(Team member, Mathematics and Chemistry Teacher at Senior High School)
From the day I was chosen to be one of the team members of the GSE program my interest concerning Japan increased a lot. Specially since the whole year was filled with news from Japanese terrorist attacks and earthquakes.
We got the itinerary about 2 weeks before our day of departure. It was very exciting to read about all the things we were going to do. In the program we got very good information about all our host families their telephone numbers and addresses, so our relatives and friends could reach us. After I'd read the itinerary and program I understood I was going to Japan!
The preparations during the year involved quite hard work, so when we finally were leaving I felt well prepared and relieved to go.
The idea that we lived in host families is excellent. There is no better way to know a country than to live with families and share their lives. Before I went to Japan I thought maybe I was going to pull out a futon in a corner of the living room, but I was wrong. All my families had a separate room for me. Often in Japanese style with tatami on the floor and a futon (the mattress), it was very beautiful. One of the most interesting things during the day was the dinner. I never knew what I was going to eat! I tried many Japanese dishes; sushi. sashimi, yakitori, tempura, sukiyaki etc. and the typical rice wine, sake.
In some of the families it was easier to speak English than in others. In the families where there were difficulties with the languages they often invited somebody who spoke English. I appreciated that because it's so important to talk to each other to get to know the family and their way of living. I have many happy memories from my friendly families. Mr. Hiratawhere I celebrated my 30th anniversary. Mr. Masuithe garden party was a success and the grandchildren were so nice. Mr. Yadawhere I had tea ceremony wearing kimono. Mr. Kimuraall the good food and nice atmosphere. Mr. Satoall the discussions about marriage. These are just some short memories from my families.
We had a very interesting schedule. In the beginning I had problems to follow different persons all the time. I'm used to travel a lot and to orientate myself in the communications. But I realized after some days that it was easier to just follow! The persons who followed us every day had a time schedule in detail. I think every minute was planned.
I liked very much the days when we visited the neighbor cities: Kyoto, Nara, Kobe and Hiroshima. All the beautiful temples I saw in Kyoto and Nara were wonderful. We also went to a restaurant in Nara where we had one of the best dinners during the stay, in a Japanese restaurant. It was very tasteful and we sat in a beautiful room. It was interesting to visit both Kobe and Hiroshima but afterwards I felt very sad and dejected.
During the last week we met the Japanese GSE team who just had arrived from their stay in Sweden. We had so much to compare and laugh about, for example what the most common question was.
The idea of staying at Hotel New Otani on Saturdays was very good. It was so nice to have the possibility to be on my own for 24 hours. It's very good to be on "neutral land" between the families. To sum up the passed week and prepare for the new one.
Through this scholarship I've learned new things about Rotary. It's not just men having lunch and discussing business. I have read about different interesting projects through Rotary Foundation; 3H, Polio-Plus, the high-school exchange, "the bank of physicians" etc.
In Osaka we visited around 15 Rotary Clubs during their lunch meetings. We had a special program with color slides from our country. In many clubs they were very interested to hear about our country. In some clubs we had possibility to have discussions after our program. The most common questions were about our welfare systems and equality between men and women.
We visited a club with 77% female members, Sonezaki Rotary Club. I think it would have been interesting to have a discussion afterwards in this club. To have possibility to do the same discussion but with women instead of all these men.
Before I went to Japan I had the possibility to write and describe what I wanted to see in the Japanese school system. I'm a teacher at senior high school in Mathematics and Chemistry so most of my desires were in my own field. I also wanted to see different kind of schools (private, public, boy school, girl school) and different age of the students (from young children and up to university students). The program for my vocational days were very well prepared to fulfill my desires.
In many ways I found similarities between the Swedish and the Japanese school system. The most different is the discipline. It looks very strict when everybody is wearing uniform, but also pretty in a way. The students stood up when they answered the questions. They wrote their notes very nice in their books. They used different colors if the teacher wrote with colors on the blackboard. I never heard any student who questioned something that the teacher said.
The Japanese school system has the same organization as we have with elementary- (6 years), junior high- (3 years), senior high school (3 years) and then university. But we use different ways to enter each level. We use the grades from the passed level. In Japan they have entrance examinations for each level and these tests can be rather difficult to pass. To go to "juku" and study extra beside the normal school it's very common. It's an afternoon school after the normal school. I had the possibility to visit two "juku". I think this "juku" can be a good help for motivated old students but I'm not so sure for the small children around ten years. When are they going to have the possibility to be children and play around?
All my visits at different schools were well planned and I felt very welcome. At Seifu-Gakuen High School I had a speech in front of 3,000 students. First when I came up to the stage I felt there was a whole "ocean of students". After my speech the school orchestra played the Swedish anthem and I felt very proud! At Higashi High school they have started a new science course and it was interesting to see how they worked in smaller groups, with computers science and chemistry and the teachers were very enthusiastic. At Osaka Kyoiku University I met many interesting persons, professors in Mathematics and Chemistry. We had discussions about the educational systems.
In total I'm very satisfied with my vocational days. This trip to Japan--Osaka together with Rotary was a great experience that I will never forget. It was very pleasant for me to get this scholarship and a great possibility to visit another country; get to know their culture and to study my own profession. It's not so common for me as a teacher to travel abroad and get experiences in my work and therefore I'm extra happy. I'm very grateful to Rotary and to all Rotarians who work hard for this GSE program and to all my new friends in both Japan and Sweden.
