In fact, in order to make these experiments successful, America secretly conducted prior experiments time and again. They would have never done that, if they had had a piece of humanity. Up to here, I've criticised the American conduct in anger. But I don't intend to aim at blaming them. Rather, it is more important to discuss the role of Japan as the only atomic bomb nation in the world.
 
After the World War 2, sad to say, there were quite a few wars in a row in the world. Wars have continued to break out and the damage resulting from wars has lingered on. Under the circumstances, what does Japan need to do to contribute to peace? I think Japan is unfortunate to have been the atomic bomb victim, but only Japan can tell the world about the brutality of nuclear weapons. For a long period, nuclear weapons have been believed to serve as a deterrence for occurrence of wars. What's going on as a consequence of following this philosophy? All in all, an increase in the number of nuclear weapons has commenced to threaten our life. It is undeniable that a country may suddenly launch a nuclear missile. Thus, we need a new framework in order to keep the world peace. Nuclear weapons are no longer indispensable. Combative solutions are going to bear no fruit at all.
 
As the old saying, it is easier said than done, looking for replacements for nuclear weapons will possibly be difficult because, this, we know, must involve tremendous effort or drastic changes. That means plentiful vested interests are going to be wrecked. Therefore, American might not be able to do that, because of its great dependence on huge military industries. However, I confidently believe that Japan is able to guide other countries to do that. Unfortunately, Japan is a domesticated dog of America now. This really humiliates me so much!! Anyway, no more wars!!
  

Architecture as Icon

Ken Sumida

I like Dunedin. As you know, there is Scottish architecture here. Two years ago, I went to Hamilton, which is the fourth largest city in NZ. Although Hamilton is quite a nice city, its scenery is totally different to Dunedin. What can distinguish Dunedin from Hamilton? In my speculation, the answer is the Scottish architecture. Coincidentally, the day before I took an IELTS test, I handled a task 2 regarding historical buildings. I'm wondering if I've been destined to talk about historical buildings and so from now on I'd like to introduce my ideas about Dunedin's fabulous architecture which ignites my curiosity.
 
Historical architecture is believed to hold its own value. Many historical buildings wouldn't be preserved, if they hadn't been seen as priceless for societies. In particular, I've focused on historical architecture's role in shaping local people's identity. Basically, people tend to identify themselves by the utilization of things relating to them. Historical architecture can be a symbol. For Example, Big Ben is an icon of London and it can be assumed that people probably recall it, when they imagine London. Needless to say, there has been a strong tie between Big Ben and London.
 
Likewise, Scottish buildings in Dunedin have the identical function. They were established as a result of the gold rush. Immigrants have historically spent both their enjoyable and harsh lives through the buildings. For immigrants, historical buildings are their treasures handed down from one generation to another. Looking at the Clock Tower, apparently the University of Otago has used it to stress its history and tradition. That is, it emphasizes that it is the oldest university in NZ and as such has academic value. The university would have difficulty conveying the image which it wants to convey, if it were not for this marvellous building. In my opinion, the Clock Tower can convey the positive image of the University to both prospective and current students.

What's Travel?

David Santos Martinez

Since the beginning of time men have been interested in what there was beyond their surrounding horizons.

When the first man moved from one place to another with the only purpose of enjoying different lifestyles or environments, traveling as a leisure activity was born. And it is important to emphasize the point that travel is not always something done for pleasure. Migration, natural catastrophes, prosecution… are some of the factors which can lead us to leave our places of origin in order to find a better life. But that is another story…

I want to focus on why travel appeals to us. I think that travel and curiosity are deeply connected. We want to see places which do not look like ours, we would like to know what makes us different from all those different cultures spread out all over the world.

That’s one of the first reasons why traveling broadens your mind. Because, when visiting another country there is a large likelihood of finding habits that, initially, can be considered strange. But the only thing we need to do is to “calibrate” our perspective so as to have the perspective of the members of the culture that we are visiting. As a result, we have this experience that makes us more tolerant and respectful of other ways of thinking. In addition, by travelling we can learn a huge variety of things which are not written in books but impressed on the world in a kind of natural language. I call it learning by doing.

Despite the fact that once we are traveling every single action is, as I see it, a positive experience, to get on with it might be harder than it seems.

There are two main things which are needed for travelling: time and money. And regrettably neither of them is abundant nowadays. However, the less brave and adventurous may have an extra obstacle if they consider the language as a major barrier. My advice is to forget about it and try to go everywhere. If you want to make yourself understood you will manage to do it regardless of whether you are in China, Japan or France (not to forget that, if you can speak English, things will be much easier in most cases)

Personally, I can say that travelling is probably the best thing that I have done in my life. Indeed, I haven’t found anything yet that provides me the same amount of knowledge as travelling. Traveling makes you think globally. I would definitely be a completely different person if it wasn’t because of such experience.

