Dear Dr. Tanabe and Dr. Longcope,
Hope this mail finds you well.
I have submitted my one last final paper in the spring semester and that submission has officially ushered in a short summer break. After surviving this very boisterous storm, I am just grateful that I've made it through the rigorous semester and that I can finally relax and breathe in some fresh air at the beautiful greenery campus. It is hard to believe that my academic journey at UPenn is almost a halfway through and will be returning to Japan within a year.
From this summer, I will be teaching English for immigrants and refugees mainly from European countries to collect some data for my dissertation in fall and gain some hands-on experiences. I have taught English over a decade in a Japanese EFL context but have no prior experience of teaching a foreign language in the States. I am sure that this will be another unique milestone of my teaching career.
As you might have heard from the news reports, I'm witnessing the turbulence and strife taking place on several university campuses across the country. Even at my campus, some pro-Palestine student governments put up some tents on the property of the campus and they rally some large/small demonstrations at college on a regular basis.
The tension between the university administration and the pro-Palestine organization is intensifying day by day. With the commencement approaching, there is no sign of improvement in the situation, and the university government is having a difficult time addressing the issue while respecting their freedom of speech.
The encampment happening all across the U.S. college campuses portrays the complex nature of the Israel-Hamas War and the political stalemate that the U.S. government has to deal with. I hope that the war will end in a peaceful manner.
You can see the news from the video link below:
https://youtu.be/Cu8kVD0CPHc?si=6h3Xpc2XrZcxJqB3
I will also attach a couple of photos of the encampment that I took recently.
I imagine that Ikuta campus is filled with fresh green leaves and a lot of energy after the "Golden Week" holidays.
I very much look forward to meeting you and your new seminar students after my long journey.
Best regards,
Nobuya Kitajima (a.k.a. Camel)