The truth is far away

A South Korean abductee Kim Young-nam denied he had been abducted but said he had been saved by North Korean ship.
He also said his ex-wife Megumi Yokota, who was abducted from Japan, committed suicide because she had mental illness.

North Korea must have let him say these things.
As long as he is in North Korea, he can't be free.

Although he met his mother and sister, he still can't escape from North.
If he can go back to South, he will change.

Megumi's parents believes she is alive.
Please don't disappoint them.

Time finds me

Midori Goto is one of the most talented violinists in the world.

She holds more than 100 concerts a year.
Plus she teaches violin, studies for herself, and does some activities for the society.

She say if it's important, she can easily find time to do it.
Actually, she doesn't have to find time.
Time finds her.

It's amazing.
Why can't ordinary people find time?

Busiest women find the most time?

Ronald did it

Ronaldo scored the 15th World Cup goal.
Now he's the best scorer in World Cup history.

At the beginning of this World Cup, he didn't seem to be doing fine.
But he suddenly woke up in the match against Japan.

It was unlucky for Japan.
Anyway, Congratulations!

Brazil meets France in quarter final.
This is Zidane's last World Cup.
The last-minute goal in the match against Spain was so great.

France may beat Brazil.

Good bye, Zico

Thank you for leading Japan national team for four years.
We still have a long way to go.
Our soccer is still a game of children.

You say we are not physically strong enough.
It's obvious.
Brazilians or other latinos are not as big as Europeans but they are good soccer players.

We also have to build up mental strength.

Australia lost the game by Totti's penalty kick.
It's a pity.
I guess Hiddink was thinking the game would be extended.
He still had two players to substitute but before he could do it, the game was over.

It was the most unexpected ending.

Good bye, Socceroos...

Portugal win at a price

It was another tough game in World Cup Germany.
Four red cards were the worst record ever.
And sixteen yellow cards were the tie record.

Portugal beat Netherlands, but they also lost a lot.
They are going to miss Deco and Costinha in the next match against England.
And Cristiano Ronaldo got injured.

The coach Sclrari doesn't seem pessimistic.
Are they really all right?

for international communication

I took the TOEIC test.
The test has renewed.

Listening section includs not only American English, but also British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealandese English.

Some of the questions are hard to catch.
I couldn't tell which was Australian, Canadian or New Zealandish.

Reading section doesn't give enough time to read.
Speed reading is necessary.

I don't have a chance to speak English, so I practice writing.

the new coach

Ivica Osim is going to be Japan's new coach.
Zico couldn't make Japan strong enough to fight with the world.
I hope Osim will do it.

Zico says Japan lacks professionalism.

They need more concentration, avoid silly mistakes and get enough strength to stay calm when facing the very important moment.
Positive mental attitude is what we really want.

to want more would be greed

Tamada made a really beautiful goal.
It was only a moment of happiness for Japan.
Thank goodness, we had it.

It was the first score to lose for Brazil in World Cup Germany.
That is enough.

Reality is cruel.

Brazil took four goals.
Ronaldo made two of them.
He woke up suddenly.
He equals scoring record of World Cup.

At the same time Australia and Croatia was having a very tough and rough game.
There were three red cards.
They scored alternately and the game ended with a draw.
That means Australia goes to the next round.

Now that Japan is out, I will go for Australia.

It's not the end of Japan.
The next destination-South Africa is waiting.

last but not least

Maybe this is going to be Japan's last match in World Cup Germany.
Japan meets Brazil finally.

This is going to be tough.
It's almost an impossible dream for Japan to go to the next round.

But there's a little hope.
If they score two points more than Brazil and if Croatia beats Australia, Japan gets the ticket to the next match.
I have to get up before 4 o'clock tomorrow morning.

There's nothing to lose.
Just go for it.

why is it so difficult for England to beat Sweden?

It's so funny.
England hasn't beaten Sweden for 38 years and they still can't.

The first score was England and then Sweden caught up with it.
England made the goal again but Sweden scored at the very end of the match.

England didn't lose.
But they couldn't win.

it's not over yet

There's still hope.
Japan must beat Brazil and they need more than two goals.
And their hope also depends on the reslut of the match between Croatia and Australia.

It's not easy to beat Brazil but it's worth a try.

Japan vs Croatia

The match ended up with a scoreless draw.
Croatia made many corner kicks and shots.

Kawaguchi stopped many shots.

Both of them never gave up till the end.

They looked so exhausted.

Just watching the game made me tired.

Japan must beat Brazil to go to the next stage.
There's no other choice.

the most exciting game so far

I saw this headline on FIFA World Cup website.
The USA got two red cards and Italy got one.
The match must have been really exciting.
It ended up in draw.
I wanted see it in real time.

Ghana beat Czech Republic.
They are the first African team to win in this World Cup.

Nobody knows which country in group E will go to the second round.

Father, forgive me

This coming Sunday is Father's Day.
I haven't even thought about it for many years.

One of my co-workers told me she gives her father a gift on Father's Day every year.
That's nice.
I hesitate to do such a thing.

When I was small, I liked my father, didn't I ?
As time went by, we had some confrontations.
We don't have friendly conversations at all.