Owing to all the advantages that I have mentioned, I still cannot help being surprised when I hear someone saying that he doesn’t like travelling. He doesn’t care about what there is in other places, he simply doesn’t feel any interest or curiosity. Coincidentally, all these persons are perfectly happy about having no idea of how things are in other cultures; an attitude that contrasts with the kind of “emptiness” that I feel inside, like if something was missing. And that is why I go from one place to another trying to fulfill this “hidden” vacuity which makes me wonder about who we are and why we are so different; and thus I conclude that traveling is nothing but the pursuit of our identity. 

The Importance of Understanding History

Masayuki Sato
 
It is human beings that make history. Both good and bad, it is human beings that make history. Also, it is human beings that make history from now on. That is to say, we human have a possibility to develop some technology more and also bring on wars.
 
In history, human beings made great efforts to create new systems, machines or formulas etc. Einstein established the theory of relativity and Newton created the law of universal gravitation. Also human beings put these things to practical use and developed these. Because of that, we can pass our days comfortably. But we mustn’t be satisfied only in this situation. We must take one step further for the future. To do this, it is important to understand and learn history. Some people may think that I can’t find a new theory or I can’t create new products. But our mission is not only that. Each person has an own role individually. You learn history firstly then you should think about how you will put it to good use.

On the other hand, human beings have also set off catastrophic events in the past. In my point of view, it seems that most of the important historical events in the past were catastrophic, more than good ones: The massacre of Jews, the Nanking Massacre, World Wars, the dropping of the atomic bombs, the Iran-Iraq War… What do we learn from these? We must not repeat like these histories and will never bring on the tragic events. By understanding history, we should bring the balefulness of the wars down for the next generation to make the world peaceful then let them think about the importance of our life or how human beings make a peaceful world from now on.
 
It is very important to understand and learn from history. This is the first step to think about peace or our future. And then, we must tell posterity the story that human beings have gathered the threads of so far in order to make a peaceful world and not repeat harrowing history.

Reunion Island

Celie Intering

Reunion is a French Island located in the Indian Ocean, between Madagascar and Mauritius. It is an integral part of the French Republic and of the European Union as well. Because of its east location from Europe, Reunion was the first European region where the euro became the legal money.

 

Geography, Demography and Economy

The island is 63 kilometers long by 45 kilometers wide. Reunion’s capital city is Saint Denis. It is a hotspot in the Earth’s crust. A hotspot is a place that has experienced active volcanism  during a long time. The island houses two volcanoes. One is sleeping: The Piton des Neiges, which is the highest point on the island at 3070 meters. And the other is one of the most active volcanoes on earth: The Piton de la Fournaise. Reunion also has three calderas: Cirque de Salazie, Cirque de Cilaos and Cirque de Mafate (this one is only accessible by foot or helicopter).

The population was estimated at 802,000 people in 2008. The official language is French. But non-officially, Creole is mainly spoken. Due to the diverse population, Mandarin, Hakka, Cantonese, Tamil and Arabic (in mosques) are spoken too. The economy is largely lead by sugar exportation and tourism.

 


History


Portuguese were the first known visitors of the island. They found it inhabited in 1635, and named it Saint Apollonia. Then France annexed the piece of earth and changed its name in Ile Bourbon. Colonization began in 1665 when the French East India Company sent the first settlers. The Island became officially Reunion in 1793 to commemorate the union of revolutionaries from Marseille with the National Guard in Paris (1792). Then Reunion had trouble with its name again. Indeed, Napoleon Bonaparte renamed it Ile Bonaparte in 1801. In 1848, the island was once again given the name Reunion.

From the 17th to 19th centuries, Reunion was a centre on the Earth Indies trade route. At this time, immigration started from France, India, Africa and China, which gave the island its ethnic mix.

In 2005 and 2006, Reunion was hit by an epidemic of Chikungunya. This is a disease spread by mosquitoes. Around 255,000 people had contracted the disease. Then a large eradicated campaign was made against mosquitoes. This campaign was quite successful. Now, we are far from the epidemic.


Way of life

People in Reunion Island usually wake up early. Schools and university start at 7.30 am and shops open at 8.00 am. They behave as French from Mainland France. The breakfast is made of bread, jam, nutella, crepes and juice. But in fact the lunch is quite different. French eat European and Mediterranean food, instead of Creoles who eat curry, spicy food and a lot of rice. During their free time, people usually go for a run or a walk. We have a famous running track in Reunion, which attracts thousand of persons (also Europeans) every year. They also like to have a huge meal on Sunday, with the whole family (including grandparents, uncles, cousins...). Everybody brings some food and they share it together through the day. They play music and children play soccer. 

Reunion people take a lot of care of their family.


The Storming of the Bastille

Celie Intering

By tradition this day is regarded as the end of the Former Regime and the beginning of the French Revolution.

