Students venture to Japan for cultural exchange

Over the Easter break, a group of Perse students made the very long journey to Kobe, Japan, for an exchange with our partner school, Mukonoso-Sogo Comprehensive High School.

Year 10 pupil, Roan Talbut wrote an account of this fantastic, once in-a-lifetime trip – we hope you enjoy reading.

“For the first week in Easter, a group of us went on a school exchange to Japan to our partner school in Kobe. We spent most of the time together, visiting the most impressive sights of Japan, while our exchange partners were at school. We visited the beautiful Todaiji Temple in Nara and the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, as well as many other smaller temples. Around the temples we also saw the famous cherry blossoms, which were beautiful and in full bloom. We visited many traditional Japanese shops and we got to try various Japanese foods, like green tea ice cream, curry udon, tempura or okonomiyaki, which are savoury pancakes.

We also spent a day at school, where we joined a tea ceremony class, a technology class and a cooking class. The Technology Department was particularly impressive; they had built a house! On the Sunday we all went with the exchanges to Universal Studios Japan, which was very fun, as we got to spend time with the studentsin a fun environment where communication was easier. We also went on lots of rides, on one of which we were facing backward!

Our hosts were extremely kind, and they were all skilled at English, which made communication easy. They treated us like royalty and provided lunch boxes every day with delicious food. It was all so exciting, and such an incredible experience. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which I’d recommend to anyone, whether you’re learning Japanese or not.

My thanks go to Ms Parker and Mrs Wilson for an amazingly enriching experience.”