Sledding, Skiing, and Snowboarding

            Father Winter has not come yet where I live. We wait and wait but here it is almost the middle of December and only two snow flurries have happened. It didn’t even stay on the ground till morning! I’ll admit I hate the icy winds and the snow that gets inside your hood as much as the next person but this is just unnatural. Without the snow, we’re missing out on all the fun of winter!

I’m not just talking about the holiday season fever of chestnut on a fire and hot coco. No, I’m talking about the best of winter without all that crazy shopping and eating. Winter is great for skiing as an example. Every winter hundreds upon thousands of people go up to the ski resort with some friends to have fun. They go back to the lodge or cafeteria cabin to drink something hot and rest after some fun on the slopes. Thump, thump, thump, their ski or snowboarding boots thud across the floor as a group of friends surge in to the warm lodge. Clumps of snow fall creating slush. Cherry red noses and smiling faces crowd around the fire or the food bar in the lodge. A person can tell who just walked in or has been there a while by how many layers of clothing they have on and how red their cheeks are. When the fun is over they walk back to their cars or wait for a shuttle. Jokes are passed around one last time and even though everyone is exhausted their eyes sparkle with happiness.

Another joy of winter is sledding. There’s no hard chair lift to get you to the top but it’s no less fun due to the extra work. It’s also less expensive if your wallet’s drained of money from Christmas shopping. Heck, even an old cardboard box and the perfect sledding slope with the right kind of snow and poof; a thrilling afternoon with your friends or kids. Even better than cardboard boxes, are inner tubes. They’ll shoot you down any hill faster than a bullet. If you’ve got the double inner tubes you can take a friend on a ride hollering all the way. Children screech with delight and parents laugh at their antics.

These are the joys of winter without the shopping craze, the tense family get togethers, and the disappointing present reveal. This is winter fun at its best.

(406 words)

Phonophobia and Technophobia

        Phonophobia is the fear of phones and technophobia is the fear of technology. I’m not really afraid of technology but it’s power is certainly alarming. Remember the days of the CD? I don’t. They’ve been annihilated by ipods and iphones. The time of letters and get togethers is almost gone with the creation of texting and Skype. Some don’t even talk to real people! Yeah, I’m talking about Siri, that female voice on some cell phones.
What’s really alarming are the answers when a teacher will ask what are the three things you personally could not live without. A few kid will say their cell phone in a joking way but I really believe they wouldn’t be able to. Humans are social creatures, so I’m pretty sure that if left alone on a n island without their social network devices, some would truly be unable to function.
Not only are some unable to function without technology but interact with other people. When some people meet for the first time, they might talk about the weather and other random things full of awkward pauses and silences. However, on facebook they’ll talk all day long about their pages and share crazy Christmas stories. People are also bolder when meeting for the first time online than in person. They might ask more personal questions thinking that they’ll never meet the other face to face so it doesn’t matter what they say.
Some even risk lives to be connected to technology. GPSs, radio control on steering wheels, phone answering, and all those other crazy gadgets in cars can be seriously distracting to a driver. Especially a driver in hazardous weather conditions. Even regular weather a driver can cause harm. I driving an a perfectly fine day, the light turned green, and I started to go forward, The other driver wasn’t moving due to a certain cell phone and I almost hit them. Of course I was in the wrong for going before they did but I had been on my phone and gone without looking up I would have caused a completely unnecessary accident. Another time I saw a lady obviously texting who completely missed the light. She just sat there as the light turned green, then yellow, and finally red. Cars are supposed to get a person from point A to point B as quickly as possible but while texting or talking on the cell phone it seems to almost defeat the purpose of a car.
Yes, I’m afraid of technology and how it’s changed our lives and culture.

(426 words)

Reading

          Most people my age either don’t like to read, prefer not to, or would rather be threatened with death than read some fiction for a grade. However, I find reading a necessity for my mental health. Everyone knows life can be unfair, cruel, and hard. Within books though, I can forget about reality. It’s as so many people say, books are ‘worlds within worlds’. Maybe I had a boring day at school. Just find some horror and suspense in a Stephan King mystery. Perhaps I’m upset about a bad test grade. I can laugh at the adventures of two farm boys in Harris and Me. If I didn’t read I’d be one sad kid. Over time all I’d hear about are car crash tragedies, missing child reports, and suicides.  It would make anyone depressed. So, I  grab a book, curl up by the fire with some hot chocolate, and forget about the troubles of the day or the world just for a few moments.
I also read books for education not just enjoyment. I know, some of you are in shock but you can learn a lot from a book or two. Last year, I read a book about a man who crash on the country of Japan. The book described the government of an older nation and the diplomatic troubles the man had to go through in this strange new place. It was a good book for me since I take a Japanese language class and it helped me learn about how their government used to be. My sister also reads a great many books and is quite intelligent. She learns certain bits and facts from books and then tells me about them. Sometimes these fact come in handy when doing a class project on something or a homework assignment.
Reading has also helped me meet new people. I saw that a girl in my class was reading one of my favorite books. Why debated about the good and bad points of it and are now good friends. Crippes, reading could even help you find a special someone. For example, reading brought my cousin and his wife together. They meet, happened to have the same favorite book, got to know each other, dated, and are now living happily with their son.
So for those who think reading is a pointless activity, I would strongly disagree. Reading could,  I dare say, change your life.

(404 words)

Beautiful Bento Boxes

I read an article recently about how there has been an increase in people who take the time to make Bento boxes look beautiful based on the food’s color and shape.  For those who don’t know, a Bento box is a Japanese lunch box.  It has gotten so popular that a contest was  created recently for people who like to make kyaraben bentos (a bento with a fictional character theme). The question that was put forthin the article was: What does the care devoted to the visual details in a packed lunch suggest about the culture? Why is such value placed on aesthetics in everyday life in Japan?

            The answers were an interesting mix of opinions from native Japanese to Scottish foreigners. As with some debate topics, none of the answers were wrong but people might agree more with one than the other. Someone stated that because Japan is an island with few resources so they “make less into more” (John Maeda). This means that beautiful bento boxes are made small to conserve resources but beautiful to please the person eating the bento. Another answer was that mothers will spend more time to make a bento beautiful to make their child smile when they open their bento (Denis Dutton).

            I believe the bento shows the Japanese’s value for spreading happiness. When you create something very splendid, you make something people will enjoy. In other words, people usually feel happy when looking at something that they’d call a lovely creation.

            A bento box is a way to show one’s love for another person like Denis Dutton said. It’s a bit of a big deal if a girl makes a guy a bento. To show her love or care or devotion, she will spend more time to make a nice bento rather than making it sloppily.

If a person makes their own bento, I think that they’d do it as something to look forward to in their work day. Perhaps they’re having trouble or they’re having a stressful day. When they look at their beautifully crafted bento they will feel two things. First, pride for their perfect lunch and second a sense of peace. They’ll feel the kind of peace that a person might feel when listening to soothing music or relaxing in a hot tub. That is the meaning behind making a beautiful bento.

(393 words)

Kyaraben (character bento) winner of 2012

Kyaraben winner of 2011

Resources:

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/beauty-and-the-bento-box/