It is ‘sayonara’ for these school students
It’s sayo¯ nara Tokoroa for a group of 14 Forest View High School Students.
The students and two teachers are Japan-bound on Thursday for a two week cultural experience.
Teacher Kamal Nair said the school goes on the trip once every two years and the Year 9 to 13 students will have the chance to fully submerge themselves in the Japanese lifestyle.
‘‘We will be going to a school, Misato Kita, 45 minutes from Tokyo and the students will be billeted out,’’ he said.
‘‘We will go to school with the host students every day during the first week and we will follow their classes doing activities like calligraphy, a Japanese tea ceremony, pottery as well as the rest of their classes. Basically we will be staying with them as one of them to experience their daily lifestyle.’’
Nair said during the weekend host families will also take the students to visit local sites.
‘‘Before we leave the school will hold a sayo¯nara party and they will then take us to Tokyo to visit Skytree as well as a few shrines,’’ he said.
‘‘From Tokoroa Central Station we will be on our own and we will go on a bullet train to Kyoto which is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Japan and visit shrines, gardens, and parks.’’
‘‘Following that we will go to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.’’
‘‘Last time I took a group there in 2015 the younger ones basically
‘‘We will be staying with them as one of them to experience their daily lifestyle.’’ Kamal Nair
had no idea about the history of what actually happened. They were quite bubbly at the start of the tour but when they came out they were very emotional and we had to sit under a tree outside the museum so we could absorb everything in,’’ he said.
It’s not all heavy going through with plans to also visit Universal Studios in Osaka and Disneyland in Tokyo.
‘‘Depending on time we may also go to see some sumo wrestling but Disneyland is the main attraction so we have got tickets for the whole day,’’ he said.
Nair said fundraising has allowed the students to fund their trip.
‘‘They each pay around $4300 for everything,’’ he said.
‘‘One of the hotels we are staying in is traditional where you sleep on the floor so it is a great cultural experience and it’s Autumn so the weather is great.’’