The Portland
trip was the last trip that Extension students experienced in America. Trips
allow students to learn different historical aspects and facts in America. All
trips we have experienced were not only enjoyable but was also beneficial in
some points. This Portland trip was not an exception. Portland trip gave
students some benefits by visiting famous or important places, learning
American history, and interacting with people.
First of all,
learning the history of the Lewis and Clark expedition and the Oregon Trail
were beneficial experiences. The East Coast Trip was a trip to trace the
footprints of pilgrims who created the basis of America. This Portland Trip was
mainly about the expedition lead by Lewis and Clark which was extremely
challenging. Japanese students don’t learn American history in Japan so
learning them helped to understand America well. In addition, visiting museums
and memorials were really good opportunity to see what happened in the past by
our own eyes. It gave us a chance to know a tiny bit of huge American history
and increased our knowledge.
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| Why complain when it rains? |
Second, visiting
the Japanese-American memorial was definitely one of the benefits of this trip.
By reading the book “Weedflower” which was about the life of a Japanese-American
girl in the internment camp during World War II, Extension students learned how
difficult the time Japanese-American had in the camp with a realistic
description. In addition, we had a chance to listen to the lecture by the Japanese-American
man whose grandparents were in the internment camp. Having some background
knowledge about Japanese-Americans, the poems in the Japanese American memorial
written by these people really touched our hearts. “With new hope, We build new
lives. Why complain when it rains? This is what it means to be free.” What this
poem showed was their resignation and tolerance. We can’t complain the natural
phenomenon. Will the rain stop if we shout “stop!”? No. We can’t resist to the
strong power. What citizens can do is just be patient and endure the situation
hoping it will be sunny someday in the future. “Shikataga-nai”- it can’t be
helped, is one of the words that explains Japanese character. Students in Japan
usually don’t learn so much about Japanese-Americans because it is not in many
of the textbooks used in history class. If one had not participated in the
Extension program, she would not have thought about Japanese-Americans’
hardships and their lives. In this point, learning about Japanese-Americans was
beneficial for us.
Finally, conversation
with Portland English Language Academy students was an influential memory for
many of us. It was a language school and students from all over the world were
studying English. Although their nationality, character, and language levels
were different, all of them had the same goal; to improve our English skills.
At that point, we are all the same including Mukogawa students. How encouraging
the moment was! Talking with people who have a goal in common is always great
that everyone can share the same feeling and encourage each other. In addition,
one of the men in the class gave Mukogawa students advice that they should have
a clear goal to succeed in the future. This is exactly the same which our guests
at LCD told us. All of the international students were highly motivated and
spending time together was really impressive for students.
As you can see, the
Portland trip and learning about American history were great opportunity to
widen our knowledge and deepen our understanding about America. Plus, having a
conversation with some students at school was absolutely stimulating to many
students. We were able to get not only sales products without tax but also great
“experiences”. Visiting and seeing historical places with our own eyes is much
more valuable than learning things in class just sitting on the chair and
taking notes. Surely these experiences will be beneficial someday in our life
from now on.
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| Lovely G12 members and teachers! |