I didn't have time enough to write down happenings over the past couple of days, so I put them en masse here...
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(Thursday, August 07)
It's been storming since last night. Although it hasn't rained so much, wind blew very fiercely. Because of this annoying wind, I couldn't sleep well last night... I was not in Okinawa over the past years, so it was the first time after years for me to experience typhoon. Typhoon is very common natural phenomenon for people in Okinawa. I myself believed that I grew accustomed to it, but I was very bothered by it this time all the more because I hadn't experienced it for years... I felt that there's little we can in front of rage of nature...
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(Wednesday, August 06)
I received the result of the first exam of the teacher's exam today, which was held on 07/20. I was "lucky" enough to pass it (^^) When I first took the envelope, I doubted that I could pass the exam, because the envelope was not so stuffed ( I had heard that the envelope mailed to those who succeeded in the exam was stuffed with many documents necessary for the second exam...). But when I tried to see through the envelope holding it toward the light before I actually opened it, I found myself succeeded in the exam recognizing that there was a document to be filled in for the second exam...(^^; I'm quite sure that I couldn't have got the result without the support from many people... I can keep going forward because they are always with me... I mustn't forget it... I'll definitely make the best effort I can!
Immediately after I found that I could pass the first exam, I went to a cram school to register for the intensive course for the second exam, which M-san recomended me to take... On my way home from the cram school, I stopped by a bookstore supplying authorized textbooks to buy an English textbook used in high schools to prepare to make a lesson plan required to turn in on the first day of the second exam...
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(Tuesday, August 05)
I joined US- Japan college students in the field-trip as a volunteer interpreter. We visited the peace memorial museums and listened to the survivors' narratives. Also, we paid a visit to some sites of the second world war: we actually stepped in to one of the limestone caves where civilians as well as surviving soldiers hid themselves during the war. Although more than 50 years have passed since the war, there remain painful and sorrowful memories here and there...
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(Monday, August 04)
I attended the panel-discussion, a program at the US-Japan College Students Conference. Three panelists talked about the US-Japan security treaties from different perspectives: one from the administrator's viewpoint, one from the political-scientist's viewpoint, and one from journalist's point of view... As a matter of fact, I was not so familiar with the issue in question till then, but I got to be more and more interested in it after that... As one of the local people living in Okinawa where 75% of the entire US military base in Japan concentrates, I cannot avoid facing the issues related to it...
Later on, there was a stand-up dinner party at the multipurpose hall. I had a chance to personally talk to some US college students. I haven't spoken English for a while, so it was fun talking to them in English.
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(Sunday, August 03)
I drove to my sister's house to meet her friend, M-san, a high school English teacher. Since M-san passed the teacher's exam last year, my sister asked her to help me prepare for the teacher's exam. M-san then willingly accepted my sister's request and took the trouble to spare her time for me even though she herself was busy with the first-year-teacher's training...
She brought with her huge amount of materials so that I can refer to them, and gave me in-depth answers for every single question of mine. I cannot thank her enough... The only possible way to show my gratitude for what she did to me is to do my best in the second exam of the teacher's exam... But first, I have to pass the first exam though...
---------
(Thursday, August 07)
It's been storming since last night. Although it hasn't rained so much, wind blew very fiercely. Because of this annoying wind, I couldn't sleep well last night... I was not in Okinawa over the past years, so it was the first time after years for me to experience typhoon. Typhoon is very common natural phenomenon for people in Okinawa. I myself believed that I grew accustomed to it, but I was very bothered by it this time all the more because I hadn't experienced it for years... I felt that there's little we can in front of rage of nature...
---------
(Wednesday, August 06)
I received the result of the first exam of the teacher's exam today, which was held on 07/20. I was "lucky" enough to pass it (^^) When I first took the envelope, I doubted that I could pass the exam, because the envelope was not so stuffed ( I had heard that the envelope mailed to those who succeeded in the exam was stuffed with many documents necessary for the second exam...). But when I tried to see through the envelope holding it toward the light before I actually opened it, I found myself succeeded in the exam recognizing that there was a document to be filled in for the second exam...(^^; I'm quite sure that I couldn't have got the result without the support from many people... I can keep going forward because they are always with me... I mustn't forget it... I'll definitely make the best effort I can!
Immediately after I found that I could pass the first exam, I went to a cram school to register for the intensive course for the second exam, which M-san recomended me to take... On my way home from the cram school, I stopped by a bookstore supplying authorized textbooks to buy an English textbook used in high schools to prepare to make a lesson plan required to turn in on the first day of the second exam...
---------
(Tuesday, August 05)
I joined US- Japan college students in the field-trip as a volunteer interpreter. We visited the peace memorial museums and listened to the survivors' narratives. Also, we paid a visit to some sites of the second world war: we actually stepped in to one of the limestone caves where civilians as well as surviving soldiers hid themselves during the war. Although more than 50 years have passed since the war, there remain painful and sorrowful memories here and there...
---------
(Monday, August 04)
I attended the panel-discussion, a program at the US-Japan College Students Conference. Three panelists talked about the US-Japan security treaties from different perspectives: one from the administrator's viewpoint, one from the political-scientist's viewpoint, and one from journalist's point of view... As a matter of fact, I was not so familiar with the issue in question till then, but I got to be more and more interested in it after that... As one of the local people living in Okinawa where 75% of the entire US military base in Japan concentrates, I cannot avoid facing the issues related to it...
Later on, there was a stand-up dinner party at the multipurpose hall. I had a chance to personally talk to some US college students. I haven't spoken English for a while, so it was fun talking to them in English.
---------
(Sunday, August 03)
I drove to my sister's house to meet her friend, M-san, a high school English teacher. Since M-san passed the teacher's exam last year, my sister asked her to help me prepare for the teacher's exam. M-san then willingly accepted my sister's request and took the trouble to spare her time for me even though she herself was busy with the first-year-teacher's training...
She brought with her huge amount of materials so that I can refer to them, and gave me in-depth answers for every single question of mine. I cannot thank her enough... The only possible way to show my gratitude for what she did to me is to do my best in the second exam of the teacher's exam... But first, I have to pass the first exam though...
posted by Naoto at 10:05 PM
