As we all know, moving our lives online can be burdensome on our mental and physical health. Many of us have gained weight or heard our friends complain about gaining weight. With the ease of food at home and the lack of gyms to attend, our bodies are taking the full force of this new lifestyle.

While there are different ways to keep the weight off, most share two common themes, move! Whether you move your body through exercise or move your body in the kitchen, two key ways to succeed in living a healthy physical life at home are through movement.

Try to exercise! Exercising at home can be seen as troublesome. There is not a lot of space and no equipment. There are plenty of workout videos online that can help you exercise at home using different types of exercises. Many of these videos do not require any equipment, and they make you feel like you worked hard at the end. Taking advantage of the weather with a long walk or a good distance bicycle ride is also a good option. Furthermore, stand up from your computer and do some stretching. This will help loosen up your body and get your blood flowing.

Have you ever heard the saying “Abs are made in the kitchen”? To get a healthy body, the foods you eat are essential. Eating a balanced diet is vital to keeping the weight off. Get into the kitchen in the morning, get a light breakfast, plan for lunch, and eat a hearty dinner. 

At the beginning of all of this, I was worried about food and my health. However, through online classes, keeping a healthy schedule, eating well, and exercising, I have been able to get into the best shape I have been in a long time by working on these two areas of my physical lifestyle. You will not only look better, but you will also feel better too! These effects may even carry over into your academic life. 

Have the energy to get through the day at your computer in a healthy way!

Photo Credit: Roman Pohorecki@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. What are some problems with exercising at home?

Q2. When the weather is nice, what are two types of exercise mentioned?

Q3. What kind of diet should you eat?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

Q1. There is not a lot of space and no equipment.

Q2. Walking and riding a bicycle are mentioned.

Q3. You should eat a balanced diet.

I’m writing this blog right now after losing about one hour of my day by watching YouTube.  

Life is hard, right? We need to find a time and place to relax. Especially in the past year with all these crazy things happening. With so much of our lives now revolving around PC’s and doing our work in a digital environment, a lot of people need to find different ways to relax. That’s where the problem of YouTube comes in.

I’m sure you have experienced this: you finish some work and as a way to relax, you decide to watch a YouTube video. After finding a video you like, you watch it. After you finish, you look to the bar on the right and find another video that interests you. It’s only 5 minutes. So, you watch the next one. That turns into another video. After a while, you’ve spent an hour, two hours, maybe even more just watching YouTube.

Is this a healthy relationship with technology?

Websites such as The Guardian have reported on several studies and stories related to mental health and YouTube: 

(https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/03/youtube-addiction-mental-health)

In recent times (especially this past year) more and more people are using YouTube as a way to distract themselves from life. For some people, they need to watch YouTube as a way to stay emotionally balanced. They click on the YouTube icon without even thinking about it.

Research has said that YouTube can have the same effect that drugs have on the human brain. Especially with people who watch a lot of videos. 

It’s natural to like watching funny cat videos, a strange incident caught on video tape, a vlogger with an interesting story, music videos, interviews with celebrities, and many other videos. I know I’ve lost hours to YouTube. I try every day to find ways to be productive and finish my work. However, I always find myself clicking on that red play button. It has gone to the point where if I don’t watch videos, I feel a little “off”.

I understand that everyone wants to escape the real world. Especially in the past year. I also know that we spend a lot more time inside. But when does our need for amusement and fun start to impact other parts of our mental wellbeing?

Also, with the state of things, what can we do about it? Well first we can rethink our relationship with technology. Do we really NEED to constantly look at a screen? We can also try to mentally take life a little slower. Take walks and get fresh air. Modern media has driven us to want the next video, the next game, the next comic. Let’s work to take it a little slower.

Maybe then we will lose a little less time to that big, red play button.

Photo Credit: freestocks.org @pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. Why are people watching more YouTube videos? 

Q2. YouTube can have the same effect as what on people who are addicted to YouTube?

Q3. What should we do to stop from becoming addicted to YouTube?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

Q1. People want to relax and escape life stresses.

Q2. Drugs.

Q3. Take walks and get fresh air.

Hello everyone! Lately I don’t really speak to anyone, so I thought I’d imagine someone to talk to. Hi Mr. BB!

BB: Hi P! How’s it going?

P: Well, could be better. Did you know that Shiga has its own basketball team?

BB: No. What are they called?

P: The Lakestars.

