Rachel's Writing

  I have been learning Spanish since last November from teachers in Venezuela. As there is a serious economic and social crisis, a friend of mine who worked there has planned a project to provide jobs to his friends in Venezuela. His plan is to introduce Venezuelans who can teach Spanish to Japanese. The advantages for both Venezuelans and Japanese are that they can earn foreign money by teaching Spanish, and we can learn it at a bargain. How did the crisis in Venezuela happen? Venezuela gained independence in 1811, but the political situation hasn’t been stable until now. Conflicts and coups have been instigated again and again, and the gap between the rich and poor is huge even though Venezuela produces petroleum. Hugo Chávez, who was popular among the poor, became the president of Venezuela in 1999.  He was influenced by socialism, and provided free medical service, free housing and free education. He also appealed to Anti-Americanism and Anti-Neoliberalism. It caused the r...

 I watched the movie The Danish Girl , which is based on the biography of the first person who had undergone sex reassignment surgery in the world.  At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a couple of painters, Mr and Mrs Wegener in Copenhagen, Denmark. Einar Wegener was good at landscapes, and gaining fame as one of most talented artists in Denmark, but his wife, Gerda, didn’t achieve success behind Einar. One day, Gerda asked Einar to be the foot model in place of the female model because she didn’t come on time. When Einar wore lady’s stockings and shoes, and put the dress on his chest, he felt someone awaken inside himself. Gerda also proposed him to pretend to be a woman and join a party together. Einar wore a dress, wig, and makeup, and finally he became a beautiful woman. He was named Lili, and she got attention from guys there. Einar believed he is a woman inside, and began to change from a man to a woman since then. Gerda was confused by her husband’s change, ...

 It is continued from this column. What has happened in Myanmar? After the armed forces of Myanmar instigated a coup on February 1st, the situation is getting worse day by day. The military has killed over 600 people by the end of March at least. People really hate the military because they suffered for over 50 years. The military has been the privileged class in Myanmar, especially in the military junta. They monopolize the power not only politically but also economically. People couldn’t hold gatherings freely or criticize the government, and have endured poverty. That’s why people have been expecting NLD (The National League for Democracy) and Aung San Suu Kyi to democratize Myanmar.   However, the military had modified the constitution to keep their power in the Diet, and they continued to have a strong influence after NLD won the election in 2015. The military runs the national companies as well. NLD won again in 2020, but the military denied the result and instigated a c...

  Each cuisine has a cultural and regional background. Singaporean food represents the history and culture as well, and it is very similar to Malaysian cuisine. That’s because Singapore is located at the top of the Malay Peninsula, and it had been a part of Malaysia before gaining independence in 1965. There are mainly three types of food in Singapore because of ethnic groups. As it is developing as the head quarter of South East Asia nowadays, people are gathering from various regions all over the world.  There are also many kinds of restaurants and cuisine: European, American, Middle Eastern, Japanese, etc. This article introduces representative Singaporean food: Chinese, Malay, and Indian. The Chinese Singaporean cuisine has two types, one is Fujian, and the other is Cantonese.  Fujian noodles are popular among the local people, and it is made of stir-fried noodles with vegetables and meat. Chili Crab is another dish representative of Singaporean cuisine, but it is not...