La Bastille was a jail, which was containing lots of innocents, and not a lot of guilty people. Although at the time of the storming, there were not a lot of people there. In fact, prisoners had been transfered in an other jail. Victims of the monarchy, they were imprisoned without judgment. La Bastille was the symbol of tyranny, and now, it is in a way, freedom’s symbol. Indeed, it is standing out the beginning of a fight, the fight for freedom.

On Sunday 12 of July 1789, Camille Desmoulins, a journalist encouraged people to revolt.

On Monday 13, the Parisian crowd was manifesting and asking for the decrease of bread and grain prices. They burnt fifty entries for Paris. Later, they ransacked the Saint Lazarre convent. Indeed, grains were stocked there.

Next, a reunion took place to create an army of 48000 people. They ransacked the ‘Garde Meuble’ to find weapons. After that, they went to the Invalides to claim war Weapons. The government refused, and the crowd took them by force. The French people still needed gunpowder. They learnt that there was some at La Bastille.

Suffering several refusals, they fired on the building. At 5pm, the soldiers who were defending the jail, abandoned it. The mass invaded La Bastille, released prisoners and imprisoned the Bastille’s governor: Marquis De Launay. Later, De Launay’s head was cut off and paraded around Paris. Other statesmen's heads joined the cortege.

It was only the day after that, that King Louis XVI heard about the storming of the Bastille. He asked his informer:

-      Is it a revolt?

-      No sir, it isn’t a revolt, it is a revolution!

Louis XVI was guillotined on the 21 January 1793 at ‘La Concorde’, called Revolution Place before.

How important is an understanding of history?

David Santos Martinez

Egypt was founded around 3150 B.C., Athens was created in the 8^th Century B.C., The Roman Empire fell in 476 A.D., America was discovered much later in 1492 … Seen in this way, history may seem as a group of unconnected actions ordered chronologically. However, history is much more than a series of consecutive events.

History is probably one of the best “teachers” of human behavior. Analyzing it we can notice how different civilizations have reacted in a huge variety of situations, and, even more, we can see what was the result. So, in a certain mode, history should help us to avoid making the same mistakes that our ancestors committed, although, unfortunately, this is not so.

Despite mankind having evolved dramatically since the wheel was invented (which is considered by many historians as the beginning of a new era), people’s aims give the impression of having remained untouched. We still look upon power and superiority as some of the most important things, which must be achieved at all costs, even if it is at other people’s expense. This is why war hasn’t disappeared yet, and equality is, after all, one of the main issues all over the world. We might have completely different lifestyles, and our technological advances are deserving of being looked up to by past civilizations, but, at the end, in spite of thousands of years of evolution, we haven’t been able to get rid of the avarice and egotism which have characterized every human generation.

Consequently, my question is: if history is not a help to learn from our mistakes, then, what is its purpose? Should we forget history considering it as an irrelevant part of the past? Definitely not!

The fact that humans fall once and again into the same errors because they are still as stubborn as their antecessors, doesn’t mean that history is useless.

From my perspective, a good understanding of history brings much more experience than most people believe and it also broadens your mind, even though it “teaches” as well that not everything is written in books, and, quite often you have to go “out there” and find the answers by yourself.

To conclude, I have to say that each individual will make use of history in a very personal way. Some people will hate it, others will love it, while a third group will be indifferent, but, eventually, it doesn’t matter what your attitude is, because WE ALL MAKE HISTORY.

 

A journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step

Ken Sumida

This proverb is a witty remark and impresses me. One famous person, although I won't tell you who now, exemplified a whole life as being a long journey. I think, his/her (maybe his) remark can be applied to the words I initially show. A life is like a journey.
 
As we have already understood, our life is unpredictable, I mean, we can never foretell the future. If someone had the ability to predict the future, tragic incidents wouldn't recur. Quite often, this unpredictability makes us afraid, really. No matter when we need to make a serious decision, most of us may be frightened by unspecified fears. For example, when we are in two minds about whether or not we should quit our current job, we are excessively anxious about the future. This is because we don't know what will happen after going forward one way. So, a first step is essential for beginning new things. A second step, a third step, a hundredth step, no step is as significant as a first step. Looking at people around you, whenever they want to embark on new journey, that is, do new things, most of them talk with someone, even though they have been ready to do it! They want to let someone push their back. This represents how hard that first step is!

All you need is love

Ken Sumida

The Beatles sang "All you need is love," and this song is one of my favourite songs. I completely agree with them, I mean, all I need is love. Before considering this topic, I should ponder what love is. Nothing is as difficult to defined as love. Undoubtedly, one of the biggest concerns in the history of humankind has been love.
 
