6月13日(金)ルーマニア姉妹校ジョージコシュブック校交流団が日吉ケ丘高校で過ごす最後の日となる5日目はバディ生徒とともに宇治と奈良へ観光に行き、友好を深めました。
宇治では10円玉の意匠としても有名な、平等院鳳凰堂を散策しました。その後、奈良で昼食を取った後、東大寺大仏殿へ。奈良公園の鹿と戯れたり、巨大な大仏に驚いたり、お土産物を買ったり、写真や動画を取ったり、5日目ともなるとバディたちとの仲も深まったようです。
学校へ戻った後、放課後英語村にて行われたジョージコシュブック生徒たちによるルーマニアプレゼンテーションは過日HELLO Village WeekDay3の報告記事にもあった通り、素晴らしいものでした。ルーマニアの歴史・食・伝統・迷信など異なるテーマについてそれぞれの生徒たちが素晴らしい発表をし、最後に日吉ケ丘高校生徒たちに伝統的なダンスを教えてくれて一緒に踊りました。取材を担当してくれた生徒たちが滞在を振り返る素敵な動画を作成、上映し、送別の際には涙し、皆別れを惜しんでいました。
翌日6月14日(土)ジョージコシュブック校の一団を見送るために京都駅改札前にバディ生徒とともに家族の皆さんもたくさんお集まり頂きました。初めてのことで色々なことがあったと思いますが、貴重な経験になったのではないでしょうか。
留学生や海外からの訪問も多い日吉ケ丘高校ですが、このように海外姉妹校交流団を一週間という長期に渡り、ホスト校としての受け入れるのは初めての試みでした。コロナ禍で途絶えていた時期もありましたが、今後活発な交流が期待されます。
Day 5 – A Memorable Final Day of the George Coșbuc High School Exchange Program
On Friday, June 13th, the fifth and final day of the visit by the delegation from our Romanian sister school, George Coșbuc National College, was spent deepening friendships with their Japanese buddies through a cultural excursion to Uji and Nara.
In Uji, the group explored Byodoin Temple, famously depicted on the 10-yen coin. Afterwards, they traveled to Nara, where they enjoyed lunch before heading to the Great Buddha Hall of Todai-ji Temple. There, the students were delighted to interact with the friendly deer of Nara Park, amazed by the huge size of the Great Buddha, and enjoyed shopping souvenirs, taking photos and videos to capture the experience. By this point in their stay, the bonds between the Romanian and Japanese students had grown visibly stronger.
After returning to school, the Romanian students gave cultural presentations in the HELLO Village after school. As reported in the Day 3 article of HELLO Village Week, their presentation was truly outstanding. Each student introduced a different aspect of Romanian culture—including history, cuisine, traditions, and superstitions—with great enthusiasm and clarity. The event concluded with a traditional Romanian dance, which they taught to the Hiyoshigaoka students so they could dance together.
A heartfelt video, created by a group of the students who had been documenting the exchange, was shown to commemorate the week. The farewell was filled with emotions, with many shedding tears as the time to say goodbye arrived.
The following day, Saturday, June 14th, the Hiyoshigaoka buddy students with their families came to Kyoto Station to see off the George Coșbuc delegation. Though this was a first-time experience for many, it must have been undoubtedly a valuable and unforgettable one.
Hiyoshigaoka High School has welcomed many international visitors and exchange students over the years, but this was our first time serving as a host school for a sister school delegation over the course of a full week. Although international exchanges were temporarily halted during the COVID-19 pandemic, we now look forward with great hope to more active and enriching global partnerships in the years to come.