9月から、高1に、スウェーデンからの留学生が来ています。
今日は、彼女が高3の授業に来てもらい、1時間話をしてもらいました。
たまたま来校していた卒業生と、カナダで留学経験のある生徒が通訳となり、写真や事前に用意した質問を用いて、日本語と英語で楽しく話をしてくれました。
まだ日本語は拙いですが、これからも校内で出会ったら、いろいろ話しかけてみましょう。
今日はどうもありがとうございました。

On our second day together, we had a workshop on calligraphy. The Hibari students chose 'kanji' for each Calderside student's name, and showed them how to hold a brush, how to write their names in kanji on the Japanese washi paper. After practice, the Scottish students wrote their names on 'shikishi' card. There were smiles, and smiles, and more smiles!

In the afternoon, the Calderside students got together with the ESS(English Speaking Society) club members, and went to see the koto club and the tea ceremony club. They not only enjoyed the music and the Japanese tea, but also tried making the music and the tea.
After that? Friendly chats, and laughter and more laughter.

On a day like this, the world seems like such a friendly place, and you wonder why it sometimes is so difficult to accept the differences in culture, language, etc.

12 students and two teachers visited us from the Calderside Academy in Scotland. This is our fourth joint program. On our first day together, the 16th, we had two workshops.
In the morning, we began with 2 songs from Scotland, followed by a quiz on Japanese sweets. The visiting party got to taste a cookie and had to tell what was in the cream. Coffee? No. Peanut butter? No. Chocolate? No! The answer was 'kuro mitsu(cane sugar)' and 'kinako (soy bean powder).'
After both parties danced to a traditional Scottish tune together, and then enjoyed talking about each other.
In the afternoon, we had two Scottish songs again, followed by a return song from the Hibari students singing their school song. Then there was another quiz on Japanese sweets (this time, it was plum-flavored 'gumi' candy, and a Calderside student came up with the correct answer!). After that there was more chat and talk about each other.
By the time the Scottish students were ready to leave for the day, many Hibari students gathered around for yet more talk and chat. Yes, it was a 'friendly' day indeed!