As previously reported, the students from Northern Arizona University (NAU) came to Japan at the beginning of June. (See H/P No.16-9 “Welcome Party for NAU Students” ).They learned Japanese cultures such as flower arrangement and calligraphy in Abiko and visited several cities in Kansai area including Hiroshima. After that they came back to Abiko and stayed with host families for three nights and four days. June 27, 2016、On this day they got together to share their experiences with each other.
Date and Time: Monday, June 27, 2016 1:30p.m.-3:00p.m.
Venue: Room 693, Bldg. No.6, Chuo Gakuin University (CGU)
Participants: Ms. Mary Adachi, students from Northern Arizona University, host families
and AIRA staff members
The American students arrived at the room accompanied by their host families. Seeing friends after a while, they looked relaxed and soon started chatting over drinks and snacks.
The gathering was hosted by Ms. Yamaguchi, an AIRA member and AIRA English teacher. First, a Japanese toast “Kanpai” was proposed by Ms. Kitajima, vice president of AIRA.
As an ice breaker all the people tried a Japanese tongue twister, “Aka-pajama, ao-pajama, ki-pajama” (red pajamas, blue pajamas, and yellow pajamas). Some students mastered quickly and performed it very well.
The MC Ms. Yamaguchi suggested that the students write two key words or phrases on a small board and talk about their homestay experiences. One of the key words was, “What has impressed me the most” and the other was, “A new Japanese word or phrase I’ve learned during the homestay.” Introducing those words and phrases, students talked about what they learned and how they felt. The host family members also introduced interesting episodes observed during the students’ stay with them. Here are some of their words.
1. What has impressed me the most:
Arashi (music group), food(yakisoba, sea urchin, salmon roes, etc.), Wonder Rex (used shop), Ushiku-Daibutsu (huge Buddhist Statue), etc.
2. New words and phrases I’ve learned: Jidori (selfie), anko (sweet red-bean paste), beni shoga(red pickled ginger), taiyaki (fish-shaped pancake), obasan (aunt or middle-aged woman), gomoku narabe (board game using Go stones), gochiso samadeshita (word of thanks for a meal), mori (forest), enryo no katamari, etc.
One student found the phrase “enryo no katamari” very interesting. She seemed to have learned one of the Japanese characteristics, a tendency to try to be too modest to others. The phrase means “Nobody tends to try to take the last piece of food on the table, showing Japanese people’s modesty”. Another student showed an interest in Chinese characters, quoting, “木(ki) is a tree, 林(hayashi) is woods and 森(mori) is a forest.”
Listening to these comments by the students who had cross-cultural experiences, Japanese participants also rediscovered Japanese culture.
Host families also introduced what they did with the students such as, playing gomoku narabe, listening to the student’s explanation about American culture, cooking and arranging flowers together, cycling near Teganuma Lake, teaching Chinese characters, and so on.
One family took the student to an aquarium. They were surprised that the student knew so many fish names. Some students visited the Boso no Mura (open-air museum introducing people’s life in Edo Period) and tried on a Japanese samurai armors and helmet. After that all the people sang along a Japanese traditional folk song “Sakura Sakura” (cherry blossoms) led by Mr. Beppu, chief of AIRA Study and Culture Section. He asked the students to remember the song and sing it after they went back to the US. I
n the closing speech Ms. Kitajima thanked the host families and said to the students, “Don’t forget your precious experiences here in Abiko. There is a saying, “百聞は一見にしかず”. (Seeing is believing). I hope our friendship will be a further step to the world peace.” The memorable gathering thus came to an end in a friendly atmosphere.
(No. 16-11 Translated by Ch. Yamaguchi)
