JET Translation and Interpretation Course – days 3 to 5

surprisingly, the 2nd day of the seminar was the worst day. things got better after that, probably because i’d given up putting pressure on myself trying to do well in class and just relaxing and going with the flow.

i think the material covered in the days after werent as difficult either. most of the activities centred on this dialogue session between 1 japanese and 2 australian university students, and covered a range of issues like religion, learning japanese, perceptions of each other’s countries, etc.

also, for the morning of the 4th day, we took turns making a short speech or translating, and i luckily was selected to translate from japanese to english. and for the morning of the 5th day, we had mock panel discussions, and all i did was speak in English :) no doubt i didnt get to practice as much, but the pressure involved! phew. i’m happy to have escaped it, in a way.

it was nice being at the seminar. upon returning to osaka, it felt like i’d been on holiday for a week, even though i worked harder there than i would have if i’d stayed here (the high school students are having exams, which means no classes too). it was like going back to school too – sit in class, and then socialise outside of it.

also, it was definitely enjoyable chatting with the other JETs from other parts of the country; some of them are quite cool people! i was surprised though, by the number of asian-canadians i met there – many of those i hung out with are asian-canadians (originally from hong kong or taiwan mainly). perhaps those of asian descent hang out with others like them – there were definitely a lot more white people there!

now it’s back to reality – preparations to go home and to continue with the next 2 books of the course! acck.