Japanese News

Japan Trip

On the 24th of September, 16 students and 3 teachers started their journey to Japan. We left school at recess for the airport, ready to catch our first flight to Melbourne. We spent a few hours in Melbourne before boarding our flight to Japan via Singapore. For a number of us this was a first overseas flight.

We arrived in Osaka and met our tour guide for the day, Taku. He was really kind and spoke great English. We were amazed at how clean the environment was. In Japan they treat the city with respect. We were told that there are rarely any bins around, so most Japanese people take their rubbish home. We spent the day learning a lot about the history of Japan, visiting Nijo Castle, Kinkakuji (Golden Pavillion) and Kyomizudera.

Over the next two days we continued to explore the old Capital. A highlight was visiting the Fushimi Inari Shrine where we walked through a large amount of Torii gates. We were in shock of the amazing engravings on the sides of the Torii gates. We were confused about what they meant so our Japanese teacher Miss Alderdice was our only hope.

Up next on our journey was Yaizu, Hobart’s sister city. To get there we boarded our first bullet train! We had mixed feelings about meeting our host families and leaving our school friends. When we arrived Bronte Gadon did a speech on behalf of Mount Carmel College. We spent 3 days with our host families and also got to experience a day in a Japanese school. This was a particular highlight for many.

We also met the Mayor of Yaizu. Isabelle Kleeman did a speech at this ceremony. We all enjoyed our stay. Sophie Dobber said a thank you speech to farewell our new friends. We couldn’t stop talking about our experience on the way to the station. Next stop Hiroshima!

While in Hiroshima we visited the Peace Park. This was a humbling experience and where many of us gained more knowledge and understanding of what happened there many years ago.  We also caught a ferry to Miyajima, an island with lots of roaming deer. Here we also learnt how to make momiji manju, maple leaf shaped sweets; they were delicious!!

On our way to Tokyo, we remembered that we got to visit Disney Sea. This got us very excited. At the beginning of the day it was raining so we had to put our raincoats on and put our umbrellas up to walk to the train station. Nothing would dampen our moods though! By the time we arrived the rain had stopped, and we were set free to explore. We had so much fun, and watching the evening light show to end the day was amazing.

Sadly, our trip was coming to an end, and we had to say goodbye to Japan. We had so much fun in Japan that I’m pretty sure no-one wanted to leave. 

Isabelle Kleeman

Year 9 (Loreto 2)

JATNET Speech Contest

On Tuesday 22nd October, The JATNET (Japan Teachers Network) Speech Contest was held at the Stanley Burbury Theatre at UTAS, with the following students representing Mount Carmel:

Years 3: Lily Batchelor and Hilary Stevens

Year 5: Sofia Bowman-Shaw and Elizabeth Ims

Year 6: Matilda Jones and Matilda Kaye

Year 7: Charlotte Bateman, Amelia Collinson, Claudia Pollard, Aadya Sharma and Emma Sullivan

Year 10: Maeve Kelly and Georgie Oliver.

In Years 3 to 7, students prepare 15 – 22 sentences (increases with each year level) about themselves in Japanese. They must memorise this script, paying close attention to the accuracy and fluency of their speech. In Year 10, students prepare responses to up to 15 questions. The judges will then choose to ask the students any of these questions. Students respond to as many as they can in a 4-minute time frame. Preparing for this contest requires great commitment; the girls are to be commended on their efforts. This experience has no doubt improved these students’ knowledge and understanding of Japanese language and culture.

This is a state wide competition with students participating from all over Tasmania. In the Year 5 category, Sofia Bowman-Shaw was awarded second place. Congratulations, Sofia! What a fantastic effort.

Avril Alderdice

Japanese Teacher