BCSS student Callie Williamson is on a visit to Japan and she took the time to send the Times a description of her adventures.
Living in Kobe, Japan is quite the transition. There are buses, subways, people, the way you bath and even clothing to get used to. I am certainly happy I went to Japan, though. It has taught me some lessons and now I see things from a slightly different perspective. This land really is about working for what you want and being patient with the bumps that come along to what they may be.
I’m not living in small Kettle Valley anymore. The trees have become skyscrapers, the fields are roads and the horses, sheep and cattle people. Now this could be looked into with a negative light but I see it as a different beauty. Things are closer, easier to get to and at night the buildings become shining towers.
Getting to places like school takes about 45 minutes by bike and train with my current host family. My host sister Rotary Exchange and I bike together. I have heard an abundance of stories of exchange students taking the wrong trains.
I live in a place called Amagasaki currently with my third host family. When talking about areas, we call them after the nearest station. I may have one more family before I return but I’m not sure.
Coming to Japan I now need to wear a uniform! I actually have two uniforms, one for winter, one for summer. I wear a white shirt with a royal blue pleated skirt. In the winter there is a matching blue sweater and blazer you may wear. Also knee high socks, a red tie in winter and a red clip on bow in summer.
I go to Fukiai Municipal High School. This school is a bit different from the others because it has an international course. This is for people who may have been born in another country and know English and want to practice, as well as people who just want to learn English. They are friendly, welcoming and truly destroy the “proper, quiet” Japanese classroom stereotype. It is a nice shock how loud it will get.
I have two or more Japanese classes a day by several volunteer teachers whose English skill varies. I go to school with another Canadian girl named Jane who is from Whitehorse, Yukon.
Rotary has brought me to many trips, I have gone to Tokyo, Kyoto, worn a kimono, visited Hiroshima and have taken part in many other things that are so different. I have met many exchange students in this swirling world of excitement that is Japan. Changes like bathing which here in Japan, you take a shower before a bath, or when dressing a low neckline on shirts is not looked on approvingly. I have gone to karaoke parlors around with friends and have eaten new Japanese foods, which are delicious. Being a foreigner seems to generate a lot of interest and you get interested stares as you walk around.
Overall though, I have had a good time here. I feel very comfortable and don’t feel ready to leave. I have made many friends and enjoy the happiness of things here. Summer has just started too, so things will be quite hot when I return to Canada. Currently I plan to return in July and help the Boundary’s next exchange student.
One final note she sent along with the pictures was that she felt her first earthquake in May. “According to the other students, I was the only one to actually hurriedly get out of bed while the rest slept.”