Ascending to the Japanese Middle Ages, quite a few immortal tales came out and their primary themes were love. Irrespective of eras or places, love has unchangingly been seen as a significant part of human lives. Additionally, forms of love are diverse. Many people may tend to associate love with intimacy between men and women. Although intimacy is one of the forms of love, they are expected to be expanded. Some donate for a crusade against ruthless mines or, like Mother Teresa, others dedicate themselves for orphans. Obviously, their behaviours or social acts are based on love. Our modern society is intricate and our daily life is extremely busy and consequently this can pave the way for a tendency to being indifferent to relationships among us. We must, however, remember our daily life has been supported by someone's dedication anytime, anywhere. Uncountable acts of dedication are performed, even though we don't realize that.
 
I live, and currently I'm writing this article. During my life, I have been supported by others around me. In other words, up to now, I've been given a lot of mercy or love, even when I couldn't recognized that. Now I'm moving forward to my ambition, acquiring a PhD degree. As I mentioned before, my application has already been endorsed conditional on enhancement of my English proficiency. In retrospect, my life course hasn't always been exquisite. Rather, large parts of my life, have been severely nasty and mean and I've suffered from indescribable anguish especially, within a couple of years. But I could come back to NZ and actually one of my dreams is in front of my face. Lately, my friends praise me for my effort and bravery. I ask myself if I could have done everything I've achieved by myself. Of course, not. Until now, I've been supported and from now I will be. I firmly believe our society is made up of others' love. Someone is going to acrimoniously point out my opinions are illusory or hypocrisy. But I don't care!!  

The World of Metaphor

Masayuki Sato

Metaphorical expressions exist everywhere language exists and the quantity of the expressions is uncountable so we won’t be able to learn all these expressions by heart. Of course, we Japanese have them as well. Many people may regard these as special expressions like the phrases only poets or writers use, but we use these expressions unconsciously in everyday conversation.
 
Some metaphors use words from our bodies; some use words from nature. And there are many others. It seems that it is easy to understand almost all the metaphorical expressions because these are simple phrases or sentences so we can imagine the meaning easily. However it is superficial idea and the world of metaphor is really profound. For instance, you can use the phrase “a dog’s life” to explain “ a miserable life”. This results from the recognition that people consider the dog has been miserable since the 16th Century. If you don’t know this background, you can’t understand this meaning correctly. Another example of this is the word “cats and dogs”. This seemingly very easy phrase means “heavy rain”. In Scandinavian myth, it was believed that a cat had the power of making rain happen and a dog had the power of making wind blow. That’s why “cats and dogs” means “heavy rain”. As seen above, there are many cases where you must know the background of meaning. Conversely speaking, you can learn the idea or the culture of native speakers from metaphorical expressions.
 
Now, I’m going to talk about an interesting expression I found. English has the expression “sell like hot cakes” which means “to become a very big seller”. In the end of the 1700s, a great number of hot cakes was sold in a festival or some shops etc, and then this expression got to be used. When viewed from linguistics, this is called a simile, which is expressed with the word as or like. Another example is “cool as a cucumber”. This means “imperturbable or calm” so you can use it like this, “I’m as cool as a cucumber!” A long time ago, when a thermometer was invented, it was found that the temperature of a cucumber was 5 or 6 degrees lower than that of the air. That’s why.
 
There are many more metaphorical expressions. To study these is interesting and enlightening. How about finding some expressions by yourself, everyone?
 

A Work of Art that I Love

Nezar Al Nezari

In my personal opinion, art generally reflects the culture and creativity of a person or a community. An artistic person is someone who can reshape reality through different artifacts for example a painting, a picture, a sculpture or a statue he tries to express his feelings and emotions through his work and inspire people by it.

On the other hand an artificial community is a group of people who can design artifacts that reflect their modernization and culture in several ways, like designing and making beautiful gardens, constructing roads and bridges as a network or lines over each other, and the architecture of buildings and cities.

The form of art that I actually like and am interested in is architecture, I love the way that some designers have the ability to imagine a specific design or shape and then transform their image into reality. I am fascinated by different mansions and architectural buildings around the world, some of which I have heard about and others I have seen. But I will talk about and describe some architectural buildings in my own country instead just to give you an image about the modernization that has developed there, "Don't get me wrong, it's not an advertisement".

Architects have designed and built several skyscrapers that are really beautiful in shape and design. There is one called the Kingdom Tower Building, which I really admire looking at. It is about 370 meters high with around 35 storeys and the amazing thing is the shape of the building, which looks like a bottle of perfume.

Another building I like is owned by someone who once during an interview was asked, "How much money do you have?" And he replied "before the question or after". Obviously he doesn't know…. So, the building looks like a fish!! I know it sounds strange but actually when standing a couple of meters away from it and looking at it especially at night with the colors of the lighting you directly realize that it is a very big fish just standing on its tail. The designers were really true artists with a very wide imagination because the transformation of the thought into reality is something incredible.

Many other architectural designs around the world have distinct appearances which are beautiful and attract the attention of people and they may be truly considered to be "Works of Art".    

