ION CREANGA STUDENTS - Filip Georgiana
Filip Georgiana Diana is GAGA (that`s her nickname :))). She was one of the extraordinary students of 10 I class and now she is going on studying Japanese at Bucharest university. 10 I was an extraordinary class because it was a class with so many talents, interests and ideas, but mostly because 10 I pupils knew how to be FRIENDS. The envy felling always transformed in their case in a fair `Challenge spirit`, so it was always a pleasure to teach at their class.Gaga, was one of the "quiet"/ "shy" ones. Sitting in the back of the class she did superb in her Japanese language test, but so were 18 other pupils. Still, in 2006, when JICA-JOCV introduced a new challange in our high-school with the help of Ayumi sensei, I wasn`t surprised to hear that after the examinations and a long deliberation GAGA was choosed to represent us in the JESEP (Japan-Europe High School Students Exchange Program) promoted for years by ACE Japan. 
The Embassy of Japan approved the choice of Vero-sensei and Ayumi-sensei and GAGA came to Japan for 6 months to live with a Japanese family and to attend the classes of Karyo High School in Yamaguchi Prefecture (Kadamatsu City). It was quite a courajeous act, because to be 17 years old and choose to go in the wide unknow world is not a comfortable adventure.
The arrival in Japan was full of surprises (not pleasant ones) and one week after she got here, Vero senseiw as telling me that something is going on with Gaga, so I just got the address of the host family and I called. I was happy to hear from her and she seemed more than happy to chat - as at that point all the troubles with the getting to Japan added to the cultural shock and made her feel a bit low. I still remebered that she was quite upset as she thought the Japanese houses are so crowded and the space is so limited. (what can I say: I KNOW!!! :)))
But, everything turned out good. She soon got a mobile phone so we could exchange SMS and in a couple of weeks, the shocked was repalce by wonder and at the end of the program when she got back to Tokyo and we were able to meet face to face I was amazed!!! I saw a Gaga who grew so much (not getting fat or anything like that :))).
She grew as a person. She was confident, chatty, open and shining. Her Japanese conversational skills went so high in such a short period of time and her supervisor form ACE was praising her so much, that I felt really proud!
She grew as a person. She was confident, chatty, open and shining. Her Japanese conversational skills went so high in such a short period of time and her supervisor form ACE was praising her so much, that I felt really proud!
For a teacher is no greater pleasure that to see the students reached their dreams, followed the teacher passion. While in the beginning we feared that Gaga might crack a bit under the pressure and cultural shock, she proved her toughness and moreover she turned her not so pleasant getting to Japan start into the adventure of her life - I was sure she will go back home saying IT WAS SUPER!! which would have stimulated the other pupils in fighting to get in this program. And SHE DID!
If you don`t believe me you can read her articles in the ACE newsletter below or the one in the Karyo High-School magazine:
http://www.acejapan.or.jp/education/news/news_pdf/JESEP_News_Vol_1_3.pdf
http://www.acejapan.or.jp/education/news/news_pdf/JESEP_News_Vol_1_4.pdf
http://www.karyo-h.ysn21.jp/SELHiWeb/Karyo_Weekly_Web/Web%20Karyo%20Weekly%20131-135.pdf
http://www.acejapan.or.jp/education/news/news_pdf/JESEP_News_Vol_1_4.pdf
http://www.karyo-h.ysn21.jp/SELHiWeb/Karyo_Weekly_Web/Web%20Karyo%20Weekly%20131-135.pdf
You can also read her own impression below:
“LOST IN TRANSLATION”
We live in a world that is full of cultural diversity, and that’s what makes it so special. Just imagine going on a journey throughout Russia, Iceland, New Zealand, Argentina, the tribes in Africa and the mysterious pyramids of Egypt; each and every country has its own heritage. History is alive in so many ways, and you don’t even need to speak the country’s language in order to feel it.
For me it has always been about Japan. Looking back, I realize that everything started by accident, if you can say so. It was 5 years ago, when I was choosing my future high school; for some reason I chose Japanese. Although I knew almost nothing about this Far-Eastern country, it was like this mysterious place was calling for me. Little did I know that I was about to discover one of the things I still am most fascinated about.
