1988 School Magazine

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certain questions to ask the competitors. I was in charge of the children's section aged f rom four years to f ifteen vears. As a result, I was subjected to numerous faux pas. bbrlously many of the ch ildren had learnt their answers oarrot fashion and by rearranging the order of the inrerview questions i often con[used them. lwouid ask them "How is the weather?" Replies ranged from "Fine sankyu, and yu?" (Fine thank you and you?) to a self-introduction. Next I would ask "How old are vou?" t\4ost confused, one thirteen year old replied l'sarchi-suree yearzu orudo." (Thirty-three years old). The sweetest child I interviewed was so tiny that his teacher actually had to lift him on to the chair so the inlerview could begin. On returning f rom Japan, I not only started university aqain but also began work at the Japan Technoplaza at Eipo. Working at the Technoplaza has not only improved my use of Japanese but also given me great experience in dealing with crowds of people. Every day we greet visitors by bowing and saying "l(onnichi Wa". Thir often confuses people to the extent that I am repeatedly asked if lam Japanese. However, the Australian male ego obviously quite enjoys the sight of an Australian girl bowing to them. Many have asked if I could teach their wives to bowl!! Half the staff in Technoplaza are Japanese and half Australian. One day whilst I was standing at the exit with a Japanese attendant, Tomoko, a sweet old lady approached us quite impressed with such an example of cultural friendships. Smiling from cheek to cheek she said, "Now let me see, you are an Australian girl and you are a Japanese girl and ... you've made friends already! That's just lovely, just lovely." One of the highlights so far was being part of the official party to escort the Prime Minister of Japan and his entourage round the pavilion. The opportunity to speak Japanese and experience the protocol surrounding such an event will be long remembered. With Expo already half way through, I am contemplating further opportunities to practise my skills and gain new experiences. Hopef ully i will be just as lucky in f inding equally rewarding and interesting jobs in the f uture.

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Year Eight French-Cafe role-play.

VEAffi NSNE FRENCH French lessons this year have been rather interesting and we have worked a lot on our spoken langrlage. Among the areas studied are included topics like how to check into a hotel when on tour in the beautifulcity of Paris, how to order in a French restaurant (including what NCT to say to the waiter), and how to make a telephone call and send a ielegram. We've also Iooked a Iittle at the high school system in France and have learnt to talk about the subjects we study here. Most of all, we love discussing French food, and everyone enjoyed our French "breakfast" which included not only croissants, but eclairs au chocolat and pate and lots more! For me French has been challenging, and lthink most of the Year Nine students would agree, it's been f un ! A Year Nine Student YEAR EN.EVEN FRENChg Sa lut, or "Hi" for those of you who are not members of the elite 'Francophilian Club' of Year Eleven. This year we have studied the French language and culture f rom many and varied angles, with a very practical approach complemented by our study of French songs, magazines and newspapers. Of course weekly lessons with Francoise, our Native Speaker, are always enjoyable and most benef icial (and sometimes embarrassing). During the year we have had some interesting diversions f rom our "normal" study of French. For example, we visited the Queensland Art Callery to see the "Masterpieces from the Louvre" exhibit, while five of our girls were fortunate enough to visit the Louvre, in person, during their trip to France earlier this year' The Callery visit was followed up by a visit f rom Ms Tennant who gave us an overview of some of the great French art. Mr Rowell also visited our classes towards the end of the year with a look at just a few of the great French film d irectors. 77

Jill Margerison (centre) working at Expo.