８月６日の日誌

  Everybody hates writing a diary. Seeing as I'm one of the first to write it, I'll try and keep the hurdle down by keeping it nice and short.
  Our friends from Asia and Australia and New Zealand came today. This was an event we were looking forward to since yesterday, and it was very exciting.
  I'm still amazed at how easily we got over the awkward silences and started to hang around together. Everyone was very friendly and eager to talk. We played basketball together, and everyone was SO GOOD! Sports are wonderful. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.

　国外の参加者と初めて対面しました。国外の参加者は英語がとても上手で、発音も大変きれいです。非常に打ち解けていてすごいなぁと尊敬しました。私は英会話が全然駄目なのですが、早く自然に口から英語が出てくるようになって、いろいろな人たちと友達になりたいと思いました。
　まだ正式な授業は受けていませんが、明日からはいよいよ沖縄プログラムや講義が始まります。まだ分からないことばかりで、不安も多いですが、その分期待とか楽しみがたくさんあるので、いろいろな体験をして、このプログラムを楽しんで、多くのことを学びたいと思います。

　今日から国外の参加者が合流して、様々なプレッシャーの中過ごしました。
　そんな中、私は他国の文化を知るということよりも、自国の文化への知識を深めることができるということに感動しました。食事のときに「いただきます」と言う、私にとって普通の行動が他国の参加者には不思議に見えたようで、これは日本にしかない素晴らしい文化であることを再認識することができました。
　もちろん、他国の文化にも感銘を受けました。部屋に入ったとき、相部屋の参加者が曼荼羅（まんだら）のような絨毯（じゅうたん）を敷いて、お祈りをしているところを見ると、私は貴重な体験をしていることを実感します。これからも、そのような驚きの連続だと思います。
　この場でしかできない体験を大切にして、これからの活動をしていきたいと思います。

  The arrival in Japan was as refreshing as its first rays. Leaving Narita and its spick-and-span roads and the lush greenery was as heartening as was the enthusiasm to begin AYEPO2010 in Okinawa. The bus ride to Itoman Youth House was smooth, if not fun and the cherry and grand welcome, echoing with cries of “Kon niche wa” and “welcome”, was exhilarating. After the short session of small talk and formal introductions with fellow roommates and participants, the guidance meeting took place with a few laughs and light-hearted jokes. The dinner followed at 6, not to mention the photograph session! Packed with Japanese delicacies and western delights, dinner with fellow group mates was, indeed, an ice-breaker. It was awkward to be eating in strange slippers, but I guess, I’ll get the hang of it. Yuka, my roommate and Mana, fellow participant showed me around the beautiful complex of Itoman Youth House, brimming with plump plants and sleak architecture. After loitering around for quite a while, we and a group of participants from Japan and abroad huddled together to play UNO, which surprisingly bound us all by a common thread of innocent fun. Japan’s hospitality and the logistics and learning support teams’ efforts and cooperation have been heartrending. I gotta feeling that the next 16days are gonna be SUGOI!

  This morning we　(the foreign exchange students) woke up in Tobu hotel, Tokyo at 6:00am, still sleep. I was trying to speak to the pre-recorded message which was my alarm. After breakfast we went to Haneda Airport. The flight to Okinawa was 2.5hours, and we went over beautiful countryside. I took many photos. When we arrived, we were filmed by TV crew. Okinawa is a beautiful place with amazing, unpredictable weather. As we were driving to Itoman Youth House, it began to rain. I was feeling a little disappointed, but within 10minutes the extreme humidity strong winds fought the rain back the rest of the day.
  Brilliant!