Date & Time:  Saturday, March 13, 2021   10:00 – 11:30　(No.20-15)

　Participants:  Eleven students (with one family member) from seven countries and thirteen volunteer teachers

 

This year Saturday Japanese Class was held online. The students studied in small groups according to their Japanese skills and didn’t have chances to get to know other students and teachers, so on the last day of the third semester a special class “Otanoshimi-kai (fun gathering)” was planned.  All the students and the teachers got together on the screen and had a great time talking about their favorites and singing a song.

All the students showed their favorites or treasures such as:

*a photo of the sea she saw for the first time in Japan

*an electronic dictionary he uses when he studies Japanese

*photos of families, favorite foods and beautiful places from their home countries

*hand-made vegetable juice for good health

*photos of places in Japan they visited with their family(Okinawa and Hokkaido seem to be very popular!)

*a paper collage “Lion” of her own making

*an employee ID card with her daughter’s photo on its back(“The photo cheers me up when I feel tired,” she said.)

*a two-tier cake stand to serve cakes and sandwiches

The students, from primary to intermediate levels, told stories about each item in Japanese.

The teachers also talked about their favorites or treasures such as:

*a seashell believed to drive away evil

*a seashell that weighs 5kg

*a Berlin Wall fragment

*a pet (cat)

*stuffed animals

*a hand-knitted cap

*photos of flowers in the garden that she is taking care of

*a ball-point pen that has been used for 30 years

*a tamagoyaki (egg-roll) pan that has been used for 35 years and a beautiful tamagoyaki 

One teacher said what’s the most important thing for her is to have consideration for others.

All the presentations were impressive and amusing.

In the end, we sang “Kyo no Hi wa Sayonara (Good-bye for Today)” together and closed Saturday Class 2020, promising to see each other again in Saturday Class 2021 in May.　

（Translated by Chizu Yamaguchi）