1979 School Magazine

JAPAT{ESE PAGE After studying both conscientiously and willingly for four and a half years, (nearing the.state of mental collapse) our toiling over the Japanese language was finally rewarded with a. visit by some pupils of the Hiraymr Gakuen High School, in July this year. Drowning in a sea of Kanji and Katakana, we sifted through our vast amalgamation of Japanese vocabulary to come up with conversations based on "Konnichlwa" and "Sayonara". Yet this is not a true representation of the advantages which we derived frorrl this visit. During its seven day duration, we not only extended our knowledge of the spoken language iiself , but also gained a greater insight inlo our Asian neighbours, as well as making more lasting friendships during that one week than in the whole five years of our secondary education. Due to the considerable language barrier, we learned to communicate with our whole selves, using our hands, face, voice and somewhat limited knowledge of the language and through this striving to make their stay as enjoyable as possible, a very strong bond was formed between the two parties. Although the excursions and sightseeing proved to be the highlights of the trip for the Japanese, for us, the main pleasure came from being in the company of friends who obviously derived great enjoyment f rorn our clumsy attempts to communicate with them. During the girls' stay, we saw exhibitions of the tea ceremony and other cultural displays, while they were in- volved in trips to the North Coast, dinners and other ex- cursions arranged by host families. Through the sharing of these common experiences, our school has acquired a new and exciting perspective of the Japanese way of life and we hope to further this understanding by a return visit to Japan in the near future.

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Prudence Radcliffe, 128

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