I remember my first Japanese lesson: we had to answer some questions about “Nihon”and the only things I had heard about were “tsunami” or “kamikaze”. To tell the truth, my answers were pretty average.. Afterwards, our Japanese teacher started telling us about Japan, and the story of Sadako Sasaki; so, as future Japanese students as we were, we learned how to make tsuru, a japanese crane. I think that the fact that we also had a Japanese volunteer to help us with conversation, kanji, and most important how to interact with japanse people made all the difference in the world.
That was the beginning of 4 wonderful years, during which I could experience all kind of activities, such as ikebana, origami, shodo, try Japanese food for the first time, wear a yukata, traditional dances, see kabuki, learn Japanese history and become more and more caught up in this mesmerizing culture.
This image of Japan being a perfect country had created in my mind. It was at the end of the 11th grade that I would have the opportunity to change my opinion in some ways. I was both thrilled and scared when I found out that I could take a scholarship exam to the land of my dreams. When I passed that exam, happiness mixed up with uncertainty: Were Japanese people going to understand what I was saying? Was I going to have difficulties in adapting?
Time went by and soon I found myself at Narita airport. Although I was surrounded by a mass of Japanese people, I didn’t feel scared , I was only excited about starting a new life. One of the first things that caught my eye was the clear differentiation between Japanese people and foreigners: for example, at the airport there were different counters for natives and gaijins, thus the attention everyone paid to me, a.little and somewhat lost gaijin. The humidity and the heat are also hard things to forget; upon leaving the airport I thought I was going to suffocate, but that wouldn’t have been very heroic of me. The first few days all us 29 Europeans stayed at National Women’s Education Centre located in Saitama ken. You could read the excitement on our faces as we walked through the rooms of the imposant building. In the morning we went to Japanese class and afterwards interacted as much as we could with Japanese students our age. I remember going to Otsuma Ranzan Highschool to be taught shodo by a Japanese master; on entering the school this crowd of Japanese girls were staring and giggling at us (afterwars I would become used to this); I couldn’t understand why, because personally, I didn’t giggle whenever I saw a Japanese person. “ Why do they use the word kawaii for almost anything?”, I thought. And why did they have this apparent obsession for Hello Kitty? After only one day this girl came up to me and gave me a yukata; I was surprised, because she hardly even knew me. “Is this Japanese politness?”, I asked myself. We took purikura together ( personalized stickers that teenagers like very much) and I couldn’t help wondering what that strange machine was, because the pictures that came out were very small. One of the things I liked a lot was the shape of the trees, the way the sky looked, the smell of the air, nature in general; all this time I couldn’t stop myself from taking pictures.
After those few days we were all shipped off to our host families. I took the shinkansen for the first time and couldn’t stop wondering why was it so quiet.I also got a taste of how crowded things can get in Japan first at Tokyo Station, where I was lucky enough not to get lost. I was the only foreigner left in the bullet-train, because I was the last one to descend: in Yamaguchi prefecture, Shunan city, my home-to-be for the next 5 months. At first I wasn’t excited at all about having to leave Tokyo to go to “inaka” , because in my mind I had to be in the heart of the metropolis, looking at the sky scrapers, walking throught Ueno Park or going to Harajuku (later on I would realize how fortunate I was to stay in Yamaguchi). Hashimoto family were amazing. They made me feel safe and at ease from the very first moment. I had my own room and of course I slept on a futon. I had a host sister, Kana, and a host brother, Kenji (both of them were older than me) with whom I developed a special relationship. I would talk to Kana about music bands, songs, fashion or movies, whereas Kenji taught me about Japanese history, geography and the Japanese way of acting and thinking. I would stay in the kitchen talking with my okasan until late in the morning, when I would realise I had to wake up early the next day in order to go to school. Whatever question or doubt I had, I never hesitated to ask.
The first time we all sat together and had dinner as a family I was embarassed because I couldn’t use chopsticks very well and food kept slipping, but other than that, I had no problem with the food, except maybe for nato or umeboshi. I had a few days to adjust before school started, so my okasan showed me around. Even now I have this impression that all the streets looked the same, that’s why I got lost all the time. I was like a sponge absorbing every new information: the way japanese people spoke to one another, the smiling faces and strangers bowing to me, hearing “irasshaimaseee” everytime I entered a store, seeing men who were wearing suits riding their bike to work or the huge insects I seemed to attract everywhere I went.
