「トランスフォルメルズ」を見たぞ！

チョウ面白かった映画を見たばかりだよ～！「トランスフォルメルズ」と言う映画だ。特殊効果がすばらしいので日本にはまだないと思うけど、出来るだけ早く 見てみる方がいいと思う。オートボッツのリーダーのオップティマス・プライムはす～っご～い！これはウェッブサイトだ

＝＞http://www.transformersmovie.com/

オップティマス・プライムの声がチョウ格好良かった！俺は映画を見てた時、そんな声があったらモテルかも知れないと思ってた。何しろ、アクション がとても印象的で、トランスフォルメルズが車からロボットに変わるグラフィックがとてもインプレッシブだった。話もけっこ面白かった。二回ぐらい、日本に ついて冗談があったから、日本人にとって面白いかもしれない。例えば、アメリカ人は日本人がテクノロジーがよく進んでるイメージがあるので、このロボット は日本が作ったのかな～と思ってた。

あっ．．．眠い。今から寝る。

またな！
ジャスティン

将来のプラン

WARNING!!!! BAD JAPANESE GRAMMAR BELOW!!! Please help me correct it! (^O^)

(1) 最近僕は将来のアクションプランを考えておきました。(2) 詳しいことをまだ知らないけれど、プランを作って邁進して始まった方がいいと思います。(3) メイン・ゴールは日本市場に入りたい米会社とアメリカ市場に入りたい日本会社が一緒に利き的に仕事してビジネスのゴールを上達するために、その内コンサルティング会社を始まろうと思っています。(4) お核様の会社は両が方カルチャー違い、コミュニケーションの問題、両方のご入用を分かるため、このコンサルティング会社は色々なことを教えます。 [this sentence is a bad translation...please help me! (>_<)](5) 取り持つことは僕のいいところだと思いますから、このベンチャーはその強みをレバレッジ出来るかもしれません。 (6)付け加えると、その二つの強みが多いカルチャーをすべ合わせられます。

(7) 僕は絶対もっとビジネスのこと分からなければいけないので、このプランを適中することは未来のことです。(8) もし僕はリエゾンになるために、モトローラが僕を日本に送ったら、良いファーストステップだと思います。(9) それでそのカルチャーの間に生じる問題を直接経験出来ますね。(10) その後、アジア研究とかインタナショナル・リレーションとかのPhDを勉強しようと思っています。(11) 課程博士を受けたら、多分もっと信頼性を集まって、他の会社は僕の会社を選んで使おうと思います。(12) 課程博士をもらった後、国際コンサルティングのことを分かって人に会うため、国際コンサルティング会社に入るかもしれません。(13) それから、自分のかいしゃを始まる。 (14) このプランの間、もちろんたくさんのことが変わるけど、もし僕は何にも仕事しなければ、何もならないでしょう。

(1) I recently came up with an action plan for my future. (2) I'm not sure the details, but I think it is really good to have a plan and start working toward it. (3) The main goal is to eventually start a consulting company which specializes in aiding American businesses with interest in the Japan market and Japanese companies with interest in the US market to work together effectively and accomplish their business goals. (4) The company would serve to ease efforts on both sides by providing help with the cultural differences, communication problems, and helping the companies to meet each others needs. (5) I believe that I have strength as a mediator, so I think this venture could take advantage of that strong point. (6) In addition, I would be able to bring the two cultures together, which I think both have great strengths to share.

(7) I would definitely need to learn more about the business, so realizing this goal will likely be in the distant future. (8) If Motorola sends me over to Japan as a liaison, that would be a good first step. (9) Then I would get first hand experience with the problems that arise between the two cultures. (10) Following that, I'm thinking of studying for a PhD in something like Asian Studies or International Relations with an Asia focus. (11) If I receive a PhD, I think I might be able to gain credibility and increase the likelihood of a company choosing to use my company. (12) After getting an advanced degree, I think I'd probably join a company that currently does this type of thing, so that I can increase my knowledge of the business and make some contacts. (13) Then I'd like to start my own company. (14) I'm sure things will change in the middle, but if I don't work toward anything, nothing will happen, right?

