Fabulous Portland

I took a trip to Portland, Oregon with my dear extension friends and teachers on November 15th to 18th. I had a very good time with them, and through this trip, I was really glad that I had joined this extension program. I could learn about historical relationships between Japan and Portland, visit and know about some colleges, and realize how precious and enjoyable to spend time with extension friends

First of all, I learned about historical relationships between Japan and the USA. especially about Japanese American. Before we left for this trip, we read a book, "Weedflower" in reading class. It is about Japanese American and we learned about that Japanese Americans were discriminated during the World War Ⅱ. During the war time, they were put into the camps.Before this trip, I could know about Japanese American very well. With this knowledge, we went to Japanese American Memorial. I was impressed by this memorial. the stones shows the difficulties of life during the war time. This memorial made me sad, but it is essential for me to know about this sadness as one of Japanese. I could see many Japanese American and Japanese, I think it relates to the history. One of my favorite place is "Uwajimaya", a Japanese food supermarket. I bought many Japanese snacks, so I felt as if I had been in Japan at that time. In Portland, there were many chances to think about Japan. This is one of the reasons why I came to like Portland.

Second, I went to the Columbia Basin College. At that school, we had a chance to talk with students about my presentation topic. It was my first time to tell to American people who doesn't know anything about our presentation. I was worried about whether the students were interested in my topic or not, but the students listened my topic very carefully and they gave me lots of good advice. It was a very good opportunity to practice and share Japanese culture. We also visited to Reed College. We didn't have time to communicate with many students, but we could ask some questions to a teacher and a student. This college is very unique. The most surprising thing is that this college doesn't have grade system. It is to make students study with fun. In Japan, I have never heard such system, so I was astonished. Additionally, we went to Portland State University. There were no chances to talk to with students, but we watched a volley ball game. Portland State University is famous for sports in the US. I was very happy to watch the game, because I really like watching volley ball games. I like these universities very much. The motto of Portland is "Keep Portland Weird". Each universities is very unique and attractive.

Finally, through this trip, I felt one thing very strongly. This is how important and enjoyable to be with extension friends. There were many times to spend with friends in those for days. It seems very natural, but I had some moment that I really enjoyed with my friends. First, it was at Columbia Gorge Discovery Center. When we were listening the lecture, many students asked many questions. Thanks to those questions, I could learn about more deeply. This situation happened not only at Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, but also other places. Secondly, most of us used English Only as much as possible. When we had dinner at a pizza restaurant, we talked a lot only in English. We also practice good speaking style, for example using gesture, eye contact, and good postures. On our table, we talked about the reason why each person chose to join the  extension program, with good posture and so much fun. I think that time was very good for us, because we could practice for presentation even with having fun and we could share our enthusiasm each other. After I listened my friend's enthusiasm, my motivation goes up. I think to recall my enthusiastic feeling is very important for us to keep work hard. During this trip, my friends reminded me that. Thanks to my friends, I can work hard again.

This four days trip was not only good because it was always raining, but I could enjoy learning about history, visiting schools, and spending time with friends. I really appreciate to my parents to let me join this fabulous extension program.