pet

I have a tortoise as a pet.(tortoise or turtle? What's the difference between them?)
His name is “kanta”, and he’s about 15cm long.(big?)
I don’t know his real age because my father caught him by accident near my house ten years ago!!

He closely resembles the statue in front of the library in the University of Maryland, but he isn’t as aggressive as the mascot of the university...?
Anyway, he reminds me of wonderful days in Maryland!!

"AGH"

I went to "AGH"(Aoyama Gakuin High school) four times in the last ten days.
I was a student at AGH only six months ago.
I met my friends and joined club activities of the string club and the hand bell club, which I belonged to in my high school days.

These are pictures I took in AGH just before I graduated.
All girls in these pictures are now high school students.
Their school festival will be held next month, so they are practicing hard.
I'm looking forward to their performances in the festival!!

pictures

I took about 200 pictures in America.
Now, I tried to upload(?) three pictures.
I like clear sky!!

Return to Japan

All of us raised our voice “waaa!!” as soon as we got off the plane. It was not because we were happy to arrive at Tokyo, but because we were surprised at the hot weather in Tokyo.
After getting home, I heard that the temperature had reached 40.8 degrees somewhere in Japan, and it was the record heat.
However, it is not so hot today. When I went to the cake shop to buy some cookies, a woman said to me, “It’s cooler than yesterday, isn’t it?”, and I smiled only.

In Japan, a lot of things relaxed me. Japanese bills, coins, newspapers, TV programs, metro, a crowd at the station….every Japanese things made me relaxed. Also, I felt meals in my house were the best for me.
However, I sensed something was wrong when I walked barefoot in my house.

I remember my pleasant days in America while I read my friends’ blog. I had more enjoyable days than I had expected in Japan. I’m sure that my memories will become more precious as time passes.
My teachers, friends, mentors, unofficial mentors, and parents….thank you for everything!! Now, I like both America and Japan better than ever.

The Last Day!!!

Yesterday, we walked around an African-American and Latino neighborhood in D.C., and I felt a diversity of people in America. After that, we went to the White House though it was not scheduled. I was happy to see it because obviously it was the most famous building in D.C. Even if I didn’t know about the Washington Monument before I came to D.C., I knew about the White House, and also most Japanese must know about it.

Today is the last day of my stay in America, and we have to leave for Tokyo tomorrow morning. It is unbelievable that my stay for about two weeks is going to be finished tomorrow. I want to enjoy the rest of a time in America as well as possible.

I want to say thank you to Hiromi Sato, Dennis Oliver, and Berta Leiva for comments on my blog.

from Friday to Monday

On Friday, we went to the library and saw The Gordon W. Prange Collection. The collection was a very important material to know how GHQ inspected published matter. I was surprised that such collection was preserved in the library in the University of Maryland.

On Saturday, we visited Annapolis by bus. After we saw the beautiful building of Maryland State House, we went shopping in the town. Then, I was happy to enjoy the scenery of Chesapeake Bay. Although the sunlight was too strong, the salt breeze was so comfortable.

Sunday was the Museums day. I went to National Museum of the American Indian in the morning. There were so many Indian costumes in the museum, and I saw the video of their strange dance and song. Also, I went to National Museum of Natural History in the afternoon. A lot of fossils and stuffed mammals’ body were exhibited; especially I was impressed by dinosaurs’ bones. Then, I visited some memorials in Washington, D.C., and on the return road I saw the Washington Monument lighted up by the evening sun.

On Monday, we have three choices to visit in the afternoon, and I decided to go to the Aviation Museum at College Park Airport. I didn’t know that there was an airport in College Park, and so I was surprised that the airport was built about a hundred years ago and was the oldest in the world.

IDB and National Portrait Gallery

I didn’t know at all IDB(Inter-American Development Bank).
We met four Japanese in the building, and they explained the history, objectives, and activities of IDB to us in Japanese.
The main role of IDB was supporting the development in South and Middle American countries by loan and giving knowledge.

In the afternoon, National Portrait Gallery was so interesting for me because I saw a lot of portraits of American presidents.
I was interested in the presidents in the 20th century, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and John F. Kennedy.
I bought three postcards of them in the gift shop.

the Washington Post and the supermarket

We went to the Washington Post printing plant in College Park by bus on Tuesday.
I saw very huge machines and rolls of paper.
I was surprised that it took about hundred million dollars for paper by year. This figure is unbelievable!!

In the evening, we went to a typical American supermarket.
All of us bought gifts for friends in Japan and some snacks to eat in America.
I bought bananas for breakfast because I have the same breakfast menu every morning.

lecture and shopping

Dr. Marie Hallion gave us a wonderful lecture about the history of America yesterday.
I’m interested in the topic about Cold War, and this is why I decided to study international politics in the university.
I knew that Dr. Hallion spoke so slowly for us, but I could not understand well because of my poor listening skill.
I wished I could understand English well.

We went to Pentagon City shopping mall by metro yesterday night.
Some of my friends bought sunglasses because the sunlight is so strong.
I bought a cute ornament of snowman for a gift to my teacher.
I also enjoyed eating a peace of pizza.
But I have not bought souvenirs for my friends yet because I could not find anything good for souvenirs.


Now, I want Japanese rice, some fish, and tea!!
After I arrived in America, I eat pasta, pizza, and salad every day.

weekend

In Saturday, we went to Alexandria and Georgetown.
Alexandria is a beautiful and old city, and I could find many interesting things in the street.
In Georgetown, there are a lot of stores, and all of us enjoyed shopping especially Yayoi.
I bought a necklace. I wanted to buy shoes, but they were too expensive.

In Sunday, we went to Washington, D.C. to visit some memorials and the monument.
I was happy to see a lot of cherry trees from Japan.

first posting!

Hello. My name is Ikumi.

I arrived in Washington,D.C yesterday, and now I'm in the computer room in the University of Maryland.
I was surprised that it was very hot yesterday, and it is hot today, too.
It is hotter than I had expected.

Also, I was surprised that the campus was so large.
It has big green areas, many trees and flowers like a park.

Though I slept for about nine hours last night, I am sleepy now...why?
but I'm looking forward to walking in D.C today!!