Morning class was just as jam-packed as usual with more and more stuff to learn. More grammar, more vocabulary, more kanji—more, More, MORE! It seems that I barely get my new set of flash cards ready when I’ve suddenly got to add 20-30 more…

The afternoon, though, was kind of special. We got to watch the 4th Annual Sagittarius English Speech contest—and even participate as “celebrity judges”. I was very impressed with the quality of the speeches and the topics presented. It was nice knowing that really, no matter who we are and where we live, we’re all concerned about the same things: the environment, overwork, doing your best, not losing touch with real people in our digital, mechanical times. The abilities of the contestants ranged widely, but everyone did a good job. My CP Yasu (in the red shirt), took home one of the Third Place prizes, and certainly deserved it. Without a doubt, his was the best organized speech. The young lady who won the contest (Minori Watanabe, back row on the far right) had studied in Canada for a year and spoke very well and gave a very memorable speech. She was also the recipient of our special prize, a pair of movie tickets to see Mission Impossible MI:3, which is playing here now.

Now, I only wish my Japanese were half as good as everyone else’s English! After the contest, there was a very nice reception with plenty of food. It was a lot of fun, and I was (of course) elected to be our spokesperson and present the award. Good news there was that since it was an English speech contest, I spoke in English (whew!).

By the time I got back to the dorms, I was so tired I could think of nothing but sleep. I tried to study a bit, but I’m going to bed early (it’s 8:30)…