Wow! Japan! An amazing extraordinary country!
Following our introduction to Japan presentation from last month, I though it would be a good idea to have a full presentation about this fascinating country. Thank you Aki and family for talking about it.
Aki is from Japan and lived there with her children, Enzo and Myako, and kiwi husband Ivor before moving to New Zealand. It was great to see her children talking about their experience at school. It made me realise how lucky we are to have local schools near us where we are able to walk a short distance or drive for a few minutes and get there! In Japan, is not unusual for children to walk an average of half hour and sometimes up to an hour to get to school! You can imagine this happening in the winter, with snow all around and very cold days?! Yes, we are lucky in New Zealand. This is what I love about the International Group. Children are able to learn and talk about life in a different culture. How does the weather, location, climate and customs impact in their daily lives?
We of course learned a bit of Japanese and how some words in our English vocabulary are actually from Japanese origin! For example - Do you like singing in a Karaoke? Or, do you like playing Origami? And a word that I don't really like.... tsunami!
On the Tsunami subject, we also did a bit of talking about the "Ring of Fire" and how Japan (and New Zealand!) are placed in relation to it and the consequences of it - the possibility of earthquakes, tsunamis etc. It was a great opportunity to practice the "Drop, Cover Hold" with the children!
Following the presentation, we had our usual fun with lots of games and after that we had our communal lunch - sushi that we all made together at the Sushi Workshop! We also played a traditional japanese game called the "Noodles Game" where you pour noodles on one side of a sort of slide and the children need to try and get them with the chopsticks. Ah! and of course eat them! And why not add a bit of soy sauce! Yummie fun!
Thank you to everyone who came and helped made this day so special!
Check the pictures below:
Aki talking about Japan
The noodles game!!
Our sushi workshop and lunch!