BB: Doesn’t Shiga have just one big lake?

P: I guess no one’s really bothered to count in Los Angeles either.

BB: Where do they play?

P: All over the place. Chikubushima, Takeshima, Okinoshiraishi, Yabasekihanto, Okishima…

BB: Okishima! The nightlife there! Oh, I love those little stand-up bars like the Nishinoko and the Ibanaiko. The best was the Dainakanoko! But it closed down. Do you think I can catch a game here in Osaka? I want to see them beat Kyoto. I hate those Kyoto teams! 

P: You remind me of my wife who once came to visit me in Toronto. I asked her if she wanted to go watch an NBA game and she said, “Yes! I wanna see the Bulls play against the Lakers!”

BB: Whoa! Ain’t she lucky! Does Shiga have any superstars, like that James Lebron?

P: I don’t know. Let’s google it. I’ll read you off a few names and you tell me if you recognize any. Let’s see. At centre, they got Biwako-ohnamazu.

BB: (silence)

P: Their guards are Moroko and Sujiebi.

BB: Nope.

P: Biwamasu and Funa are the forwards.

BB: Who’s their coach?

P: I can’t read the kanji…Whonazushi?

BB: That rings a bell! Where have I heard that name before?

P: It says he’s Australian.

BB: That makes sense! Listen, let’s go watch a game this weekend.

P: I can’t. I’m going camping at some place called Yogo.

BB: So it’s a no-go?

P: It’s up north.

BB: Oh yes. The sea! Fukui!

Photo Credit: the team icon

https://www.lakestars.net/

Blog Quiz

Q1. How many lakes are there in Shiga?

Q2. How many islands are there on Lake Biwa?

Q3. What kinds of fish or shellfish can you find in Lake Biwa?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

Q1. 4: Lake Biwa, Lake Nishi, Lake Ibanai & Lake Yogo. Lake Dainaka was lost to land reclamation.

Q2. 4: Okishima, Chikubushima, Takeshima & Okinoshiraishi. Yabasekihanto is an artificial island.

Q3. Biwako-ohnamazu (Lake Biwa Giant Catfish), Moroko (Willow Gudgeon), Sujiebi (Lake Prawn), Biwamasu (Biwa Trout), and Funa (Japanese White Crucian Carp).

I sometimes draw in my free time, but these days I tend to spend more time looking at art than producing it. Maybe it should be the other way around, but as a busy teacher and father, it takes much less time and effort to open Instagram than to continue working on one of my many unfinished artworks.

Before I had a smartphone and knew about Instagram, I used to find art online using an American art community website called deviantart.com. I still have an account with a gallery of my old illustrations and lists of the artists that I used to follow on there (https://deviantart.com/safepnc). 

I signed up to Instagram in 2013, whereupon I found some of those same artists, and over the years I have also discovered many other talented and inspiring creators. Below is a list of my 8 recommendations, including a short profile of the artist and their artistic style:

1. @maxgrecke (419k followers) is a Swedish digital artist whose portfolio is full of monsters and fantasy characters. His characters are angular and distorted but come to life with amazing lighting and shading techniques.

2. @seangallowayart (224k followers) is the super-friendly and hardworking comic book artist Sean ‘Cheeks’ Galloway from San Diego, USA. I have been following his career and artistic development for over 15 years. His style looks simplistic, but his understanding of character poses and expressions are of the highest professional quality. 

3. @loisvb (2.1M followers) is a Dutch digital master who recently made the artwork for the @procreate update release. She draws mostly female figures infused with magical, mysterious lighting, but she is also an excellent landscape plein air painter.

4. @littlethunder (710k followers) is a world-famous female illustrator and painter from Hong Kong who creates dreamlike images of beautiful, powerful, and mysterious female characters. Her colors are vivid and passionate, and her brush work is exquisite. She is one of my favorite artists.  

5. @artgerm (695k followers) is Stanley Lau, a consummate master of the marker pen. He has a very distinct style, so his characters are easily recognizable. He usually draws popular comic book and anime characters, and he often produces covers for DC and Marvel comic books.

6. @ryancecil (8k followers) is an independent comic book artist who makes and prints his own comics. He also works for Netflix animation as a background designer. I met Ryan here in Japan 13 years ago and we have remained good friends. His comic book work is quirky, intelligent and retro.

