Monday, March 26, 2012

Trip to Quebec City

Hi, everyone.
Today I would like to tell you about the trip to Quebec City!
As I talked about the trip in Canada last time, Quebec City was one of the city we visited, and the best of all three city we visited this time.
Quebec City was small, but roads were complicated. The weather was much more colder than Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg.
We stayed 3days there. It took 2 hours from Montreal to Quebec City by bus. After we got to our hotel( more likely apartment it was!), we went around the city using map. The city was beautiful because of the buildings and lights. When we arrived in front of Formant Le Chateau Frontenac, which is an old and beautiful hotel, we found a big slide! That tickled our curiosity:D We quickly get a sleigh, we did it!!!! I have never tried such a long ice slide. We run through a cold wind with exciting screams. It was so much fun.



We saw beautiful St. Lawrence River, took a lot of pictures. Next day, we went to a group tour. While we went around the city, the tour guide told us history, recommending place and restaurant. We also went to the Citadel, which is a fortress. We met wonderful man and wife there, they were very kind and humorous. We were surprised that the couple were from 2hours far by car from Winnipeg, and were graduated from U of M:)
The last day, we went shopping and ate maple candies that ware sold on the snow. I thought I experienced the Canadian culture! because I cannot taste them in Japan.
The very last day, we went skiing! This is what we really wanted to do in Canada. We have many ski resort in Japan, however, I really wanted to slide on the Canadian snow! The day was beautiful! but it was so cold. We bought googles, and neck warmer. I felt froze but really enjoyed.
If you have opportunity to trip in Canada, I recommend you Quebec City!:)

Recycling

Hi everyone!
Have you ever heard 3R? In my country,Japan, this is one of the big topic to save our environment these days. 3R means Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.  As we live on the earth, we have to think about our lifestyles. Today, I would like to talk about recycling.

What does garbage cause?
Landfills, the ozone layer, global warming are main problems that are caused by garbage in Japan. First, a landfill that is the place we put garbage is limited. Everyday, we produce garbage, then we put them under the ground. Especially Japan has only few places we can do that, so we carefully consider about landfills. However, the ground is limited on the earth. This is a problem around the world.  Then, depletion of the ozone layer is one of the serious problem. The ozone layer is what helps our skin from ultraviolet rays. Once the layer is destroyed, that causes skin cancer, cataracts, blindness, less immunity, and easy to have viral disease. When we dispose of some electric machine ,such as refrigerators, air-conditioning, cars, and so on, the ozone layer is destroyed. Third, carbon dioxide, which is made when we incinerate garbage, causes global warming. The effects of global warming are not only rising temperature,but also ecological destruction, abnormal weather, rises in ocean level and so on. As you see, garbage is a big problem.

What can we do?
To save our environment, what do you think we can do?
Recycling is one of the best way to reduce environmental pollution. We can make clothing from plastic bottles, building materials from cans and polystyrene, bottles from used bottles, paper from old paper and so on. We can produce many things using our garbage. The problems of recycling I think is the cost when we produce new things from garbage. However, this is much better than just producing garbage because of the problem that I talked first.

Finally, to think about the problems that are caused by garbage and effects of recycling, we should recycle. There are some boxes that we can recycle on campus, let's use the boxes from today!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

First trip in Canada

I would like to tell you about the memorable weeks to trip in Canada in a winter vacation! It was the first time to trip around Canada. Also, it was the first time to travel only with my friend. I made a lot of memories.

From December 25th to January 1st, Yuko, who is my friend ( used to be in IEP), and I traveled to Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City. Our plan was, firstly we took a flight to Toronto, secondly took a bus to Montreal, thirdly took a bus to Quebec City, then took a VIA train to Toronto, finally flew to Winnipeg. We knew this was hard schedule though, the most important thing for us was "enjoy with low cost!"

The first activity was shopping to Eaton Centre in Toronto. On December 26th, it was Boxing Day. Almost all shops discounted the price. Many people were on line, the shops were crowded and we gave up to buy at that day.
Next day, we went to Niagara Falls, which is located 2hours far from downtown by bus. Unfortunately, it was a little rain, however the falls were amazing. After we were enjoyed to see it, we tasted ice wine. This is famous around Niagara Falls. It is much sweeter than normal wine. I did not like wine before, but I love the wine!
In Montreal, we went singhtseeing around the old city. They were beautiful. We also celebrate the New Years Day there. However we could not understand French, we really enjoyed. I felt I came to an European country because of the building, atmosphere were so much different from Winnipeg or Toronto. I also enjoyed shopping. I bought boots, a bag, accessories, clothing and sky jacket to have got ready to Quebec City.
The last place was Quebec City. It was the best place of all place that we went in this vacation. We enjoyed sightseeing, shopping, and skiing there. People were kind, activities were really nice, and the city was beautiful. We rally enjoyed this city, so I would like to write about the city next time!



A time when I lost something

Hi, everyone!
Today, I am going to talk about a time when I lost something. Usually, I lose something around me. For example, I lost more than five rip sticks after I came to Canada, I lost my favorite hat in the bus I came to Canada, a cardigan at Whisky Dixs and so on... I do not remember all. Too many things I lost I guess.. I choose one that I was really worried to have lost in Canada.

It was in December. I had not used my cell phone so often, but I used it this day. I went shopping to St.Vital, came back by bus, and walked from Dysart Road. After I came back to my residence, I realized that I did not have my cell phone. I put it in a pocket of my bag. Usually, I find important equipment soon, such as a wallet, a pass port, cards and so on, however I could not find my cell phone at that day. I felt I could find it easily. It was already dark outside, it was cold, and the road was covered by snow. I went back the road, which I came back from the bus stop to my residence. I looked for it very carefully. Unfortunately, I could not find, but I could not give up. I was thinking if I lost in the bus, on the road or in my room. I looked for in my room, my bag, but I could not find. I thought if it was on the road, cars might went on my cell phone, so I hurried to have look for it to outside again. I was half giving up to find. It was just before I arrived at my residence. I found the purple shiny my cell phone at the parking area in front of my residence. I was so relieved and happy that no cars went on my phone.

When I was a child, my mother told me that I should decide the place that I put something, so I would not lose. YES, I should do it. I remembered the word after I came back to my residence. I hope I will never lose anything in the future.