2006年度　冬のホームステイ

活 動 報 告

★下記の英文レポートは、上記の内容と同じものです。★

Today has come at last.  I greeted my students in Haneda airport and we took a limousine bus to Narita.  Everything from check-in to immigration went smoothly.  Everyone seemed relaxed enough to this point where they can still make themselves understood in their own language.  We had a lot of time to spare until our boarding time, so we had some free time after checking with them the departure gate and what time to be back there by. Before boarding the plane, I gave out some instructions.   All of the students have been very responsible and careful with their belongings.  Most of them had some sleep during our 9-hour-flight but it was three in the morning in Japan when we arrived in SFO and therefore, it is only natural that they are very sleepy. And now, our first challenge awaits us...the immigration in English!  Some start to mutter under their breaths, "two weeks," or " sightseeing."  There were some who accidentally forgot to get their passports and return tickets back from the immigration officer (they must have been quite nervous) but they came back when called and they redeemed themselves by saying, " Thank you." or "Sorry" to the officer in English. Our Teacher Coordinator, Ms. Barbara, was waiting for us at the exit.  She seemed very kind and was talking to each and every one of us in turns, calling us by our names.  Our bus driver, Carl, was a jolly guy with a Santa hat on and was a pleasant and safe driver.  He said he usually do runs to the National Parks like Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore so today's run from SFO to Los Banos was a piece of cake.  Some students had already received letters from their American families before departure along with their recent pictures, so they approached the families upon recognition...not.   Ms. Barbara handled the situation by calling out names one by one, announcing our families and then we all went inside the restaurant.  After a while, all　 students were warming up to the new environment  and I was able to see some smiles.  One host dad said with a grin on his face, "We are taking her to a "Nutcracker" Musical tonight but it's a surprise!" although her two host sisters looked so excited that they were most likely to spill the beans before they go there... So off they all went to a world of English, English and more English.  I asked a worried and nervous-looking student how he was and he said, "I'm fine.  I'm not nervous."  He looked beyond his age and I saw a flash of confidence beginning to surface.  For the next three days, they will be enjoying new encounters, new people and new food.  I can hardly wait to see them on Tuesday and ask them about their Christmases.

★下記の英文レポートは、上記の内容と同じものです。★

Students started to arrive at the Study Center around nine. Two of them though is either spending the whole day today golfing with his host dad who only had today off work during the two weeks or still enjoying her Christmas with her host family. These American families are just amazing and wonderful in thinking of the students and taking care of them as a member of their families. One student got to go see a "Nutcracker" musical and another student got a brand new bed except the bed was not delivered as promised so the host family got worried that the student would be shocked to see his new bedroom without a bed to sleep on. Therefore, the family asked me to translate to him that they do have a bed for him and it is going to be delivered later on that night so that he does not have to sleep on the floor. Even over the Christmas weekend when we did not have classes, some families called me to ask the student if there was anything they could do for them to make them feel at home since they looked quite nervous. They are just wonderful people and pay attention to and care about the smallest things like us Japanese do. At the Study Center, some show a sign of obvious relief to be seeing some familiar faces while others look totally adjusted to the new surroundings. One host dad brought a lunch box that a student had forgotten in the car and the student was just a natural in saying, "Oh, excuse me and thank you." All students had such unique experiences on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that it was a lot of fun to be talking to them today. Some families came from Mexican backgrounds and they were teaching our students Spanish and English. Then in return, the students taught them Japanese. The Christmas dinners varied in its choices of meat; some had chicken, turkey, prime ribs or crabs. Many students wrote in their journals that they were surprised to see their families just ripping away the nicely wrapped presents. They all seemed to have enjoyed their Christmases doing a number of things...some went golfing, experienced being a couch potato or opened presents at the crack of dawn. Everyone except two absent students enjoyed their morning class. They already got homework today which they are to go over some house rules with their families in order to make the homestay go smoothly. Even though some students had trouble focusing in class, Ms. Barbara was a pro at getting their attention and redirecting it to class. At lunchtime, they all had a blast seeing what others brought for lunch. Some had leftovers from yesterday or THE American lunch that they were told about at the orientation. Those of whom had a McDonald's takeout lunch delivered by his host dad or brought two CUP NOODLES were envied by others. In the afternoon, we went to the City hall and talked to the Los Banos City Manager. (Unfortunately, the mayor, Tommy Jones, could not make our appointment since he got stuck at another even in an adjacent town.) He was very kind in answering all our questions slowly and talked about his family and hobbies with enthusiasm. Some students gathered up their courage and asked some questions in English while others looked a tad to shy. Better luck next time. Later on in the afternoon, we visited the Police Department where Officer Warrent showed us around the facility including a jail, finger-printing machine, police cars and all the gadgets he carried around his waist. At the end of our trip, we stopped by the post office where some students bought stamps for letters home.Even though today was their first day at school, they surprised me by saying little things in English already like, " This is not mine." or " Excuse me, Teacher." Having spent a whole weekend with thier families right after they got here seemed to have had very positive influence on their attitudes. One fourth of our stay is already over and I just hope that they will continue to make each day count by trying new things, giving a shot at speaking English whenever possible and enjoying their time here in Los Banos.

