7/24 International Student Festival

The Ehime University international office, in coordination with the university president, wanted to run a party in celebration of the international student body and the school's international partnerships. The office asked me if I wanted to be the English MC for the event, and my classmate Go to be the Japanese MC. I edited the document to flow a little bit better, and that would be my script.

On the day of, I put on my Sunday best, and arrived for set-up. We were up on the second floor of the school cafeteria, where I had literally never been before. We could hear students talking while eating lunch below. People I knew, and a few I did not know slowly trickled in. Eventually president Nishina came in and sat down with some of his friends, and that meant it was time to start.

I wish that I still had the script but I don't and so I will try to describe the flow of events.

We began by introducing everyone to the event, and talked about some other things as well. But then there were a few performances throughout the event. I believe the first one was Go and I, we were going to sing an old Japanese song called "Ue wo Muite Arukou" or "Sukiyaki" in English. This was something I suggested as they wanted an idea. That's something the first years have to do who take Japanese at Sac State. Masuyama-sensei has all the freshmen sing it at Japan Day in front of everyone. We both sang it and very few people actually joined it, so it was a little embarrassing but still fun.

From there we had a little break and they brought some food out. What was absolutely unfathomable to every one was the sheer amount of beer that the president had requested, not just for himself but for EVERYONE. It was definitely a party and the jaws on all of my classmates dropped. From then on, some of the international students talked about their traditional clothing up on stage. There were my classmates from Nigeria and Malaysia up there. We used that time as a break to eat a little bit, and NOT drink. I drank water. Then it was time and I had to grab everyone's attention. There were some more things but then I had to conclude it and we thanked everyone for coming. Then we had to clean everything up. I used that time to take a photo with President Nishina, and we even did the Sac State stingers up. I went around to everyone I knew there and asked them to sign my shikishi memory book (which can be used like a yearbook), and gathered many messages.

Then I had to go home. I don't remember much about what happened after it was over.