Laugh? I almost cried!!

I went to a Junior High School today to play games and be quized about culture, history, life, sports & entertainment of England.

However in most cases I was just playing games and have a giggle with the kids. They're great fun at that age, and these kids had really good English skills.

Now a bit of background on the whole event.

Doctor Who, Captain Black Beard, Mince Pie and Dreadlocks

So I was informed that the I would be giving four different presentations in six different classes. The presentations were going to be about food, culture, life & history and sports & entertainment. So I decided to write my presentation about Doctor Who, Captain Black Beard, Mince Pie and Dreadlocks (and what the different things they represent in British Culture).

all I needed to do is turn up and be entetained by the liveliest youngsters ever!

I didn't finish any of them, but fortunately I didn't have to, all I needed to do is turn up and be entetained by the liveliest youngsters ever! For the sake of it I've appended my speeches and presentation materials to the bottom of this post.

The picture below is of the gifts I recieved for turn up and helping up. The nuts are gorgeous, the sweets got sent to a friend with a child, the tea is lovely and calming, and the Christmas card is made with an Oragami Tree inside.

So, not the most exciting post in the world but, I had to get this day down on server else I may forget it ever happened.

---

Presentations*


Dreadlocks (ドレッドヘア ) in British Culture

Can you tell me what these people have in common?

[show pictures, the them guess, probably met with silence]

Their hair. They all have the same hairstyle. (Can anyone tell me what that hairstyle is called?)

Today I would like to talk about Dreadlocks and how they fit into British Culture.

My name is Stephen. I’m from England in the United Kingdom. [Show Map]

I’m from London and my dad is from Barbados and my Mum is from South America.

My mum and dad do not have dreadlocks. My dreadlocks are not a sign of my religion.

Many people from different religions wear their hair in different ways [Show pictures].

Can you identify the religions from their hair styles?

Dreadlocks are often associated with Rastafarianism.

But their history outdates Rastafarians.

The first accounts of dreadlocks are over 1000 years old.

There is evidence of dreadlocks in Egypt as there are mummies with dreadlocks.

Dreadlocks are a part of many different cultures history including the Mexican Aztecs, the Greek, the Christians, the Germans and the Vikings.

When do you think Dreadlocks became popular in England?

Let me give you a clue [play Bob Marley]. Do you recognise this song?

Dreadlocks became popular in Britain and all over the world in the 1970s when Bob Marley release his album and became very popular.

At the time Dreadlocks meant Rastafarianism. But now they mean many things… can you tell me what you think dreadlocks mean today? What sort of person wears dreadlocks?

For me Dreadlocks represent individualism. It allows me to show that I’m laidback, creative and fun-loving.

Sometimes it is a political

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Dr. Who

Doctor Who is a fictional character made for the BBC and British Television.

The show was made in 1963, and it was shown until 1989.

Since then it has been relaunched and is now very successful.

Doctor Who is the longest running Science Fiction show in the world. It has had more episodes that Star Trek.

Doctor Who has become British Popular Culture and Cult Viewing.

The show is a mix of history, science fiction and horror.

The Doctor is an Alien, but he is always very British in character. He travels in an old Police Box called The Tardis. The Tardis is much bigger inside than it is outside and contains all sorts of machines.



Doctor Who can also regenerate after a near death experience. Each time he regenerates he changes form and personality.

But each Doctor Who believes in the power of goodness, love and humanity.

In the end The Doctor defeats his enemies without using violence but by using reason.

Some of the enemies he encounters are terrifying and as a child they really scared me.

There are the Daleks who want to exterminate all other races including humans.

And then there are the Cybermen, the Cybermen take out the human brain and place it into a metal shell. They believe that humans are better without emotions.

[Who Music]

[Who Clip]

Questions

*Please remember the inteded audience was 12 and 13 year olds.

"You're quiet, is anything wrong?"

That question is one of my bugbears.

It just annoys me that the immediate assumption made when someone doesn't talk to you is that they're in a mood, or something is wrong.

I have little to no interest in what you're talking about

How about any of these for an explaination:

• My internal dialouge is wittier and more charming than you.
• You're mumbling and I can't be bothered saying 'excuse me?' again.
• You talk so fast its near impossible to get a word in edge-ways.
• You've not once asked me a question or tried to include me in the conversation, and this hasn't bothered me because...
• I have little to no interest in what you're talking about, I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

Anyway... here is a poem, sort of on topic (not that I've established a topic, just had a moan really).

