International exchange via Skype between Konan Junior High and Okinawans in Argentina
August 17, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo Digital Edition
On August 17, 10 students who take part in international exchange for their integrated studies course at Konan Junior High School interacted with an Okinawan Prefecture Association in Argentina via Skype, an Internet-based video teleconferencing application.
Besides performing the Sanshin and the Eisa, the students also asked questions about life in Argentina.
The students used Skype for about an hour from 8 a.m. (8 p.m. on August 16 in Argentina).
The Skype session concluded with both parties singing “Shimanchunu takara.”
In response to ninth-grader Miaki Teruya’s question, “What do you think about Okinawa?” the Chairman of the Okinawan Prefecture Association in Argentina, Akira Tamaki responded with a smile and said, “To us, Okinawa is amor (love) and familia (family).
” The students listened with enthusiasm.
A teacher from Konan Junior High School, Yoshino Higa said, “The students superficially learn about foreign countries via textbooks.
By actually speaking with people who live there, they learn for the first time exactly what people there think about.
We want them to appreciate the connection with Okinawan people living abroad.”
Ninth-grader Hikaru Itosu said, “I was nervous, but had fun. It would be great if the interactions between the world and Japan continue to deepen.”
(English translation by T&CT and Chelsea Ashimine)
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