Penglais - Otemae High School Exchange
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Penglais - Otemae High School Exchange |
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Please scroll down for information on the following...
• Before they arrive
• Cost
• Activities
• Food
• Language barrier and communication
Before they arrive
Bear in mind that for some, if not all, of the Japanese students this may be their first time abroad, and possibly the first time they have been away from their family for any significant time. To reassure them, and also to help you find out a little about your guest, it is a nice idea to make contact with them before they come. Sending some photos of you, your family and your home is a great way of making them feel welcome and reassuring them and their families. It will also help you: knowing a little about your guest will help you plan and prepare appropriately. (Don't be worried or offended if they are slow to respond or give a very brief response. Remember English is not their first language and for many it is difficult to write at length. For the same reason keep anything you send fairly straight forward, and don't forget about pictures!)
Cost
The exchange will be most successful if you are able to welcome your guest into your family as much as possible, and for the duration of their stay treat them as one of your family. As a host you are expected to provide three meals day. It is also in keeping with the spirit of the exchange if you pay for any transport to and from school, family outings and entrance fees.
Activities
During the week... activities were organised by Penglais School. These included Machynlleth market, Harlech Castle, Caernarfon Castle, Aberdyfi, Devil's Bridge Railway, a tour of Aberystwyth, vermicular railway up Constitution Hill and a visit to local primary school. Host families were required to make sure the Japanese students were at the meeting place in the morning and collect them at the end of the day. They also have to provide packed lunches on most days. It is best if host partners go on at least some of the excursions.
During the weekday evenings host families got together with their guests for parties and barbecues on several occasions.
During the 2005 Exchange several host families invited everyone to their homes. This is by no means obligatory but it was a nice way for everyone to spend time together. There was also a BBQ at Ynyslas.
During the weekend... families organised their own trips. These ranged from going to the beach, going up Cader, horse riding, Castle Rock, and mountain biking.
Other activities included...
visiting a castle, karate class, Aberaeron (honey ice cream shop), rounders on Ynyslas beach, swimming in the river, pottery class, camping in Pembrokeshire.
Food
Host mother: Any worries about what to give her to eat were soon dispelled: she was less fussy than our own children
Otemae exchange student (age 15): The food was amazing. Everything was delicious! The home made dishes of home grown vegetables and local food kindly prepared by the host families tasted really good
Otemae exchange student (age 15): Tea... it is delicious whenever and wherever you drink. In Britain, most people drink a cup of tea with milk. There is no iced tea (not like in Japan). People often put milk first, and pour tea. British people sometimes drink a cup of tea with sandwiches, cakes, cookies and sweets. They call this "High Tea"
Otemae exchange student (age 16): Fish and chips... This is one of the famous dishes in Britain. It has a batter-fried fish and chips. There are many take-away shops. It is quite filling dish, so I thought a half of this dish was enough for me to get full. By the way, "chips" is fried potatoes.
Host families are expected to provide meals for their guests. What to give them is not something to be worried about. Before the Otemae guests arrived we were told that Japanese people didn't like bread or dairy food. The first thing our guest did at breakfast was pour herself a glass of milk and make some toast. Western food is becoming more and more popular in Japan and they are likely to be familiar with many of the foods we eat. At the same time, traditional Japanese food is very different both in taste and texture, from Western food, as is the presentation, style of service and cutlery. However, part of the exchange is learning about other cultures and trying new things so don't be afraid to feed your guest very British food or even some traditional Welsh dishes such as lamb, trout wrapped in bacon, or cawl. T here are some foods that we take for granted that they are unlikely to have come across, such as fish and chips! Here's a list of f oods that are uncommon in Japan:
• mashed potato
• potato salad
• cheese on toast
• shepherds pie
• turkey
• lamb
• Yorkshire pudding
• Welsh cakes and scones
• fish pie
• cold beef and ham
• porridge and rice pudding
• thick soups
A common sense approach of asking them what they like and don't like, providing a selection of things and asking if they would like more of anything is probably the best way of going about things. Bear in mind that one of the best ways to make someone feel at home and part of your family is to treat them, as much as possible, as a family member and not an honoured guest.
Language barrier and communication
Japanese students must study English at school and most have a good grasp of the language, and an electronic dictionary. However, their English lessons tend to focus on grammar and vocabulary rather than conversation so at first they may find it difficult to speak fluently. As they became more confident all the students conversation skills developed rapidly. By talking slowly and clearly and avoiding slang it was easy to have long conversations. Whenever there was any difficulty it sometimes helped to write words down, draw pictures or mime: although sometimes time consuming, communication was never a problem.