12/23/2008 - Trip of a lifetime
The Singleton Argus
Australia
Steven Ward can’t wait for next year.
The year 10 Singleton High student has scored a scholarship to live and study in Japan for 12 months on a cultural exchange.
The scholarship, funded by the Japanese government in conjunction with Jenesys (Japan and East Asia Network Exchange for Students and Youths) and AFS Intercultural Programs, will see Steven live with a Japanese host family and attend a Japanese school.
The opportunity is a dream come true for the 15-year-old who has developed a fascination for the Asian country since taking up Japanese lessons at school four years ago.
While the idea of living abroad, away from family, friends and familiarity, has brought some nerves, Steven is keen to immerse himself into the Japanese culture.
“I’m looking forward to getting to meet a whole range of people even though one of my major fears is not knowing anyone over there,” he said.
“But I want to meet new people, learn the language and experience the Japanese culture.”
When he gets home, he hopes to be fluent in Japanese.
“I can introduce myself fluently and I know the language but it’s trying to recall it,” he said of his current level.
“Even though a lot of people can speak English in Japan, I want to speak Japanese as much as I can.”
“At school I have learnt Hiragana and Katakana but the most common dialect in Japan is Kanji that uses over 3,000 symbols.
“I’ll be going from 26 letters of the alphabet to trying to learn 3,000,” he said.
As part of the cultural exchange, Steven’s family will host a Japanese student for 12 months while he is in Japan.
The Ward family will welcome Kenta Endo from Yokohama in Japan, a city with a population of 3.5 million people, to their Greta home in February to experience life in Australia.
Steven will get the chance to meet Kenta before jetting off to Japan and will be practising his Japanese with Kenta before he leaves.
During his stay, Steven plans to tell fellow school mates and his host family all about Australia.
“Part of the scholarship is that I do a presentation on Australia so I’ll be letting them know about Australia and Singleton as well,” he said.
Steven will leave for Japan on March 15.
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Find out more about AFS Japan
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