The day I had to go to school finally arrived. After saying “ittekimasu” I kept encouraging myself all the way to Karyo Senior Highscool; but nothing prepared me for what was about to happen: a gym class full of all the students and the teachers and me on stage, saying ( in shaky voice) my welcome speech. I just remember it was so quiet you could hear the crickets outside and that the students ( who were ligned perfectly in rows) thought I was the new ALT teacher. The boys were really shy and didn’t talk to me for a month and most of the girls seemed too childish. “ Rumania tte, doko?; Kareshi oru?”- these were some of the questions I was constantly being asked and had trouble understanding because I had never spoken slang before, I always used polite forms. I had a hard time memorizing everyone’s names and knowing my way in school; not only once I entered the wrong classroom and wondered where did all my classmates go to.
But in time I got used to high school life and almost blend in: I took my shoes off upon entering the school (although I hardly ever used slippers, I found them very uncomfortable), the weird noise the bell made when it rang, hiruyasumi, when the classroom smelled like a restaurant ( I liked going outside to eat because the school was surrounded by mountains), cleaning after class, saying “ohayo-san” to the lady at the cafeteria, seeing girls using blankets to warm up during winter time because they had to wear skirts, and most of all, bukatsu. It’s great that you can experience all kind of things, like playing tennis, tea ceremony, drama club, cooking class, playing a musical instrument, judo or archery. But I think it was too much for some of the students, because they had to stay up really late so they were always tired; so tired they were always falling asleep, and to my surprise, the teachers didn’t say anything. Also, they were not allowed to wear accessories or dye their hair. I had heard of the sempai-kohai, but I was astonished when I saw a 2nd year girl talking to a 3rd year boy in polite forms and bowing every second. One of the things I liked doing best was walking home from school; there were students on bikes everywhere you looked, most of them in different uniforms; the boys in primary school had to wear shorts even in winter, and at the high-school near my house students were jogging early in the morning. But everything was so peaceful compared to here, you could feel it in everything that surrounded you.
After I bought a denshijisho I could understand more and more in class; my favorite one was Japanese history, it was like an inside-look of the way Japanese people see their country. But most of all I enjoyed the after-class atmosphere, when everybody was going to his/ hers bukatsu and you could hear laughs and enjoy watching a beautiful sunset.
Apart from school, I was discovering Japan day by day, thanks to my host family. They took me to wonderful places such as Hiroshima, Miyajima, Shimonoseki or Iwakuni. I saw Japanese castles, gardens, shrines, universities, karate tournaments, and also got a touch of the modern times by going with my host sister to her hip-hop dance classes or at her friend’s band practice.
I’ll never forget the beautiful landscape I was surrounded by, especially when we went to visit my ojiisan, who lived up in the mountains. One night Kana and my okasan took me to this place from where we looked at the stars; I had never seen stars so bright before.
So I learned how to use hashi, improved my Japanese, got used to the lifestyle, learned things you cannot find in books, grew so much as a person and became more confident…but…Japanese society has this unexplicable thing; no matter how well you may know Japanese language, at times you can’t help feeling like an outsider. Not just because of the way you look, but also because of the way you think and you act. We tend to always ask (whether ourselves or someone else) why? Why we have to do something or why things are the way they are, whereas a Japanese person hardly ever does that. He or she does something because they have to and they never doubt the authority of a superior. While in school they are encouraged not to express their individuality and originality, because there is no such thing as the nail that sticks out. Due to all of these unspoken rules, polite smiles and whispered criticism a gaijin can not help but to feel a little “lost in translation”… Filip Georgiana
We live in a world that is full of cultural diversity, and that’s what makes it so special. Just imagine going on a journey throughout Russia, Iceland, New Zealand, Argentina, the tribes in Africa and the mysterious pyramids of Egypt; each and every country has its own heritage. History is alive in so many ways, and you don’t even need to speak the country’s language in order to feel it.