Open Book

Imagine if you will
If it doesn’t scare you to
Imagine how you'd feel
If your voice abandoned you

Imagine for a moment
Take the time to think
If you no longer made a sound
You could only lip sink

Imagine the everyday trials
Mundane becomes so hard
Imagine what things you may need
Those dreams you’ll have to disregard

Some people only communicate with words
Your gestures, your tones go without note
Each word is processed and farmed
Each sentence understood as if wrote

Imagine you met someone like this
Your voice still unreturned
She asks you for a frank answer
You shrug and nod in return

Imagine how vexing for her
When she finds everyday
She would ask something of you
You would respond in a similar way

Imagine this peculiar pairing
One person reliant on their hearing
The other communicates
With the expression he’s wearing

So many things go unsaid
Oft reliant on other types of talk instead
A curl of a lip a tip of the head
The things kept secret and put to bed

Every glance, every smile
Every pause and intonation
Every intake of breath
Has a simple inclination

Every time I speak to you
I speak with more than just words
I speak with actions unnoticed
Like words unheard

And anytime I speak with you
You should take note how I act
‘Cos not every word I utter will
Reveal what is fact

And if the truth is hard to find
Maybe you need to learn how to look
Cos’ although my words aren’t clear as ink
I’m still an open book

Saito Seeing: The Illustrated Novel

Please Postcard with Care

The short version is: skipped out on school as I knew no one would notice, went to Takanabe Art Museum, saw some impressive paintings produced by some arduous technique by a rather lovely looking lady, bought postcards, got home, postcards still in bag, skip to Sunday, rains like a motherfucker, I get soaked and so does content of bag, postcards are useless.

So this gallery is an ode to the postcards which will never be recieved.

30.542

It’s time for a drastic change. Since I’ve come to Japan I’ve over-eaten, or made no effort to eat well, I’ve eaten far too much junk food at far too many festivals. Fruit has gone ignored for far too long, the beans, lentils and other things that became a staple at university are now a distant memory.

obese, not a nice thing to be, I can tell you

Thirty-point-five-four-two is my body mass index, which means I’m officially obese. Wow, that's hard to read, obese, not a nice thing to be, I can tell you. Before coming here I was overweight, if my height hasn’t changed then I had a BMI which sat me bang centre of overweight.

Bang in the middle of overweight isn’t too far from normal. So my target is to have a BMI of 25 or less. As my students would say ‘Challenge! Fight!’

So what changes first?

☛ Bentos! They need to go, there’s nothing good in them, everything is fried or pickled, that cannot be good.
☛ More fruit. I need to reintroduce the orange, the apple and the banana into my daily routine.
☛ More exercise. I can’t spend all my time in front of the computer, and not having a gym in my town is no excuse.

So from this morning, Thanks Giving Day, I’m going to sort it out. Get stricter and start eating some apples instead of just sitting in front of one. Get some exercise in, instead of just watching Sydney Bristow doing some.

Out of site out of mind...

Rather here with this mentatlity than there with that.

I’ve lost your number
I’ve lost that link
I saw the email
but accidentally deleted it
I think

My numbers changed
Did I not say
Oops, yeah,
You can catch me on this one
By the way

I meant to write
I lost your address
I was getting round to it
But must confess
Out of sight out of mind
And I couldn’t care less

My Celestine Prophecy

Read the first 25 pages of The Celestine Prophecy last night and then, as I do when I read, started drifting into a day dream which culminated in an actual dream (I went to sleep).

So, so far, from what I gather, there is a manuscript and it predicts that we, the human race, will come to a better understanding about coincidence and the other worldliness of fate.

It started me a-thinking about all the people who have come in and out of my life and how they have changed the course of it in small or significant ways. Which led me to think about all the negative people in my life, those who’s energy or actions had rubbed me up the wrong way.

paths I took reluctantly which led me to things which were better, worse, different

Whilst encountering troubles with these individuals they seemed so massive, but in retrospect they were simply paths I took reluctantly which led me to things which were better, worse, different. Ultimately, my path led here to Japan and I should be grateful for that. I am grateful.

So where did all this deep thinking lead me? Well I realised that people come and go from your life, I used to call the people who seemingly made little impact walk-ons, or bit-parts, but now I understand that there’s no such thing, life is a rich tapestry and every thread is needed to hold it together.

Now that I’ve realised this I can stop reading the book, which is good, because 25 pages in and I can’t see it getting much better. Maybe I will persist… can't see it happening though.