7. @chriscopelandart (42k followers) is a film director and storyboard artist at Dreamworks Animation studios. He has a distinct, urban style, often putting slickly posed characters within cinematic and dynamic compositions.          

8. @levitzo (209k followers) is Levi Prewitt, a talented cartoonist living in San Francisco. His style is bold and fun, and his skillful Copic marker color work is gives his designs great appeal. Some of his best works are his sketch card pairs which he auctions to the highest bidder.

Photo Credit: Marlene Leppänen @pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. Which of these suggested artists has the largest number of followers on Instagram?

Q2. What is Sean Galloway's nickname?

Q3. Which studio does Ryan Cecil work for?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

Q1. @loisvb with 2,100,000 followers.

Q2. Cheeks.

Q3. Netflix

Do you have a good sleeping habit? How many hours do you sleep every night?

A lot of people may think academic studies, jobs, and relationships are often more important than sleep. However, you shouldn’t take sleep lightly. Sleep actually has a very important role for both human bodies and minds, and even for learning. Let’s have a closer look.

First, as for bodies, lack of sleep can cause daytime drowsiness and low energy. It hurts the body’s ability to stay healthy because the immune system can be impaired by poor sleep quality. The immune system goes to work recharging itself and fighting infection while you’re in the deepest levels of sleep. If sleep time is cut short, the immune system doesn’t get the time it needs to stay healthy.

Second, lack of sleep can also affect your mood significantly. It causes irritability and anger, and you may find it difficult to cope with stress. Chronic sleepiness can put you at greater risk for depression. Depression is closely linked to sleep deprivation.

Third, sleep also plays a significant role for memory and learning. Let’s see some effects of sleep on memory and learning. Sleep has been considered very important for memory and learning, but until recently, there was no proof. A research team at Rutgers University recently discovered a type of brain activity that happens during sleep. The activity is important for memory and learning as it transfers new information from the hippocampus to the neocortex. The hippocampus is a part of the brain which plays a key role in memory and how knowledge is obtained. The neocortex stores long-term memories. As for long-term memories, it’s a type of memory which relates to memory and learning. The biggest categories of memory are “short-term memory (or working memory)” and “long-term memory,” based on the amount of time the memory is stored. As you would imagine, long-term memories are much more complex than short-term ones. We store different types of information such as procedures, life experiences and language, with separate memory systems.

Back to the study at Rutgers University, the team showed how we create long-term memories. The wave activity transfers short-term memories from the hippocampus to the neocortex. Then the neocortex turns the sharp wave ripples into long-term memories. Sleep encourages this brain activity. Therefore, the new information doesn’t have a chance to leave the hippocampus and go to the neocortex if sleep is deprived. In other words, short sleep has negative effects on memory and learning. According to current research, most undergraduates need 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep, and most adults, 7 to 9 hours. So, university students need to sleep for at least 8 hours if they want a healthier body and mind, and greater chances for academic success!

Photo Credit: Andrea Piacquadio @pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Read the following sentences. Choose T(true) or F(false).

1. Sleep has an import role in learning.

2. A type of brain activity that is important for memory and learning happens during sleep.

3. Most university students need 6 to 7 hours of sleep.

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

1. T

2. T

3. F

Because of the recent pandemic, many people choose to stay inside. If they do go out, it is only to stock up on food or other necessities. We need to remember to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Parks and bike-ways can be places to enjoy nature and still respect social distancing rules. Some people say “But what is there to do outside? There’s nothing to see…” A hobby I started long ago in childhood has stayed with me all these years. It is a way to enjoy the outdoors and see and learn about some fascinating things. What is it? Bird watching! Yes, observing birds in your local area is a great way to connect to the environment and become aware of the amazing diversity of birds and their behaviors. It will also give you motivation for getting outdoors.

How do you ‘bird watch”?

The best way is to have a pair of decent binoculars and a bird book for your local area. It is possible to bird without binocs, but you really miss a lot of details as birds tend to be small and quick. You can also find many pictures of birds with descriptions on the Internet. Don’t forget birds make a variety of calls and songs as well. It’s one more way of identifying a species. You will begin to notice that bird species can occupy different habitats. I like to visit forests, lakes, riversides, and open parks. You can start right around your home. How many different species can you observe just there? After you get a few species names under your belt, you might want to try a different area away from your home. You can find birds in places crowded with people as well as in unpopulated areas.

