Dr. Dougras, Ph.D. in LOLOLOGY (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} dougras) wrote,@ 2008-08-29 20:49:00 |
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Life in Japan – Year 2 Day 317 (08-28-08)
COME AND READ THE BEAUTIFUL SPEECH I WROTE.
I went to school! And I did the things that I usually do. This is not surprising at all. I had some practice with the childrens and I had some banter with the teachers. I got a phonecall from Usui-san telling me that in tomorrow's special meeting that I needed to give a speech about Japanese culture.
Oh my.
He told me it should be in Japanese and to do my best. So I sat down for an hour and wrote a speech I felt I could be semi-proud of. It was beautiful and moving and I had Toriumi-sensei check it, and he thought that it was good.
After school I went to the doctor. She saw me, and things are going fine. My blood pressure at the doctor's office was 138/74 but really, it's always high at the doctor's office. So this isn't a surprise at all. She saw me with my speech – I was coping it down and making more revisions, and she read it. She liked it, too, and told me that the end of it was like a poem. Ahahahaha, I'm beautiful. But she wanted me to change a few words in it, so I wrote them down and vowed to ask another teacher tomorrow morning.
Afterwards, I went to the ever-delightful Gusto for dinner. They've broken out their fall menus now. Gone are the mangoes of summer, to be replaced by the mushrooms of fall. They're pretty heavy on New! dishes with mushrooms in them at the moment.
Since there's little else to talk about today, the following is the speech I gave (final copy) at the meeting, written in romanji because I am not going to fool around for half an hour to be able to type this out in hiragana, thanks.
A Beautiful And Moving Speech By Chris
Minna-san, konnichiwa. Watashi wa Chris desu.
Everyone, hello. I'm Chris.
Watashi wa ni nen mae ni nihon ni kimashita.
I came to Japan two years ago.
Watashi ga nihon ni kitatoki nihongo o hanasemasen deshita.
When I came to Japan, I couldn't speak Japanese.
Watashi wa mada nihongo o hanasemasen.
I still can't speak Japanese.
Yurushitekudasai.
Please forgive me.
Ni nen mae Wada Chugakkou de oshiehajimemashita.
Two years ago I began to teach at Wada Jr. High.
Dandan saisho no ichinensei ga sannensei narimashita.
Little by little, those original first years have become third years.
Ureshii hanmen sabishii desu.
It's both happy and sad.
Kyouiku wa hajimari to musubi no kurikaeshi desu.
Teaching is a cycle of beginnings and endings.
Nihon de hajimari to musubi wa totemo taisetsu desu.
In Japan, beginnings and endings are very important.
Oshogatsu ni nokogiriyama e ikimashita.
For New Year's, I went to Nokogiriyama Mountain.
Daibutsu o mimashita.
I saw the Great Buddha.
Yukutoshi kurutoshi soshite hajimari to musubi o kanjimashita.
I thought of the passing year and the coming year, beginnings and endings.
Tabun, tabun, nihon wa watashi ni kore o oshietekuremashita.
Maybe, maybe Japan has taught me this.
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Thank you.
COME AND READ THE BEAUTIFUL SPEECH I WROTE.
I went to school! And I did the things that I usually do. This is not surprising at all. I had some practice with the childrens and I had some banter with the teachers. I got a phonecall from Usui-san telling me that in tomorrow's special meeting that I needed to give a speech about Japanese culture.
Oh my.
He told me it should be in Japanese and to do my best. So I sat down for an hour and wrote a speech I felt I could be semi-proud of. It was beautiful and moving and I had Toriumi-sensei check it, and he thought that it was good.
After school I went to the doctor. She saw me, and things are going fine. My blood pressure at the doctor's office was 138/74 but really, it's always high at the doctor's office. So this isn't a surprise at all. She saw me with my speech – I was coping it down and making more revisions, and she read it. She liked it, too, and told me that the end of it was like a poem. Ahahahaha, I'm beautiful. But she wanted me to change a few words in it, so I wrote them down and vowed to ask another teacher tomorrow morning.
Afterwards, I went to the ever-delightful Gusto for dinner. They've broken out their fall menus now. Gone are the mangoes of summer, to be replaced by the mushrooms of fall. They're pretty heavy on New! dishes with mushrooms in them at the moment.
Since there's little else to talk about today, the following is the speech I gave (final copy) at the meeting, written in romanji because I am not going to fool around for half an hour to be able to type this out in hiragana, thanks.
Minna-san, konnichiwa. Watashi wa Chris desu.
Everyone, hello. I'm Chris.
Watashi wa ni nen mae ni nihon ni kimashita.
I came to Japan two years ago.
Watashi ga nihon ni kitatoki nihongo o hanasemasen deshita.
When I came to Japan, I couldn't speak Japanese.
Watashi wa mada nihongo o hanasemasen.
I still can't speak Japanese.
Yurushitekudasai.
Please forgive me.
Ni nen mae Wada Chugakkou de oshiehajimemashita.
Two years ago I began to teach at Wada Jr. High.
Dandan saisho no ichinensei ga sannensei narimashita.
Little by little, those original first years have become third years.
Ureshii hanmen sabishii desu.
It's both happy and sad.
Kyouiku wa hajimari to musubi no kurikaeshi desu.
Teaching is a cycle of beginnings and endings.
Nihon de hajimari to musubi wa totemo taisetsu desu.
In Japan, beginnings and endings are very important.
Oshogatsu ni nokogiriyama e ikimashita.
For New Year's, I went to Nokogiriyama Mountain.
Daibutsu o mimashita.
I saw the Great Buddha.
Yukutoshi kurutoshi soshite hajimari to musubi o kanjimashita.
I thought of the passing year and the coming year, beginnings and endings.
Tabun, tabun, nihon wa watashi ni kore o oshietekuremashita.
Maybe, maybe Japan has taught me this.
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Thank you.
