MFWI Extension Writing Class

I was a discussion leader in the conversation class, and my topic is “Child Abuse”. Child abuse is a big problem in the world. There are cases of child abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and other forms of maltreatment. The U.S Department of Health and Human, services report that for each year between 2000 and 2005, “female parents acting alone” were most likely to be perpetrators of child abuse. I agree with this report because single mothers have a lot of stress. Japanese child guidance centers throughout the country recognized and took action in a record 59,862cases of child abuse during 2011. Sometimes, I saw child abuse news, and the parents killed their children. I feel sad every time I saw it. Why do abusers abuse their children? I think they were abused by their parents, so they don’t know how to love the children. Therefore, children didn’t notice it, so their people around them must help their children. However, it is difficult that we judge a beginning of ...

I went to Washington State University on September 25th. It is far from MFWI, so I slept on the bus. When I arrived there, I was surprised because it is very big. Then, I went to the level 3 class, and I talked with the students. They are from Taiwan, China, and Saudi Arabia. I enjoyed talking with them, but a Chinese man didn’t talk with us well. I don’t know why, but maybe it is not good between Japan and China because of the Senkaku archipelago problem. I think that Japanese people are unpatriotic and practical about everything, but Chinese people are patriotic, so he didn’t want to talk with us. Next, we had lunch with them. The dining room has a lot of food, but I felt MWU dining room is bigger than there. I met on of the Japanese student while I had lunch, and I talked with him. He is a Kansai Foreign language University student. I know this university because some of my friends go there. He came there to study abroad 1 month ago, and it is the university program. I envy him beca...

We discussed Body Modification in conversation class. It was a really deep topic. I have never thought about it. However, it is a familiar custom for us. In this class, I could learn varying ideas from my friends and my teachers. I think that Body Modification has bad and good points. Body Modification is a kind of art. We can show our personality. We enjoy changing our body more beautiful. We can grant our wish. However, there are not only good effects but also bad effects. Body Modification is kind of art, but I think it has not deep meaning in the art. Probably, I feel impression when I listen to music or look at pictures. This feeling is different for all people, but I think most people have the same idea. Also, if we got them on my body, we couldn’t remove it easily. Moreover, it gives us pain. We have to think deeply, if we have an interest it. I don’t know to get Body Modification is good or bad thing. However, changing our body is a really big problem. I had a good experi...

This is the first time for me to celebrate Halloween. I learned about the history of Halloween. It was told from western Europe. It was celebration for the dead people or the harvest. It is not related to Christianity. I learned a lot of information which I didn’t know about Halloween. I got a lot of wonderful experiences. At first, I went to the Green bluff and got a pumpkin to make a jack-o-lantern. I have never seen a pumpkin farm. The farm was filled with a lot of pumpkins. It was a really interesting experience for me. To carve a pumpkin was little difficult. However, to think about the design and to carve it with my friends was interesting. Next, I wore Snow White’s dress at the Halloween party. It was a precious experience for me. Everyone wore cute or horrible costumes. I enjoyed wearing my costume and seeing my friend’s costume. The pictures which I took at the Halloween party are my treasure. There were a lot of experiences which I have never done, I’m glad to get the pre...

We discussed marriage in conversation class. I was a discussion leader so I researched marriage. I was surprised that it is only Japan, Korea, and Taiwan to have a family registry system. Family registry is an official paper on which our name and family relationships are written. I think a family registry is like a box of a family. When a man and a woman get married to each other, their names are taken from each family’s registry and put on a new family registry. When they have a baby, the baby is put in the family registry. I think it shows Japanese value. Japanese think that group is important. Family is a group and a family registry shows they belong to the same group. We are in the same box. If children marry, they get out of their parents’ box and make new boxes. I had a interest in common-law marriage. Common-law marriage is not legal marriage so common-law couples have problems. I wondered why they don’t get married legally and I also thought that why people get marriage. I...

How is the relationship between human and animals? Is there a pecking order? In Valley Fiesta, one man showed a performance with an owl and a monkey on the stage. When I saw it, I thought that human seems to have higher position than animals. The owl or monkey looked to me like one of tools for people’s amusement. At a zoo, animals are shut in cages or are limited spaces and showed to humans. It’s also for people’s amusement. The animals can’t live as wild animals. They have lived at a zoo since they were born so they don’t know wild life but they have rights for freedom. If we were in these animals situation, we would insist on our freedom. However animals can’t speak like human. The animals like the owl or monkey which I saw are taught to perform in one-way by human. They can’t refuse it. Also humans kill animals easily, sometimes as hunting play. It is a big felony if humans kill humans, of course killing intentionally our pets is a crime, but we kill wild animals for our safety. Hu...