My Personal Creed (Rough Draft)

Below is my personal creed. It is what I stand for, what I strive to become each day. This is a rough first draft...I'm opening it up for comments. No promises that I will change it though. ;-)

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My Personal Creed

Justin Gaylor

1. I show my principles through my actions and gladly accept their consequences.

2. I keep the promises I make, especially to myself.

3. I do not perpetuate negativity.

4. I listen at least as much as I speak.

5. I seek first to understand, then to be understood.

6. I hear what is said, not how it is said.

7. I seek mutual victory whenever possible.

8. I sincerely thank others for their differing opinions.

9. I embrace my mistakes, for I will grow stronger through them.

10. I ask for the strength to meet my challenges, not for challenges to meet my strength.

11. I place concern for people over concern for things.

12. I am a rock, providing physical, emotional, and financial stability for those I care about.

13. I channel my personal wealth toward improving the lives of those around me.

14. I judge others, when necessary, by their actions, not their words.

15. I possess the confidence to kindly and respectfully say no.

16. I provide my honest opinion when it is requested, and my false opinion never.

17. I recognize that long-term happiness often requires short-term sacrifice.

18. I encourage others to achieve their full potential.

19. I take an active role in influencing politics by researching key issues, understanding the positions of candidates, and exercising my right to vote.

20. I am confident that even if I do not understand something, I am at least capable of understanding it.

21. I learn a new skill each year.

22. I strive for excellence in those things I am passionate about.

23. I appreciate when others show me a different perspective.

24. I strongly believe that most interactions need not be competitive and that by working together, two can achieve more than one.

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Becoming a More Effective Person

Below is a link to a book that has changed my life. I recommend getting the book and, whenever you feel like you are in need of some fundamental changes in your life (and are committed to expending a great deal of effort!), I recommend cracking it open and giving it a read through.

Remember, in life, the enemy of the "Best" we can be is being "good enough". When we become comfortable in life, that is when we stop improving, when we lose sight of the untapped potential within us. Risk and discomfort are essential in life. They are what stretch us to realize that potential.

The main theme of The Seven Habits is the following: "Private victories precede public victory." That is, before we can achieve victories in the relationships in our lives, we must first find victory within ourselves. Each successive habit provides a foundation upon which the next may be built. Below is a quick breakdown of the 7 habits:

Dependence...
1) Be proactive
2) Begin with the end in mind
3) Put first things first
Independence...
4) Think win/win
5) Seek first to understand, then to be understood
6) Synergize
Interdependence.
7) Sharpen the saw (continuously improve)

The book gives excellent descriptions of the habits, what they mean, and why they are important. The Dependence...Independence...Interdependence in the habit list are placemarkers showing where we end up on the maturity continuum after mastery of the preceding habits.

Dependence is the paradigm of "You". I need you. You can do it. Why don't you love me? What have you ever done for me? I blame you.

Independence is the paradigm of "I". I am self-reliant. I can do it. I am responsible. I can choose.

Interdependence is the paradigm of "We". We are stronger by combining our strengths. We can do it together. We can find a solution that is beneficial for both of us.

These levels of maturity apply to all aspects of our lives. A professor may be independent physically, dependent emotionally, and interdependent intellectually. A blind person may be dependent physically, interdependent emotionally, and dependent intellectually. A person who really needs to take responsibility for his/her own life may be dependent in all three. It's up to us to listen to our own language, observe our own thoughts, and determine where we exist on the maturity continuum in all aspects of our lives: emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual.

That is a quick intro. The book provides far more of the meat that helps us begin undoing the years and years of ineffective scripting that we have undergone. Without further ado...