Is there hatred?
There should not be.
It's all right we don't understand each other, because we are different.

I want him to live a peaceful life for the rest of his life.
I wish I could say so.

so far so good...no surprise

Germany and England go to the second round.
There's no surprise in this World Cup.

I remember African teams made a sensation in 2002.
I want to see some miracles again.

Will Japan make a miracle?
Will they beat Croatia and Brazil?
Nakata says they will win 6 points to beat.
He is very positive and confident.

I think I can count on him.

fighting thirties

"Old story, Neuville ending"
It's an interesting headline on FIFA's website.

Germany's Neuville is 33 years old and made the last-minute goal at the match with Poland.
And a 33-year-old player in Saudi Arabia also made a goal.

They are approaching to the retiring age but they still have power to fight.

I hear the average age of players in Trinidad and Tobago is the highest.
There are many players in their thirties.
I want to cheer them up.

Brazil defeated Croatia

They got only one goal.
Croatia was very aggressive.

Japan must beat Croatia before they meet Brazil.
A miracle may happen.
I hope so.

Korea upset the game.
It was wonderful.

France couldn't get a score from Swiss.
Are they all right?

the first victory of Socceroos

Australia beat Japan.

Aussies must have been waiting for this moment for 32 years.
It's their second World Cup and they got first goal and first victory.
Congratulations!

They got three goals.
They were really aggressive.
If Kawaguchi had been in a bad condition, Japan would have lost more scores.

It was a very unhappy ending for Japan.

Hiddink's direction was really good.
The two substitutes made the three goals, while Zico was too late to make up his mind.

Is there any possibility Japan beats Croatia and Brazil?

ready for the victory

Japan fights against Australia today.
What's going to happen?

Australian players are very tall.
But Japan has talented midfielders.

Just go for it!

own goal

England scored by Paraguay's own goal.
Beckham's first free-kick caused it.
But it was the only goal at the game.

Beckham was moving very active.
I wonder why he wears long sleeves.

Klose's happy birthday

Klose made two goals on his 28th birthday.
Germany beat Costa Rica.

But Germany lost two scores by Wanchope.
Their defense was not good enough.
They have to be more careful.

I wanted to see the hat-trick at the game.
Klose was really close to it.

I watched TV until 3 am.
It's going to be a tough month.

the countdown ends

FIFA World Cup in Germany starts tonight.
Germany fights against Costa Rica in Munich.

I wanted to see Oliver Kahn play goalkeeper.
He will not play this time.
It's a pity.

Michael Ballack will not play at the opening game.
Are they all right?

rainy season starts

And
FIFA World Cup starts tomorrow.
I have to stay up late to watch the games.
I have to be tough.

In 2002 Senegal beat France at the first game.
It was a big surprise.

What kind of surprise are we facing this year?

the wish list

I heard about the book "the wish list".
The author Barbara Ann Kipfer has 14,000 things to be happy about.

She's trying to check the list one by one.
It's really interesting.

I will make my own list.
There will be large wishes, small wishes, practical wishes, fantasy wishes, and so on.

It's fun to dream a lot of things.

Finland Method

Finland is very advanced in education.
The children in the country are the most intelligent in the world.

The other day I watched a TV program on Finland.
They don't seem to study too hard.

Parents work until 4 p.m.
That's really nice.
They can have enough time to stay with their family.

The cost of education in Finland is zero.
Even foreigners can study free.
But if you want to stay in the country, you have to master the language.

Montenegro declares independence

The old Yugoslavia is completely split up now.

But they will play as Serbia and Montenegro in FIFA World Cup.
I hope they will get along well.

Japan could get only one goal at yesterday's friendly match with Malta.
Are they all right?
Malta is in very low rank in soccer.
Japan need more mental strength.

bend and stretch, reach for the stars

I got stiff shoulders.
Maybe I have too much stress.

I went to have my hair cut today.
I feel refreshed.

Arakawa Shizuka as an actress

After Arakawa got the gold medal in skating in Torino, she became a professional skater.
Now she also trying to be an actress.

I saw Shizuka played a procecutor in a TV drama.
She looked cool but still amatuer as an actress.

She's still young.
If she practice hard, she may be a good actress.
She's already very famous.
It's an advantage.

Japan can't stop decreasing birthrate

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced that the national birthrate was 1.25 in 2005.
It was the record low.

I don't think the situation will get better.
We should accept immigrants to get the workforce.

It should be fun to raise children.
It's our instinct to have them.
But reality is different.

We shouldn't depend on government.
I want to think about it more.

DELL came to my apartment

This is the first Windows laptop computer I bought for me.
I like to use Mac but sometimes it's inconvenient because majority of people use Windows.

If the seal is broken or the tape damaged, check contents before singing receipt.
Why "singing" ?
It sounds funny to a non-native speaker of English.

I remember " I'm singing in the rain...".

It's no big deal.
The important thing is I can't connect to the internet with this DELL.
Windows looks a "machine" to me.
It looks cold.

I will try again.

Japan vs. Germany

I didn't expect Japan would draw with Germany at the friendly match.
It was amazing.
Germans must be very upset.
Japan is getting stronger.

The 2006 FIFA World Cup is coming soon.