Japanese School Exchange to Keio

In February we visited our exchange school in Japan with the four Keio scholars. This was a wonderful experience and a real chance to learn more about young people’s lives in Japan, as well as putting Japanese language skills into action!

We were looked after so well by our hosts, who ensured we experienced as much as possible in the short time we were there.

Right from the get-go we were having an unforgettable experience! We flew over on the Pokemon plane, the Pikachu Jet NH, and were warmly welcomed by our hosts upon landing. First full day was spent in Old Tokyo, in Asakusa, visiting the temples and the street stalls. There was an overload on the senses, so many awesome sights and smells to take in!

We had a go at making traditional sweets before walking over to the Tokyo Tower with a matcha tea ice cream in our hands. Tokyo Tower is 332.9 metres high and we enjoyed the fabulous view from above, overlooking a sun-drenched Tokyo. We were able to see Mount Fuji on the horizon and pushed through the jet-lag, or was the tower really swaying that much!?

The subsequent days were spent in Keio SFC school, accompanying our hosts to various lessons. The buildings themselves look like textbook brutalist architecture, clean simple lines. The students enjoyed perfect views of Mount Fuji from their music classrooms and science labs - we were most envious!

There were sessions with origami, karate and calligraphy. Their EES club ran a special party for us, which included lots of fun language games and of course sweets. One of the most special moments was attending a traditional tea ceremony run by the Keio SFC students. There was a tatami room purpose-built in the school for this ceremony. We were dressed in yukata, traditional garments, to enhance the experience further. We learnt so much about every dimension of the tea ceremony.

We were treated to a day out in Kamakura, where we visited both Shinto and Buddhist temples, as well as going to Kōtoku-in and seeing the great Buddha of Kamakura. We were lucky to have seen and experienced so much. It was a very special exchange and judging by the tears at the airport, very special friendships have been forged across the globe.