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
by Dr. Stephen Covey
ISBN-10: 0743269519
ISBN-13: 978-0743269513

About Me

I find it interesting how few "About me" blogs there are out there that admit things like, "I am a self-absorbed person" or "I prefer to run away from my problems" or "I deceive people to get what I want." However, from many of our personal experiences, the world has quite a few of these kinds of people. It is clear that these people might not make as many friends, if they were to post such descriptions of themselves. In light of this, I suppose a more fitting name for this blog entry would be, "What I Want You to Know About Me". But I guess that might be a little too long, huh?

That said, you probably don't want to know anything about me now, since I take that long just to get to the real point. :) I am a person that feels that important things should be explained with great care. I also feel that explaining who I am to another person is an important thing, so I take great care in doing it. I could tell you a great deal that is not true about myself, and, on the short-term, I might gain something. For example, I could make it seem that I am a genius with an incredibly high IQ. By hinting at this, I *might* gain your respect and admiration, but the day always comes when the Truth about what I am becomes apparent. The Truth about what is can be hidden, but not forever. The saying goes that we can only accept the Truth or break ourselves upon it. At some point I would be held responsible for my lie, and my credibility would be forever tarnished. It is interesting that not only do I lose the trust from having lied, but I also lose the time and energy required to sustain the lie. In short, it is not an effective choice to falsely misrepresent oneself to others, if you seek to maintain long-term relationships.

So, in an attempt to correctly communicate what kind of person I am, I will list the qualities that I think are most important in a person, qualities I hope will illuminate the core values of my character. Note, however, that I make no assertion about whether I possess these qualities. I'll leave that judgment up to those who know me. Also note, the majority of what is below are some of the main points of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Dr. Stephen Covey, so if you like what you read, you will definitely like that book!

First, and perhaps most importantly, is 'responsibility'. When I say responsibility, I mean the fact that each of us has the response-ability to choose our response to the things that happen to us. When the owner of a bar in Tokyo closed the doors in my face, I was faced with the opportunity to choose what action I would take. I could choose to be angry and resentful and let that experience affect my opinion of Japanese people as a whole, or I could choose to try to understand why the owner did that and what I could do, if anything, to change her opinion. I cannot blame my anger on that person, because she only closed the doors on me. If I am angry about that, it is because I choose to empower her opinion to anger me. To take the lesson one step further, if I have a miserable life, it is because I have chosen to empower the things in my life to make me miserable. You may say, "But there are lots of bad things that happen which are not my fault! What about earthquakes? What about when a loved one passes away?" True, we have no control over many things in life, but we do have control over our response to them. The power to choose is ours. Until we accept this responsibility, we cannot focus our efforts on effectively improving our lives. (For a more complete discussion of this concept, please refer to the chapter on Habit 1 of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Dr. Stephen Covey.)

The next quality I feel is very important is 'introspection', or the ability to think deeply about the choices one has made and judge whether those choices are in harmony with our values. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, it is often difficult to stop ourselves and think about whether our choices are leading us toward our end goal in life. However, if we never stop to think, we will not know if our choices are leading us in the wrong direction. If we are going in the wrong direction, then working harder will not help because we will only get to the wrong place faster! By introspecting, we can take immediate actions to correct our past mistakes and keep ourselves on the right path that is in harmony with our values.

The next quality is 'mindfulness', and is a big concept in Buddhist philosphy. Mindfulness is the ability to be aware of our actions through deliberate mental effort. Such effort allows us to immediately notice when we stray from the correct path of living in harmony with our values. Someone who is mindful notices immediately when he or she is getting angry and takes action to correct this before the anger escalates. Conversely, those who are weak in mindfulness feel that they have no control over their actions and that they just happen. The truth is they choose to not expend the mental effort necessary to control their actions, but everyone has the power to do so.

