Australian City Produces a Book
for Students in Sister City
".....Craig and Kate have lunch together. They buy their
lunch from the school canteen. Kate buys a salad roll and a fruit
juice and Craig buys a sausage roll, a milk drink and an apple.
The mothers of the school children help make and sell the food
in the canteen...." |
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Bathurst
students Craig and Kate present a copy
of the book featuring themselves to the
Superintendent of Education in Ohkuma, Mr Onoda. |
This is an excerpt from a book titled "Craig and Kate" which
was produced by the City of Bathurst for use by junior high school
students in its sister city of Ohkuma Town in Fukushima Prefecture,
Japan.
The book relates a day in the life of two Bathurst students, Kate
and Craig. It provides both a lesson in English and familiarises them
with life in Australia. Every student at Ohkuma Junior High School
received a copy of the book for use in English classes in which an
Assistant English Teacher, seconded for one year from Bathurst, participated.
Ohkuma students enjoyed learning about differences - and more often
than not, similarities - in the daily life of their Australian peers.
Differences included the existence of a canteen in Bathurst schools
contrasting with the school meal service in Ohkuma, and the participation
of Bathurst students in private sports clubs after school versus the
importance of school club activities in Japan. Common interests included
music and television. The book was made more relevant to the students
of Ohkuma with the visit of Kate and Craig to their town in 1997.
Promulgated in March 1991, the Bathurst - Ohkuma sister city relationship
brings about forty Ohkuma students to Bathurst each year, where they
are homehosted. In November 1997, a group of 24, led by Bathurst's
Mayor Ian Macintosh, visited Ohkuma to renew old friendships. This
year, a beautiful small Japanese-style garden was established in Bathurst
with the joint designs, development and funding efforts of the municipalities.
Within just a few years, the people of Bathurst and Ohkuma have established
strong ties of friendship and cooperative exchange.
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FACT
FILE
Ohkuma Town, Fukushima
Prefecture
Population: 10,664
Ohkuma Town Government
634 Aza-Ohno, Oaza-Shimono-Ue
Ohkuma-machi, Fukushima-ken
979-1308
Tel. (0240)-32-2111
Fax. (0240)-32-5194 |
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