This summer vacation was the best one that I have ever spent because I could go to England as internship. Those were my dreams: going to London and doing an internship at an overseas hotel. Actually, my two dreams came true at the same time during this summer vacation. It was my first trip to England and my heart was filled with expectation for this trip since one month ago. In addition, I learned and realized many things and could have very good experiences.

On the first day of my internship, my heart was beating fast because of expectation and uneasiness. I was looking forward to working in a London hotel, but I also worried about my English skills. And then, just as I expected, I couldn�ft understand much English and lost confidence, and was troubled by the lack of my English skills because I was able to say only "Yes", "No", "Thank you", and "Sorry". I felt chagrined, and was wondering about why I couldn�ft understand and speak although I have been studying English for about nine years. After thinking, I noticed that I studied a lot of writing and reading, but I didn�ft have much time to practice speaking. In addition, I was listening to only American English and practiced speaking English mostly with only Japanese! Therefore, I knew that my ears were unaccustomed to listening to anything other than American English. However, there were people from many countries in this hotel. For example, there were Bulgarian, Italian, Indian, Rumanian, Russian, Thai, Chinese, and naturally British people. Thus, I couldn�ft get their "not American" English. I thought through this experience, we should study not only American English but also other English that is spoken by people from other countries.

Moreover, I couldn�ft speak English easily because I was afraid of making mistakes from the first day�fs shock. However, I was to able to speak without caring about mistakes because of one of the staff�fs words of advice. When I was feeling depressed, she understood why I seemed to be sad and said to me, "You don�ft have to be afraid of mistakes, because you are Japanese, aren�ft you? English is not your native language. So, even if you are speaking wrong English, we don�ft laugh and we don�ft care!! And, even if you have ideas, we can�ft know what you are thinking if you don�ft talk!! Can we? So, please give me your smile!" After I heard her words, I was able to speak like magic! Therefore, I realized it is necessary to be accustomed to talking to foreign people more, and I learned I need not worry about mistakes, so I should communicate more actively even if my grammar isn�ft right.

After few days past and I was accustomed to working there, I noticed every staff member was smiling at each other when I looked around a hotel. Thereupon, I asked them why they were smiling, and they are said it is because of hospitality. In other words, smiling at each other is sign of caring for each other, and the reason that all staff members are very kind is also because of hospitality. Then I thought it is a very nice custom and tried smiling like them.

In conclusion, I suffered from something around the first day, but I could feel happy day by day, and really enjoyed my internship and London. I thought that everyone should do an internship overseas because there are many things you can�ft notice if you are only in Japan, and it is good for improving your English skills and developing yourself. In conclusion, I had really good experiences and I appreciate that I could have a great opportunity such as this internship.