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World Schools 2023 - Katsuura, Japan
Jess in Colvin 1 sent this report:
After meeting at the airport bright and early, we were filled with nerves and anticipation. The flights from Heathrow to Japan, with a stopover in Abu Dhabi were a perfect bonding experience for three girls who didn’t quite know each other yet, and we spent the 17 hours in the air getting to know each other, watching movies, and guessing on what the other representatives would be like. Once we reached the airport, we were already greeted with the first group of students, who we hit it off with quickly (after a few moments of awkward silence). We were all quickly ushered onto the bus to take us to our first destination: Katsuura. We arrived to the welcome faces of the Kanto students, and a dormitory-like set up, where we were introduced to our roommates and lead to set up our things. My roommates were lovely and welcoming, everybody ready to hear about the others and their lives in their home countries. That evening we all quickly went to sleep, still fatigued from the jet lag, and the next morning were greeted with a gorgeous view of natural landscape, and a delicious breakfast. We experienced a seminar where we explored the different aspects of each of our cultures, and how we are raised to view and deal with different scenarios.
We later were separated from our home country representatives, into groups with whom we would spend the majority of our time in Katsuura, and with whom we would explore the city with. Each group got taken to different locations that were culturally significant to Katsuura, and I got to visit Katsuura Beach, a fishery, a seminar on the morning markets on the main streets of Katsuura and a Shinto temple where experienced a ‘cleansing’. This allowed us to understand more of the Japanese culture, and allowed us to truly socialise and bond with people from other countries. The next day, after a trip to the morning market where we got to buy trinkets to send home with us and to try some more traditional food, we made presentations about the places that we visited, and presented them to important members of the city, including the Mayor of Katsuura herself.
Next came possibly the most memorable evening of the trip: our cultural performances. We all got ready, both excited and incredibly nervous to perform in front of every other school. However, the evening proved to be delightful, everyone dancing and singing along to all the performances, creating an energy in the room that I had never quite experienced before. We performed a dance to the Spice Girls “Wannabe”, getting everyone to dance and sing along with us. We spent the evening until the early hours of the night, dancing and laughing along with each other, a perfect show of how sharing culture can bring a room full of people ,who may have never crossed paths otherwise, together. The next morning, the last of our time in Katsuura, my friends and I left our dorms early in the morning to all watch the sunset together, one final moment together before we travelled to Tokyo to stay with our host families.
