1972 School Magazine

.A*J ytow $op*r"t, ! One of the reasons for my taking Japanese this year was that it is an Eastern language and the people who have different cultures and different ways of thinking interest me. Also, Japan is becoming important to Australia and a major country in the modern world- Japanese is not as exceptionally hard as some people tend to think. This year we had to learn some of the symbols of Japanese writing of which there are tfuee types of characters: Hiragana-which is the basic Japanese way of writing; Kanji-which is derived from Chinese characters; and Katakana-which is used for writing foreign words. Of these we have done Hiragana and some Kanji. We not only learnt the Japanese language but saw films about Japan and its people. We had the chance to meet some Japanese people one night at the university and had a Japanese exchange student talk to us during a lesson. Talking to these people and seeing the films, gave us a greater understanding of the people and the country. This makes learning more interesting and richer. Also we were taught about the many customs of the .Iapanese people and how their life has been vastly changed from their life a century ago. In some lessons we learnt "Shodo" the art of writing Japanese syrnbols, and origami the art of paper folding. When we had our Japanese evening we recited some Haiku poems, acted a play, sang Japanese songs and cooked some of the national dishes. Haiku are traditional poems which show the poet's insight into a particular aspect of nature and the play helped us to express and practise the language. The audience consisted of exchange students and parents, who enjoyed the evening as much as we, the students, did. Mrs. I-abrie's experiences, as a visitor to .Iapan, of the peoptre and country and her obvious love of the language, has been a major element in my lasting interest and enjoyment of Japanese. Frances Dark i 1A SandraFay llA Joanne FeeneyX lD Susan Claringbould 1iD

In the tradition started by last year's 6D, sporting activities were again popular. 3A, won a football match against 38 (23-12) which they said, made up for their "coffee shop and disco, minus the dancers". 6C1 arranged a volley ball match with boys from the neighbouring Grammar. This the boys won, two games to one. The netball match between 6D and the "B.G.S. Home for Disabled Footballers" proved to be "a long and bloody battle, in which both sides sustained heavy injuries (especially broken finger- nails). The boys finally admitted defeat, but the score was somewhat dubious, due to the unorthodox umpiring by two referees, stunningly attired in bloomers, singlets and black capes". This year the Old Girls'Association concentrated their efforts on an extremely successful art show in the Gym. It was opened with a gala evening on the Friday and continued into Sunday. The range of the exhibits was wide and the showing aroused a great deal of interest, adding another cultural aspect to the afternoon. The atmosphere of the afternoon was very gay and one was given the impression that all the girls' work had been well worth the effort. It was a day when every girl could be especially proud ofher School and her Form, and it was obvious that everyone rea\aed just how much could be gained by working together as part of the school community.

" Couri er Mail " Pho to graph

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