Learning Something New

Learning Something New

I had a really wonderful time in Portland, because I was able to obtain a lot of things which are not only knowledge that I have learned on this trip but also good things for me,and I enjoyed them. It is a part of my wonderful memories!

First, I learned about the history of the area at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center. Our guide gave us maps around the Columbia River, and there were some marks that indicated about something important for the adventure. Those marks were a little difficult to understand, but sometimes it was easy to understand, so it was interesting for me. They also taught me how to make fire and tried to make it. It was windy and cold, so I thought it might be difficult to make fire, but he was really good at doing that. It was absolutely amazing!! He also showed us how to shoot a gun. It scared me so much, but it was interesting as well. We had a opportunity to hang the gun up, and we tried it. I was surprised when I handed it up, because it was very heavy for me, so I could not imagine people used such heavy guns. We had already known about Lewis and Clark, so I was able to share some information when they lectured about them. These experiences made me interested in the history of the area.

Second, I was able to have a confidence about my presentation topic. My presentation topic is about Japanese philosophy of peace, and this philosophy means how Japanese feel and think about something. In my presentation, I especially focus on peace, so I taught these things to my partners at Columbia Basin College. At first, my partners were a little bored, and I think they were not interested in my topic. I could not talk about it and show any pictures about peace. Fortunately, however,the next partners were really interested in my topic, and they taught me something about them. I hesitated to talk about my topic to the next pertners when I talked to my first partners, but I will give a presentation, so I realized I had to try to talk about it to the next partners. I asked them how they feel when Japanese talk about the war. They said to me, "It is Okay!" The words and their behavior gave me confidence to talk about my presentation topic. I think this visit was a very good opportunity for me to obtain such a strong confidence.

Finally, I felt how Japanese American felt during the war at the Japanese American memorial. I went to visit Mr. and Mrs. Kawahara who are Christopher's neighbors before we went on the Portland trip. My friends who visited them and I really enjoyed listening their experiences. We have great knowledge from them, so we gave some information for everyone. I think everyone including me thought deeply about this history when we visited the Japanese American Memorial. We saw 13 stones that had carved poems. Some of them were written in Japanese, and others were in English. I was able to understand how Japanese Americans felt about the war and their situation during the war a little bit. This place was not large, but it was absolutely wonderful. This visit was a really good opportunity for me to think over and be thankful for today's wonderful situation.

In conclusion, I experienced a lot of wonderful things, not only just enjoying myself but also relating to learn about something. In fact, I really enjoyed something fun, but I really enjoyed visiting the museum, the college and the memorial to obtain knowledge. I think it was a really great opportunity for me to think and compare between American culture and Japanese culture. It was an absolutely fabulous memory!!