Japanese Salon Open Day

Putting "International Exchange In Japanese" as main theme, Japanse Salon Open day was held. Japanese Salon students gave speaches in Japanese and the audience had friendly meeting with them afterwards. There was a large audience and I could sense how nervous the speakers were, but also it was clear how hard they had been studying and prepared for this day.

A person from Trinidad and Tobago explained about 4 kinds of music and played them for the audience. aShe lso introduced about a musical instrument called "steel pan" . She was the very first speaker and I'm sure she was nervous, but she did great!

A person from China
"I have been studying Japanese before I come to Japan, but I couldn't understand co-workers at first because they all speak in Osaka dialect. ... Watching my favorite Japanese drama helped my Japanese, too."

A Person from Mongolia
The New Year celebration in Mongol is quite a big matter for people in Mongol in both economically and mentally. They have to host about 150 relatives and friends for 3 to 4 days and serve them food, alcohol drinks and souvenirs. The cost comes up around a hundred thousand yen per family, and it is about the same amount of money as 3 or 4 months's wage in Mongol.

Two people from Vietnam
They sang a song , "Red Flower", to a wonderful guitar performance. The song describes a mother's feelings who sents out her son to the Vietnamise War. All the audience became so quiet and listened to the song.

A person from Korea
She talked about the diffrences in table manner and culture between Korea and Japan. The most surprised matter was the attitude of Japanese people against the elders. In Korea they speak to the elderly, including their own parents, in respectful manner, don't smoke in the presence of them, and they turn their faces away when they drink alcohol. At first you might think Korea and Japan are alike, but as a matter of fact, two countries have quite different cultures. She gave us various interesting examples.

A person from Vietnam
He introduced his country, Vietnum, using maps and pictures in magazines, comparing with Japan. "Durians" are famous for the very strong smell but he said he loved them. He also said that Vietnumese people wish to become friends with people all over the world, and gave us a gorgeous smile.

A person from China
"First of all, it's all because of you, people of the Japanse salon, that I became to be able to speak Japanese." She started with the words of garatitude, which must have made the salon staff happy. One of the good things of Japan is its health insurance system, she said. Not everyone can have health insurance policy in China, so people without one have to pay very big amount of money for medical treatments. Thus people can't afford health insurance policy can't have appropriate medical care even they wanted it. She was so surprised to have found out that even foreigners can take out health insurance policy in Japan. She hopes one day all the people in China can have necessary medical treatment in hospitals.