★下記の英文レポートは、上記の内容と同じものです。★

It was nice to see the two students at school who had been absent yesterday. They both seemed to be doing well health wise and had a good time with their families over the Christmas weekend. Since we are going on our full-day excursion tomorrow to San Francisco, we reviewed the American coins and practiced words and phrases we are most likely to use when we are shopping. Some students seemed to be feeling too comfortable and relaxed with this English-only environment already that they talked during class. Ms. Barbara and I decided to shuffle their seats a little bit and that worked perfectly. At lunch time, we again had a wide variety of food on the table. One student was eating some rice with chopsticks and the other had two sandwiches. I am hoping that it was he who asked his family to make two instead of one sandwich since he would be hungry. I imagine some of them are starting to miss rice by now and I hope they see it as a good opportunity to cook some Japanese dish for their family. I am planning to cook rice tonight for my family. In the afternoon, we went bowling. For some students, it was their first time so they enjoyed it immensely. One student got hungry so he just went ahead and bought himself a Coke and French fries and he shared it with others. They always surprise me with their boldness in this strange land. Another student came up to me and said that she was not talking to her host mom as much as she wanted to. With the help of other students who sat next to us, we all tried to think of topics for conversation and just tried to make her feel at ease. I saw it as a great sign that she was actually trying to make the situation better somehow instead of staying quiet and letting it be. It seems that students know it in their hearts more than I do that the Christmas Homestay goes by a lot more quickly than the Summer Homestays. I pray that they will continue to make the most of it.

今日はサンフランシスコ終日研修の日。９時にスタディーセンターに集合して片道２時間ほどかけてサンフランシスコの街に行った。まずは有名なゴールデンゲートブリッジをバックに写真撮影。橋の一部は工事中だったみたいだが、相変わらずきれいで大きな橋だった。アメリカのテレビドラマ、フルハウスのロケ地だったこの街並みを見て嬉しそうにしていた参加者もいた。ピア３９という場所では３時間半ほど自由時間が与えられた。それぞれ３〜４人のグループに別れホストファミリーやバーバラ先生と共に行動。私達のグループはまずランチ。有名なクラムチャウダーを注文した人やハンバーガーを頼んだ人、魚介類のスープなどいろいろいた。みんなちょっと緊張しながら小声になりながらも自分の食べたいものを英語でオーダーしていた。それからは、隣接している数多くの店でそれぞれ葉書やＴシャツ、靴下やフットボールなどを購入しながらフリータイムを楽しんだ。今日最後の目的地は、ユニオンスクエアというビルやデパートが数ブロックにわたって立ち並ぶ所だった。そこでもまた自由時間があり、ディズニーストアや本屋さん、大きなデパートなどでお土産を買ったりして時間を過ごした。帰りのバスの中で男子生徒が「Excuse me.」と「I'm sorry.」の使い分けをどうしているかを真剣に話し合っていたので聞いていたら、中にはどんなことがあっても「Excuse me.」だけで済ませるという人もいれば、もし肩がひどくぶつかったり眼鏡を壊してしまったら「I'm sorry.」と言うという人もいた。聞いていて楽しい会話だった。その後英語学習の意欲が高まったのか英語のしりとりが始まっていたが、３周目に入る前にあきてしまったのかしりとりが終わっていた。明日の金曜日が終わったら３日間の週末が始まる。それぞれどんな年越しをするのだろうか。