Music and Other MP3's

Last Ten Songs Played


The Weeks Artists

You see a lot of odd things in ol'Japan. Off the top of my head I can recall Yakuza in large four by fours with loud hailers on the top shouting about being proud of Japan, men pissing almost anywhere they choose, lonely looking women by roadsides drinking gin, over-sized t-shirts with foot high words claiming the Japanese person adorning is "BLACK AND PROUD".

Well this morning I saw an old woman, maybe about 80 years of age, sit down on the curb of a deserted street, pull a harmonica out of her bag and start to play. No audience, no percievable reason. She just played. And I didn't even flinch.

Suddenly that sort of thing isn't wonderful, strange, noteworthy? Have I become that jaded? Perhaps everything seems so foreign here that even the moments that should be standout or odd are just lost amongst a crowd of strange. Things which should be amusing become bemusing and I don't even lift a shoulder to shrug it off anymore.

If an English 80 year old woman had enough of her mental faculties intact to even know which orrifice to place a harmonica on, it would be celebrated on local news. If the same woman took to playing songs to the grass on empty roads then she would be national news.

Seeing this lady should have been my 'plastic bag in the wind' moment, an affirmation of life, joy and the romance that can't be better conveyed than with the strains of notes and melodies of music.

Warning: Contains Spoilers

You’re taking the fun
Out of everything
Making me run
When I dont want to think
You're taking the fun
Out of everything
I don't want to think at all
There's no other way
There's no other way….

Blur

Things nearly all got a bit serious. Before I left for Sunny Miyazaki I was thinking about my career, about coming back home and settling down with, you know… ‘the one’.

Wow, what the fuck was all that about huh?

Let’s break it down:

First and foremost, there is no ‘the one’, unless you’re watching a Wachowski film or an old Kung-Fu movie, ‘the one’ can be substituted by any of these phrases

☛ The one that you settled for
☛ The one that didn’t reject when you should have and now you’re too scared to reject
☛ The one you’re used to
☛ The one you managed to get the timing right with, you were both single and traveling at the same velocity at the same time

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m still a romantic; the charms of Fukuoka haven’t worn thin yet. I just understand something about romance now, its selfish and it’s fleeting.

Now those are two negative parts of a wonderful experience but they are part of it nonetheless.

This in mind I wondered when my romance with Japan would end and how. I’ve met some people who have made Japan their lives, totally letting them selves be enveloped in the culture and differences. Now I speak from experience when I tell you that that is no easy fete. It takes determination and unrelenting enthusiasm. To hand yourself over so completely to a place and way that is so foreign take to you takes love.

There is certainly a shelf life for this place and the people I encounter here, so I guess I will have to try and enjoy every moment until that fateful day comes when I no longer love life in Japan.

The Shame

Just opened my front door with a face mask on.

This isn't the run up to some great punch line, it's the truth.

After having a particularly arduous shave I sometimes use this post shave treatment cream that is applied as a mask. Today's shave was a bitch, it was a three stroker in some areas and four in others. So, the post shave cream comes out and is applied and I go about my chores.

I finish tidying and sit down to make a video using some sound I accquired on Thursday and the pictures from the Saga Balloon Festival. Then... (dramatic pause) the doorbell rings. So, I don't know who it is but I guess that it may be someone going to the party tonight or one of my neighbours, so I go to answer.

Wait a moment, need to put some clothes on, can't answer the door naked. It's ok to sit around the house naked at 3pm but not to answer the door naked. I hastily put jeans on and a dirty T-shirt and rush to the door.

It's no one important, it's two salesmen and they don't speak English. We chat, I try to maintain eye contact so no one notices my flies are unbuttoned but its hard to keep eye contact with two people at once.

Eventually they bow, bow again, bow one more time and leave. I get back to working on the video with a nagging feeling that I've forgotten something... never mind, it will come to me.

Half hour later I see myself in the mirror and my face is two different colours. Fuck!

Poetry

A certain smug know it all with a penchant for telling me what to do is making me feel, well, none to smug.

This is an old poem, but I wanted to pull it out in honour of said know-a-lot.

There’s a reason I don’t rise
To the fight
There’s reason I don’t retaliate
When I might
Have reason too
I’m not seasoned too
I sit back, relax and
See what you do
Because hatred and violence can only
Lead one way
And I’m not ready to take
That path today
You’re not worth it man
You think you’re worth it man
You talk trash to me but
You’re far from perfect man
In the game of life you’re
Never dealt the perfect hand

Strange Bite

Yet another ugly fat reddish bump on my ankle. These damn bugs can’t get enough of me. It doesn’t matter if I drink garlic for a week or not, I still end up with more bites over me than the night before.

