two students from the Foreign Language Course
At All Corners Of
The Globe...
Last year we had nine students studying in Canada and New Zealand and the United States.
The following reports were written by two of those students.
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Grade 12,
Foreign Language Course
Graduate at Yamada Jr. High
Studied at George S. Henry Academy
Toronto, Canada
From September 2001 through June 2002
Especially, meeting with people in school, doing volunteer activities and studying abroad are unforgettable for me.
The school which I went to was a very international place of many different races from more than 48 countries. It was impressive for me to study with the company of various races in every class because I've only studied in the class room with Japanese students before. All students were living peacefully without discriminating each other from their appearance and differences in religion. Though it was right after the terrorism event when I left Japan, there was no fight in school life between people of different backgrounds and all got along happily.
Additionally, I was a volunteer as a staff at a Japanese school which was in Toronto every Saturday. I taught Japanese and Japanese culture to the children of third grade in an elementary school.
But my knowledge about Japan was very poor even though I'm Japanese, and I felt bad about it.
I learned it was improper if I don't know about my own country, and therefore canﾕt get knowledge about other countries.
I matured, spiritually especially, as I stayed there for 10 months by myself. If there is an opportunity again, I would like to visit Toronto and want to say thank you to all of my friends and people I met.
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Akiko Sai
Grade 12,
Foreign Language Course
Graduate at Tamagawa Jr. High
Studied at Mahurangi College Warkworth, New Zealand
From September 2001 through June 2002
The beautiful town I stayed in is small and full of nature. The town was called “Warkworth ”. There are many sheep and cows. You can go to see the beautiful sea, 15 minutes by car. It was completely different from Japan. Honestly speaking, in the first I got bored sometimes, but I was getting to like there because I could find what the important time was. And my friends and my host family were always beside me.
My first host family had 4 children. Two of them were already independent of their parents. The rest of them were boys, one was seven years old, another was just one and a half. It was the first time for me to have such little brothers. First, I didn't have any ideas to play with them, but I tried to understand them. And I was getting along well together day by day. I like my little host brothers but I also like my host mother and host father very much. They took care of me a lot. They treated me like their own child. If I was in a sad or hard situation, they always helped me to get out of there.
Speaking of English, I'm sure to say that I had really improved it. I tried to speak English lots even though I couldn't speak well. I believe that all you need to speak are smiles and strong minds and you want to know the person and tell to the person what you are or what you're thinking. If you have these, you can get over the wall of language. Of course I had many problems, crying and nervous feelings. But I found that things got better as I tried hard. It was so special a moment when I could obtain what I wanted. And people's kindness helped me to learn English at all times.
In my school, there were many international students. For example, they were from South Korea, China, Taiwan, Germany and more. I liked to talk with them, especially Asian people. They have similar cultures with Japan, and quite many things like Japanese movies, Japanese famous people, Japanese songs and so on open to their countries. So we could talk about it and it was a nice time to know each other. We chatted about our character, countries and lots of things. Also, we tried to learn eachother's languages. My school had Japanese class for non-Japanese students, so some people could speak Japanese fluently like my host sister. She is Taiwanese. Since I changed host family, we stayed together for my last half year. We talked about many topics and could understand each other well, so that we had been staying up all night pretty much. I'm glad to have such a foreign best friend as her.
I'm sure that I couldn't have such nice memories without my friends. And if I had not been to NZ, my life might have turned completely another way. The things what I learned through my life in NZ will be really useful in my future. I made sure what I want to be and what I have to learn more.
In the last, I'd like to thank all of my friends, host families, my parents and Mahu which gave me a wonderful chance to have precious things. I always wish you are happy everyday. I'll never forget that we've had lovely days together!!
