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Showing posts from December, 2011

In conclusion

I’ve never done such a big presentation in English. Last semester, I had presentation about service. I t was really interesting to me and the style of presentation was more casual, so I didn’t have any nervous. However, this time is different. We invited many Americans and took a long time to present our culture research. I learned importance of group works and found new Japanese culture. First of all, I have wonderful partner, Kaori and Rikako. I gave a lot of troubles because I was sick. Actually, I had fever for about 2 weeks before the presentation and I couldn’t feel better and concentrate on classes and presentations. I was surprised at other students’ presentation whose were presented on the first day because they were more fantastic than I expected and then, I was a little bit upset. After the first day, I found my presentation was so long that I changed my slide. Then, I practiced it until 2a.m. and started speaking from 5a.m. The more other students practice their presentatio

What Makes You Study Abroad?

I had a great time this Tuesday at Washington State University. Last semester, I visited Gonzaga University but I just waved to international students, so last Tuesday was the first time I had great conversation at another university. There were a lot of international students including students from Japan. As I saw people of all nationalities, I thought why so many students want to study abroad. I search a little bit using the Internet to find answers to my question. In my case, MFWI is the best place to study hard without obsessions so I am here now.  I will focus on internationalization. Recently, many students go abroad to study. It shows globalization advances rapidly around the world. The thinking of globalization spread out not only the schools but also enterprises. Here is an example. At present, some companies which develop global work hire not international students in Japan but foreigners who graduated from foreign universities. Moreover, they don’t have the requisition of J

The Breathtaking Grand Canyon

I had fabulous south west trip with energetic Extension members. Everywhere I visited fascinated me. I found a lot of favorite place during this trip. One of the favorite places is Grand Canyon. I had just seen and watched pictures on TV or the Internet. I heard some students saw the Grand Canyon and cried from teachers. It makes me if they really cried by only seeing the landscape; however, it is correct. We arrived at a spot to see Grand Canyon. At first, I felt cool breeze and fresh air. As soon as I saw a beautiful landscape, I was going to cry but nobody cried, so I was patient to cry. I understood what teachers said. I don’t know why my tears came. I think Grand Canyon has spiritual, powerful and natural forces. The first night, I was outside to eat ramen as a dinner with group mates. Under the star-spangled sky, we enjoyed eating and talking. In a moment, we screamed at the same time because we watched a shooting star together. It was the first time I watch

Absolutely Marvelous Support!!

Wonderful Co-Presenters!! "WE DID IT!!!!" This word came up with my mind and feel really relieved when we extension students finished our presentation. On December 7th, there was the biggest event for extension students which is  presentation about Japanese culture finished. The moment the final group finished giving presentation, I feel fulfilled to everything I have ever done about presentation.  Through this presentation, I  realized such a wonderful people I was surrounded. Now, I describe the people who supported me about presentation and the impressive experiences.  First, I really appreciate a lot of teacher supporting me. My preparation of presentation such as power point and script was really late because I couldn't organize well smoothly. That's why, I was really upset when I finished my power point and script because I had no idea how should I talk in front of such a lot of people. This practice was really more complex than I though. How

Powerful Stimulation!!

 I like to hear the career of adult people because I can draw ideal future that I have not yet had this experience, such as job and marriage. Also, sometimes their advices I seek benefit me because of course their life is longer than me. To my pleasure, I could have an opportunity to hear this from host family who accepted my roommate as host daughter last semester. This couple has been married for three years, therefore they are rather like newly married couple. They take us to the incredible restaurant serving delicious breakfast, famous ice cream shop where we can choose our favorite topping from variation such as chocolate, raspberry and custard and shopping mall we really love. All activities made us incredibly happy! However, at the same time, we can have a conversation a lot and this spurred interest in my near and long-term future.  First, I was really surprised their great bravery because they are going to stay Spain from next week on business. This day is the very approa