What's Art?

David Santos Martinez

Definitely, this is not an easy question. Trying to find a definition that matches with all the kinds of art, if possible, would be a very long process, and the final result would be anything but brief.

First of all I have to say that art is extremely personal in two aspects. On one hand we have the public’s point of view. We can see that what art is for one person can be considered a waste of time by another. This fact does not mean that one of them is tasteless. It is just that they are different individuals; because, if there is something that characterizes art, it is individuality. Hence the huge amount of styles and varieties. And it is here where we find the other side of art: the artist’s perspective.

Despite the fact that almost every piece of art on Earth can be forged, there is something that even the best falsifier will never be able to do: to imitate the artist’s intentions. Although the copy and the original will look the same when compared to each other, one of them will have something that can’t be detected in any way, and therefore they can be considered as equals, but it is exactly this lack what distinguishes art (a mere material object) from Art (an object full of intention): the purpose.

I’m totally sure that if we can find a point in common between all the works of Art in the world it will be, besides individuality, an intention. Sometimes it will be very simple and noticeable while others it will be incredibly complex and almost impossible to understand. And this is why Art is unique, because it turns the artist on a kind of god who decides what does something means and what it does not. The true artist adapts his reality to his point of view. For this reason, every single piece of Art has, as we were saying, a personal message. It can vary from a feeling such as happiness, sorrow, or tenderness to a whole criticism to the politic/social system of a certain epoch, but what must be clear is that Art is a way of expressing ideas.

Nevertheless, this is my opinion and thus it is completely subjective. But, the only thing that I expect is that the next time you find yourself staring bewilderingly to one of those strange modern pieces of art after having tried in a hundred of ways to understand what it means, instead of getting angry and thinking that it is nonsense, just consider that maybe the intention of the artist was to make you feel disconcerted.

Finally, after having visited a couple of museums and having contrasted experiences, you could describe Art with a huge range of adjectives: beautiful, ridiculous, creative, stupid, simple…

But mind your vocabulary: Art can be a lot of things, but it will never be meaningless. 

Maori Art

Celie Intering
The Maori’s art has various faces: paintings, tattoos, sculptures, dances and songs. This art is from a Polynesian one. Let’s have a look through some work of art.

Maori’s tattoos have been practiced for a thousand years. It was used for knowing the rank, the genealogy and the history, of the man (or woman), who had it. It was also a mark of beauty and ferocity. Ta Moko is the traditional facial tattooing and often it is really long to complete. Only the important persons could have a Moko. Women were usually only allowed to have a tattoo around their lips, chin and nostrils. Men can have it on the whole face. Tattoos on arms show the heritage from the mother and the father. Lastly, tattoos on thighs are called puhora.

The Tiki, or Hei-Tiki when it is suspended on the neck, is made from wood or stone (sometimes bones). It looks like a grotesque human form. The Tiki was the first man on Earth according to the Maori’s mythology. But it is also a kind of sculpture, which houses a spirit. The bigger ones are usually in sacred or significant sites. The Hei-Tiki is traditionally made of Greenstone (a very expensive, hard and durable nephrite jade).

The Kapahaka regroups songs, dances and the Haka. It expresses the heritage through these actions. Men do the Haka, when women support them behind. They show anger and ferocity, with aggressive facial expressions, body movements, grimaces and hard foot stamping. Haka has to be as menacing as possible. Maoris used it before wars. Another part of the Kapahaka is the action songs. This time women are in the front supported by Men behind. Women use a poi (little ball attached to a cord). They sing, dance and move the poi at the same time. It’s a synchronization of action, posture, sound and poi.

Maoris sculpt various kinds of objects. The Koru is the main symbol on sculptures. It is a stylized fern, which symbolizes new life, growth and peace. As well, the Air New Zealand’s logo is a Koru.

Hei-Matau is usually made in bones or greenstone. It is a carving pendant, which seems like a stylized fishhook. It represents strength, good luck and safe travel across the water.

In conclusion, the Maori’s art is a really beautiful and precise work. It is the picture of  New Zealand’s heritage. The 20th century has seen a resurgence of the Maori population and enthusiasm for their endangered arts. Maori people will continue their efforts to keep this wonderful and interesting cultural art alive.

"One of things you must keep is love"

Masayuki Sato

“All you need is love.” The Beatles sang this. Is love the most necessary thing in your life? I haven’t the foggiest idea because it has passed only 22 years since I was born and to say “All you need is love” is out of the question for me, who haven’t experienced many things in my life. But I can say a little about love that I have learned until now.
 
You can use “love” for any kinds of things. You can love human beings. This use is normal and most proper, I think. You love a friend, classmate, or colleague etc. in your life, then make a relationship and get married. The basis is to love humans. Also, you love your family such as parents, brother or sister etc. To love other persons is very significant as human beings. Not loving persons leads to some troubles. In addition, war still continues to break out in some countries result from the feeling of not loving people. The person who has a human-loving mind can’t kill other person easily and can’t raise war. A sexually voracious mind where people think about just themselves or their benefit and the other person is indifferent to them brings this kind of disaster. Love can save your relationship and also make a peaceful world.
 
