By Yohei Okabori

The 31st International Snow Statue Contest was held at "International Square" at Odori Park for the 55th Sapporo Snow Festival from February 3rd to 7th. This year, 53 people from 18 teams and 16 countries assembled and completed their great statues in bad weather. This event was planned and managed by the Sightseeing Department of City Hall, and nine university students (five from Sapporo University and four from Hokkaido Kyoiku University) helped with interpreting and some other jobs at this event. This is a report on with my experience interpreting at the International Snow Statue Contest.

The 18 teams which took part in the International Snow Statue Contest were from the United States of America, Sapporo's Sister City Portland, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Thailand, India, Guam, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Shanghai City, Hong Kong and Japan. Our jobs were to interpret, work inside headquarters, to patrol each team's statue, and so on.

On February 2nd, a welcome party was held in the Sapporo Grand Hotel. We met a lot of people from many countries and guided and informed them. We talked to them and instructed them on many things. There were some members who had already experienced our jobs. Seeing their active appearance talking to the foreigners, I felt wonderful about international communication. The party was a buffet style. At the party, an MC introduced each team, spoke about the schedule for this contest, and so on. The contestants, university students and staff were all very happy. After the party, they still continued to talk at the Hotel lobby. However, when the contestants went back to their designated hotel Kosei Nenkin Kaikan, they would meet to talk about their construction from tomorrow.

The opening ceremony was held on February 3rd. We university students had to have the contestants assemble and instructed them before the ceremony had begun. We paid attention to the teams which we all had been assigned and told the contestants to wait in a line till the end of the ceremony. Finally, everything proceeded without incident.

The schedules from February 4th to 6th were almost the same. Contestants would work from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. We had to come by 9:00 a.m. and take turns patrolling until 9:00 p.m. Also, we had to oversee people going in and out of the area, and had to clear the snow till 11:00 p.m. The lookout was a problem. Though we appealed to passers-by not to enter the area, some of them ignored us and strode over the rope which said 'Keep Out.' All they had to do was go across the street, but they casually broke the rule, which even small children could keep. I thought this was a sad comment on people of today and my heart almost burst with grief.

On February 7th, the Awards Ceremony was held in the morning and then a farewell party in the evening. Of course the teams that won said that they were happy, but the teams that lost said so as well. We were all very happy. For six days, we could eat dishes from each country, and some teams presented us with pins. I could come into contact with many people from different countries and meet student interpreters who made me feel motivated. I think my experience was really good. Based on this good opportunity, I will study English more and get more experience in international exchanges. I want to be an internationally-minded person.

Now, looking back, at first I worried if I could make myself understood to people from many countries in English. But by coming into contact with them often, I felt the tension melt. I was glad that one conscious barrier against foreigners disappeared. Also, I saw an official interpreter and was surprised at her English abilities and thought that this was real interpretation. So I decided to train my English abilities from now on.

I never knew the Sapporo Snow Festival held an International Snow Statue Contest every year with people from around the world. Everyone achieved this event by cooperating with each other. I found that this event is a wonderful place for forging friendship among nations. For student interpreters like us, this experience was a very valuable opportunity as a first step to becoming a real internationally-minded person.