Saturday, December 18, 2004

Christmas Charity Concert and Year-End Party


Dec. 19, 2004 - Christmas Charity Concert, Yamagata Catholic Church Posted by Hello

20041219日(日)

 僕は午前8時に起きて、おそばを朝御飯として食べて、2時のミサに参列するつもりだった。でも、途中でくんからメールが来た。午後の忘年会の事を聞いた。僕の返事にクリスマスチャリティ―コンサートのことも書いた。衛くんは 教会に行きたいといって、教会までの行く道を聞いた。そして、スーツとズボンをよく見たら、アイロンをしなければならないと思った。だから、僕はミサに遅れた残念だったけど、午後は忘年会だから、英語のミサに参列ができない。

 ミサの後、エミリーさんとクリスティーさんを見た。二人はコンサートを見に行った。コンサートの数分前、衛くんが来た。信じられないけど、僕はうれしい。衛くんは遠い所からコンサートを見に行ってくれた。コンサートはよかった。

 コンサートのあと、僕は山形市国際交流協会の忘年会へ行った。子供たちとスタッフと学生ボランティアーと一緒にゲームをしたり食べたりした。春雨という料理は一番おいしかった。

 家に帰ってから、4時間寝た。夜は母に電話した。明日は学校へ行く。おやすみ。


English Translation:

December 19, 2004 (Sunday)

I got up at 8 o’clock, ate soba for breakfast, and intended to attend the mass at 2:00. However, an e-mail came from Mamoru. He asked me about the year end party in the afternoon. The Christmas Charity Concert has also been in my response. Mamoru said he wanted to go to the church, and asked the directions going to it. And then, I thought that I had to iron the suit and the pair of trousers as I looked at them carefully. Thus, I even though I would be late for the Japanese mass, I decided to attend to it as I could not attend the English mass for the reason that I was going to the year end party in the afternoon instead.

I saw Emily and Ate Cristy after the mass. They went to see the concert. Mamoru had come a few minutes before the concert. I could not believe that he could make it to the church but I am glad that he did. It is because he came from a faraway place just to see the concert. The concert went well.

After the concert I went to year end party of the Yamagata City International Friendship Association. We played games with children, staff, and the student volunteers and we had food. The dish called “harusame” or spring rain was the most delicious for me.

I slept for four hours after I had returned to the house. I called my mother at night. I will go to school tomorrow. Good night.

Thursday, August 05, 2004

Street Dancing


August 5, 2004 - Hanagasa Festival (Ken, Jay-R, Eric, Arlene) Posted by Hello

* Originally posted in my Multiply account, http://ebdeguzman.multiply.com.

Yesterday was so fun, though a bit tough. We had the annual Hanagasa Flower Hat Dance Festival. It is actually held for hree days every year but the international students (like me) danced only on the first day. Some groups were devotingly practising since last year as they will be dancing for three days. Anyway, my experience yesterday was quite enough for me to give it a try again next year.

I came to the city hall at about 3 pm. It was the assembly place for all that will dance under the Yamagata City International Friendship Association umbrella. Being under the International Student Center of Yamagata University, we were also under the association. In the assembly hall there were so many foreigners. Most noticeable are the Chinese and the Koreans, who comprised the greatest number. There were also some Malaysians, Brazilian, Indonesians, Americans and Canadians.

I though I was the lone Filipino there since I am the only one wearing the Firipin sash. But eventually, I met two more and we instantly became friends.

The Hanagasa Dance reminded me of the Obando Fertility Dance, same street dancing type and both are so much fun.

*To know more about the Obando Fertility Dance, please go to http://www.geocities.com/obando81.
Picture taken at Nanoka-machi, Yamagata City, Japan.

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Entrance Exam Blues - I passed it!

* Originally posted in my Multiply account, http://ebdeguzman.multiply.com.

Now is summer vacation here in Japan but I will still be busy in preparing for my entrance exam on the 23rd. Actually, I will be meeting my tutor as I will familiarize myself with my research proposal which he will be translating for me in Japanese.

The exam will be an interview by the Math department faculty panel and it will be in Japanese. I don't really know if I can reply to them in Japanses but at least I need to familiarize myself again with my undergraduate thesis which was written almost three years ago. I have forgotten what it was about already.

I am worrying about the entrance exam in two ways. One is the content itself of the interview. Next is how to have it in Japanese. Well, I will just leave it to God, to my tutor, to my academic supervisor, to the math faculty panel, and to myself.

Gambarimasu!

Monday, August 02, 2004

Teaching Math for Kids is Fun!

* Originally posted in my Multiply account, http://ebdeguzman.multiply.com

Lately I have started teaching mathematics to some Filipino children here in Japan. I actually have two students. The one is in high school already and the other one is in elementary. The high school student still knows how to communicate in Tagalog, which was a great convenience for me. However, the other one speaks no other than Japanese, so every time we have the session, I am quite nervous with my Japanese. It is obvious that the little girl is more fluent than me in Japanese but it is ok. The girl at first seemed to be very shy but as the sessions went on, we are having fun.

It is very fulfilling for me to see them learning their math with me as their tutor. Someone told me that why did ‚h choose teaching math for kids as a volunteer work instead of having it as a part time job. I really don't know why also. But for me, it is experience and fulfillment that matter most to me. May be some other time, I can teach math or English as a part-time job, but for now, I will just let myself experience the fun being with children of the same country as where I came from.