LA Trip (2/27-3/1)

I went to Los Angels for three days. I took part in a LA tour with my friends.
I didn't pjan to go to LA becuse Ritsumeikan University student had already had plan. But the date of plan changed. So I could go to LA.
〈The First Day 2/27〉
We gathered at UCDavis in early morning. Our first destination was HOLLYWOOD. I had interest to it. Because I like HOLLYWOOD movies very much. We saw the words of "HOLLYWOOD” in a mountain. I was very impressed with it. We also enjoyed shoppng in there. There were many funny people who weared movie characters like a Spiderman and so on. But I felt it was dangerous place. So I tried to be safety  my own.

〈The Second Day 2/28〉
On the second day, we went to the Disney Resort. There were the Disney Land and California Adventure in it. We could choise from the two. We chose the California Adventure. I enjoyed very much. I like Tokyo Disney Resort but I could felt the different good point in California Adventure. I had wanted to go to Disney Resort California. My dream came true.

〈The Last Day 3/1〉
We went to Santa Barbar. The view of sea, beach, city and so on was so beautiful. We could spend elegant time in there.

These special days will be treasure. It was so good experience for me. I'll never forget this trip.

We went Two Site Visits !! (The 15th and 16th Days in UCDavis)

Gekkeikan Sake Company (2/25)

We went to Gekkeikan Sake Company yesterday. Gekkeikan Sake Company is Japanese brand of Sake. There are 4 Sake companies in the California. Why are there in the California? Because the about 80% of rice production is in the California. And water which used in the California is similar to Japan water. I am 20 years old, so I can't drink alcoholic in the U.S.A. In the U.S.A, over 21 years old  can drink it. I want to drink in Japan right now. haha. In the Gekkeikan Sake Company, we could see some things which we couldn't see usually. It was very valuable experience.

Medical Group Sports Medicine of UCDAVIS (2/26)

We went to Medical Group Sports Medicine of UCDAVIS. My major is Sports and Health Science. So I was very interested in ths site visit. The building was smaller than I thought. We asked some questions to there engineer. In those, there was a question "Do you know Mr.IzumiTabata" And he answewred "Yes, of course I know." I was very impressed with it. Then, this time, one thing was proved. Mr. Izumi Tabata is famous person all over the world. I am in  a very awesome environment. He knew the "Tabata Protocol" and "Mets." The equopments of there were fulfill, and I felt that Ritsumeikan University had wonderful equipments at the same time.

Through these site visits, we learned so many things.

Oja-Map @San Francisco (The 10th and 11th Day)

Oja-Map started finally. This is a small project of Rits-UCD 2015. The contents of this project is traveling around San Francisco. We divided members to 6 groups. I am a leader of group1.

-First Day (2/21)-

In the first day, we went to California Science Academy. It contains many sections. We went to planetarium, aquarium, rain-forest area and earthquake area. I think it had very wide categories. So anyone can enjoy there. We enjoyed very much and studied hard. It was very interesting. By the way, we also enjoyed the Golden Gate Park. The view of nature was so beautiful. There were many flowers and white building in the garden. In the night, we ate hamburger near the Union Square. It was very delicious because hamburgers were hand made. It was first experience to eat hand made hamburger. We also enjoyed the night time. The first day was very fulfilling.

-Second Day (2/22)-

We started activity at 8:00AM. Our group went to Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square. We focused on shopping in this day. I bought so many things. So my wallet is light now. haha(笑) Foods were very delicious. Fisherman is famous for Clam chowder. The taste was great. But we have to be aware to birds flying the sky. They aim at it. So we ate it under a roof. in this day, we moved very actively. So we were too tired to stay up.

 In the way back from San Francisco to Davis, there were some travels. The train we tried to take on didn't come. So we arrived at Davis late one hour than scheduled. Although we encounter some accidents, we could go back home safely.

Through this project, I learn many things. Public of San Francisco was not good. And there are problem of economic gap between each people. Theft occur frequently. I can't imagine these circumstances when I was in Japan. I knew different culture in this 2 days.

The 8th & 9th Day in UCDavis

I'll write about 2/19 and 2/20.

~19th, Feb~

We listened to special guest's speech.  we received a great opportunity to listen to Dr. Brian Higgies' presentation. He is a professor Emeritus. He gave us wonderful presentation to acquire STEM skills.
STEM means science techonology engineering materials. After acquiring this skill, we can say for the first time, "I am a scientist." I was very interested to management. he also told us how to manage the group. So it was very meaningful for me.

