On Monday 13 September, the Ormiston College Year 12 Japanese class went on an excursion to the Consulate-General of Japan in Brisbane City.
Here, the students attended a session where they learnt about the embassy's roles and future careers using Japanese. The presenter, Shannon from the cultural section of the consulate, was once a high school student studying Japanese. As she speaks fluent Japanese now, the students were very interested to hear about how she improved her Japanese language skills. She told the students the story of how she enjoyed learning Japanese by living in Japan as an exchange student, and how she joined a program to work in Japan. Shannon also gave them some advice on what sort of options they have to continue studying Japanese at university.
After this session, the class enjoyed looking at the displays in the room – wax food samples often displayed at restaurants in Japan, miniature models of famous Japanese buildings, and so on. The highlight of the visit was a ‘kimono’ experience. Everyone tried on yukata (summer kimono) and learnt basic ideas of when to wear them and how to wear them. The students all looked happy and excited, loving this special occasion.
Next up on the excursion was a visit to Wagaya Japanese Restaurant in Fortitude Valley for an authentic Japanese lunch. Upon entry, the students removed their shoes before taking a seat on the floor. The class were allowed to individually order whatever they liked using the touch panel menu – a popular style of modern dining in Japan. Everyone enjoyed ordering drinks they had never tried before and some familiar and unfamiliar Japanese dishes. A Japanese waitress looked after the table and the students tried some Japanese and also learnt some new words by listening to their teacher, Mizuho Major, and the waitress talking.
Overall, the excursion offered a great opportunity for the Year 12 Japanese students to learn and engage outside of the classroom!
Mizuho Major
Teacher
