In a speaking class

Last week, I went to the speaking class on Wednesday. I was nervous because that class was basically for students who were younger than me. Since I went to America for one year, I have to take some classes with them now. However, all students in that class is so nice and unique. There is a difference between this class and the class I took last year with my friends. Sophomore students are more aggressive to speak English and they are even enjoying talking each other in English. I had been afraid of taking this class, but I was so happy because the atmosphere in the class was so good. I thought I could do my best in this class.

I will write about what I got from this class. We had a talking time in the class and the question was about summer vacation. Most of students had a very good summer vacation, but I asked to Asuka about it and she said "Yes." On the other hand, I could not find someone who didn't have a good vacation. That's relieved me because I have never heard there is someone who doesn’t enjoy their summer vacation. Next, I found someone who went overseas during summer vacation, Ayano. She said she went to Minnesota for about three weeks to have homestay family. Actually, this is one of programs English department has so some other people went there as well. Then I found Haruna, who bought something expensive during vacation. She got a swim wear for 30000 yen, so expensive! I was so surprised when I heard that because I've never bought that expensive swim wear. Now, I want to write about my friend, Yuki. She went to England last year so she has to take this class like me. I guess she is one of the best people who enjoyed this summer vacation. This is because she went to Osaka with her friends and also went to Universal Studio Japan. But she said she paid a lot of money so she has little money now. Also, I found someone who did something for the first time during the vacation, Yuka. She got a car license so she drove her own car for the first time. And Yukiko travelled Fukuoka with their family.

I had a very good time with them! I have a lot of things to do though... (400)

My Favorite Drink

I like sodas so much such as coke, sprite, mountain dew and so on. When I can choose, however, I will pick coke as a first choice. Coke is amazing drink, but Japanese coke (cola) and American one is a little bit different. I think American one is sweeter than Japanese one. So I am kind of missing American coke. I cannot believe I couldn’t drink American coke at first because it was too sweet for me. When I was in America, I drank it almost everyday. That is one of the reasons why I gained weight. I like to drink coke with potato chips, Lays is going to be perfect. Also, in summer, I drink sodas a lot. That makes me happy. (123)

My Favorite Songs

Basically, I do love music so I do not care what kind of music is playing. I had learned playing the piano for fifteen years so I listen to classical music and one of my friends likes rock music so I am interested in that kind of music as well. However, I can say songs written in English are the best. When I was in America, I listened to the radio everyday and then I love it so I am still listening it even in my house on the Internet. This experience made me love English songs so much. My favorite singers are Usher, Flo Rida, Lady Gaga and so many more. I want Japanese to like English songs more. (120)

My Favorite Dish

My favorite dish is, of course, Japanese food. This feeling became strong when I was in America. When I was there and stayed at a dorm, I ate every meal in a cafeteria which was on campus. There were so many American foods such as hamburger, hotdog, pizza and macaroni cheese. At first I felt happy because these foods were so delicious for me. However it had been about five months since I got to America, I was sick of eating these American foods. I missed Japanese food so badly. Actually, I cooked some Japanese food sometime in my friend’s house but it was not really good. Also, it was hard to get Japanese things in America like Dashi and good rice. (122)

Something special I did during vacation

I went to Fukuoka to see my friends off with Meg. They went to Canada as exchange students. First, I went to Fukuoka airport. But an accident happened. Since I took a flight from Fukuoka to Korea when I went to America, Meg and I went to international section in Fukuoka airport. However, my friends were going to go to Narita airport from Fukuoka first so we should have gone to domestic section. We called our friends and then we went to the right place in a rush. We were so surprised but could not stop laughing. We could see our friends and said good bye. I know they will do well in Canada, but I am a little sad because I have to take classes without them. (128)

Good and bad points about summer

Basically, I love summer because I don't like being cold. In summer, we only have to wear t-shirts and jeans. That means we don't have to worry about what we wear in the morning so much. Also, I like eating ice cream in summer. On the other hand, I don't like sweating a lot in summer. If I make up in the morning, that is going to be gone when I get to a place I want to go because I sweat. However, I really like taking a shower after I sweat. That makes me feel comfortable. So I will but my favorite body soap for good shower taking. (109)

How I study during the vacation

How I study during the vacation is a big question for me because I just got back from America so I don’t want to lose my English skill. Here is my idea for that. First, I will listen to radio that I had listened to in America. That is a music radio program and I can get pretty new songs form it. Also they have a part that radio speaker and listener talk about questions from listeners. That is so funny because most of time they are talking about their boyfriend or girlfriend. Radio is good for my listening skill. (101)

What classes I will take

I have some classes I have to take such as speaking and listening. This is not because I was lazy last year but I was in America as an exchange student. So most of my friends have already taken those classes. I felt sad, but I am okay because one of my friends Yuki is going to take those classes with me. She has also been to England last year. Now I am afraid of taking those classes because my friends told me a huge amount of homework is going to be given. But I studied at the university in America and American teachers gave me a lot of homework as well. So I think I can do well on every class. (122)

Vacation Plans

I have three vacation plans; studying for TOEIC, researching about companies I am interested in and going somewhere with my friends. First plan, studying for TOEIC, is going to be hard because I have just done with my exchange student program so I don’t feel like studying now. Next, I thing I have to know about companies. I am junior student and must be ready for job hunting. This is my biggest worry recently. Finally, this is what I want to do most, going somewhere with my friends! I want to go outside of Kumamoto like Fukuoka and Miyazaki. Actually, I have a brother who lives in Fukuoka so I can stay his house. (114)

2011 Fall Semester

New semester has begun. Since I went to America for 10 months, classes in KGU make me kind of nervous. Why do I get nervous? I think this feeling is from concern over classes with Japanese students. When I was in America and taking classes with American, I felt like every student wanted to learn something. It was not only things they were interested in, but also things they were not majoring. They never chat to each other and tried to say something to a teacher if they had questions. I cannot imagine Japanese students open their mouth whey they get questions. On the other hand, American students ask what they thought without any hesitation even if that thought is not a question but just an opinion. For example, when I was in a grammar class, my teacher explained about a history of English grammar and then one of my classmates said "I did not know this history even if I am an American, native English speaker." When I heard this opinion, I was so surprised because I had thought students never say something until they get a question that they really want to know. In America, however, this is not true. People want to say something in class so that they can know what they want to know. Of course, teachers expect to attend the class as aggressive as possible so students do like that to get good grade.haha Anyway, I will do my best on my classes! (249)