Fort Street Japan trip

Over the holidays, the year 10 and 11 Japanese classes went on an exchange trip to Japan, visiting cities such as Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hiroshima while also attending our sister school, Suginami Sogo High School, for one week. We had a truly incredible time while over there, experiencing new cultures, making new friends, and working on our Japanese.

This trip was unable to run for years due to COVID-19, making it all the more special that parents, teachers, and students alike from both schools came together in order to make the trip happen.

Suginami Sogo

After having spent a day getting acclimated to Japan, we headed right off to Suginami Sogo on Monday for our welcome assembly, where the students of the school put on numerous performances for us and multiple speeches were exchanged in both English and Japanese. From there we spent the rest of the school week attending classes and clubs, as well as exploring Tokyo in our free time. It was a blast, and I could really feel my Japanese improving in just a few days of being among native speakers.

There were many cultural differences, such as changing shoes when entering the gym building, vending machines present within the school, and classes which, like primary school, all took place in just one room per class, but what surprised me the most was how similar the students were to everyone at Fort Street. While the language barrier was difficult to overcome, I felt right at home among my friends at Suginami Sogo.

We had an amazing (if tiring) time both at the school and exploring Japan during the week after, eating delicious food, and experiencing the highlights of Japanese culture.

Special thanks to all the teachers who chaperoned us on the trip: Mr Boyle, Miss Catalan, Miss Nolan, and especially Mr Gillespie, without whom none of this would have been possible.

Written by

Nicholas Caus

Year 11