And they itch!! And they sting! Why is it that they itch? Is it poison, or an allergic reaction? Why do they swell up so large too?

Also why do they call insect bites, bites? Correct me if I’m wrong but insects don’t have teeth right? Lucky them, teeth are a pain in the… mouth. My teeth for instance have caused me jip since I was born.

First they started to fall out, have I told you about that? I was 3 maybe 4 and one day my teeth which I went through a hell of a lot of pain growing just started getting loose, then after playing with them for a while they fell out. I grew new ones and was compensated by The Tooth Fairy PLC, but still, what a palaver.

So I had invasive surgery that left me with metal braces attached

Then my new teeth grew with a gap between the front two, which according to everyone I needed to correct. So I had invasive surgery that left me with metal braces attached to my teeth. Each month the frame of these braces were tightened until my middle teeth met. You would think that torture was enough but straight away I was given a hard piece of plastic to wear whilst sleeping.

This fucking thing, this uncomfortable piece of shit cut my gums and the roof of my mouth and collected pools of saliva between my mouth and its plastic. Couple this with the fact that it kept my teeth in an uncomfortable position and you can see why it got lost one day… oops.


Now? Well now, my teeth, where do I start? When I came to Japan I was surprised by how many people have terrible teeth. There really are a lot of them and the Japanese don’t seem to mind it. Conversely, the American JETs here all have perfect teeth, its really important to them.


So I have these monster teeth at one end of the scale and monstrously perfect teeth at the other end and all the while my teeth have begun to shift. I couldn’t tell you why but my bite doesn’t feel the same as it did, it doesn’t feel comfortable, it feels strange and that worries me, because I do not know the Japanese for dentist, I don’t want to wear an adult brace and if my teeth fall out again… fuck, that would suck (and so would I mostly).

Picture of a Postcard

It's cold!

I just wanted to mention first and foremost that it is no longer postcard sending weather, the breeze isn't cool, it's lethal, the sunshines but doesn't heat me anymore and the palm trees seem very much at odds with what feels like inhumane cold.

Plus theres no central heating in Japan... slight oversight I think.

Well despite the horrid climate change I will not change my postcard sending habits. On last count I had sent over 5 gazillion postcards (mainly to people who can't even bring themselves to send a fucking email my way, hohum).

Find below a gallery of the cards.












This final photo is the message on the reverse side of the Bonzai postcard... conventional messages just don't cut it with me.

Fukuoka

"Anticipation has a habit to set you up for disappointment in evening entertainment but..."

Fukuoka was fucking ace and I loved every moment of it. From the flight there to the bus trip home I had a marvellous time and wouldn’t swap it for a million Halloween parties, no matter how many Lara Crofts were there.

So how should I retell this, how would other bloggers impart their experiences? Chronologically? Seems a bit dull, most important facts first? Alphabetically? I’m not sure. I don’t think that I could tell it with enough verve to justly convey the fun I had on this trip.

So instead let me just tell you how I came away feeling. We’re going to need bullet points, lots of them.

☛ Pity:
My pity isn’t spared easily, but now my cup runneth over with it. I feel sorry for all the sad saps that get so giddy when they see a foreigner and can’t maintain a semblance of cool long enough not to make a twat out of their selves. But more than that now I kind of pity myself. Not only am I not having a great time in a cool city but I’m also so easy to fault when I’m compared to one person in particular.



So I met a girl name Evania, cool name right? This girl was FUN, yes she was F U N with capitals. She was friendly, no nonsense, open, she managed to hold a conversation and my interest without talking about herself constantly or talking poorly of others. She was impressive.
Seems to me that when I’m not talking about my own problems these days I’m highlighting someone else’s… god I’m doing now! How did I become that guy.
☛ Romantic:
I love the city. I love its music. Its lights. Its food. Its life. Its women and men. I love the night and the fact that it holds so many possibilities, I love the fact that nothing is certain and nothing really sleeps. I fucking love cities.
☛ Honoured:
Marika (Miracle-Ka), you were legendary! I want it to be known and not let it go unsaid: You rocked my world… ta.
☛ Lighter:
Emptied my pockets on a few items…



☛ Happy:
Of late I’ve become something other than myself, so ready to appease people at the expense of myself. There was no need to feel that way all weekend. If I want to be quiet, I will, entertain yourself. If I want to be outspoken, deal with, its my opinion you should be inspired by the fact that I’m brave enough to have some.

