2024年7月の記事一覧

Seattle Diary

Day 4  24th July

 In today’s ESL class, we enjoyed a “taboo game”, which was very difficult, because we must not say the words that express the features of them.  But everyone must guess the word.  For example, the word “birthday”, taboo words are present and celebrate.  I had a fun time.

I saw the man who wear Hanshin Tigers T-shirt on the train.  I was impressed by how Japanese culture is being conveyed.  I was walking downtown, there are very big buildings.  I want to continue to look into the differences between Japan and the US.

  After the lunch we went to downtown.  The atmosphere was completely different from that of the university.  Then Perry gave us some missions.  I talked to many people to solve that.  I could take a photo with them.  I was surprised that I could communicate with them more than I expected.  As a result, we could solve all the missions.  We had a precious time.  I want to talk to more people. 

７月２５日（木）。語学研修のELSクラスは、今日が４日目。後は、明日の最後の講座と、まとめのプレゼンテーションを残すのみとなりました。日毎に、よりアクティブな活動になってきているように思います。明日のプレゼンテーションが楽しみです。

午後は、ダウンタウンからフェリーでBainbridge島に渡り、いろんな人たちとコミュニケーションをしながら、ウインドウショッピングをしたり、アイスクリームを食べたり、スーパーマーケットに置いてあったストリートピアノを弾いたり、それぞれの仕方で小さな遠足を楽しみました。フェリーから見るシアトルの街は、とても美しく存在感があり、これまでの経験を象徴するものとして、生徒たちの心に刻まれたようです。

また、朝は曇り空でマウントレーニアは見えなかったのですが、出かけるころには陽射しも戻り、帰りのフェリーからは、壮麗なマウントレーニアが見えていて、これもまた、生徒たちの心に刻まれたことでしょう。

Seattle Diary

Day 3  July 23rd

  I learned how to interview in ESL class.  The most important thing in interview is to think about the feelings of person who will be interviewed.  So, if people reject my interview, we should say “That’s OK.  Have a nice day!”

  After the morning class, we went to Greenlake park.  We interviewed some people like, their names, their favorite things to do and so on.  All the people answered kindly.  I was so happy but at the same time I felt frustrated.  I think the reason why people are kind to us is we are Japanese.  So I want to become a better speaker of English. 

  In the afternoon, we went to Greenlake park.  The lake was very beautiful.  We enjoyed playing sky catch.  It was fun!  After that I interviewed people.  Firtst I thought people in America is scary, but actually they are not at all.  I realized that it is fun to talk with people in English.  I want to talk another people more.

Perry asked us why so many adults were in this park even on weekdays.  I think that people value family time in America.

At lunch, I got very thirsty.  I wanted to buy a drink, but I didn’t know how to use the card on a vending machine.  At that time, the girl who was behind me in line helped me buy a drink.  The girl was very kind.  In Japan, I don’t think many people do such a thing.  I wish Japanese people would be friendly like people in Washington University. 

７月２４日（水）。研修活動の日程としては、今日が折り返しになります。研修の大まかな枠組みは、午前中ＥＳＬクラスを受講し、午後は大学内外で、さまざまな活動を行いながらコミュニケーション能力を高めるようなプログラムを設定しています。

今日の午後は、シアトルのダウンタウンに地下鉄に乗って出かけ、大学生のガイドについてもらい安全には万全を期しながらも、３班に分かれて「スカベンジャーハント」という競技を行いました。「スカベンジャーハント」とは、「一覧表に列挙されたものを、お金をかけずに集めたり実行したりする競技」のことで、課題によっては、道を歩く人に声をかけて質問をしたりしなければなりません。

今回は、例えば「黄色い服を着ている人と一緒に写真を撮る」とかいう課題があったようです。それぞれの班が別々の行動をするので、私はある班について（と言っても、知っている人間がそこにいると緊張感も薄れてしまうので、見失わないけれど目立たないぐらいの位置から）観察していましたが、結構うまくコミュニケーションをとるものだと感心しました。それに、たった１時間半ほどの時間でしたが、大学生のガイドさんと別れる時に、本当に名残惜しそうにしていたのも印象的でした。

その後は、アマゾン本社を見て、その前にある広場で遊んだり、シアトルマリナーズのグッズ販売店によったりしながら、再び地下鉄に乗って大学寮に戻り、無事一日の活動を終えました。（ちなみに、私の場合、この３日間、歩数は毎日２００００歩を越えていました。）

Seattle Diary

Day 2  July 22nd

Today we had a ESL class for the first time.  It was fun and focused on speaking.  But I couldn’t say any sentences smoothly.  However, my English teacher Magiee was so kind that she tried to understand our English. Then we could communicate each other even though my English grammar wasn’t collect.  Through this experience, I thought that it’s OK to make mistakes.  Before coming to Seattle, Whitney said to us “It’s OK to make mistakes.  Just speak in a bit loud voice.” I agree with her idea, so I’ll try to speak English a little more loudly and am not afraid of making mistakes.

After the lunch, a university student, Sara showed us around the university.  Washington University is so large that we walked a lot.  I was very tired.  This university has many libraries.  All the libraries are clean and quiet.  Their exterior looks like the one in Harry Potter movie.  I like Harry Potter, so I am interested in these buildings. 

In the afternoon, we visited some places in university with our student guide.  The buildings are covered with beautiful and grace decorations.  Trees are planted along the road.  So I felt comfortably and enjoyed while I was walking.  One of the most interesting things that I found today is that there are not any electrical poles in this university. 

In the afternoon, we explored the university.  The woman who guided us was very kind.  So we can learn a lot about the university.  On the way, we drunk a tapioca with friends.  After the dinner, we played volleyball with some foreign students . At first there weren’t many there, but they gradually started to gather.  We didn’t speak much, but we had much fun through sports.  I am glad they accepted us.