Another point is that you can use love for things. Recently, it seems that many young people break something without hesitation. Occasionally, some students are in trouble with damaging the property in school. This is the evidence that they don’t have love for things. The mind without love grows wild; growing wild makes the impulse of destruction. If they try to change that mind, they will be able to keep the rules even though they become older.
 
Finally, you can use love for nature. Today, environmental destruction advances and many trees are cut down by human beings. If this continues from now on, the earth will head toward collapse. This looks as if human beings kill themselves. Human beings should respect nature and love nature more.
 
“All you need is love.” Is love the most necessary thing in your life? I still can’t answer this question clearly. However I can say this, “One of things you must keep is love.”

The best advice I have ever received

Masayuki Sato

Human beings always have a bother with something and struggle with hardships many times. Whenever you face some problems, you consult with friends or seniors. Some times you can get really helpful advice from them. In my case, actually I am unwilling to speak about my problems to another person so it is rare that I’m advised. However, I have been impressed and encouraged by receiving some advice.
 
When I was a freshman in university, I lived in a dormitory. Normally only freshman can live there but there were a few older students, sophomores, juniors and seniors, who helped us. One day, when I had many difficulties at the same time and was a little depressed, one of my seniors who was a good friend with me came to my room and talked with me. Basically I hated troublesome things and whenever I faced some difficulties that were troublesome to solve, I usually didn’t try to overcome them and abandoned them. But he advised me “you shouldn’t escape from your hardships! Rather be glad to face your hardships because it is a chance you can grow up!” It means that if you confront hardships and you can triumph, you can obtain many things such as confidence or experience so you should try to get over your difficulties actively. I was encouraged and reconsidered my style of thinking. From then on, I tried to face my difficulties and strive for my goals and development.
 
Advice is a necessity for all people. Good advice helps you, makes you realize something bad you have and you can get the chance to change your life into better. I need an advice from now on and also I want to be a person who can tell friends a good advice with accuracy.

“Experience does not consist of what one has lived but of what one has reflected about” J. Maria de Pereda (Spanish writer, 1833-1906)

David Santos Martinez

You “use” it unconsciously everyday, every hour, every minute of your life, but you don’t even think about it. In fact, most of us take it for granted; but don’t worry, there is nothing you can do to get rid of it, experience is always there.

Let’s have a look, for example, at the first thing you do in the mornings: you wake up.

You wake up, let’s say, at 7:30; neither at 7:25 nor at 7:35; no, at 7:30. This simple action, which you carry out automatically every morning during the week, is a result of something much more complex. You wake up at that time after having concluded (by being early some times and late others) that it is by then when you have exactly time enough to get punctually to your job, university, school…

Something identical happens when, after getting wet under the rain several days because of not having an umbrella, you decide to buy one. This is nothing but a consequence of your experience.

Once we have reached this point I think that we can appreciate how something comes to be part of the experience when there is a reaction to it. It doesn’t matter if the modification is huge or tiny; the thing is that it exists. And, obviously, there is no way of reacting to something without thinking about it. Let’s go again with examples, but now a more “serious” one.

Imagine that you travel to Rwanda and, while you are walking on the street, you see three children almost naked rummaging in a pile of litter trying to find something to eat. Two things can happen inside your mind now. The first one: You don´t pay any special attention to the “picture” and you just see three children, something usual for you because there are children everywhere. But the second one is completely different. You see three children without anything to eat and growing up in an environment full of difficulties that, despite the considerable and evident difference of age, you have never faced. The fact that you think all of this doesn´t change the situation at all, but it probably changes your mind or at least it makes you realize how lucky you are because of having been born in a place where you have always had what you needed. As a consequence of mulling over the circumstances, you will never forget that vision and it will be part of your experience forever.

Although that was an extreme example and fortunately we don´t have to make such analysis of the circumstances around us (if that were the case, we would certainly go crazy in a matter of days), what I want to say is that if we thought a little bit more about some facts that surround us in our daily lives, we would not only have a better understanding of what life is, but we would definitely be more experienced persons.

A journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step

Celie Intering

This sentence was written by Confucius who lived from 551-479 BC. He was one of the best philosophers of this period.
For me, it means that the first step is always the most important, because IT IS the first one. We have to go through a long way, full of difficulties. But if we want to succeed, we need to make a first single step. If the way seems too long, every single step will make it shorter. Hope is a big part of Confucius's words.
His quotation encourages us to start working without waiting. We can't wait until tomorrow. Time is precious. We have to learn how act before meeting with difficulties. It seems important to anticipate more than resolve problems. It's better to do things in order.
The most beautiful work of art has started with a simple movement. The forest began with a tiny seed. A church with a lonely stone. Everything is possible here and now!
Especially if we believe that anything is insuperable. Confucius tells us that we need to learn to let go, to forget the final result, and move on. Focus on every step you are doing. One after the other. Because, when we arrive at the end of our journey, we start a new one. There is no end. Confucius's wisdom can have an effect on dependences, like smoking, alcohol and coffee...
For example, if you want to stop smoking, you have to do a first step. And you should try not to go back to cigarettes. And everyday is a single step, that goes to the end of the journey. Which is, in this case, a life without cigarettes and smoke... Confucius had as well written a word after another word. And he had written a first word. 
So now, you know what to do. don't hesitate. Dare! Listen to Confucius's thinking. Make the first step. The rest will follow.

A letter to my parents

Nezar Al Nezari

Being a parent is a very big responsibility and commitment, raising and developing a cultured person that might have an effect on society, which is why it is so difficult to give parents what they deserve and reward them for their efforts.

The only way that I can return to them some of what they have done to me is through standing side by side with them when they are in need by supporting them and serving them in any possible way they might require, loving them, honouring them and trying to express my feelings of gratitude and loyalty by generosity and politeness in my words and behaviour.

My father once told me "my son being a parent is something you will never understand until you become one". I belief that it is a wisdom said and it is "truly right" indeed I didn't understand until I became a father, the memories I have about my childhood how my father forbid me to do or make, the needs that I wasn't able or allowed to have or certain activities to perform and things that I have done ignoring my parents which some of them I regret doing. They all came to my sense now it was for my own sake and benefit they acted in a way of protection and fatherhood.

Realizing that now, I hope my children won't be like me, neglecting advice and elderly people’s experience in life and acting by themselves. But nevertheless, days will come and I will try to convince my children to take the correct paths and plan in a right reasonable way. That is how days go on and time repeats itself.

Words are not enough to give my parents what they deserve but at least they may show some appreciation and respect for what they have spent and sacrificed in raising me up and giving me the opportunity to become the man I am now. Here are some beautiful words taken from a wonderful song, dedicated to my beloved parents.

For all those times you stood by me, For all the truth that you made me see, For all the joy you brought to my life, For all the wrong that you made right, For every dream you made come true, For all the love I found in you, I'll be forever thankful …

You are the one who held me up never let me fall, you are the one who saw me through, through it all …

You were my strength when I was weak. You were my voice when I couldn't speak, You were my eyes when I couldn't see, You saw the best there was I me, Lifted me up when I couldn't reach, You gave me faith ‘coz you believed …

I am everything I am because you loved me … 

You gave me wings and made me fly, You touched my hand I could touch the sky, I lost my faith you gave it back to me, You said no star was out of reach, You stood by me and I stood tall, I had your love I had it all, I am grateful for each day you gave me, May be I don't know that much, But I know this much is true, I was blessed because I was loved by you….

You were always there for me the tender wind that carried me, A light in the dark shining your love into my life, You've been my inspiration, Through the lies you were the truth, My world is a better place because of you …   

Would you like to be famous?

Ken Sumida

Would I like to be famous?
Yes, I would. But don't misunderstand my ideas. I'm indifferent to being a movie star or a sports star and in addition to that, I don't want to obtain fame or wealth which ordinary people envy. Plus, I don't need a prestigious stage to be seen. So, you're seemingly wondering what being famous means for me. Three people I'll introduce to you can be understandable examples for a role model I'd like to be in the future.
 
Nobuyuki Tsujii is a famous pianist in Japan, in particular, recently. He won the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition taking place in America every 4 years. Plus, this competition is one of the most prestigious competitions and once it has been held, partakers are required to concentrate on their play for 3 weeks. How demanding it is! He's absolutely different to other pianists. He is congenitally blind. How does he play the piano? From information on the Internet, he firstly listen to a melody and then learns a music score by heart. I have no idea how tough his life is. My life has depended excessively on my sight. However, he has never surrendered to his disability. Rather, his melody is soft and gentle, actually many listeners have been enchanted. Unlike gorgeous singers or musicians, he isn't popular among teenagers. Nor does media repeatedly focus on him. But at least for me, his life warmly impresses me so much.
 
Other people are Dick and Rick Hoyt, Dick's son. Unfortunately, when Rick was an unborn baby, his brain was severely damaged. Due to this unexpected, tragic accident, Rick has never been able to stand, walk or even talk. But he can consciously communicate with his father by his special computer. Rick embraced an ambition to participate in triathlon competitions. To achieve Rick's dream, Dick was determined to train himself and he practiced swimming. Until that time, his body had been perfectly spoiled and had never swum. After that, he could join many competitions. While they're doing triathlon, Dick swims pulling a boat on which Rick is, Dick rides a bike with a seat on which Rick sits down and Dick runs pushing a wheel chair. In our daily life, we see, listen and walk unconsciously. But I think, once we lose the abilities, we can realize doing the actions are special like a privilege. Surely, they've lived challenging lives, but are their unfortunate? Even some of their abilities have been impaired, they have never lost their self-esteem or perseverance. I can derive an infinite possibility of humans from their or their beliefs. They keep an unyielding spirit inside of them and undoubtedly they have a huge impact on us. I learn something from them and I'll pursue my dream and finally contribute to Japan.
 