For me it has always been about Japan. Looking back, I realize that everything started by accident, if you can say so. It was 5 years ago, when I was choosing my future high school; for some reason I chose Japanese. Although I knew almost nothing about this Far-Eastern country, it was like this mysterious place was calling for me. Little did I know that I was about to discover one of the things I still am most fascinated about.
I remember my first Japanese lesson: we had to answer some questions about “Nihon”and the only things I had heard about were “tsunami” or “kamikaze”. To tell the truth, my answers were pretty average.. Afterwards, our Japanese teacher started telling us about Japan, and the story of Sadako Sasaki; so, as future Japanese students as we were, we learned how to make tsuru, a japanese crane. I think that the fact that we also had a Japanese volunteer to help us with conversation, kanji, and most important how to interact with japanse people made all the difference in the world.
That was the beginning of 4 wonderful years, during which I could experience all kind of activities, such as ikebana, origami, shodo, try Japanese food for the first time, wear a yukata, traditional dances, see kabuki, learn Japanese history and become more and more caught up in this mesmerizing culture.
This image of Japan being a perfect country had created in my mind. It was at the end of the 11th grade that I would have the opportunity to change my opinion in some ways. I was both thrilled and scared when I found out that I could take a scholarship exam to the land of my dreams. When I passed that exam, happiness mixed up with uncertainty: Were Japanese people going to understand what I was saying? Was I going to have difficulties in adapting?
Time went by and soon I found myself at Narita airport. Although I was surrounded by a mass of Japanese people, I didn’t feel scared , I was only excited about starting a new life. One of the first things that caught my eye was the clear differentiation between Japanese people and foreigners: for example, at the airport there were different counters for natives and gaijins, thus the attention everyone paid to me, a.little and somewhat lost gaijin. The humidity and the heat are also hard things to forget; upon leaving the airport I thought I was going to suffocate, but that wouldn’t have been very heroic of me. The first few days all us 29 Europeans stayed at National Women’s Education Centre located in Saitama ken. You could read the excitement on our faces as we walked through the rooms of the imposant building. In the morning we went to Japanese class and afterwards interacted as much as we could with Japanese students our age. I remember going to Otsuma Ranzan Highschool to be taught shodo by a Japanese master; on entering the school this crowd of Japanese girls were staring and giggling at us (afterwars I would become used to this); I couldn’t understand why, because personally, I didn’t giggle whenever I saw a Japanese person. “ Why do they use the word kawaii for almost anything?”, I thought. And why did they have this apparent obsession for Hello Kitty? After only one day this girl came up to me and gave me a yukata; I was surprised, because she hardly even knew me. “Is this Japanese politness?”, I asked myself. We took purikura together ( personalized stickers that teenagers like very much) and I couldn’t help wondering what that strange machine was, because the pictures that came out were very small. One of the things I liked a lot was the shape of the trees, the way the sky looked, the smell of the air, nature in general; all this time I couldn’t stop myself from taking pictures.
After those few days we were all shipped off to our host families. I took the shinkansen for the first time and couldn’t stop wondering why was it so quiet.I also got a taste of how crowded things can get in Japan first at Tokyo Station, where I was lucky enough not to get lost. I was the only foreigner left in the bullet-train, because I was the last one to descend: in Yamaguchi prefecture, Shunan city, my home-to-be for the next 5 months. At first I wasn’t excited at all about having to leave Tokyo to go to “inaka” , because in my mind I had to be in the heart of the metropolis, looking at the sky scrapers, walking throught Ueno Park or going to Harajuku (later on I would realize how fortunate I was to stay in Yamaguchi). Hashimoto family were amazing. They made me feel safe and at ease from the very first moment. I had my own room and of course I slept on a futon. I had a host sister, Kana, and a host brother, Kenji (both of them were older than me) with whom I developed a special relationship. I would talk to Kana about music bands, songs, fashion or movies, whereas Kenji taught me about Japanese history, geography and the Japanese way of acting and thinking. I would stay in the kitchen talking with my okasan until late in the morning, when I would realise I had to wake up early the next day in order to go to school. Whatever question or doubt I had, I never hesitated to ask.
