New Year's Day Last Year's end, I met a great guy. He is from North Carolina, so he is a native speaker of English. Lately, I was very busy and had a lot of troubles and that made me inactive to everything. I shared a lot of time, but I couldn't try to talk with him in English a lot. But he was always cheerful and friendly to me. He at time let me listen to songs he made (he is in a band). At night, we sometimes drunk beer together and he taught me some games. He made me happy and his songs made me feel relieved. It was great meeting and sharing time with him! Now, he is back to his country already. I regret that I didn't talk a lot and share more time with him. If I can meet up with him again, then I want to something with him. But even when I am not with him, I always wish his happiness. I'll never forget the days with him.

aya's notebook entry: Aug 22, 2010 昨日、両親と一緒に花火大会に行ってきました。 日本では、花火は夏の風物詩の一つです。 夏の風物詩には花火の他にもスイカや海、風鈴などたくさんあります。しかし、私はその中でも花火が一番好きです。 夏もあと残り１０日。 私にとってこの花火大会が今年最後の花火大会となるでしょう。 Yesterday, I went to the fireworks festival with my parents. Fireworks are one of the summer traditional events in Japan. The seasonal traditions are called 風物詩 (Hubutsushi) in Japanese. There are a lot of summer’s Hubutsushi, such as watermelon, sea and hurin (wind-bell?). Of them, I like fireworks the most. The summer season ends in ten days. This fireworks festival is the final festival this year for me.

16th August (8月16日) 昨日は、五山の送り火の日でした。 私の通っている大学からは、五山の一つである大文字が非常によく見えます。 今年、祖母が亡くなった私にとって、今年の送り火は非常に感慨深いものでした。 このお盆という時期は死者が帰ってくるという時期でもあり、 また、広島、長崎に原爆が投下され、日本が降伏した時期でもあることから、 例年、日本では戦争に関する報道が多くなされます。 私自身、この時期になると、戦争や人生、祖先について不思議と振り返らされるものです。 亡くなった私の祖母は、ちょうど終戦のころ、今の私と同じ歳で、 祖母の青春は戦争と、その後の混乱により奪われてしまったのだと思います。 しかしその中でも、懸命に生き、働き、そして家族を築いてくれた祖母に非常に感謝しています。 また、今の自分の幸せが、もちろん自分の両親もですが、（日本に限らず）戦争で亡くなられた多くの方々や、その後の日本を築いてくださった方々など 自分の想像を越えた、多くの方々の犠牲や努力の上に成り立っているのだと、 思い知らされます。 だからこそ、私たちは生きている限り、自分にとっても、周りにとっても、 よりよい人生を送る努力をする義務があるのではないか、と思います。 この日記を読んで、外国の方がどのように感じるのかは、私にはわかりません。 しかし、原爆が投下された国の一国民として、 世界中に戦争のない、平和なときが訪れる日を願ってなりません。 Yesterday, 'Gozan no Okuribi' bonfires were lit in kyoto, Japan. I saw the Daimonjiyaki, one of the bonfires, from my university. This year's Okuribi is deeply impressive for me, because my grandmother died this year. Obon is a season when the dead come back to this world, and it is also the season when nuclear bombs were droped to Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Japan surrendered 65years ago. So, in this season many TV programs about the war are aired in Japan every year. (In Japan, 'war' often means World War II.) As for me, I naturally think about the war, lives and ancestor. When the war came to an end, My grandmother was 25years old, which is close to my own age. Her joyful youth would be deprived by the war and subsequent commotion. But she lived, worked and built a home with all her energy. I'm very appreciate her. My today's happy days are founded on many people's lives, such as who were dead in the war, rebuilt this country, as well as my ancestor. So, I think that I should keep trying to make my life better for me and for my surroundings. I have no idea about the feelings of people who read this notebook, but I hope that peaceful time comes all over the world.

my first 'notebook' hi, nice to meet you. I'm a postgraduate student in Kyoto, Japan. I'm studying earth science, especially petrology. I want to meet new people all over the world. I want to feel more free to talk to non-japanese people. That is the first reason why I am learning English. I am also learning English for my career. I will start my job as a research worker in a company next year. I believe that good English skill stretch the possibility on work.