Today there was a speech contest held amongst all of the foreign exchange students in my program. Based on the speech test that we all had last week, representatives from each of the five Japanese classes were selected to compete in today's speech contest. There were ten contestants, but one passed at the last minute. I was one of three students from my class to be asked to participate.

I gave a speech about learning keigo, or honorific speech, and my emotional triumphs and struggles associated with the learning process (the learning process is ever-continuing, by the way). I mentioned that keigo is difficult to learn because there are many types of keigo and few chances for me to use it on a daily basis. I talked about a time with one of my Japanese language teachers when I slipped and forgot to use keigo but wasn't scolded, and then a time with my host father during which I didn't use keigo and was reprimanded. I concluded by talking about how happy I am to have learned keigo and how one may use honorific speech to really shape and nuance relationships with others. I didn't win a prize for excellence, but I received a sort of honorable mention. Most importantly, however, I was proud of myself for what I accomplished. I am completely satisfied with how I performed in the contest, and I think that's just as good as winning.