a peaceful moment

I went to TOEIC workshop Friday morning, and we had a reading test. Last September, I took my first official TOEIC test in Japan, but I didn't even have enough time to finish doing it. I was happy that I could concentrate on the reading today, and I finished the whole 100 questions in limited time. I felt happy because of the little accomplishment. I felt happy also because I successfully managed to concentrate on reading for a long time, which is not easy for me for most of the time; I am making progress!

The feeling at that time was just like a piece of glass which could be easily broken. During lunch break, I walked through the crowd, and got out of ELI building to enjoy the beautiful weather. I was not sure where to go; I walked down the road, and came to a garden. Everything there was so peaceful-- no noise, not many people, enough fresh air, and also there were fish swimming freely in the pure, clean water.

I walked to a tea ceremony Japanese-style room, remembering that funny time when I was taking a tea ceremony course in my Japanese university, I nearly fell down to the tatami when I was trying to sit in a proper position before taking the Japanese teacup. I smiled, and realized that there were still some interesting moments in my life; I appreciate them very much. I sat down, and wanted to rest for a while; I didn't want the fragile but valuable moment to be destroyed too soon.

I sat on the bench, and I was feeling comfortable. I realized that I have been here for almost 2 months. Life here is better than I thought. Here, obviously, I have much more time to do things I like; I don’t need to spend my whole day serving in a restaurant any more, and I really enjoy studying here. I don’t need to pretend to be happy every day; I can say what I really feel because people here don’t parrot my words pretending to understand me or to be friendly; they are real and well worth trusting.
Although dark time always comes, I think I will become more able to overcome them than before, which delights me a lot.

I like here also because I don’t need to think about the word “identity” all the time. I like the way people here call us. Instead of saying “foreign students”, they say “international students”; it makes me feel that we are actually from the same Earth, and we are all human beings—the same kind. We share a lot of things in common.

It was a nice day, and I enjoyed the peace in my mind.

I looked at the green leaves in the sunshine, and they seemed lively and energetic. Everything was so peaceful and I liked it.
 Suddenly, some noise destroyed the peace, and I felt so painful and helpless…