On October, I visited Eastern Washington University. Then, I met a girl who is studying about Second Language Acquisition. I had some questions about SLA terms, and she tried to teach me very hard. She wants to be an ESL teacher, so she interested in talking with me. Sometimes I feel nervous to talk to native speakers, because it is not easy for them to understand my English and I feel sorry about that. It also wasn’t easy for her. However, I didn’t feel nervous at all, and I could feel her interest is true because of her face, attitude and behavior. Then, I felt want to have a good attitude like her when I talk to someone, because it makes my companion’s feeling good and confortable. I think sometimes how I am talking is more important than what I am talking about. In Public Speaking class, I learned that 93 percent of our credibility with listener come from our vocal qualities and visual characteristics. I thought it is too much, but now I think it may be true, Some of my friends...

On September, I visited Washington State University. This university was too big to go around. I visited an ESL class and met four Chinese students. They were kind and told me something about the university and their campus life. However, it was difficult to talk with them because all of us are ESL students. Chinese English was different from Japanese one. Then, I thought my English must be difficult to understand for native speakers. I thanked my teachers and RAs because they try to understand my English every day, However, they are used to understanding Japanese English because they listen to it almost all every day, so I want to be able to convey myself at a supermarket or restaurant correctly. After the WSU tour, I talked with my friends about the tour. Then, we wondered what the Chinese students thought of us because current international relation between China and Japan is bad. I watched a news that Chinese people were doing an anti-Japanese demonstration. However, the Chine...

Walk down the street Red hot chili smell flows into my nose Touch the wall, feel the history People's voices, cars are running, honking horns Take in the air, feel the Green Santa Fe is older than other cities

 I traveled to Portland from November 15 - 18. It was only four days but I really enjoyed it. It was my first time to visit Portland and I especially learned and felt three things: history, people and nature of Portland. First, I enjoyed learning about the history of Oregon. On first day, I went to McLaughlin House. This is a house where Dr. John McLaughlin lived. He helped travelers on the Oregon Trail to provide bed rooms and give food. Also he donated land for schools and churches. Thus, he contributed to the development of Oregon, so today, he is called "The Father of Oregon." I looked around his house and listened to the explanation about him. He was definitely rich and his picture looks a little scare, but by knowing him, I realized he was a very kind man because it is not easy and common to lend my own rooms and give food to travelers. It is not exaggeration that he made Oregon America. Information about him helped me to enjoy this trip.  Reed College, One...

Portland has important building and monument although it is the largest city between San Francisco and Seattle. Portland has a nickname called a “City of Rose” and this nickname became the city's official nickname in 2003. The slogan of Portland is “keep Portland Weirdo”. It means the people in Portland don’t want to be usual. They want to be unusual with others. I like this slogan very much. I went to Portland from November 15 th to 18 th and I visited many places for four days. Among them, Columbia Basin College, McLoughlin House and Japanese-American Memorial were standing out in my memory. First, CBC (Columbia Basin College) has interesting major and plan, and I met the students. This college was located in Pasco and established in 1882. It is a community college and it has 7,000 students so it isn’t large college. It is famous for that there is wine major. I had never heard “wine major”. I really want to know how the students who are taking wine major are learning abo...

I really enjoyed the Portland trip. During trip, I went to various kinds of places which include other colleges, shops, and memorials. Then, I could feel different culture, Japanese, and Japanese-American history. I had three memorable experiences there. Special experience First, I got a special experience when I went to Columbia Basin College. There, we met some students who study Japanese. We were separated into small groups for talking with them. My partner was Haruna. We talked with Amanda and Newton. Amanda is a freshman. I was surprised at her age, because she is sixteen years old! When I was that age, I was a freshman in high school. She taught us about the system of grade skipping at her school. She graduated her high school after only two years. Then, I felt American culture is dissimilar culture to Japan. In Japan, it is not usual. However this situation would be common here, so I can see a diverse generation. During our conversation, we explained about our presentat...

I had an exciting time on the Portland trip. I experienced many things such as meeting friends, learning history, and relating Japan. Also, this trip gave me various deep impressions.   My Precious Friend First, visiting university and college was exciting for me. I made great friends at Columbia Basin College. They study Japanese, and they listened to my presentation. Whenever I met people who study Japanese I’m glad because they are interested in Japan. Also a girl whom I talked with is interested in my topic. It was so pleasant and felt secure. Then I visited Reed College. This college was unique. This college doesn’t have a grade system and students are very smart. I thought it was a strange college. I learned there are such colleges in America. Also I visited Portland state University. I watched a volleyball game. It was fun because I felt identification by cheering team. Whenever I visit universities and colleges I am impressed.   Fabulous Multnomah Falls ...

