Monday, November 17, 2008

Day 6...Last day of school visit... Yimin

We went to Kagoshima Joho High School on 15/11/08 to experience the club activities. They have Judo, kendo, kyudo and Japanese Drum. I was selected to do Kyudo. Kyudo is Japanese archery. We learnt how to aim with the bow and arrow. Japanese archery is very different from those that we see in the Olympics.

We were taught the specific steps before shooting. Mr Haji demonstrated for us. He did not hit the bull’s eye, however he as shooting from quite a distance(around 20m), and it was very impressive. Finally, after some practice, it was time for shooting. Everyone was given a chance to shoot. We took turns while the Japanese girls cheered for us. It was a a very enjoyable experience.

Left- Mr Kaji................Right - Our guide for Kyudo















This is how far the Japanese have to shoot















Mr Kaji, demonstrating how to aim and shoot



















We are all ready for shooting















This is our mama bear. Auntie Chew who took on the 1st shoot. Instead of trying the 20m shoot, we were asked to move forward. Now close we are to the target.















This is Li Hua. She had problems with her bow and it caused her arrow to drop several times.



















Chuan Siang aiming like an expert



















This is Krystal



















Regina trying her best















While we were having Kyudo, our friends were having Judo, kendo and daiko (Japanese drum) at other sides of the school.

Aref was throwing a student while the best in Kagoshima (guy in the background with red sweater) looked on.































Evergreen students with the Judo experts (They won the gold medal in Kagoshima)

After Kyudo, we had the farewell ceremony. We were to assemble at the auditorium while the Principal of Kagoshima Joho High School addressed us. He presented all of us with souvenirs and after that, we took our luggage and prepared to leave Kagoshima. It was very touching to see people crying as they were upset to leave their Japanese friend and buddies behind. I cried too. Our Japanese buddies chased after the bus to wave us goodbye. We were very touched to tears and could not help but stay put in the bus.

Chuan Siang's fans........

















Nadia's buddy was in tears as she sent Nadia off















Most of the Japanese girls ended up crying.....















Ms Lim, Mrs Eng, Mr Kaji, Ms Chong, student leader & the Principal of Joho High















A group photo together















They chased the bus all the way........















Aref and Jaron was asked to do some sharing of their home stay experience on the bus. Aref started the sharing with much laughter as he shared. Though he wasn't enjoying himself during the 1st night, he had more fun during the second night. The morning when he was going off, the buddy's dad even brought Aref to an orange farm and asked Aref to pluck some as souvenirs.

As for Jaron, he ended off with us yawning away. Heehee... but I must say he also did a fantastic job when he was sharing. He told us that he was forced to play PSP2 with his buddy. It was a combat game and they need to kill 600 enemies each. But Jaron ended up losing to his buddy as the buddy kept on shooting Jaron down instead of aiming at the enemies.

Jaron looking happy with his sharing















We had our buffet barbecue lunch. Finally, after this few days in Japan, I got to eat western food such as french fries, chocolate cake, cheese cake and ice-cream. We also get to do some BBQ and we had fun in the restaurant. According to Mr Thomas, this type of buffet style restaurant is very popular in Japan, especially during dinner. The main reason is they get to eat Kobe beef ( the most expensive beef in Japan). The food there was very fresh.

Mrs Eng and Christine showing some cakes















After having our lunch, we went to the Kumamoto City Recycle Plaza. We had learned the importance of recycling and how different Japan makes an effort to recycle all their materials compared to Singapore. They put their rubbish separately in different bins. For example the bottle caps are separated from the bottle. One bottle can make a hat, ten bottles can make a windbreaker.

We had a lecture on recycling of materials















This picture is made from glass bottles















Ming Chong having fun with an activity using bottles and bottle cap



















After that, we went to the Kumamoto Castle. It is known to be inaccessible by Ninjas and assassins. It was raining heavily therefore, we did not have a lot of time to explore the place, which was extremely depressing. We did not expect it to rain, therefore we did not bring our umbrellas. It was a lesson learnt, and we brought our umbrellas with us for the subsequent days.

The layout of the whole Kumamoto castle area















A model display of the castle














Graphical picture of the castle















The top of the castle















Dinner time! We had tempura set dinner. The food was fantastic. We were very full after that. We checked in into the inn. It was very much smaller than a hotel. The place was very packed.

The cold dish

















Our tempura set meal.

















































We has a lot of fun during the debrief as we discussed our personal experiences during our home stay. We reached a conclusion that Japanese people are very highly discipline. They arrange their shoes neatly and is very well-mannered towards their elders. They are our role models and there is many things we would want to change to our lives to be as discipline as them. Knowing that fact, we did our reflections and retired for the night.

posted by Yi Min (with the help of Regina... :) )

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