From 7:00PM, we attended the meeting of JASS. JASS is a Japanese American Student Society. So they love Japan very much. We interected with them and went to have dinner.  The store was Open Rice Kitchen. It was a chinese restaurant. The price was cheap and taste was delicious. I wanna go there again. I was very fun because I could make some friends.

~20th, Feb~

Thank God It's Friday! Today, the ice-cream social was hold by Extenson Center. We can eat ice-cream, chocolates, fruits, snacks and so on without money and interect with foreign people. It is one of the fun in a week.

After the ice-cream social, we played tennis with Japanese people who had stayed in UCDavis for 11 months. I am a beginner of playing tennis but I knew the pleasure to play tennis.

In this  weekend, we will go to San Francisco. The project is "Oja-Map." I wanna enjoy San Francisco!

The 7th day in UCDavis

Recently, I think that my lifestyle changed. I go to bed at 11:00 PM and get up atbefore 7:00 AM. When I was in Japan, it couldn't imagine this lifestyle. But I think that I feel comfort in daytime since I started this life cycle. So I wanna continue this lifestyle everyday.

We have already started classes. Today, I leaned syllables of words, listened to TED talk related to Parkinson's Diseases and thought about the theme of research project. Although we feel that classes are difficult for us,the contents of clsses are substantial. I'm going to challenge everything agressively.

After classes, we conducted sports festival at near the Extention Center. This time, we played soccer. There were 4 teams. We played it with other university students. So it was very nice opportunity to interact with other people.  After we enjoyed playing soccer, I went bowling with my friends because the rate was free! It was very exciting. I wanna play again.

I went to down town near the UCDavis to have a dinner. We ate 2 whole pizzas. The size was very big enough. Some took out some pieces. But the cost was very reasonable. So I decided that I would  go there again when we want to eat pizza.

The Classes Started!! (6th Day in UCDavis)

Holidays finished. At the same time, our classes started. We take 3 classes. There are "Listening and Pronunciation", "Hot Topics" and "Intercultural Research Project." My section is B. So our section finishes the earliest in the three sections. I like the member of section B.  Today's classes did introduction about the contents of classes and our selves. They will start in earnest from tomorrow. So I want to concentrate on the classes, and I want to improve my English skills and knowledge.

Having finished three classes, I went to "Food Science Sensory Facility" because I wanted to buy detergent for my laundry. There were many things. For example soap, clothes, foods and so on which were made in Japan. Unexpectedly, we received an explanation from the professor. I was very interested in it.

After visiting Food Science Sensory Facility, I went to coin laundry with my friend because there will not be my clothes which brought from Japan soon. We didn't know how to control a machine. So, we asked some people who were  in near the place. I think that it is good experience to communicate with other people and understand different cultures. Near the coin laundry, there were shopping mall. I bought a pack of blueberry and strawberry because it was very cheap surprisingly.

My host family like watching movies. So,I watched a movie with them while eating dinner. This seems routine of my host family. Of course there was no subtitle in the screen and the sound was English. Although there were many scenes that I can't understand what they meant, it is very effective study method. So, I want to continue to do it.

Thanks.

The President Day (6th day)

Today was the President Day of USA. I heard from Mr. Syuhei Kimura that some areas call it Washington's Day. 

We made a plan to go to Vacaville Premium Outlets. Unfortunately, but buses which go to Vacaville from UCD was not in a service today because of holiday. So we couldn't go to there.

But it does not begin anything if we are depressed. Switching is very important precisely such a time.

We changed a plan. We decided to go to Sacramento. We didn't know so many things about there. So this journey was haphazard. I think that it is not so bad such a journey once in a while.

At first, we didn't know where we should go after arriving in Sacramento. We walked around and enjoyed beautiful view of Sacramento.

Next, we went to Old Sacramento. It seemed  that Old Sacramento was more prosperous than Sacramento. We rode on a horse at 10$. It was very cheap. There many shops, trains and waterfront. We got good memory in this area. My shopping was also fulfilling. I bought a sweatshirt and sunglasses at low prices. I was satified with my shopping.

I think that this three consecutive holidays were so tough. So it can be said that fatugue of my body has accumulated. Our classes will start from tomorrow finally. Let's do our best! Good night.