Last full day in Nara

 We went to Nara by train and visited the Nara Deer Park and the Todai-ji temple.  The giant Buddha image welcomed us in a little rain.

In the Todai complex, we climbed up to the February Hall where we could see the Nara City from the top.

On the way back to the Nara station, we stopped by at the Tamukeyama Hachimangu Shrine.

After having lunch in the station area, we went back to Kyoto.

The rain was not as heavy as we predicted soi it was a nice day trip to Nara.

We will be heading back to the US tomorrow!

5th Day was the OSAKA/KANSAI EXPO 2025

We began a bit earlier than usual this morning  to get to Osaka by some trains and enjoyed the world exhibit participated by over 160 nations.  The day was ended with a special fireworks show and was very impressive. 

Final train of the day took us back to Kyoto and asked us to be ready for tomorrow's Gion Festival Float marching.

Another heat wave hit us again!

Nara Deer Park and the Giant Buddha on the 3rd day of the trip

Three different trains took us to Nara in the morning, and we walked to the World's Largest wooden building which housed Great Buddha image.

Exceptionally high heat caused a little modification of the daily plan to avoid acidents. 

Instead of heading to Kasuga Grand Shrine we went back to the train station area shopping street for lunch.

After lunch, we came back to Kyoto Station where we were we took bus to the hotel.

Another great day.

2nd day Phoenix Pavilion and Heian Jingu Shrine

 In the morning, we took the train to Uji City and visited Byodoin, also known as the Phoenix Pavilion.

On the way back, we went directly to Sanjo Keihan area, where we took a lunch break before heading to Heian Jingu Shrine.

In Okazaki Park in front of Heian Jingu Shrine, a flea Market was taking place. Some enjoyed the Flea market after observing Heian Jingu Garden.

First GTS/JCC Dinner tonight!

The first GTS/JCC dinner in 2013 is coming up tonight and I am looking forward to meeting many new students as well as former royal students.

JCC will help the elementary school in Downers Grove to hold the event for diversity in April 12th.
We will decorate their school classroom and introduce some cultural activities.  It is very exciting opportunity for the first time for JCC current team!

Spring field trip has 5 students and GTS is still expecting more to join in the trip.  Trip to Kyoto will be the last week of March and Japanese Meteology Agency announced a few days ago that the full bloom of cherry blossoms in Kyoto Area be 3/25, which is perfect!!!

Sumer Study Abroad began getting applications and 5 are already officially registered and about 5 are in the process at a moment.  Hopefully we will have a big group like last year! 

Huge Group Dinner atthe end of 2012!

Over 25 people showed up at the final JCC/GTS dinner tonight and enjoyed chatting, smiling, laughing photo taking, etc.

Japanese Culture Club officers, former students, curremmt students, future students, all those people came in.

I am hopiing this tradition will continue next year and more people would show up!

Next dinner will be in February (2/8/2013)!

JCC/GTS dinner is coming up!

Worldwide Japanese Language Proficiency Test has just passed yesterday at DePaul University in Chicago where GTS served as one of the head members of administration!  Some 400 Japanese learners tool this test!

The final JCC/GTS dinner is coming up this Friday (12/7) and I am looking forward to meeting many students and fellows.

I am still hoping to get more students registering newly offered Japanese 1100 class (Culture and Civilization of Japan) and also Spring Break Field Trip to Japan!!

Japanese 1101 (off-sequence course) in Spring has already 23 students registered and look good and I do expect two classes being filled by the beginning of the semester.

Summer Study Abroad is almost ready for getting all the applications and very likely to have many students going Japan with GTS in summer 2013!

JLPT is coming up this Sunday!

Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) administered by American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ) and the Japan Foundation (Japanese government) is coming up this Sunday (12/2/2012).

Hopefully we will have a good weather without snow!!   Many students could take a test as we expected.

December dinner will be held on Friday 12/7/2012 (next week), which is the Pearl Harbor Day!

Gradually filling up the classes in Spring semester.  I am truly hoping that more people join the Spring trip to Japan!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is almost the end of the semester and the end of the year 2012!  Though Japan does not specifically celebrate Thanksgiving, GTS does hope everyone be happily united with other family members to enjoy dinner!

After Thanksgiving, the first Sunday of December (12/2/2012) will be the day of JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) and GTS is one of the head teachers to proctor the test at DePaul University with its professors!

Friday (12/7/2012) will be the last JCC/GTS Dinner this year and GTS would like to see many fellows depite the fact that the final exam is coming up!

So far, Japanese 1101 in Spring seems to have enough students to hold two sections and I am quite happy about it.  I am hoping to get more participants for the Spring Trip (3/22-3/31)!

November 2012 Began!

Time flies!  Today (Friday 11/2/2012) is the JCC/GTS monthly dinner night!  Hoping to meet many friends!

Spring registration has been started and gradually filling some classes!  Spring trip does have already 2 paid students and very promissing to be realized.

Also really hope 45 remaining students in Japanese 1101 would survive through the end of the semester.  Students in 2201 are likely to come to 2202 or (2201 re-take). 

It seems that more than enough students are interested in summer study abroad program in Japan.

JCC/GTS October Monthly dinner is tonight!

As GTS organized the workshop for Japanese Language Teachers in Illinois last weekend, our monthly dinner has been delayed to this week.

