1997 School Magazine

{!i)irls ~rmnmar ~cbool ~risbane 1997

Differences

I like Australia. I also like Japan. I have found a lot of differences between Aus- tralian and Japan while staying here for sev- eral months. First of all, I will talk about the "Love Story" which I like the best. The season is winter inJapan. It is summer in Australia. In Japan, winter is really cold. So I think people need "Hot Love" Yes!! We've got St Valen- tine's Day on 14 February. I found a differ- ence here! In Japan, it is no exaggeration to say that St Valentine's Day is for girls and women. Japanese girls declare their love and they give the boys a present of chocolates then. And the boys are looking fotward to it, too .Just this day, girls are given permission to declare their love. And we give some choco-

Next I will talk about fashion. In Japan, the most popular fashion is long boots. Almost all girls are wearing them. I think Japanese women are not so tall. So these boots are necessities of fashion for girls . 1 have some boots, too. They are 10cm high boots. There are many kinds of boots from low to high. I like these. But my friends in Australia were very surprised to see these. [ don't understand why. Australians are tall er than Japanese, .. so actually they don't need high boots . And Australians have really good figures with nice long legs. I'm envious of them ve1y much. It is just a different of fashion . However, there are some things in common, we ought to understand if we

Mika Hayashi

lates not only to the person whom we love but also to our friends or relatives. (father, brother, uncle ... etc) In Australia, boys also declare their love. They give girls a present of flowers, roses, cards or a letter. Of course, most couples give a present to each other, too. I was very surprised to hear about that. I was thinking until now, it's natural that girls declare their love while

attach importance to fashion . The current Australian fashion is the Japanese fashion of a few years ago, not only for clothes, but also for some goods. For example, SANRIO GOODS - "Helin Kitty", "Kero Kero Keroop", "Bad batsu maru" etc.... particu- larly, "TAMAGGOCHI"!! Virtual pets are now vety popular in Australia, too. I'm vety happy that everybody knows them. Finally, I will tal k

giving boys choco- lates. I was also think- ing St Valentine's Day is the same in all coun- tries. Which one do you prefer? I give my father and brother chocolates eve1y time and sometimes just friends (boys), too. And if girls don't have a boyfriend, some girls give to their friends (girls) , too . So in Ja- pan, this day is in full swing evety year. I've had experiences like this .. .I like this day. I found a big difference!! In Japan, we also have "White Day" on 14 March . This day is

about teenagers. My first impression is just great because Austral - ian people assert them- selves strongly. But thi s does not mean they are selfish at all. I think it is vety important for human relations. So , don't Japanese people assert themselves ,1 s strongly? I can't say positively "No". Cer- tainly, there are many people like that in Ja- pan, too, I think. Bu t it's obvious that it is different among teen - agers. Japanese teen- agers are compara- tively conformist. They

frankly speaking a "return". So some boys and men who were given chocolates give a present to girls. Moreover, it is decided what things are good or bad. If a boy gives a girl a present of candies, a boy can accept her love. If a boy gives a girl a present of marshmallows, it shows he doesn 't love her. If a boy gives a girl a present of cookies, a boy thinks of her as just a friend. Of course, some boys don't give any return presents. So I think that both "White Day" and "St Valentine's Day" are fun!! Even if I don't have a boy whom I love , I can still enjoy this day.

like to act together. Especially, in some classes, Australian students announce their opinion definitely. So I felt quit e different in some classes here . I think it is important to assen oneself strongly on the one hand but to be conformist in human relations. There are many differences between Australia and Japan, but I think the differences about St Valentine's Day are the most interesting for me. What do you think? MIKA HAYASHI, TSUSHIMA GIRLS' HIGH

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