3 weeks ago I brutally signed up for Japanese speech contest. No specific reason at first, especially after I knew the prize (ticket to Japan!!) can only be given to contestants with EU nationalities, so what the hell, experience, meeting some people, make myself recognized, and standing on a stage. good.

But I was dead nervous when I heard how good the other contestants were. I knew I did not deserve to be there because I made the english version of my speech, while my mother and Naoko did the translation. But Ratna was there smiling worrily at me which actually encouraged me. I only prayed that I would not humiliate my company and my big boss who was there as one of the judges.

So when my name was called I tried to sound as Japanese as possible, 4 minutes was not a short time, I kept thinking when will I come to the end of my speech. but finally I did and bowed as deep as I could. As I stand straight again, I could see my boss was clapping excitedly, .. and I knew I did okay.

I went home without any prize, only with experience of doing something I've never done before. and when I met my boss again, he told my I scored 85 out of 100. even though I got no prize, but as Mr. Morley said success is to be able to spend your life in your own way.

anyway, here is my speech:

Watashino no hajimete, ikkai dake no nihon e no houmon wa ni sai no toki deshita
Kyoto daigaku no shushi katei ni itteiru mama to isshou deshita
Oniisan to watashi wa hoikuen ni azukeraremashita
Chiisakatta no de nihonno koto wa sukoshi shika oboeteimasen.

Oboeteiru no wa, hoikuen de watashi ga kodomo you no tsukue ni suwatte, mama to papa tachi wa mawari ni tatteiru koto to ka, oniisan ga basu no untenshu no seifuku ni akogarete, basu no untenshu ni naru yume.

Ichiban inshou ni nokotteiru no wa, origami desu.

Sono toki wa tada no tanoshii asobi dake deshita ga, ima ni natte, nihon jin ni atte, isshouni hataraite kara, origami wa tada no kami wo oru koto dake dewanai koto wo zuku zuku kanjimashita. Origami de nihonno bunka ga yomeru, kanjiru, wakaru. Teinei ni kami wo otteiru koto wa nihon jin no yasashi sa, hito wo teineini azukeru koto ga yometa.

Nihon jin ga, hokano hito no iken wo daijini kiite kara, jibunno kangaekata wo nobemasu. Nihon jin wa ojitsu kaseru souzou ryoku wo nobasu koto wo origami de renshusuru no dato omoimasu.
Oritai katachi wo atama no nakani souzou suru nouryoku wa renshuu de yoku naru. Kono nouryoku wa geinoujin ni wa yaku datte, mainichi no seikatsu ni mo yakudachimasu. Shuuchuu ryoku to ironna koto wo daijini suru koto no renshuu ni natta shi, mono goto niwa junjou junban ga aru to iu koto wo wakarimashita.

Nani goto wo yaru toki ni seiko suru tame ni wa ikutsu ka no junjou ga hitsuyou. Kore wa origami de wakaru to omoimasu. Tatoeba, speech wo kaku toki ni, hajime, chuu to owari to iu koto wa kantanni kikoemasu ga, demo takusanno hito ni wa sore houdo kantan dewa arimasen. Saisho no mono wa saki shinakereba naranai to iu gainen wo narawanakareba narimasen.

Kono riyuu de watashi ga origami de tanoshiku narau koto ga dekite lakki (lucky) deshita. Nihon shoko kaisho de hataraite kara, dore dake nihonno bunka: origami, ikebana, chanoyu nado nado ga subarashii nihon jin, yuumeina nihon ni eikyou shiteiru kaga yoku wakarimashita.

Watashi no yume wa, itsuka nihon ni modotte, natsukahii koto wo omoidashite shikari to nihon go wo benkyou shimasu.

Koko de minasama no mae ni tatte jibun wo chalennji shite watashi nihon no omoide wo wakeau koto ga dekite nani yorimo ureshii desu.
Doumo arigatou gozaimasu.


and here is the english version:

"My first and only visit to Japan is when I was two years old. My mother was doing her master degree in Kyoto University, which was why I had the chance to stay there for one year. My older brother and me went to Japanese kindergarten together. There are so few things that I can remember about Japan, I only remember the feeling of sitting on the child-seat while my mother or father cycled. I also remember how my brother had an aspiration to be a bus driver, because the uniform was very cool. But what I clearly remember is my fondness of origami lesson. At that time it was just a game, but as I meet, know and work with more Japanese people, I can see that there are more to it than paper folding.

It is not surprising that one can read Japanese culture from origami. The patience of folding the paper neatly results into how polite Japanese people react to each other. I found that Japanese tend to patiently wait for another person to explain something, before they express their disagreement. I learn that from origami, Japanese learn to calm their minds and express their creativity through their hands.

The ability to visualize in your head, a shape you want to fold is a talent that can be strengthened with simple practice. This talent is useful to artists, but it is also of the greatest use to our daily thinking concept. It practices concentration and care, and it does take many steps.

The understanding that some things have to be done in a certain order of steps to be successful is the result of practicing origami. For example, writing a speech where there is beginning, middle and end may seem a simple concept, but it is not the case to many other people. The concept of “first things first” has to be learned. And I am proud to be one of the people who had the chance to do origami as a fun learning method.

Since I’ve worked in the Japanese Chamber of Commerce, I understand more how culture such as origami, ikebana, chanoyu, etc affects the well known success of Japanese people. I wish to keep learning and maybe even to go back to Japan and refresh my memories. I feel honored to have the opportunity to stand here, challenging myself while sharing to you my experience on Japan. Domo arigatou gozaimasu"

Quote of the day:
I dont know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. (Bill Cosby)

I wish for a miracle.. Just a simple sentence from my boss: " you can go home early today, laurentia.." please...let the miracle happens. now! It's such a good cloudy Monday to sleep. There are piles of papers on my desk, but really, nothing can get more boring than them.

I guess being without sport for 3 weeks and eating pringles while working is not such a good idea. I need to find the old lifestyle again. my balanced life that i was always proud of. As fat food and burning no-fat result into laziness, and laziness come as a problem, there are somethings that come as a change. For example, lately my parents are more interested in what I'm doing, I got many supplies of novels to read, my colleagues think my Japanese is improving.., let see..what else..., wake up early ritual is not so hard anymore since more of my flatmates are doing it, my stupid computer is not so stupid anymore, and of course, my girlfriends. yeah, it's really true that I'm only as strong as the cocktails I drink, the hairspray I use and the girlfriends I have. and one of them told me:

Someone will always be prettier.

They will always be smarter.

Their house will be bigger.

They will drive a better car.

Their children will do better in school.

And their husband will fix more things around the house.

So let it go,

and love yourself and your circumstances.

Think about it.

The prettiest woman in the world can have hell in her heart.

And the most highly favoured
woman on your job may be unable to have children.

And the richest woman you know,

she's got the car, the house, the clothes....might be lonely.

So, again,

Love who you are.

Look in the mirror in the morning and smile and say

"I am too blessed to be stressed and too anointed to be disappointed!"

"Winners make things happen.

Losers let things happen."

Be blessed ladies..

"To the world you might be one person,
but to one person, you just might be the world"

So there you go, as many things and lucks come and go in my days, there is one thing that has always made me felt so lucky. my friends. None of my friends are psycho, bad-tempered or copycats, or a killer. they are normal understanding friends with lots of comforting words and good sense of humour, and they help. Me and the girls went out on Saturday night because we miss watching scary movie with screaming girls. So we did. Afterwards we tell stories about our workplaces and how annoying Dutch people can be, accompanied with good music, tapas and some very very comforting wine.

I wish I could do that everyday.

hmmmph.