B&S Program: An experience interacting with Japanese students

"こんにちわ。わたしはSherrilです。" : )

 

Finally what I have learnt during my Japanese lessons could be put in use.

 

Well, at least that was what I thought when I joined the B&S Program (Brother and Sister Program). It is a program whereby university students like me will lead a small group of Japanese high school students to tour around KL city for about half a day. And the best part is, we're paid to bring them around, because it is a part time job.

 

But after my 1st experience with the 1st group of students that I led, I realized that what I have learnt could only be applied about 10% of it. The rest of the time we communicated like chickens and ducks. I spoke mainly in English and made many silly actions to make them understand what I was trying to say. Really funny.

 

However despite the language barrier between us and the super hot weather, I had fun :) It was a great experience interacting with the Japanese students. Altogether I have led 2 different groups. The 2nd group was from Hokuryo High School in Kyoto.

 

I think they were quite lucky compared to us because they had the chance to come to Malaysia for a few days for a short study trip. They would go to selected high schools in Kuala Lumpur to interact with our local high school students while doing some discussions with them. Sounds fun right?

 

Anyway, here are some pictures of this program. The places that we went were mainly tourists spots like KL Tower, Suria KLCC / Twin Tower, Central Market, Chinatown, Merdeka Square etc.

 

For the 1st group, I took them to KL Tower and Aquria KLCC. Since Yoon Sin and her group were going to the same places, we practically sticked together during the entire trip. Each of us had 4 students.

 

 

1st stop: KL Tower

 

View from the tower

Magnificent view?

 

We stayed up there less than 15 minutes because there was basically nothing special, except the KL city view. Before proceeding to the next destination, we went to the mini zoo and horse-riding stall below the tower.

 

 

Destination: KL Tower

Price: RM38 (Adult)

Comment: It is a place where you should only go once, because the price is not worth for a second visit.

 

 

2nd stop: Aquaria KLCC

 

From Dang Wangi LRT station we took train to KLCC where we visited Aquaria KLCC.

 

Before reaching Aquaria KLCC, we led them to the garden where they could have a view of the Petronas Twin Tower. They were like "すごい！すごい！すごい！"

 

 

 

The 1st group picture together with Yoon Sin's group

 

 

Then we entered Aquaria KLCC.

 

The turtle mates

 

Had fun in souvenir shop

 

They took quite some time to choose their souvenirs in Aquaria KLCC souvenir shop. Therefore me and Yoon Sin played around with the soft toys while waiting for them to get done.

 

Destination: Aquaria KLCC

Price: RM35 (Adult with MyKad) or RM30 (Adult with student card)

Comment: This was my 2nd visit and I thought 1st time was better. But it's worth visiting at least once.

Then, it was dinner time! Other groups headed to Pavilion for Carl's Junior and we thought we should bring them there for dinner because they have nothing like that in Japan. Plus, we were warned that they were only allowed to eat fast food like McD, KFC etc or dine in food courts. You know, they have different type of stomachs haha. After that we headed back to Seri Pacific Hotel where we bid our goodbyes and exchanged contacts.

The last group picture

 

 

For the 2nd group of students, I took them to Merdeka Square, Central Market, Chinatown and Times Square.

 

We set out around 9am from Legend Hotel and were required to reach the hotel at 1.30pm. Guess it was because that was their last day in Malaysia and had to go back later on that day.

 

For this school, things were more formal. Before finding our group members, there was an official ceremony to greet us and they have representative who gave a welcoming speech in English. Then only we met our group of students, introduced ourselves and started our journey.

 

Not much pictures were taken for this trip. Too lazy for it. However, through this program I realized that there are many places that we can reach simply by walking because the distances between the destinations are short. From example, from Merdeka Square to Central Market. And from Central Market to Chinatown.

 

 

Playing with his じしょ (jisho = dictionary)

 

This black shirt guy brought along his electronic jisho. When we had communication problem, he would type in his dictionary to obtain English translation. However I could not type in his jisho for Japanese translation because we could not find the "spacebar" button. I guess he has never typed English sentences in his jisho before XD

 

My group!

So many students!

Closing ceremony speech in English by their representative

 

 

Souvenirs from Japan!

 

Yes, they bought souvenirs for us before they came. For my group, they gave me these. Quite oriental, aren't they? Haha. Thank you guys!

So there goes my experience leading 2 different groups of Japanese students from different high schools. There should not be a 3rd time for me I think because from now on, I shall not be working any part time job anymore as I want to concentrate in my FYP. If not I have the possibility of not be able to graduate. *sigh*

Anyway, cheers to all of you!

おやすみなさい

-sherril=xuele-