So in a nutshell, my weekend was like a coming of age movie with copious amounts of alcohol fuelled life-learning… and balloons.

Fuk U Ok A

Just arrived in Fukouka and thought I would Blog about it so far.

It’s cool.

I’ve made it fromthe Airport to my hotel without as much as a long gaze let alone a jaw dropping to the ground and eyes coming out on stalks. Oh yes sir there are no staring Norberts in the city, and if I find one then they must be a tourist too.

I actually feel like I’m doing something in Japan and not just Saito-seeing. Not that I have anything against Saito, it’s just that it is small and I oft yearn for the city… so here I am, armed with enthusiasm and a few Japanese phrases: Eigo Daijoubu Desuka, is English ok (the suggestion being that you can’t speak Japanesse)?

Ok, quick shower and then I’m out for the night.

But where to? Now I’m kind of wishing I did some research on Fukuoka instead of just blogging. Hohum.

More on Fukuoka coming soon... in the meantime check out the Flickr Page.

Two Poems about My Week

In lieu of a real post, here is some poetry.

Enjoy.

Culture Day

It’s Culture Day tomorrow
And I should be here preparing
But instead I look out the window
And looking becomes staring

Then I drift in my own thoughts
With no fear of what tomorrow brings
Until I catch a look at the clock
And reality bites and stings

I have to stop my procrastination
Need to rewrite my speech about my nation
I have things that I want to impart
But have trouble thinking where to start

So instead of just putting pen to pad
I stop and gaze outside instead
And whilst caught up with
The thoughts in my own head
I lose an hour and gain some dread

Looking Good

I find if I suck in my cheeks
And turn my head to the side
The man in the mirror
Looks back at me with pride

Oh, sometimes in a certain light
And if I suck my stomach in
With my abs tensed nice and tight
I actually look quite thin

Then there are times I don’t groom my hair
But leave it wild and rough
I find it adds some character
But wonder if it adds enough

8 Day Weeks

During my last year of university I worked pretty much flat out, Monday to Sunday. Ok, that’s not true, I worked semi hard around a schedule that included Lost, Property Ladder, Easteneders and masturbation (never together).

At LUL I also worked many a weekend and reaped the reward of overtime. Overtime at LUL was often a lonely affair, other staff were far too busy recovering from coke binges to get work done on a Sunday.

Now, at Saito Shogyo I work 5 days strictly separated by a weekend, which in all truth may be harder than the week days combined. Not only do I drink in excess, but I also have no transport and must rely on other people or public transport, sometimes this lack of freedom or indepdence is easier, sometimes its just a pain. But this is not the point of this blog.

My point is that I just worked an 8 day week, oh yes it is possible. I worked Monday to Monday with no break in between. In that time I produced a display about the U.K. a speech about the U.K, a U.K. playlist and a video about U.K culture.

It was challenging, it was fun and unlike overtime at university or LUL it actually involved working 7 whole days (plus one).

And now, high ho, high ho. It's back to work I go and I'm not prepared... I have a lesson plan to scribble out, I have to wake the fuck up after a monster weekend in the big smoke (more on that later) and... I can't think for shit.

The kids are going to tear me a new asshole today... must stop cursing!

Here’s what I was working on:
☛ Video
☛ Presentation (Powerpoint Document)
☛ Display Document
☛ Display picture one
☛ Final Speech
☛ Playlist (scroll down)

Please let me know what you think of any of the above by leaving comments or sending an email.

And this blog explains what it was all in aid of. (Link to Blog)

Song	Artist
A Kind Of Magic	Queen
Bucky Done Gun	M.I.A.
Let It Be	The Beatles
Clocks	Coldplay
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out	The Smiths
Heart of Glass	Blondie
Despair In The Departure Lounge	Arctic Monkeys
I'm Still Standing	Elton John
Good Luck	Basement Jaxx
Come Together	The Beatles
Talk Tonight	Oasis
Glory Box	Portishead
Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds	The Beatles
Mezzanine	Massive Attack
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor	Arctic Monkeys
Stupid Girl	Garbage
I Fought the Law	The Clash
Trouble	Coldplay
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting	Elton John
Lucky Star	Basement Jaxx
Parklife	Blur
Half The World Away	Oasis
I Want To Be Free	Queen
Suddenly I See	KT Tunstall
Do It	Dizzee Rascal
You Had Me	Joss Stone

Culture Shock

Culture Shock

JETs love to harp on about what they call culture shock. Culture shock is when you find out that your formal and informal education can not help you in another culture because things are so different, that's me paraphrasing poorly by the way.



