A short biographical profile of Isaac Newton - After reading

Isaac Newton was born at Woolsthorpe in Lincolnshire, England in 1643. He was raised by his grandmother because his father died before he was born and in 1645 his mother married a clergyman. His mother returned to him when her second husband died. Newton’s relatives found his ability and between he was 12-14 years old, Isaac Newton went to Grantham Grammar School and became interested in pharmaceuticals. However, his mother dropped him from the school to be a farmer.

Newton disliked farming, so his mother gave up making him a farmer and he went back to the grammar school again, and then he went to Trinity College of Cambridge.

In 1667 Isaac Newton was elected a fellow of Trinity College and a member of the Royal Society. He was Lucasian professor of mathematics from 1969 to 1702, which Stephen Hawking would be in the distant future. When he was at Cambridge, he got acquainted with professor Isaac Barrow who was a great admirer of Isaac Newton’s ability. Newton set out his theories of gravity, binomial theorem, derivation etc.

Regarding the gravity, it came into his mind when he relaxed with meditation and saw the fall of an apple. He thought why apples always fall to the ground straight, do not go sideways or upwards. He also discovered many things about light and designed a reflecting telescope. His paper about light and colors is very famous even now. He was died at the age of 84 in 1727, but his many ideas are important for all physicists today.

My best place and time for homework

I can concentrate on homework in my living room.  In daytime, it is noisy and disorganized because my daughter plays there.  However, the room becomes the best place for homework in the morning before she gets up around 6:30 and in the night after she goes to bed around 21:00 as it is very silent.  Coffee comforts me in the morning and hot milk make me relaxed in the night.  I cannot make a big noise not to wake my daughter up, so I have to be careful.

Sometimes, I fall asleep while putting her to sleep without taking bath.  In this case, I have to take bath in the morning and cannot secure sufficient time for myself.  Even if I do not fall asleep, I sometimes spend time to check online news.  I hope my daughter can go to bed by herself soon and I try to minimize the screen time to spend my time effectively.

Escape to Kenroku-en

Japanese gardens are one of the most beautiful and perfect things you will ever see. Bold opening statement, but if you’ve ever been to one, you’ll understand exactly where I’m coming from. I’ve been obsessed with these gardens for years. Which is why when I visited the Kenroku-en Gardens in Kanazawa, I was blown away by how they’d managed to take Japanese gardens to a whole new level.

Known as one of Japan’s most famous gardens, it was developed over generations to be absolutely perfect. And there is no stretch of the imagination that it could be painted as anything other. Everything you could possibly want from a garden is there; trickling waterfalls, calming ponds, all-around beautiful scenery, and every shade of green imaginable, the only complaint I have about the place is that I didn’t get to be there for longer.

Exploring Kamikochi

As I arrived in November, my dreams of going to see the absolute dreamland which is Kamikochi were shattered for anywhere in the near future. But this meant that when I got an invitation to go and see the place, I couldn’t be more excited.

Fresh air, running rivers, snow capped mountains and even a few wild monkeys scampering around; Kamikochi was everything I wanted it to be and more. Luckily we had managed to visit on one of the days that there were very few visitors compared to what we’d expected, so we were able to enjoy everything to its’ fullest potential. Unfortunately we only managed a few hours there, but it doesn’t matter too much.. it definitely won’t be the only visit.

Postcard from Waikiki

Hello!!

I arrived in Hawaii today. Refreshing wind and blue sea.

I feel Hawaii!! I enjoy going home.


Mie

Kenza's experience

I woke from a nap to find out that Luna had two classes that Friday without a teacher. I realised that they were desperate, and were struggling to find anyone who could help, so I talked to Jim and Laura and volunteered to stand in as I realised this could be an interesting experience.


The only previous teaching experience I had was about 2 hours of teaching a few teenage boys how to cook cauliflower soup a year ago. However, Jim had planned both lessons out and had everything prepared beforehand so I felt confident to go ahead with this unique opportunity. Meeting the half dozen or so students that Friday evening was really lovely and I could tell they were a special bunch of kids. It was challenging at times as I learnt everyone’s English comprehension levels, and also learnt how well I could communicate in English. In the end, I was glad that I had the experience.