I feel the last few qualities are important because they greatly increase our effectiveness at building lasting relationships with others. These qualities are: 'tolerance', 'patience', 'honesty', 'compassion', 'empathy', 'reciprocation', 'humility', and 'open-mindedness'. I could go on for hours about these (and I may in a future blog), but the meaning and value of most of these qualities are commonly understood. Unfortunately, however, so many people do not adhere to them. I believe that the root reason is that people allow themselves to become so focused on short-term gains, that they neglect these qualities/principles that lead to long-term gains. None of these qualities are easy to practice, but they fertlize the soil of relationships, providing the nourishment necessary for long-lasting success.

In the spirit of the last quality mentioned, I encourage anyone to post comments with their opinions about anything I have said here. Please let me know if you agree or disagree with my statements and definitely explain why. Also, let me know if I missed any good qualities. Thanks for your time in reading this (I know it was long)!

ブログを始めましょう！(o^-')b （添削）

皆さん、ようこそ！

まずは自己紹介をします。ええと…僕のことをどう説明したらいいかなぁ？殆どの人は僕の日本語文を読んだら、日本人じゃないって分かるかもしれない。僕は日本が大好きなアメリカ人だよ。だけど、僕は大体のアメリカ人が日本と聞いてイメージする、アニメやマンガ、電化製品以外に日本のよさや、素晴らしさを知っているからアメリカ人だけど他のアメリカ人とはちょっと違うかもしれない。

まず、日本人は世界一番優しいと思う。なんで分かるかって言うと、僕が約１年間、日本の会社でインターンとして過ごした時、色々困ったことがあったけど、その都度親切な人が助けてくれたから。例えば、僕は自分のせいですっごい体調を崩した時、日本人のおじさんとおばさんが家に招いてくれ、健康に気を使った食事(しかも美味しい！)をごちそうしてくれたんだ。そして、僕をその家に泊まらせてくれたんだ。すごいよね！アメリカではこんなに親切にしてくれる人に会うのは珍しいんだ。

あと、やっぱり日本食！僕の日本語じゃ、日本料理の美味しさを伝えきれないからこの写真を見て。うまそうでしょう！

[ See pictures in previous post ]

決めた！今日日本料理を食べるぞ！

僕の日本語のジャーナルを読んでくれて、ありがとう！良かったら、コメントして下さい。それに、日本語が間違ってたら、添削してもらえますか？お願いします。m(_ _)m

ジャスティン

P.S.次のトピックは「僕と日本のやさしいお祖母様」です！

ブログを始めましょう！(o^-')b

皆さん、ようこそ！

ええと．．．僕は誰と説明した方がいいだろうな？僕の日本語を読んだら、やっぱり日本人じゃないと知れろかもしれな い。僕は日本が大好きなアメリカ人だよ。それに、僕は日本がアニメとマンガと電気製品以外に、もっと素晴らしいことがあると信じられるから、殆どのアメリ カ人と違うと言えるだろう。

まず、日本の人々は世界に一番親切な人だと思います。僕は一年間位日本でインターンした。その時、色々な困っ たことがあったけど、毎度親切な日本人が助けてくれたんだ。例えば、僕は自分の所為ですげぇ～病気になった時、日本人のおじさんとおばさんが家で泊ませて、美味 しくて体に良いご飯を食べさせていただきました。とても親切だな～！アメリカでは、こんなことは珍しいだよな。

次の素晴らしいことはやっぱり日本料理です！僕は日本料理の美味しさを伝えるために、たくさんナイスな言葉を書けることが出来るけど、僕の文法が下手だから．．．この写真を見て。


　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　お寿司

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ラーメン

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　焼肉
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　すき焼き


　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　鮭丼


うまそうでしょう！決めた。今日日本料理を食べるぞ！

僕の日本語のジャーナルを読んでくれ、ありがとう！良かったら、コメントして下さい。それに、日本語が間違ったら、添削してくれない？ありがとう。
m(_ _)m

ジャスティン

P.S.
次のトピックは「僕と日本のやさしいお祖母様」です！