BoeingHigherEducationProgram

Vi var fyra elever som besökte gymnasieskolan; Ola, Maria, Camille och jag. Professor Koji Miki och vår lärare Yoshiko Yamazaki mötte upp oss tidigt den morgonen på Shinjuku stationen för att vi tillsammans skulle åka till skolan, och ingen av oss visste riktigt vad vi kunde förvänta oss. Skulle de förstå vår engelska? Hur mycket vet de redan? Jag var personligen också väldigt nyfiken på att få se hur det var på en japansk gymnasieskola. När vi kommit fram berättade personalen i detalj hur dagen var planerad och att vi blivit tilldelade fyra klasser var. Det var synd att varje klass endast fick höra en presentation, samt att vi fick hålla samma presentation fyra gånger i rad var ganska tröttsamt. Min sista klass var ganska speciell, den bestod av endast fyra studenter som alla var väldigt intresserade och vi hade mer av en dialog än att jag höll i min presentation.
Många bilder togs under dagen, e-post adresser gavs ut och förhoppningsvis lämnade vi dem också med en nyfikenhet på andra kulturer och språk. Jag njöt verkligen av dagen, och det var en bitterljuv känsla när vi sa hej då. Jag önskade att vi hade fått träffa eleverna under mer avslappnade former utanför klassrummet, kanske under lunchen ungefär som International Friday Lounge på Hongo campus, men förhoppningsvis fortsätter det här samarbetet och att det då utvecklas. Och kanske en dag när en av eleverna vi mötte håller en presentation på en främmande språk någonstans i världen, så kommer hen att minnas och tänka tillbaka på den där vårdagen i Yamanashi.

The students are listening carefully and teacher Miho Noda occasionally explains a difficult word or phrase. It's a beautiful and warm spring day, the windows in the classroom are open, and the pupils of Kofu Higashi High School are focusing on my English presentation about Sweden. I started with introducing myself and my hobbies and they shyly replied when asked about theirs. Then I explained that because northern Sweden has midnight sun during summer, it also mean there is a period during the winter when the sun doesn't rise at all. The students guessed how many hours of sunlight my hometown has during summer and winter respectively, and they also learned about Sweden's climate and culture, the spirit of entrepreneurship which has led to many successful companies, what it is like to grow up and study there and also about the Scandinavian indigenous people Sami.
Initially most of the students were very timid, but soon their curiosity made them braver and they started asking many interesting questions. It was surprising how much they already knew and how precise the questions were. After my presentation the students held their own short presentations in English. They explained about many different things in the Japanese culture, such as ramen, bathing monkeys, anime and much more, all very interesting.

We were four students visiting; Ola, Maria, Camille and me. Professor Koji Miki and teacher Yoshiko Yamazaki had met us early the same day at Shinjuku station to go together to the school, and we were unsure what to expect. Would the students understand us when speaking English? How much do they already know? I was personally also very excited to see what it's like at a Japanese High School. After arriving there the staff explained in detail how the day was planned, and we were assigned 4 classes each. It was a pity that each class only got the opportunity to hear one presentation, and we in turn held our presentations 4 times which was a bit tiring. My last class was a bit special, only 4 students, but they were in turn very interested and we had more of a talk rather than just me holding a presentation.
Many pictures were taken during the day, e-mails exchanged and hopefully we also left them with a sense of curiosity for other cultures and languages. I genuinely enjoyed this day, and it was a bittersweet goodbye when we left at the end of the day. I wished we had met the students outside the classroom as well, maybe during a relaxed lunch much like the International Friday Lounge we have at Hongo Campus, but hopefully this cooperation between our schools will continue and develop. And maybe some day, when one of the students we met find themselves holding a presentation in a foreign language somewhere in the world, they will think back and remember that spring day in Yamanashi.
情報理工学系研究科 情報工学
Anna Maria Modée　（アンナマリアモデー）