Second visit to Lismore

The Bamboo Shoots

It was the second time to go to Lismore

A local newsletter quarterly issued
Yamato Takada Lismore Sister City Association,Nara,JapanAutumn Issue,2016

for me, so I had been looking forward togoing back there and seeing Mayor
who I met last time. Nature is very
beautiful and we could see koalas,kangaroos, whales and dolphins. One of
my favorite things in Lismore is walking
around Byron bay with beautiful views.

English teacherof Yamato Takada
commercial high school

Contact：
Yamato Takada Lismore Sister City AssociationTEL：0745-22-1101
http://www.city.yamatotakada.nara.jp/lismore/

We do hope The Bamboo Shoots born out of the soil of Yamato-Takada will grow up and act as a go-between for the citizens in Lismore and in Yamato-Takada

Jenny Dowell and others in Lismore

Mika Ogawa

No.169I was impressed with warmness of host family and we enjoyed goingout and talking to each other.
We had precious experiences. I really appreciate that, all of you. I wish
our friendship and bonds will be stronger than ever before.

Flood-funds already handed to Lismore

The torrential rains together with strong winds started torage over the city of Lismore, Australia, on June 3 this year
and the flood due to them caused untold damage to Lismore.
Yamato Takada City began a fund-raising campaign toYamato Takada citizens. The sum of the donated fund-raisingmoney came to 628,000 yen. The exchange students this year

BambooEnglishClasses
start
The Bamboo English classes have started as one of the international
exchange programs conducted by The Lismore・Yamato Takada Sister CityAssociation. The English classes, one for kindergarteners and the other forelementary schools, are practiced twice a month for 4 to 12 year-oldchildren living in Yamato Takada city.
Using the so-called human ﬁve senses, children are expected to enjoy
singing in English and dancing with Mr. Claudio Lopez, a native speaker ofEnglish, and some of the members of the association as well. What is more,in the programs they will be able to enjoy easy everyday English
conversation through familiar topics of their daily life.

Instructor in charge

directly handed the whole sum of the donations to Mrs. Jenny
Dowell, mayor of Lismore City Council, when they paid aMr. Claudio Lopez from the USA, living inYamato Takada city and working as ALT ofEnglish for kindergartens and elementary
schools in Nara Prefecture.

courtesy call on the mayor on July 29.

The path to success!
Thanks words
I am very appreciative of the concern that you and the Yamato
Takada council staff have shown to me and to Lismore since theflood. I am happy to report that we are all safe and well.
Your offer of support is very kind however as Lismore is all back tonormal now we have no need for it.
As always your kindness and extension of friendship is very
generous.

Jenny Dowell

Since my arrival to japan and living in
Yamato-takada with my family. I found a special placein this city. When I was introduced to the Lismore–yamato takada sister city association program
bamboo English, I knew it was an excellent
opportunity to teach inspiring students the English
language. As an ALT in UDA city, everyday I see
students and even teachers asking and wanting tolearn more English because they want to succeed inthe future.
Personally, my goal as an English teacher is to helpand teach the students here in yamato-takada withEnglish as a second because I know they really wantto learn. With ourdedication and commitment in helping students

achieve their goals, this is why I really like theBamboo English program because it is an excellent
opportunity for kids and especially their parents tointeract with English in a very fun and positive way. It
provides a great and fun lesson experience with ourteam of experienced native Japanese teachers whom
also know english which they are also dedicated tohelp students become more involved.
The bamboo English program has help and guided me
to become a better teacher because it has given me
access to interact with students helping them learn thelanguage which is accessible to everybody who wants
to learn. It is an excellent opportunity for yourchildren to go to bamboo English to get first handexperience in a new language.

