I participated in the first short-time exchange between Rikkyo School and Millais School.
The reason why I wanted to take part in this exchange was not only because my parents told me to do so but also because I thought it would be a nice experience which is different from summer schools. The thought to be able to go to an English school and speaking English with native people at my age was very attracting me because not everyone has the chance to do so. When I was told that I could participate in this exchange I was very happy about it but I also felt a little bit unsure if my English was good enough to communicate with the exchange partners.
On Saturday the 26th January after lunch, however, 5 students including me who took part in this exchange went as soon as they could to the teacher’s room to welcome the Millais students. After waiting nervously for a little while the 5 students arrived at our school at quarter to 2 pm. We introduced ourselves and the short-time exchange started. On the first day we spent most of the time together in the common room of the girls’ dormitory or New Hall.
The following week passed very fast.
On Sunday we watched “Sado”, which is the traditional tea ceremony. After that our exchange partners had the great chance to wear Kimonos and Yukatas which are the traditional clothes of Japan. We took a lot of pictures and all of the Millais students looked very beautiful. On Monday we had lessons with our buddies. It was very difficult to explain the content of the Japanese lessons in English. Unfortunately on Tuesday my buddy became sick. I felt very sorry about that. But on Wednesday she felt better again so we joined the cooking club and made Onigiris (rice balls) and Miso soup which was very delicious. Regrettably on Thursday I went to a Volleyball match so I couldn’t go with our buddies but it seemed they had enjoyed themselves at Kendo. At the penultimate day we had fun in Friday sports. We did Budo and learned some self-defense tricks. And on the very last day we took some pictures and we had to say goodbye to each other.
Right now I am looking forward to seeing my buddy again in March.
（中学部3年生 女子）