Here’s a few kinds of birds I have seen just from bird watching around my apartment in the city: Sparrows, Doves, Pigeons, Ravens, Thrushes, Cormorants, Herons, Egrets, Bulbuls, Lapwings, Woodpeckers, White-Eyes, Redstarts, Swallows, Hawks…The list goes on.

The next time you walk to the store, try to catch sight of a few birds. Are they all the same? Different? Do they make the same noises? Are they the same shape, color, or size? When you start learning species names, try keeping a list and you can add to it as you learn more about birds and bird watching. And finally, if it’s possible, birding can be more fun with a partner or two along to enjoy the time outdoors.

Photo Credit: Pixabay@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

1. Why does the author recommend bird watching?

A.    It helps people connect with nature.

B.    It is a safe activity during the pandemic.

C.    Both A and B.

2. Which is NOT mentioned as a way birds can be identified?

A.    By listening to their sounds.

B.    By watching television.

C.    By using a book.

3. In the last sentence, what does ‘birding’ mean?

A.    Catching birds.

B.    Looking for birds.

C.    Studying about birds.

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

1. C

2. B

3. B

(continued from last week)

Alternatively, Japanese sports education and culture has quite a long history of basketball. In 1917, Japan entered a basketball team in the Olympic games for the first time. When I first came to Japan to teach English, I was so jealous to realize that much like American children, Japanese children have grown up for generations learning the game that I had grown to love.

In my middle school’s changing rooms, our sports teachers decorated the walls with posters of various famous sports stars. I knew a lot of those faces from watching TV, but there was one poster in particular that caught my attention. It was a photo taken from above the basketball ring, looking down. There was a tall handsome man training on his own, jumping high into the air with a basketball in one hand. In the bottom left corner of the poster was a small red box with the word ‘Nike’ in it. I didn’t know who he was then, but that is my first clear memory of seeing the world-famous Michael Jordan. I wanted to know more.

A few years later at high school, I got my first chance to learn how to play. The school had an old indoor court that had no 3-point line, and three larger spaces in a building that we nicknamed ‘the shed’. I made new friends with other boys and girls, some who knew more about basketball than me, and we began to practice and teach each other. Although the high school had a team, it was nothing like a Japanese school’s sports clubs. Practice was only once a week. Some of the older students told us about a private club that was being run at evenings and weekends by a professional player in the neighboring town called Gateshead. We nervously made the journey over there to see if we could take part. I remember walking onto my first proper basketball court and being amazed by the speed and intensity of the game and the players. I was hooked. I must have played, watched, and talked about basketball every day between the ages of 15 to 22. I was never a great player, but I loved the game and I still do now.

Photo Credit: Markus Spiske@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

1. When did Japan first enter a basketball team into the Olympic games?

2. What famous sport star did the author become interested in as a middle school student?

3. How often did the author’s high school basketball team practice?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

1. 1917

2. Michael Jordan

3. Once a week

Football (soccer), as it is called in my native country, is by far and away the most popular sport in the UK, and like other hugely popular sports, football culture is ‘not just a sport’ to those who love it, it is a way of life. The north east of England has a long history of football culture. My hometown of Newcastle upon Tyne, much like many other cities and towns throughout the UK, has thousands of people who loyally follow the various local football clubs, from school teams, to amateur teams, to the big-money big-business teams of the premiere leagues. Of course, there are people who actively dislike football and the culture surrounding it, so when the larger culture is not appealing, subcultures emerge from groups of people who have different beliefs and interests. These days, basketball is a globally popular sport thanks to the NBA, its amazing athletes, and the Internet. However, in 1990’s England, being a basketball fan meant that you were part of a subculture.

I started first (elementary) school in 1985 and I was never very good at playing football. I didn’t understand why so many boys wanted to play it. Equality in sports was still an underdeveloped idea, so in those days, it was very rare to see girls playing football, and even rarer for a school to have a girls’ football club.

At middle (junior high) school, I found out in P.E. class that I enjoyed athletics the most, especially the high jump and the long jump. It was exhilarating to throw myself as high and as far through the air as I could. The school had a football team for which many boys were very keen to play. My teachers suggested that I take part in athletics competitions. However, P.E. classes and serious competitions are two different worlds. It was so boring to sit and wait for my event in the day’s long schedule.

