AIRA was requested by Chiba Prefectural Office, which is promoting international exchange, to dispatch an interpreter to an exchange meeting between two high schools. Zhog-zheng Senior High School is a Taipei municipal school. The meeting was held in Chinese and English. AIRA was requested to send an English interpreter while Chiba Prefectural Office arranged a Chinese interpreter.(No.21-17)
Date and Time: December 23rd (Thu), 2021 17:00～18:10 (local time in Taiwan 16:00～)
Venue: Abiko Higashi High School, Library
Participants: 11 Abiko Higashi High School students and 15 Zhong-zheng Senior High School students
Dispatched interpreter: Mr. SARUWATARI Hiroshi
This is the second meeting held between Abiko Higashi High School and Zhong-zheng Senior High School. In Taiwan, their activities are restricted due to COVID 19, so the meeting was conducted online. The students of Higashi HS were waiting in the school after the closing ceremony of the second semester until the students of Zhong-zheng joined in the on-line meeting from their homes.
For the introduction of each school and culture, Zhong-zheng HS introduced Christmas (events, concerts and illuminations) and New Year (the first sunrise at Haulien Xian Bainen Shan, year-end house cleaning, Chuan lian, i.e. New-Year couplets containing words of luck written on strips of red paper and pasted on doors, sitting up late on New Year’s Eve wishing for longevity, etc.), also introducing sightseeing spots in Taipei. The introduction was performed in Chinese, which was interpreted to Japanese by the Chinese interpreter.
Higashi HS introduced works of “Toothpick Art”, which have been produced every year since seven years ago. For a memorial artwork celebrating the 50th anniversary of Abiko municipalization, 126,840 toothpicks were used. They showed the process of the production of these works by video using power point in Japanese, Chinese and English. The students of Zhong-zheng HS seemed to be impressed very much.
During the Q&A session, the Zhong-zheng HS students talked in Chinese or English and Mr.Saruwatari interpreted English/Japanese conversation. The questions from Zhong-zheng HS were as follows: “Do you do Scavenger Hunt at athletic meets?” “Do you have a school cafeteria?” “Where and with whom do you have lunch?” “Do you like bubble tea-tapioca milk tea?” “Do you go to a cram school?” Mr. Saruwatari might have had trouble interpreting as the voices through the internet were sometimes difficult to hear.
The Higashi HS students asked the Zhong-zheng HS students about their favorite anime, music, etc., and also asked whether they have semester closing ceremonies or not. They seemed to have deepened their friendship with each other as they could share their favorites like anime culture. It is a very valuable experience for young people to notice and understand the differences of each other’s cultures and customs. The next (the third) meeting is already scheduled and mutual understanding will be further enhanced.
(Translated by NAKAJIMA Katsumi)
