Konichiwa (こにちわ)
By D’Juan McGee
Hello friends and curious readers! Here is another awesome update from yours truly! So far this week our class received three new students from Vietnam, created Japanese flower arrangements with other students from Kansai, attended a disaster prevention seminar and was assigned groups for a major presentation that we will be presenting on February 3.
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On Monday our class talked about want we did over the weekend. I got a chance to visit many shopping malls, book stores and street shops in Osaka. I also hung out with my new friends at their home in Takatsu, Japan. After our mini update the class was split into groups of four students and each had to pick one topic from a list of seven options to present on. My group picked “Amagasaki.” This means we have to do a presentation about the history and culture of the Amagasaki area. Did I mention that the presentation must be in “Nihongo” (Japanese language)? No pressure at all!
The second part of class was spent learning about Japanese flower arrangement. Now I have to admit I have never done a flower arrangement in my life, but this class was very fun. One of the teachers said that my flower arrangement was very pretty and so I donated it to the English lounge at Kansai.
On Tuesday our class attended a disaster prevention seminar. This seminar was very moving because it talked about the Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) earthquake that occurred on Tuesday, January 17, 1995. We saw video footage of the earthquake in action and the devastation that it left behind. I have no personal experience with earthquakes but from what I have learned they can be really devastating if prevention isn’t taken serious. After the seminar my Senseii classmates took many pictures of the items that were recovered from the earthquake.
Well that is all that I have for the moment so until next time Ja mata desu (じゃまたです).
To learn more about the UC MBAL program, visit: www.ucwv.edu/business/mbal
