The 3rd day of Spring Semester in 2024

   Although I don’t have any classes on Wednesday, I had to go to the administrative building in the campus. The day before I got a message from teacher (of this country). It asked me to be an interviewer to select good students for exchange international students. This university has a long relationship with a university in Japan, which is in somewhere in Kanto region. Every year a few students go to that university as international exchange students.

  These tasks always come as “short notice”. If you want someone to do something on a particular day, the notice should be given with at least two weeks advance. This is a common practice in Japan, I believe. Telling a task one day before just mean that the telling person thinks he/she is superior to the person who was given that task.

   As soon as I got up from the bed, I started making a list of questions and scoring standard. Once I had become an interviewer for job interview. I had never done an interview to choose a good student for international students. Making a list of questions was not so difficult. I drafted 30 questions quickly. Difficult part was making the scoring standard. Though I wanted five items for the standard, I made four items; 1. Attitude, 2. Proficiency of Japanese, 3. Knowledge, and 4. Response to difficult questions.

   I went to the office 30 minutes before. The teacher (of this country) told me there was no manual or scoring standard for the interview. I said I prepared by myself for the standard. Then he and his colleague just laughed at me.

   I was not the only interviewer. Another Japanese teacher came. Since I wanted three examiners, I asked one graduate student to join. Four female students came as interviewee; no male student. I gave my evaluation sheet to two examiners, but another Japanese teacher looked a little bit dissatisfied with four items that I put in the standard. I made them quickly in the morning. I also think the items for evaluation need to be enhanced. I will make them better if there is another chance to be an interviewer in the future.

   After the interview, I came back my room at 3:30 p.m. I scored quizzes that I gave the first-year student. I completed scoring only one class before supper. One class is left. After supper I had been making PPT of listening course for second-year students until the time I went to bed.

I work all the time except eating and sleeping.