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Japan thanks to a Rotary >. fo e home. She goes to a private all-giris school, where she takes part In many extra-curricular activities--including cheerleading. : Cheryl Martin is having the time of fier life. The 19 year old Port Per resident has been in Japan since August 14, 1988 on a change program. tary Club Internati ex- When she left last summer, she promised to write us a Letter and tell us all about he r adventures. And even though she's been really busy, Cheryl managed to find time to : op us a line. Her letter is full ing every minute enthusiasm--she's obviously enjoy- of 2 adventure, which will ous Mo 0 when she comes back home. The collection of photos on this page are Cheryl's moth- er's. The good-natured tee uently, sendi quently, send! itchen. er writes to her family fre- pictures, which are fiung neatly on a wall This letter, in Cheryls own words, gives us a vivid glimpse of Japan through the eyes of a young woman who isn't afraid to learn more about our world. Hi! How are you? I am fine. It's hard to believe that I have been living in the land of the ris- ing sun for over eight months. ave I changed? Well, except for the slanted eyes, different language and at times strange behaviour, No! I'd say that I'm still the same (on the outside, that is--except for a few extra pounds of fat "Made In Japan"). At the moment, I am living in Ashuja, near Osaka with a Jap- anese host family. I am attend- 11, 1988. "Yoko, Otosan and | in the Ginza as we're cruising the town. He told everyone that we're his girlfriends. In Japa- nese, Nitehana (means two flowers on both armsl)." 11 p.m., March 24, 1988. : RONAN es 1 a VR WCE iN 8 "My swim team on Sports Day." Ociober 2, 1988. ing an all-girls Japanese high school and taking classes with all my friends there. My subjects include Japanese History, Geography, Politics, Gym, Japanese Calligraphy, Japanese Cooking, Sewing and Yukata (like a kimono) as well as my clubs--swimming club, Japanese Tea = Ceremony, KOTO (a Japanese instru- ment), traditional Japanese dancing (wearing a kimono and white make-up on the face) and Kendo (martial art using sever- al thin bamboo sticks, bound at oneend). * Japan is a very crowded coun- try. There is not a speck of green to be seen in the cities, just houses, buildings, factories and more buildings. But, whereverlI go, I can always see the moun- tains and nature growing on them. Beyond them is open space and nature but because they are so far from the main city, the land is used only by the country people for growing rice and oth- er crops. : The life in Japan can be summed up in one word-- HECTIC. The Japanese are al- ways busy and definitely not lazy people. Many businessmen ¥ il SE i My host brother, his friend Katchan "Me, wearing the kimono for the Rotary party." November BOOTS." Cheryl turns Japanese k. during year long "Rotary adventure in the land of "Cheer giris! My good friends." October 2, 1988. Cheryl Martin, enjoying a whole year in Club exchange program, has come to think of Japan as her the rising sun work six or even seven days a week from maybe 7 a.m. to may- be 10 p.m. Thus, the mother usually con- trols the household dealings, al- though the father is still the dominant figure in the family. Also, many schoolchildren join clubs at school, and spend many hours a day practising, there- fore returning home late every night. Or they attend "Juku" a special study school after regu- larschool. Japanese food is very good and healthy. Over the span of eight months I've eaten such dishes as raw fish, tuna fish bel- ly, sushi, octopus, oyster, fish eggs, seaweed, and of course, The Japanese eat rice at al- most every meal! Most people also use chopsticks. I now like chopsticks better than cutlery-- although at first it took me twice as long to eat and I practi- cally needed a bib to catch most of the food that fell on my lap while travelling from the bowl to my mouth. The Japanese language is dif- ficult, but I'm at the stage now, where I can function well in so- ciety and understand most of that which is spoken to me. There are many places in Ja- pan where billboards or signs are written in English with a message to the public. For in- stance, the bathroom stalls at my school have this sign in the stalls, "Do not flash any ani- mate objects." In magazines, I have read ar- ticles about foreigners who have "tall noses, and crunchy hair" and on trains, there are special seats reserved for "the elderly or foreigners who have a 'problem." It is really quite com- ical at times! : I have been to many different cities in Japan, but my two fa- vourites are Tokyo and Kyoto. Tokyo is a huge city with many people and lots of action. The Ginza is spectacular at night with many lights and ex- citement. During rush hour in Tokyo (which could be said to be all the time), the eight lane roads are completely filled with cars and along the sidewalks are streams of people all trying to move through the chaos and confusion. It is an incredible sight. Kyoto is the complete oppo- site of Tokyo. The atmosphere is more relaxed and there is a lot more nature and fewer people. It is the traditional area of Ja- pan since it wasn't destroyed in W.W.II. There are many tem- " ples and shrines here, and a lot of Japan's history can be seen. Most of the people in Japan are Buddhist and like to visit the temples and shrines to pray tothe gods. The temples are very old, large, and beautiful inside. There are usually many gold statues of Buddha and incense and candles are lit for the gods. The priest and other Buddha followers at times sit for hours around the altars, praying to the gods, rolling rosary beads, and chanting loudly with a monotone voice that causes the wooden pillars and floor of the temples to vibrate rhythmically with the chanting. They believe that by chanting, they will go to heaven when they die. I recently went to see Sumo with my host family. Sumo is a very traditional sport and many of the ceremonies performed during the matches date back to the early history of Japan. Sumo wrestlers are absolutely huge, and during games, they wear very skimpy but tradi- tional Qothing. A fight can be over in 10 sec- onds and if you blink you'll prob- (Turn to page 35) RRR Ros i a "My best friends from Canada. Left to right, Sandy, me, Stacey at Osaka Mountain. There was so much green and - mountains everywhere. We're showing off our SPACE "Beginning a sumo match with a traditional ceremony. Ye sumo men are wearing the $2,000 skirts." March 21, 1 . N RR mr rm