★下記の英文レポートは、上記の内容と同じものです。★

We all went to San Francisco today. It was a two-hour-drive to the city and we first went to the famous Golden Gate Bridge for some picturesque snapshots. Part of the bridge was being reconstructed or renovated but it was still a beautiful and big bridge as always. San Franciso was where they shot the TV series, "Full House" so some students seemed excited to be in a city where it was filmed. At Pier 39, we had plenty of time to walk around and enjoy browsing and shopping. We were all divided into groups of 3 or 4 and each group had a chaperone to show us around. My group first ate our lunch at a restaurant. Some ordered the famous Clam Chowder while others ordered hamburgers or seafood soup. The students ordered their own meals even when they were nervous. We then enjoyed looking at stores where we bought socks, a football, postcards and T-shirts. Our final destination for today was Union Square and they enjoyed going to Disney Stores, book store called BORDERS or MACY'S. On the way home, some guys were discussing when to use "Excuse me" and "I'm sorry." Some always used "Excuse me." for almost anything but others argued that if they bumped into someone rather hardly or if they broke someone's glasses, they would say, "I'm sorry." instead of "Excuse me." This conversation seemed to boost their desire to keep talking about English, so they started Shiritori in English...although they quit playing the game before they had their third turn. Starting Saturday, they will have a three-day weekend and I hope they will enjoy and appreciate the differences between American and Japanese way of spending New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with their families.

★下記の英文レポートは、上記の内容と同じものです。★

We shuffled our seats on Wednesday but some students went from loud to silent and do not seem to be having fun in class as before. This bothered Barbara since we only have few more classes left and she wanted her students to enjoy learning English so we changed the seating positions back to normal.　We left for Hilmar Cheese Factory today after class and had lots of cheese samples! We then enjoyed a tour of the factory and then had Cheese Pizza for lunch. Since today was Yukiko's birthday, her host family had a surprise birthday cupcakes for us and we all sang Happy Birthday to her. We then had some time for souvenir shopping and I found one of the students buying a bag of strawberry chocolates for his host family which was very thoughtful of him. They had some great ice cream there and was only 80 cent for a cup and one of the students tried to bargain by saying, "One more, one more!" He seemed like he succeeded but was charged 1.60 dollars at the cashier but he did not look disappointed since he knew he at least gave it a shot. I was proud of him. Back at the Study Center, we talked about the Sayonara Party and decided on some events. Even though we do not have a lot of time to practice and prepare for it, I hope it will be a warm and fun party that everyone will enjoy. We have a three-day weekend starting tomorrow and I hope very much that everyone will enjoy their time with host families and hopefully cook some Japanese meals for them or do something to show their appreciation.

１２月２７日の生徒の日記から。
今日はだいぶアメリカの人の声がきけるようになってきたと思えた日であった。今日から２軒目のホームステイ先のZavalaさんの家になった。初日のウェルカムパーティーの時は、何も話すことができなかったのに、今日はZavala家に以前ステイしていた、イタリアやフランスの女性を紹介してもらったり、宮崎についてインターネットを使って教えたり、たくさんの話しをすることができた。
話を聞くと、ロスバノスには５７％の人がヒスパニックで７％の人が黒人だそうだ。宮崎市の人口が３０万人だと教えたら、とても大きな町だと、すごくびっくりしてくれた。これからも、もっとたくさん話していきたい。また、家族についての話をしていないからまた今度家から持ってきた２０枚の写真を見せたいと思う。

