Why Should You Learn a New Language?

The world is growing at a very fast rate. Businesses in America are joining with companies in Japan to create a higher rate of production and a larger rate of sale. This advancement in joining huge business forces together in different countries has many huge advantages. However, many workers aren't able to participate in these international business meetings or even directly talk to their partners from a foreign country. Why? Because they aren't able to speak the language of the country they are in.

Languages have become the most important things to know when it comes to anything dealing with international affairs whether it be international business, dealing with exchange students, or just vacationing in another country. Let's say you're working for a company that has regular meetings in France and you really want to go to these meetings. The only problem is you don't know the first thing about speaking French. Your company's president will probably take this into consideration and when he's picking who he wants to go with him, he'll probably not even take you into consideration and hire the other guy that's fluent in French. 

Along with languages being imperative to learn for international affairs, they also serve another purpose. Learning a new language furthers your knowledge for not only that language, obviously, but also the country's culture and history. When you learn a new language, your mind opens up to new things that you didn't know before. You have new experiences, you meet new people, you try new things, all that you wouldn't have been able to do if you didn't know another language. I have been learning Japanese for around six years and have done things I wouldn't have imagined doing. I've actually been to Japan, and was able to talk to native Japanese people in Japanese, I've participated in Japanese customs like the ancient art of tea ceremony, calligraphy, and theater. I've also been to many Japanese castles, ancient temples, and places like that that some Japanese kids haven't been able to go to. I've even participated in a national Japanese competition in Washington, D.C.

In learning Japanese at school, I also have realized that I want to be a Japanese teacher and a translator for the government when I graduate college because of how fascinated I am with Japan's language and culture. If I never began learning Japanese, I never would have been exposed to all of these wonders that come with learning a new language. 

Learning a new language may be hard at first, but I promise you that the benefits in the end will be better than you can ever imagine.

Gun Control

One of the most controversial topics in today's society is gun control. All over the country, more and more recently, people have been arguing about whether or not guns should be sold freely, with some restrictions, or just altogether banned from personal use. So should the process of buying a gun include much more thurough background checks and restrictions?

Guns can be used for many purposes: They are used by hunters to kill animals. They can be used by regular people as self-defense weapon, or as a way to commit crimes. The are also extremely important for professional uses like the police or the military. Recently, however, it seems as though a lot of people have been using guns for the wrong reasons. Today, if you wanted to, you can walk into a gun store, and purchase a gun. That should be allowed because many people, like hunters or people that want a sense of security, need guns. The problem, though, is that the restrictions on who can buy a gun are not being paid attention to as well as they should. Many stores that sell guns do background checks, but many stores also don't. Because of this, people that are in gangs or people that want guns for illegal reasons can buy any gun they want. The other thing that bothers me and many other people is that nearly all gun stores sell automatic weapons. An automatic weapon is a weapon with a large clip where all you have to do is hold the trigger down and the bullets shoot out really quickly. This, unfortunately is a way that criminals can hold up stores or kill a lot of people very quickly. There is definitely no reason whatsoever why fully automatic weapons should be sold.

Guns can be useful when it comes to sport, and can be a necessity for personal safety, but nobody should be able to sell any kind of gun to any kind of person that doesn't have a proper background check.

A Guide to Japan: Hokkaido and Honshu

In my opinion, Japan is one of the most interesting places in the world to explore. Japan has a wide array of land. There are small parts of Japan with beautiful scenery and open land, like Utsukushima (literally meaning beautiful island), and there are parts of Japan with busy cities and millions of people, like Tokyo, Japan's capital, which is commonly known as one of the three command capitals of the world, along with New York City and London. One of the amazing things about Japan is that no matter where you go, you will always see something new and unusual.

Japan is made up of four major islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyuushu, all of them completely different than each other, but in total, consists of 6,852 islands. Hokkaido, which was first colonized by the still-existing Ainu Natives in 638 A.D., is the northernmost island. It is also known as the fishing capital of the world. Some of the best seafood comes from Hokkaido's coast and is distributed all over the world. Hokkaido's constantly snowy weather and impeccable scenery makes it one of Japan's most scenic and beautiful places to travel to. If you do go to Hokkaido, I strongly suggest that you visit Hokkaido's most biggest and well-known hot spring resort called Noboribetsu Onsen, along with Daisetsudan, Hokkaido's largest natural park.

Honshu, being the largest island of Japan, is the best way to experience what every part of Japan is like. Not only does Honshu have scenery that's equally as beautiful as Hokkaido, but it also is home to nearly all of Japan's major cities, along with countless temples, shrines, monuments, and historic areas. As I said before, Honshu is home to Japan's capital, Tokyo. While Tokyo is definitely known throughout the world as industrial, busy, and densely populated, it is also home to historical and cultural places such as Koishikawa Korakuen, Japan's largest rock garden. When you go to Honshu, be sure to visit its well-known sights like Tokyo Tower or the Tokyo Sky Tree, which recently finished construction last May. After sightseeing the city part of Honshu, you need to see what the countryside of Honshu has to offer. Possibly Japan's most famous landmark, Mt. Fuji is located about sixty miles southwest of Tokyo. This active volcano, which last erupted in 1707, has been seen as the cultural symbol of Japan all around the world. It is also written about in literature more than any other object in the entire world. It is by far the most iconic land-form in Japan and possibly the entire world. 

So next time you travel to Japan, you might want to do a little bit of research and see everything Japan has to offer. You might be surprised at how different it is from anywhere else in the world.

Don't Take Your Feet for Granted

When you really think about it, feet are weird. They're like hands but less functional and a lot smellier. Sometimes (but barely ever), I stop and wonder why fish don't have feet. Is it because they think that they're too good for feet? Probably not; fish aren't like that. But it would be a lot more convenient if they did have feet. They swim around all day, so their fins and tails must get tired. They probably swim in place (the equivalent of sitting for fish) all day on the street curb watching those lobsters and crabs walk by, thinking of how fast they would be if they had those cool feet. They probably feel like two cents swimming in place next to those crabs, strutting their eight legs all about like it's nobody's business. It would be cool if we had eight legs too, but I think that in today's society, you would either be killed for having eight legs or get tranquilized by the government and wake up in a jar of formaldehyde, waiting to be studied for science.

It's also funny to think that we basically dress up our feet like they're little people: People paint their toenails, which are like your toes' faces. In a way, that's like putting makeup on your face except completely covering it with chartreuse dye-which is usually frowned upon in these days-but still acceptable if you want to do it. Then, you put on your socks, which are just feet underwear, and cover up your feet underwear with shoes, which are your shirt and pants. Then, to make it look pretty, you tie a nice little bow on the top of your pants, which is like a belt in a way; it keeps your shoes (pants) on your feet (legs). Not to mention how many shoes you can wear: Sneakers (sweats), sandals (a tank-top), high-heels (a fancy dress) or black dress shoes (a fancy suit), plus many, many more. And then you have your shoelaces (the belts), which can be worn in different shapes, colors, and styles.

Even though feet are weird when you think about them the way I do, we all have to agree that they are the most important part of your body, well, besides the head and brain and things like that that usually prefer to stay on the inside. If your legs die or fall off or something like that, you can't walk unless you get prosthetic ones which we all know cost an arm and a leg (kinda literally).

So next time you go outside, take special care of your legs. Maybe you can wrap them up in bubble wrap, like I always do. Or better yet, don't go outside. Ever. It's just too dangerous for feet these days, what with all the faulty sidewalks and darned street-sweepers. So just don't leave your house at all. It's for the best.