About the 2006 Japan trip

Nagoya , Takayama, Kyoto, Himeji, Hiroshima, Tokyo- The six cities in Japan recently visited by 11 students and 2 teachers from Rutherford. We were in Japan for 16 EXTREMELY busy days, during which we took part in many Japanese activities, such as making fans, visiting temples, and eating a small fortune in rice, as well as singing in front of 1000 students, speaking on the radio, and trying not to get lost in the subway.

One of the highlights was visiting Shigakukan school in Nagoya. They were most welcoming - some of the teachers even came to the airport with a big sign! They organised home stays for us which we were all quite nervous about but by the end of three days none of us wanted to leave. The school was very different from ours and we got to participate not only in classes but also in their sports practices after school. We look forward to hosting some of their students next year.

We also did the touristy thing and visited famous sites such as Kinkakuji (the golden Pavilion), Himeji Castle, Kiyomizu temple, Tokyo Disneyland, the samurai movie making venue and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. Of course with a group where the females out-numbered the males 2:1, numerous hours of shopping were unavoidable.

We used most forms of transport available - plane, bullet train, subway, bus, ferry and even bicycles. By the end of the trip, we were all well beyond tired and were missing home and after a 10 hour flight we were all glad to be back.

I think we all improved our language skills and having experienced the culture first hand is also invaluable for our future studies. Everyone made us feel very special and our trip will have lasting memories. We would also like to acknowledge and thank the contribution of the Sasakawa Fellowship Fund for Japanese who besides our parents was a major sponsor in enabling us all to go!

Want to Go?

The Japan Trip has already taken place, but there will be another opportunity for students to go to Japan in the near future. Make sure you register your interest with Ms Takeda (HOD Languages) for the Japan trip in 2008

Alternatively you can apply to go on a foreign exchange trip to Japan for a period of time under the AFS Student Exchange programme. Find more information here.