★下記の英文レポートは、上記の内容と同じものです。★

The three-day weekend has come to an end and everyone came to class smiling and energetic as usual. They enjoyed talking about their weekend with Ms. Barbara and each other before and during class. Some students stayed up until midnight and celebrated the coming of the New Year by pulling crackers or danced all night having fun with host families. My host family and I stayed up until 12:00 ( in New York time) and watched the ball drop at Times Square on TV and then went to bed which was a little after 9:00 am in Los Banos.  Most students did not feel like it was a new year since they celebrated it in different ways from our Japanese ways, but that is what they are here for so I am glad that they noticed the differences. Some said they had no time to sit down and write in their journals which, I believe, is a good sign of them having spent a busy but enjoyable weekend. In class, they talked about their weekends and practiced with a textbook on pronunciation and conversational skills. Two particular students were scolded for being distracting and loud and they enjoyed blaming one another, saying, "You!" and "You, too!" We also talked about the Sayonara Party and decided on things to do and who would be taking part in what. We spent our afternoon by first going to the local History Museum where we took a look at some historical items there which all had been donated by families. We then enjoyed watching "The night at the museum" at a movie theater. Most students bought popcorn and drinks and were surprised to see how huge their large sizes really were and to think that they could go back for free refills! Our last stop for today was Foster Freeze where some of us had some ice cream. I ordered a small Twister, but it turned out to be a lot bigger than what I had expected. Back at the Study Center, we practiced one of our songs for Sayonara Party and then went home. Tomorrow is our second and last full-day excursion to Sacramento. Hopefully weather would be nice.

We left the Study Center at nine for Sacramento excursion. It was a two-hour drive on the freeway while watching a movie on board. Our first stop was the State Capital where the California governor, The Terminator, works. He is having his inauguration ceremony tomorrow and was busy, as always I imagine, so he was unavailable for us to meet in person. We did, however, have an opportunity to go into his office in groups of fives and took some pictures inside. Some of us got his business cards and I found one of the students introducing himself as the governor to others with the business card in hand which made me laugh. We also got to see some chambers where they made laws. Our second stop was the mall and we were divided into groups again. Girls had lunch at a hamburger place. Boys probably ate at the Food court. Today was their last chance to do their souvenir shopping so I hope they made the most of it. Our last stop was The Old Sacramento where all the stores and buildings were preserved as the old time and had a nice, nostalgic atmosphere about it. We have been blessed with weather on both our excursions so it was not cold without our jackets or coats on today. On the way home, some watched another movie while others enjoyed interacting with a host brother and a sister.

We spent the morning getting ready for the Sayonara Party. We carried tables and chairs into the Banquet Hall and also worked on our picture frames we have for our families. We then made some "thank you" posters and decorations for our families and the church. We only had one rehearsal to go through our procedures but we gave it our best try. We have tables for Origami, Calligraphy and Japanese snacks where some of our students would be stationed to help our dear families and we also have a conductor for our choir and two Masters of Ceremony. The rest will give special performance at the party tonight. Ms. Barbara had a special surprise of delicious Chinese food for all of us and we enjoyed eating something that is similar to Japanese food for the first time since we've been here. I personally felt like it was my first time to have some type of veggies during our stay. In the afternoon, we all went home and either got ready for the party or tried to finish packing. All the families starting gathering around six and some host sisters and brothers enjoyed making origami while others enjoyed some sweets from Japan and USA. Ms. Barbara then officially began the party by first reading a letter. It was from a friend who had planned to come with us to Los Banos but could not come at the last minute. She received the letter this morning and it said that although she regrets having missed the chance to come to Los Banos, she is looking forward to someday flying over here to meet Ms. Barbara and also her host family. The family was actually at the party tonight and the dad, Bob, brought her Christmas present and said to me, "You are in charge. Make sure Emi gets this." Emi also trusted her presents for the family with us when we came here so it was very very heartwarming to see the beginning of a friendship even though they have not met in person yet! After the letter, our MCs proceeded with the program and Yukiko said our thank-you to our families on behalf of everyone. We then enjoyed Nozomi's Karate. Since the Hall was not very big, I think families enjoyed watching the martial arts up close and personal. We then sang, "Twinkle, twinkle little star" and "Silent Night" in both languages and our conductor was brave enough to use Toppo chocolate stick as his baton for the two songs. Our last performance was Japanese archery by Ryoya. He had written a nice explanation letter so I read it out loud while he performed and introduced the sports. He then had some brothers and sisters come up and try pulling the bows which was a fun experience. The program then had me, the Program Advisor and Ms. Barbara, the Teacher Coordinator, say a few words. Ms. Barbara handed diplomas to each student and students gave their families picture frames and that was the end of the party. Even though we do not have a whole lot of time at home tonight, I do hope they all had some quality time with their families.