The week of Monday November 17th through Friday 21st was the International Education Week. It is the week that many organizations in the world like colleges and universities host events to encourage people to learn more about other cultures. For this special opportunity, I made some presentations about Japan. So in this article, I’m sharing what I did during the week.

[Presentation about Okinawa]

Have you heard about Okinawa? It’s one of the prefectures in Japan. Since it used to be an independent country until the Japanese government put it in their territory, Okinawa has its own unique, such as traditional dresses, music, songs, dances, foods, and a different language. It also has been very popular as a place for tourism with the tropical weather and wonderful nature. 

However, Okinawa is also famous for being a tragic place during World War 2. During the battle, numerous Okinawan citizens were killed  because of not only America’s attack but also Japanese army and group suicides. At that time, people were educated that being caught by the American army is worse than death, which is not true, so a lot of people followed the wrong education. Also, a huge number of people died because of prioritizing the Japanese army over their lives. In addition, so many young students joined the battle as nurses or soldiers and many of them lost their lives.

I made this presentation in 5 classes of Mr. Baird and Mr. Douglas. I taught how to make paper cranes as well in a couple of these classes. Most students were listening seriously and that made me happy. It was a great opportunity to realize the difference of perspectives between countries and the importance of putting ourselves in other shoes. 

[Calligraphy and a presentation about “kanji”, Japanese letters]

Students in Mrs. Millar’s Publication in the 8th period enjoyed Japanese calligraphy. They drew their names in Japanese and tried some kanji, Japanese letters as well. When you do calligraphy, you normally use big, thick brushes for main letters and small, thin brushes for your names. They also learned about kanji. Kanji are logographic characters of Chinese origin which are used in the Japanese writing system. I explained how they were created with illustrations.

[Making “onigiri”, rice balls]

Students in Mrs. Lewis’s Living on my own and Nutrition classes enjoyed making and trying onigiri(rice balls). It is a Japanese daily meal which is handy and easy to make. We mainly eat onigiri for breakfast or lunch just like Americans eat sandwiches. We put fillings inside or mix together with sticky rice, which is the staple food in Japan. This time, we made tuna-mayo and furikake, many kinds of Japanese seasonings. 

[JAPAN TRIVIA]

During International Education Week, I held a library event, “JAPAN TRIVIA”. The trivia’s questions were from the poster and my earlier articles of Trojournal. Bear Prowant, Kynzie Barts, Lila Sweeney, and 73 elementary kids got perfect scores and won prize! 

Through the week, I could learn so many things, such as other perspectives, speaking in front of audiences, how to explain what I want to tell, and how to attract students. I hope many people in SES became more interested in Japan and our culture than before. 

I thank the teachers who gave me time for the presentations and library ladies who helped me hold JAPAN TRIVIA.