European or American basketball game highlights were only very rarely shown on British TV. I was intrigued by this strange looking game that was played in a small space with only ten people on the court. I didn’t know until I was much older that there was a small but loyally followed English professional basketball league. Also, like many other schools across the UK, my middle school had a very large grassy field with a football and rugby pitch, but it didn’t have a basketball court.

(To be continued next week)

Photo Credit: Markus Spiske@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

1. What is the most popular sport in The United Kingdom?

2. What sport did the author enjoy playing most in junior high school?

3. How often did the author see basketball on TV when he was in junior high school? 

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

1. Soccer (football)

2. Athletics (long jump and high jump)

3. Rarely

During the COVID-19 outbreak, most of us have been spending a lot of time at home. It has been a difficult challenge, but at the same time it presents an opportunity to learn a new skill, for example playing a musical instrument. In my case, I’ve been improving my guitar skills.

The guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments in the world and it can change your life in profound ways. It’s quite easy to play basic guitar and you can soon play simple songs. I myself have been playing for 45 years and I can attest that there are many advantages to learning guitar. For example, three of the most important benefits are creative, social and cognitive.

Learning to play the guitar is incredibly satisfying and the challenge of learning an instrument helps to release your creativity. Mastering chords, perfecting songs and playing solos are great challenges, and the sense of achievement you gain is wonderful. There is a deep emotional connection with music and you may even start writing your own songs and expressing your emotions in beautiful and unexpected ways. This new creativity may even help you discover surprising things about yourself.

Secondly there are huge social benefits from playing guitar. It is a great instrument when it comes to uniting people. Bring one out at a party, and you will soon become the center of attention, instantly elevating everyone’s mood and creating positive emotions. Not only that, playing together with other people, in a duo or even in a band, is a great way to make friends and form relationships.

Finally there are proven cognitive benefits from playing guitar. Research suggests that musicians’ brains work a bit differently to everyone else’s. Music theory is in fact built on mathematics and the art of learning to play chords and read music opens up pathways in the mind. Children with attention problems sometimes learn an instrument to improve concentration, and research has shown that the areas of the brain responsible for memory become stimulated while playing the guitar. Obviously this is a great benefit as you become older.

So in conclusion, playing the guitar has many benefits. It can help you to explore your connectivity, form friendships and it also has many cognitive benefits. So if you are looking for a hobby which will help you through this strange time, why don’t you think about learning the guitar?

Photo Credit: 42 North@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

1. When did the author start playing the guitar?

A.    To learn a new skill.

B.    Almost 50 years ago.

C.    During the COVID-19 outbreak.

2. What is one social benefit of playing the guitar?

A.    It releases your creativity.

B.    It can bring people together.

C.    You can discover things about yourself.

3. What does the phrase ‘cognitive benefits’ refer to?

A.    Attention problems.

B.    Elevating someone’s mood.

C.    Things that help the brain develop.

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

1. B

2. B

3. C

According to the encyclopedia of Japanese Frogs, forty-eight types of frogs live in Japan. How many of them have you seen? May to August is the best season to meet some of them. Let me introduce three kinds of frogs that you can find in Shiga prefecture.

One of the most common frogs is the Japanese Tree Frog, 'ama-gaeru' in Japanese. 'Ama' stands for 'rain' and 'gaeru' for 'frog.' As the name indicates, you are most likely to find them during rainy season. It is a small frog about three to four centimeters long. They are small, but they sing very loudly. So please be careful if you you plan to keep them as a pet in your apartment. If you visit an area with rice fields, you will probably be able to find eggs and tadpoles just before and during rainy season. Be careful not to stamp on frogs when they are crossing the road from one rice field to another one.

Somewhat rare frogs you can find in mountain areas are the forest green tree frog and schlegel's green tree frog. They usually live on land and they come close to water sites when they lay eggs. Other types of frogs usually lay their eggs in water with a jelly-like coating. However, the eggs of these tree frogs are coated with bubbles and are laid on grass or leaves of trees hanging over the water. Within approximately two weeks, the eggs hatch and the tadpoles are washed away into the water by rain and live in the water until they grow legs. When you visit the mountains for them, watch out for leeches.

If you are wondering what the other forty-five types of frogs are like, why don't you go outside and try to find them? You will be able to find other interesting creatures as well.

Photo Credit: Kaboompics@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

1. When is the best season to see frogs in Japan?

2. What does 'ama-gaeru' mean in English?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

1. May to August (summer)

2. rain frog

3. tadpoles