In reality culture shock is where you expectations of a place, of its people and their behaviour does not match the reality of that place.

I thought that I came over with no expectation, and in fact I came here with very few. But it’s difficult to forget how people act or to let go of your social norms. For example, where I’m from, pointing at someone in the street and gasping like you’ve just seen a plane hit a building would be considered rude, let alone embarrassing and extremely shameful behaviour. Here however it is common practice to laugh, or gasp out loud at strangers, tap a friend on the shoulder and then encourage them to do the same.

One time in Nottingham after seeing The Streets at Rock City I saw Mike Skinner on his mobile phone and stopped and pointed, he turned his back on me and carried on with his conversation. I felt like a prick, I was so star-struck that I lost all semblance of cool and just acted like a goofy twit.

Well there was a lot of pointing, tapping of shoulders and outbursts of laughter during my very first experience of Culture Festival (over a whole weekend).

The Culture Festival is held at schools around the time of Culture Day, a national holiday in Japan where the Emperor awards people for contributions to art, culture and science.

For the students it's a chance to show off their acting, comedy and singing talents and to show off on stage. And boy, do they love to show off. Funny voices, funny skits, songs sung poorly, songs sung well, dancing, skipping and jumping. They do it all and it’s tremendous fun, and totally unexpected.

Culture shock for me was finding that I was totally at a loss whilst the kids went mental around me, it was like they had sugar pumped into them through an intravenous drip, it was crazy.

Anyway, I’ve taken some photo’s and some video, I hope you enjoy them.










And finally the video I made for my presentation. This should be available soon on Youtube Just follow this link.

Oh and as an aside, did any of you ever take part in a school play? And the nativity doesn’t count.

Links:

• A great article on how to spot and deal with the stress of culture shock here.
• My presentation and a link to the presentation slides are here.
• Wikipedia article about Culture Day here.
  

Culture Day Speech

TITLE SLIDE

Konichiwa,

SLIDE 1

My name is Stephen Walrond and I would like to talk about my home country, the United Kingdom.

SLIDE 2

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a group of islands northwest of the coast of Europe.
I’m from the largest of those islands. It is called Great Britain; it is made up of three countries England, Wales and Scotland.
These countries are mainly ruled by a central government in London, yet some of the duties of government have been assigned to separate governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

SLIDE 3

I’m from England and I live very close to its capital city, London.
London can be described as a metropolitan city.
England is one of the most successful capitalist countries in the world.
Japan is the also one of the most successful economic countries in the world and Japan has the worlds second largest economy.

SLIDE 4

Today I would like to talk about similarities and difference between my country, England, and your country Japan.
Some of these similarities and differences are my own observation and some are commonly regarded as fact.
England and Japan are both islands with successful capitalist and industrial economies.
Both of our economies grew from textile industries, silk here in Japan and Cotton in England. Both of our countries went through periods of feudalism also.

SLIDE 5

We also have societies which both value education, literacy, etiquette, politeness and reservation.

SLIDE 7

Both England and Japan have a love of nature, poetry and writing as well as crafts and a deep appreciation of practical skills.
So, the pupils in Japanese schools and English schools are very fortunate. They have the opportunity to express their selves through arts, sports and other challenges.

SLIDE 8

Many people in the United Kingdom are bilingual; they speak Cornish, Welsh, Scots Gaelic and Irish.
England has a large immigrant population also who speak languages such as Gujarat, Hindi, Urdu and Cantonese.
English is known as the Global Language. It is taught world wide as a second language more than any other language.
SLIDE 9
I feel this is a good thing as it means that I can have friends from all over the world and I’ve been able to visit and be understood in many countries.
It also means that many different races can find a home in England. This is something the government has encouraged over the years. My dad came to England from Barbados and my mother’s parents came from Guyana in South America.
I think that it is important to have a mixture of authentic cultures in one place.
It makes people aware of our cultural differences but also makes people aware of the things that link us all together.
Because of all the different cultures, the United Kingdom has many different styles of art that I would like to show you some of my favourites now.

SLIDE 10 Video



Link to Powerpoint Presentation