Unforgettable Trip

Southwest trip was not only just for fun, but also for studying. To go there was good opportunity for me. I learned many new American cultures. It made me interested in America more. It was helpful for me to feel Native American culture more realistic than before the trip. First, buildings which were made with adobe style were cute. When I saw them at first, I thought that I was in an amusement park. The buildings were small, short and rounded and the color was brown. There were many buildings which looked like same, but each building wasn’t same and it was interesting for me. I heard people who want to live there had to choose color in list to make their houses. This idea was similar to Kyoto in Japan. I agreed with this idea because I didn’t want to see buildings which were too bright. Also, I could learn how important buildings were to show the atmosphere of cities. I began to like adobe style. Second, I had a wonderful time in the University of New Mexico. It was a good opportu

Experience at Portland

I had many chances to experience fun activities. We visited a few schools in 4 days. It was interesting for me that each school had different ideas. I learned both American culture and Japanese culture in Portland. Also, I learned about nature and felt natural beauty. First, to visit some universities was a good opportunity. I went to Columbia Basin College at first and I talked about my cultural research with a student there. It was the first time to tell about Gambanyoku to a person who didn’t know about my presentation. It was difficult because my partner had no knowledge about Gambanyoku. I had to explain from beginning to end. I hadn’t memorized my presentation yet, so I used a script and explained it, but it was too hard to organize what I wanted to say. I forgot to ask him how much he could understand, but in my opinion he could understand a little. It means I needed to organize my opinions and practice more. Also, I visited other schools. One of them was Reed College. Ree
  My unforgettable trip Arisa Kirihara Can you believe you can change your mind in a week? I’ve never been to such a fabulous place where I really want to live. Living in the southwest is now my dram. There are a lot of my favorite places such as Acoma Pueblo, Grand Canyon, Museums, University of New Mexico and Santa-Fe. I changed my mind from seeing people of all nationalities. I could learn everything I saw from different aspects, for example, religion, language, culture, academic s and reexamine my future. First of all, I was really impressed to go to a religious village, Acoma Pueblo. It’s called Sky City. There is a lot of beautiful scenery I’ve never seen. I felt and found a lot of religious things including origin, faith and traditional events. When I visited there, I couldn’t record and take notes in order to respect and to protect their religion. Ac

Fabulous Extension Students

Two weeks passed since we came to Spokane and the class started on last Monday. I was surprised at Extension students’ attitude for study and so on. First, they take all classes hard. They try to answer to teacher’s question and give their opinion positively. When they can’t understand, they ask to teachers without a hesitation. One of the reasons why they became so is difficulty of classes. We have to concentrate to understand lectures. I also try to say my opinion in the class but I think it is not enough, so I want to make my motivation higher. Second, the attitude for their assignment is different from last semester. Almost all of the Extension students do their homework earnestly. We have already heard that there is a lot of homework in this semester from the student who joined Extension program. If we don’t have to care about study, we will not able to finish assignments before a deadline. We also have to finish it before a date changes because we have to concentrate in lecture

Unforgettable Portland Trip

Unforgettable Portland Trip Portland trip was beneficial for me. I could meet many students at each university, and learn many academic things. Also I could think about Japanese American and learn about Lewis and Clark. In each places, people and experience in Portland were amazing and valuable for me. First, I met many students and learned academic things from them. I went to two colleges and one university. One of them was Columbia Basin College. I met a student who is in the Japanese class. When he and I were eating lunch, two girls who are his friends came to our table. They start chatting with him. I realized girls were high school students when I was listening their conversation. Therefore I asked them, “How old are you?” They answered me, “We are 16 years old.” I was very surprised. After they left our table, my partner told me about the high school program which students can go to learn in college. I didn’t know about it so I was very fascinated by this program. I

Brilliant Trip

Brilliant Southwest Trip South west of America was really valuable place to me. I could have a lot of opportunity to learn many things through the South West Trip. I was fascinated by everything there and many things told us many tradition and culture. I could see many people and art, hear different language and feel nature. Now, these experiences became my educational benefits. If I didn’t go on this trip, I would never know about the Native Americans, such as their symbol, modern life and food. I could go many places which relate to Native Americans. First, I learned many symbol of Pueblo people at the museum. There are many potteries in each museum. Every guide explained about them so I realized that how important to Indians the potteries are. The potteries are symbolic of the insects. They symbolize water. Water is very important to Pueblo people so the place where the insects are gathering means that is near the water source. Second, when I went to the Acoma