It seems that great many new JCC members may show up tonight with some Japanese native students as well!

I am looking forward to meeting all. 

By the way, GTS is now on one of the largest Japanese language newspaper in the US!
 Check it out!

Here!

http://www.usshimbun.com/interview/interview-Satsutani-cod.html

Alpha Mu Gamma & JCC excursion to Morton Arboretum!

The first event of this year planned by Alpha Mu Gamma (Foreign Language Honor Society) was the excursion to Morton Arboretum near the college with corroboration from Japanese Culture Club today.

The event was so successful with over 15 participants including several language professors from COD!

Morton Salt has been so famous in super markets and we have first learned that this famous Morton Family is deeply related with the arboretum which was used to be their residence!

GTS brought 3-year old Rina with him, and coincidentally bumped into the field trip by SUMIRE Kindergarten (Japanese Kindergarten in our area) and met her friends as well!

It was the last Friday of the month but certainly good Friday! 

Alpha Mu Gamma (Foreign Language Honor Society) got really active!

With a few leadership, COD Foreign Language Honor Society (Nu Alpha Chapter of Alpha Mu Gamma) has so many excited plans this year.

The first field trip is coming on Friday (9/28/2012) for the guided tour of Morton Arboretum nearby our Glen Ellyn Campus.

In October, there will be the field trip to Pilsen co-sponsored by Casa De Amigo!

Criteria for society induction is 2As from the same language classes and 3.0 overall GPA.

However, everyone can join the club as a member!

Japanese Culture Club re-launched!

Club management is always a challenge as everyone is graduated or transferring/leaving within the short time of period.

As usual, all the officers from the last semester left COD and JCC has just begun from the scratch with a few volunteering Japan fan this week.

Some are from other Asian countries, and some are from Japanese history class, and others are those who are starving for some excitement with Japan stuff!

GTS is just very glad to see quite a few showed up to re-establish and energize JCC.

March began! Japan Symposium Returns!

The JCC/GTS monthly dinner will be on Friday 3/9/2012. I hope to see many spring-like faces there.

One of past students, Matt Bedford left for Gifu, Japan to teach English there. I am very happy to see his dream coming true after his graduation with many ups and downs from the college!!

Tha Japan Symposium will be held at COD SRC 2800 on Thursday (the whole day) 3/24/2012. Jason Jones (Univ. of Wisconsin at Milwaukee), Norma Field (Univ. of Chicago) and Andy Murashige (Art Institute of Chicago) will give the enthusiastic lectures. There will be Film viewing, Fashion Show, Taiko Drum and Japanese Dance are also coming to wrap up the event at night!

Hope to have you in the audience/spectators!

Middle of the Spring semster!

Time really flies! While Japanese 2202 shrank, newly added 1101 got quite a few students, the number of students taking Japanese this semester has grown and we have even decided to run a couple of Japanese 1102 in Fall semester!

Spring Field trip to Kyoto, Japan has 10 students in it and the timing for visiting there for SAKURA viewing seems to be Perfect according to the SAKURA front forecast which announced the SAKURA full bloom in Kyoto be 4/6/2012 which is in the middle of our trip!!!

Summer Study Abroad has already over 15 students and that is very exciting news!!

JET (Japanese government English teaching assistant program) Interview has begun and GTS will be a interviewer on 2/23-25!

The JCC dinner next month will be 3/9/2012!

Late Happy New Year!

Late happy new year! This is the first day of the Spring semester 2012 and the first day of having siginificant amount of snow in Chicago area in this season!
I am glad to say that all the planned Spring semester classes are running including the Japan field trip class!
Japanese 1101 has over 40 students in 2 sections, and Japanese 1102 has over 30 students in two classes! Japanese 2202 (fourth semester class) has been shrunk a bit but about dozen students continues to learn. Spring Japan Trip class has over 10 students and we will certainly go to Kyoto for flower viewing in early April!

Regular JCC/GTS dinner will resume tomorrow though the second Friday of the month!

GTS/JCC Dinner went well!

There are some new comers as well as a former student from 10 years ago, who was in Kyoto on the Day of 9/11/2001 in GTS field trip group! We almost could not make it in time for returning to the U.S. but we were the first group of returning from Japan!

I am working on the voice acting for Mr. Butch Harmon, the coach of Tiger Woods! Well, nobody will notice my voice but hope many Japanese golfers learn how-to from the DVD!

The end of the year 2011 is really nearing!

My talk-show went so well!

As exactly as I planned, my talk-show got all the audience into smiles and laugh and everyone seemed to get relaxed before the actual Taiko Drum Performance.

It was great to see some of community fans of mine and I really felt that I am supported by people in my college community!

Hopefully those students who got free tickets from me enjoyed both my talk and the performance!

Next Wednesday (10/26/2011) has the Japanese Tea Ceremony great performance by the local tea master I invited!

Japanese Tea Ceremony is coming to COD!

COD's foreign language honor society, Alpha Mu Gamma, hold the Japanese Tea Ceremony Demonstration conducted by the local Tea master on Wednesday, 10/26/2011 (next week)!

The ceremony lecture and demonstration will begin 2:30pm at SRC 2800 on 10/26.

I hope many people have a chance to take a look at the actual "way of tea," a part of martial arts!