What Am I Going to Do When in the U.S?

          "What am I going to do when I study in the U.S?" This is a question I am asking myself upon receiving a piece of good news from the U.S Embassy which is located in Phnom Penh that I am officially confirmed as  a finalist by the U.S Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

      

         I will be spending a year living and studying in one U.S university, though I do not know which university and travel date yet. Even though I have never been to the U.S before, I've already seen myself walking on a snow during winter, laying and barbequing  on the beach, swimming in the sea, and surfing through the wave during summer, walking in a bloomed garden and taking countless photos with cheery blossom in spring, and riding a bike with my friends, American and other friends of different cultural backgrounds, in fall. All of these imaginations are so vivid, and sure, I will do them all. And these are just a part of what I am going to do, and these are just a part of extracurricular activities besides my academic activities.

         Besides fun activities, I want to take part in a debate club; a club in which we debate over engineering issues. I seriously believe that being a part of this club will not only enable me to understand more about something relating to engineering field, but also my English speaking skill, self-confidence, problem-solving skill, and the like will be cultivated in me as a person. It is generally well said that if you are to TRY to do sth, at least get SOMETHING from it; it should be something, rather than nothing. Therefore, I will definitely get it, not nothing. 

          Whenever thinking about going to the U.S, I cannot stop thinking about what I will be doing and how amazing it is. The feeling is not far different from when I got a piece of news before going to Japan for the first time in summer last year. I would think how it felt when stepping on the land of Japan, how it smelt when breathing in the air of Japan, how it looked when glancing around the immediate vicinity of the view of Japan, how it sounded when hearing people of Japan talking, and how it tasted when eating Japanese foods. This feeling is now also infiltrating deep into my heart. 

           I am also drawing a comparison between the life in Japan and in the United States of America. Personally, I believe that it will make it easier for me to live and study in the State than in Japan. Why? The answer to this question is that when I was in Japan, I could only make a smooth conversation in the zone where Japanese people could speak English, say at the university, but whenever I went out, say to super market, everything was in Japanese. I only used my gestures and some broken Japanese expressions to communicate.  Since now I am going to America, and I will have graduated from an English School, the Institute of Foreign Languages, also America is a place where English is spoken, I feel at ease studying there. 

        It will be another amazing experience for me to gain in my life. My sub-goals have been accomplished step by step, and some time in the near future, they will be form in a full appearance. "Dream big, achieve big", said Walt Disney.

Fish Performance

        On December 12 2012, I went to Oarai Aquaworld, one of the most famous aquariums in Japan. This aquarium is located in  the Higashiibaraki District of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. The pictures below were taken while visiting that aquarium. And the video is about the performance of seal and fish.

A seal and a whale kissing performance

 

 

 It was an amazing performance

Mount-Fuji

Mount Fuji is a place where I dream to visit. It is well known for its stunning view. Its view changes according to the four seasons, summer, winter, spring, and fall. The following pictures are nice views of Mount Fuji in winter:

These photos were taken from roughly 17 km height from earth when I flied back to Cambodia from Japan. I have not visited there yet, but I at least could see it through the window of the plane. At first, I didn't think that it was a mountain; I thought it was just a small heap of ice falling the night before because it was so small that I couldn't recognize it.

Sing a Japanese Song: "Ue O Muite Aruku ( I look up when I walk)"

          

We have translated a book into Khmer

         Last February, a group of Japanese students from Nihon Fukushi University (NFU), a university which I went to, came to Cambodia Japan Cooperation Center (CJCC), which is located in the Institute of Foreign Languages(IFL) of Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP). There were many fun activities on that day because it was also a day that RUPP celebrated a Fund-raising day. Moreover, on the same day, there was also another event celebrated at CJCC; it was KIZUNA festival.

On that day, I was very busy because I had to do multitask simultaneously. I ran here a bit and there a bit, but I was very happy, though tired. One of the most memorable experience of that day was when I joint a program organized by NFU students. We, Cambodian students, are asked to translate children fairy tales into our language, Khmer. At that time, three languages were used, Khmer, Japanese and English. Actually, the fairly tales were originally in Japanese, but they had translated into English, so our job was to translate those English texts into Khmer. 

After that, we, all together, sang a song titled "Ue O Muite Aruku", which means that "I look up when I walk." This song was the first and single Japanese song that hit number 1 in the US. It was in the top chart for three week in 1963. Here is the English subtitle of this song:

I look up when I walk
So that the tears won't fall
Remembering those spring days
But I am all alone tonight

I look up when I walk
Counting the stars with tearful eyes
Remembering those summer days
But I am all alone tonight

Happiness lies beyond the clouds
Happiness lies above the sky

I look up when I walk
So that the tears won't fall
Though the tears well up as I walk
For tonight I am all alone
(Whistling)

Remembering those autumn days
But I am all alone tonight

Sadness lies in the shadow of the stars
Sadness lurks in the shadow of the moon

I look up as I walk
So that the tears won't fall
Though the tears well up as I walk
For tonight I am all alone
(Whistling)

Cute Penguins

      Have you ever seen penguins? Your answer must be "YES", I guess. They are lovely, aren't they?

Photo taken at Oarai Aquaworld, Japan in December before X-mast

Penguins are groups of birds who cannot fly. They live in cold weather. I think that I can't stand cold weather as they do. One more thing I like about them is their swimming style; it's so cute that I cannot stop laughing when seeing them swimming. Following is the video I captured when watching them swimming.

They swim so languidly that I cannot turn my eyes off them. It's incredible mind-blowing when seeing them doing so. :D

Sentences Ordering in Chronological Order

Knowledge is a source of light in your life. Darkness will fade as long as the light of your knowledge still burns out.

Photo taken by: You Ratanaksamrith 

The following exercise is what I am going to use as an exercise in my Practicum at the Institute of Foreign Languages.  I will be teaching Writing Skill (WS 102) to a group of freshmen at Department of English, class E.19 (Academic Year 2012-2013). This exercise is derived from my original article titled "A Kiss Mysterious", which is also posted in this blog.

                                                            

                                                              Exercise

 

Look at the following sentences for a paragraph titled “One night in Tokyo”. Number the sentences in chronological order.

One Night in Tokyo

A.    At that time, as I remember, it was around 11p.m, and there were not many people in the street.

B.     On one wonderful winter night, about five months ago, I encountered the most wonderful experience in my life.

C.     My friends and I were roaming a street of Tokyo. It was so cold outside, so we wore thick clothes so as to avoid catching a cold.

D.    After fifteen minutes, I arrive at a small house, where I met a young, beautiful, Japanese girl whose age was around 18 years old.

E.     We were walking chit-chatting happily when suddenly all of my friends disappeared.

F.      I was so shocked that I didn't know what to do besides running as fast as I possibly could.

G.    Then, she approached me and gave me a glass of water. I drank it happily because I was thirsty after running for a long distance.

H.    When seeing me, she smiled at me and said hello to me. She was very friendly.

I.       After drinking water, we were talking about this and that for the whole night, and finally we became friends

J.       The next morning, I decided to go say good bye to her and went back to the hotel. I told her I would see her again the following year.

Answer: 1. B, 2.C, 3. A, 4. E, 5. F, 6. D, 7. H, 8. G, 9. I, 10. J