I had a great time during the Portland trip. I could experience many things which I couldn’t do in Spokane from this trip. I was impressed by three main things. There are learning curious things, visiting college and university, and my favorite times.  Cute Owl! First of all, I learned three curious things. To begin with, I was surprised at an owl. When we went to Columbia Gorge Discovery Center , we saw an owl. It was the first time for me to see a real owl, so I was excited. As I listened to the explanation from the guide, I learned a lot of new information about owls. For example, the position of ears is different between left and right. Also, I didn’t know that owls were related to Lewis and Clark. Owls were one of the animals for which Lewis and Clark looked. Second, I saw many interesting things at McLoughlin House. It is Dr. John McLoughlin's house. He is calles "the father of Oregon". There was a beaver’s fur, Mr. McLoughlin’s office, sewing room for his...

I had a really great time with my friends, teachers, adviser and bus driver in Portland. I experienced many things on this trip. My feelings moved up and down a lot during the trip. There are three feelings which express my meaningful memories. Awesome Japanese Grocery Store First, I got excited about three things. I went to Uwajimaya on the second day. Uwajimaya is a big Japanese grocery store. I could buy tons of Japanese food. I was extra excited to buy anything I wanted. I bought Japanese snacks and natto. I didn't think I could buy natto, so this made me crazy. In addition, there was a Japanese book store there. It had been such a long time for me to read Japanese magazines. I felt like I went back to Japan. Another thing which I was excited about was that there is no tax in Oregon. I realized how awesome it is to live with no tax. I didn't have to think about tax. That means we don't have to account for tax when during shopping. I thought this was such a nice t...

I enjoyed Portland trip. However I overslept the only day when we leave in MFWI. I had never done that, so I was really flustered it. Anyway I have three best places in Portland. They were Reed College, Uwajimaya, and Powell’s City of Books. Reed College First, I was interested in Reed College. There were many green in the campus and the atmosphere was very good and pretty. Moreover I heard story of the campus life from the counselor. Her story was very interesting and I think she was really like the college. After that I took the campus tour. I was surprised when I visited the dormitory, because I walked through the animal trail. It was likely to come out in the movies. However I thought I didn’t want to walk every day. The college was one of my favorite  colleges in  the U.S. Japanese foods Second, I really enjoyed shopping in Uwajimaya. There were many  Japanese foods  such as umeboshi, sashimi, or hurikake. I have been to Japanese restaurant in Spok...

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...

America is more gigantic than Japan, so there are many different culture in America. I went to East coast, Southwest and Seattle during this semester and last semester. I realize that each place has peculiar culture once more. This time, I could experience a lot of first things through Columbia George Discovery Center, three colleges and a great nature. First of all, Columbia George Discovery Center showed me very interesting histories and an information. First, Steve, tour guide, told me about tools used by Lewis and Clark. I saw great tools such as sexton which is used to measure a road and a comps to make a map and implements to cure illness. At that time, they didn’t have a doctor, so Lewis studied medicine for two years to a trip. I saw these for the first time, and I couldn’t imagine people used them. However, I felt it was very difficult to live at the time. Next, Linda which was also guide showed me Junior which was great honored owl. I had watch a real owl only TV, so I was ...

Huge Multnomah Falls I really enjoyed the Portland Trip. It was my last time to take a trip with Extension students and teachers. I feel a bit sad. Instead I made many wonderful memories. I could visit many amazing universities, go to the exciting museums and achieve my goals. First, I had a marvelous time at three universities, Columbia Basin College, Reed College and Portland State University. On the first day, I visited Columbia Basin College. I talked with my partner who is CBC student. She was really kind, so I could talk with her about a lot of topic, especially about my presentation topic, pilgrimage. I was preparing to talk about my pilgrimage topic, but it was not easy. She didn’t know the meaning of pilgrimage. Also, I couldn’t talk about all of my preparation. I felt that I need more practice, however she said my topic was interesting. I was so glad to hear that. Also, when I was talking, she reacted, so I could understand which part is good or bad. I ...

Interesting Signboard in Downtown I had a great time with my friends and teachers during the Portland Trip. We visited many places. All of them were awesome, but especially I have three favorite places; Reed College, Powell's City of Books, and Portland Saturday Market. I was deeply impressed by them, and enjoyed spending time there. First, I was really impressed by Reed College's unique study style. A women who gave us guidance said that most classes are discussion style in this college. Of course there are some lecture style classes, but discussion is the main study style in this college. The students always discuss many topics no matter if they are in class or outside. Therefore, this campus has many benches and some swing couches. They make students comfortable for their discussion. Also, I was surprised that students can take exams at any place where they can relax. It means teachers trust that students will not cheat on their examinations, and students an...