Questionnaires: Yamato Takada Exchange Students
3) What surprised or bothered you in terms of the diﬀerencesof culture, manners and customs?
＊About life (inconvenient, troublesome or good points):
・We were able to take a shower, but unable to soak in abathtub.
・We had to go to bed earlier than when in Japan.
・People in Lismore don’ t change their clothes every day,1) What attracted you most in Lismore city?
・There were so many beautiful brick buildings there,
which was different in Japan.
・The suburbs of Lismore city were abundantly blessedwith nature and cattle were put out to pasture there.
・Lismore, as a whole, was beauty itself and also verylarge with neat rows on either side of each street.
・Few traffic lights were there in Lismore, whichsurprised us.
・There was a little difference in altitude here and there,
so at intersections motor vehicles curved in a circle,
which was a little funny and interesting to us.
2) What places appealed to you or what scenes impressed
you most on your memories?
・The most impressive place was Byron Bay, The ocean
spread before us and the lighthouse of Byron Bay werevery beautiful. I saw wild dolphins swimming there.
・Though I was very much interested in all the places I
visited, the waterfall, where my host family took me ona holiday, was especially mysterious to me.
・As for me, Cadina High School was very impressive andunforgettable.
・The West Factory impressed me most. Though enteringa rubbish disposal facility is strictly prohibited like inJapan, we were happily allowed to see how to do thework in a certain factory in Lismore. In addition, wewere able to see wild koalas in the botanical garden next
to the factory. Koalas made my stay in Lismore very
happy.
・After all nothing was more impressive than Byron Bay on
the easternmost point of Australian Continent.

that is, not very often.
・Toilet seats were cold.
・Host families believed in Christianity and went reading

the Bible and singing hymns in churches or KingdomChapels.
・I couldn’ t get used to taking off the shoes before entering
my house in Lismore.

・Most of the Lismore citizens were really open-minded (weJapanese aren’ t very open-minded though) it was easy for
us exchange students to be on friendly terms with them.
＊About life at school (through interaction among localstudents):
・About manners and appearance local students were really
free to have personal hairstyles and to wear pierced
earrings though we Japanese students are not so free inJapan.
・Local students enjoyed their life at school in a morerelaxedmanner than Japanese students. Their school rules werenot so strict as those in Japanese schools.
・Almost all students in Lismore were very friendly.
・They were eager to express their feelings and opinions.
・In Lismore high school subjects in arts and humanities
were very distinguished,compared to those in the actual
state of Japanese high schools.
・It was more difficult for us to interact with local students
in English than to talk to adult people,because old persons
tried to speak English more slowly than students did.
・We enjoyed free time talking to local students and also
having sweets and snacks outside school.

4) What impressions did you have during your stay withyour host family?
・My host family took me to Byron Bay and the zoo, where
we spent a happy time.
・There were many children in my host family and I soon
became close to them. Of course I had a good time withthem talking to one another,playing some games and soon.
・My host family told me how to play board games andchess, which were very popular in Australia.
・I had a lot of happy memories. When my host family andI went for a walk with their dogs, we had fun talking toeach other, which made me very happy.
・My host family took me to the zoo on a holiday and I
was able to get close to nature. We took pictures of acrocodile, which we picked up, and saw Aboriginal
dances. I told their children how to play old maid andwe played it with them at home. We also enjoyedplaying some games on tablet with them.

5) How could you enjoy interacting with local students
over Skype?
・I felt very happy because my local friends told me that I
had spoken good English at my presentation.

・I felt a little strange anew when I talked to people inYamato Takada city on Skype. I thought that I was
playing an important role between Lismore and Yamato
Takada.

・I thought it wonderful to get close to each other,however
far it was from Takada to Lismore.
・I got nervous when I talked on Skype, and I breathed asigh of relief hearing Japanese after a long while.

・I was very happy to have an excellent opportunity ofspeaking English before mayors and city officers of bothcities, though I got very nervous at my presentation onSkype.

6) How do you make use of your experiences as
exchange students in the future?
・Since I noticed I could not make myself understood in
English when I talked to local students and local citizens, I’dlike to speak English much better.

・My first experience in Lismore and interaction with local
students were good enough for me to live a useful life in thefuture. I made up my mind to take advantage of these fromnow on.
・I would like to be what we call a world-wide person living insuch a globalized society as today.

・I couldn’t understand English spoken by my host familycompletely. So I do want to study English much harder. As I
visited a lot of places with my host family and also I was
taken to some places like schools and facilities where only
we exchange students could go, I thought I had to tellvarious kinds of people in Yamato Takada city about thisexchange student system.
・I am poor at speaking in public still now, but I could gain
the confidence to speak up in company through myexperiences this time. In Australia I came to take a much
more positive attitude than before, so I will try to thinkpositively and actively about my future life.