Month: April 2019

I’m really very honored to have been selected to attend the East Asia Practicum as an interpreter. I wish that all T&I students had the opportunity to join such an event, as it was incredibly valuable.

Finally, we come to my last hours attending the East Asia Practicum – and I didn’t even have to interpret in afternoon. Once we finished the morning’s interview and had lunch, we rushed to Roppongi to meet up with the rest of the group to visit the Graduate Research Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

Day 3 dawned late for most students – but bright and early for myself. The morning was set aside for individual and small-group interviews, for students who had been able to schedule meetings with experts in their specific fields of research. Given our limited availability, I think most students were not able to complete such an interview, but a least one group was, and they needed my interpretation skills.

The interview was set up with a professor who is an expert in immigration matters. Two students who are focusing on immigration in Japan for their research were able to get in touch with him. We weren’t sure until we actually arrived at the institute if he would need interpretation, but it’s a good thing that my partner and I tagged along, because like Mr. Suzuki the day before, he did not speak a word of English.

Monday was the first real day of field research. It was a full schedule and a busy day – it wasn’t uncommon that we found ourselves running to catch a train or to get to our next appointment in time, and we only had about 45 minutes to eat lunch and travel 25+ minutes.

It was also my first day “on the job,” so to speak, as an interpreter, although I did not have to interpret all of the meetings.

The remainder of our time on Sunday was reserved for sightseeing. I’m glad that we had some time to simply enjoy being in Tokyo. It was far from my first time, but there were a number of us who were there for the first time and I’m glad they had some time to enjoy it. Also, we were all still jetlagged and walking around outside was probably a lot better for us (and a lot less rude) than attending a lecture and trying not to fall asleep.