The first time we all sat together and had dinner as a family I was embarassed because I couldn’t use chopsticks very well and food kept slipping, but other than that, I had no problem with the food, except maybe for nato or umeboshi. I had a few days to adjust before school started, so my okasan showed me around. Even now I have this impression that all the streets looked the same, that’s why I got lost all the time. I was like a sponge absorbing every new information: the way japanese people spoke to one another, the smiling faces and strangers bowing to me, hearing “irasshaimaseee” everytime I entered a store, seeing men who were wearing suits riding their bike to work or the huge insects I seemed to attract everywhere I went.
The day I had to go to school finally arrived. After saying “ittekimasu” I kept encouraging myself all the way to Karyo Senior Highscool; but nothing prepared me for what was about to happen: a gym class full of all the students and the teachers and me on stage, saying ( in shaky voice) my welcome speech. I just remember it was so quiet you could hear the crickets outside and that the students ( who were ligned perfectly in rows) thought I was the new ALT teacher. The boys were really shy and didn’t talk to me for a month and most of the girls seemed too childish. “ Rumania tte, doko?; Kareshi oru?”- these were some of the questions I was constantly being asked and had trouble understanding because I had never spoken slang before, I always used polite forms. I had a hard time memorizing everyone’s names and knowing my way in school; not only once I entered the wrong classroom and wondered where did all my classmates go to.
But in time I got used to high school life and almost blend in: I took my shoes off upon entering the school (although I hardly ever used slippers, I found them very uncomfortable), the weird noise the bell made when it rang, hiruyasumi, when the classroom smelled like a restaurant ( I liked going outside to eat because the school was surrounded by mountains), cleaning after class, saying “ohayo-san” to the lady at the cafeteria, seeing girls using blankets to warm up during winter time because they had to wear skirts, and most of all, bukatsu. It’s great that you can experience all kind of things, like playing tennis, tea ceremony, drama club, cooking class, playing a musical instrument, judo or archery. But I think it was too much for some of the students, because they had to stay up really late so they were always tired; so tired they were always falling asleep, and to my surprise, the teachers didn’t say anything. Also, they were not allowed to wear accessories or dye their hair. I had heard of the sempai-kohai, but I was astonished when I saw a 2nd year girl talking to a 3rd year boy in polite forms and bowing every second. One of the things I liked doing best was walking home from school; there were students on bikes everywhere you looked, most of them in different uniforms; the boys in primary school had to wear shorts even in winter, and at the high-school near my house students were jogging early in the morning. But everything was so peaceful compared to here, you could feel it in everything that surrounded you.
After I bought a denshijisho I could understand more and more in class; my favorite one was Japanese history, it was like an inside-look of the way Japanese people see their country. But most of all I enjoyed the after-class atmosphere, when everybody was going to his/ hers bukatsu and you could hear laughs and enjoy watching a beautiful sunset.
Apart from school, I was discovering Japan day by day, thanks to my host family. They took me to wonderful places such as Hiroshima, Miyajima, Shimonoseki or Iwakuni. I saw Japanese castles, gardens, shrines, universities, karate tournaments, and also got a touch of the modern times by going with my host sister to her hip-hop dance classes or at her friend’s band practice.
I’ll never forget the beautiful landscape I was surrounded by, especially when we went to visit my ojiisan, who lived up in the mountains. One night Kana and my okasan took me to this place from where we looked at the stars; I had never seen stars so bright before.
So I learned how to use hashi, improved my Japanese, got used to the lifestyle, learned things you cannot find in books, grew so much as a person and became more confident…but…Japanese society has this unexplicable thing; no matter how well you may know Japanese language, at times you can’t help feeling like an outsider. Not just because of the way you look, but also because of the way you think and you act. We tend to always ask (whether ourselves or someone else) why? Why we have to do something or why things are the way they are, whereas a Japanese person hardly ever does that. He or she does something because they have to and they never doubt the authority of a superior. While in school they are encouraged not to express their individuality and originality, because there is no such thing as the nail that sticks out. Due to all of these unspoken rules, polite smiles and whispered criticism a gaijin can not help but to feel a little “lost in translation”… Filip Georgiana
posted by KAME @ 12:41 PM
36 Comments
