Origami and Karate in Arkansas
Okinawan introduces grade schoolers to his culture
[This article is featured in the Dec. 2022 issue of PAX Press.]
My host mother works at an elementary school, so during International Education Week, I was able to present to one of the classes. This was my first time giving a presentation in the U.S., so I was a little nervous.
I had to think a lot about how I should teach Japanese culture and interest my audience—after all, they were only eight years old...lol! I talked with my host mother and decided to make origami (Japanese art of paper folding) and teach karate. It was a great success.
All of the students listened to my presentation hard and enjoyed it. Also, I could teach them about Japan's unique culture. For example, elementary school students clean their class room by themselves in Japan to grow their cooperativeness. They were surprised by that, but they might be able to understand its importance.
And guess what—the students all wrote thank you letters for me. That was very sweet!
By the way, there were things that surprised me, too. American students are more active than Japanese students. They gave me a lot of questions after the presentation. That was interesting for me, because I could teach Japanese culture more and more by their questions.
And guess what—the students all wrote thank you letters for me. That was very sweet! To sum up, I got a very good experience through this presentation. I would like to do it again someday.
—Yuno (Japan), hosted by the Honea family (AR)
