At the time of coffee hours on Thursdays, I always meet a lot of people and enjoy small (big!) talks with them. Most of the time, our conversation begins "what is your name?"—"Sumiko!" I reply a little bit louder. "Sumiko?" "Yes, Sumiko!" Next comes the question, "Where are you from?" My answer, "Japan!" "Oh, Japan!" "Yeah, Japan!" "Well, then…" This type of talk continues, as you can easily imagine. But, every time, I am waiting for one particular question, which is "Where do you live?" I answer a little bit confidently, "Upstairs!"
Almost everybody reacts very surprisingly by knowing this "fact" and asks me again, "How did you know about this house?"
Before answering this question, let me introduce myself. My name is Sumiko Nakamura, a new resident of the Cosmopolitan Club house. As I already said, I am from Japan, here as an exchange student for one year. With the recommendation from my friend who studied at U of I last year, I got to know Cosmopolitan Club and contacted Andrea before coming to the United States. Fortunately, I was able to live in one room of the house, which is pretty, large, and comfortable! I think I am really lucky to know this house. Overall, I enjoy myself. I especially like cooking in the kitchen downstairs. And, as I mentioned previously, Coffee Hours! After the busy and hard weekdays from Mondays to Thursdays, coffee hours are a relaxing and enjoyable time.
During these two months since I arrived here, I have had very new and rich experiences, which I cannot explain in one word. But what I can say is that the time I've spent here at the university, including time at Cosmo, has been really necessary for me. People, languages, cultures, food, etc. I think those things are really wonderful and they make my life more bright and meaningful!
Two months have passed. That means I have only 10 months left here. In those months, how many times do I laugh? cry? struggle? and consider? "Countless!" That is the answer I tell myself now. I know that, however, with a very rich and fruitful time here I can grow up into a very nice lady!
I really would like to make the most of the time here at Cosmopolitan Club. And I want to say, confidently "Upstairs!" even after this one year!
Sumiko (second from right) with her friends