Promoting Internationalization

This past Sunday I gave a cultural presentation with my host father, Mr. Saeki. He is part of a group called TIFA (Takahagi International Friendship Association). The group members host exchange students from Hawaii and participate in many other events in the community. Mr. Saeki lived and worked in the US for about 7 years in Washington state and is pretty fluent in English. He wasn't expecting many people to show up, but there were about 57 people that came! I invited one of the teachers from school and my students in my Adult English classes. My other host mom also came, so it was nice to have them in the audience.

I gave a presentation about differences between American and Japanese education, American holidays and ceremonies. There are several differences between American and Japanese graduations and weddings. For example, in Japanese graduations the class representative receives all the diplomas for the class during the ceremony. The customary color worn by parents and teachers is black, so I will be wearing a black suit to Takahagi graduation on Monday. Japanese people also tend to spend more money on gifts than Americans and the guest gifts are often chosen from a catalog with items pre-selected by the bride and groom. I enjoyed talking about baby and bridal showers because Japanese people do not know what these are. My students from my adult English class were able to jump in and help me explain in further detail because I threw one of the members a shower earlier this month. During my presentation Mr. Saeki translated everything into Japanese and he did a fantastic job!

We had a short tea time and Mr. Saeki talked about differences he noticed while living in America like traffic laws, social security, taxes and garage sales. At the end of the presentation we had a short Q&A time. Someone asked what was one of the biggest differences I noticed while living in Japan. Since I spend a lot of time at the high schools I said the amount of time and dedication that students put into their club activities. For example, the baseball team practices 24/7 including Saturdays and Sundays and I often see them on the train at 9pm heading home after practice!

I am thankful I had this opportunity and was able to brush up on my public speaking skills and promote some internationalization at the same time.




Flowers from the Saeki's