Back to the initial question, would I like to be famous? Yes, I would.
  

Love is a choice every bit as much as it is a feeling?

Ricardo de Sá Rocha Mello 

Love is the most discussed subject by society. Everybody talks about love, philosophers, musicians, writers, and normal people. It does not matter wherever we are; love is always an interesting point to be discussed.

When we talk about love usually people think about love between men and women, love as in having a date or to get marriage and spend the rest of life together. But no, love is everything; I love my wife, my friends, my pets, my country and even my enemies.

My enemies! It sounds strange, doesn’t it? However, it is said that love and hate walk side by side. When someone hates another person, it spends as many time and energy as when someone is in love. Hate is an obsession like love is. So, the difference is only the choice about what is done with this “love”.

Love can be a choice. However, it does not work every time. Sometimes, someone says, I will love this person (does not matter if the other person is from the other gender) and it does not work, the friendship simply does not happen, without explanation. On the other hand, another time, one might say he/she is an idiot, a stupid person, and when they least expect friendship, they are best friends, or dating. In addition, when one says that he/she wants to be someone friend, it frequently works. If there is feeling between two people, they can “choose” to be friends.

So, is this choice a feeling or simply a choice? One thing is true, love does not exist without feeling. And, like Bob Marley said: “Is this love that I’m feeling?”.

Would you like to be famous?

 Ricardo de Sá Rocha Mello

In my opinion, everybody would like to be famous, each one in their own way. Some people want to be a celebrity; other people want to be famous in their career and others in their community. I would like to be famous in my career, but not a celebrity.

The way that I want to be famous is in my work. If I am recognized in my career, it means that I have done good work, with quality and seriousness. Maybe I was a quite famous in Brasília. I used to work in the Brasília Zoo, and sometimes I had to do speeches, especially during the time when I was working with reptiles, and when I was working with mammals, I gave interviews for TV and newspapers. Approximately three years ago, the local news broadcast of the most important Brazilian TV company made several interviews about zoo animals, in which the viewers had to choose the animal of the week, and many times they chose a mammal. Because of this, for almost three months I appeared on TV several times. However, fortunately, I was never stopped in the streets because of this.

However, I would not like to be a celebrity. Because a celebrity usually has to follow many social rules that I do not want to, the celebrities are always pursued and having their lives scrutinized by paparazzi and fans. In addition, I think this process transforms anyone’s life, and many times celebrities have to sacrifice features of their lives, so that they and their family’s intimacy won’t be exposed to the media.

So, I just want to be recognized in my career, it doesn’t mean that I need to be a celebrity.

Do you believe in 'love at first sight?'

Maheata Bronstein

You know, everybody's different. We don't have the same beliefs. I'm in love but I have never had this 'experience' of love at first sight. Some people really trust in it but others do not. They maybe believe in it because they have already been in love at first sight, so they can tell about it or just hope for other love at first sight. But they can also trust in it just because they believe it.
Personally, I don't care about it. If one day I fall in love at first sight, I think I will accept it. But normally, I need to learn about the person or make his acquaintance. I know that we can't control love so I let it come. I have time to fall in love until I find my true love. It's my opinion.        

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Nezar Al Nezari

Loving someone at first sight is a question that makes you wonder, could it be true! Well actually, I believe it's hard to be true, because love doesn't just explode at the first look or appearance. Love has deep emotions and feelings that gradually develop in people hearts.

At first sight there is an attraction between two souls but it doesn't mean love. They begin to like, watch and notice each other in every move and smile, witnessing together romantic moments with feelings of happiness and excitement, counting the seconds when they are away from each other and forgetting time when they are together.

As an example I see this beautiful girl and I am so stunned by her beauty and so attracted to her, but still my feelings toward her aren't clear until I get to know her and spend some time with her, and get familiar with her personality and attitude. Then, our emotions are beginning to combine and we have a lot in common. At that time I realize that in this person I might find true love.

Falling in love with someone and finding a true soul mate takes a long time usually, because you cannot judge people on sight. You have to enter their lives and get to know them better, sense their soul and heart and what they are truly made of. That is why people can be heart broken, when they rush, and fall in love spontaneously without considering the circumstances that might result out of a relationship.

Rushing into love has never been a good option but taking it seriously and rationally may lead to a wonderful and romantic relationship that may last forever.