On March 26, we held an international understanding session for elementary school students titled “Let’s Experience the Philippines!”
During the first 45 minutes, Rei, a Japanese language learner from the Philippines, spoke about what school life is like for elementary school students there, sharing personal stories from her own childhood.
She talked about how each class had a large number of students—around 40 to 50 per class—how students would buy and eat snacks at the school cafeteria during “merienda” (snack break), and how classes were divided based on academic performance. She also shared that she became interested in Harry Potter after watching it during movie time at school. In addition, she described how students cleaned their classrooms together using a broom called a “tambo,” and then polished the floors using coconut husks (called “bunot”).
In the second 45 minutes, all participants tried bamboo dancing (Tinikling). First, they practiced the basic hop-step to a three-beat rhythm (in-in-out) without moving the bamboo poles. Once they got used to the steps, they added the movement of the poles and music, and then challenged themselves with cross steps and half turns. Some families even participated together, with parents joining their children in the dance, and everyone seemed to enjoy stepping to the rhythm.
According to the post-event survey, many participants commented that they had fun experiencing bamboo dancing. Others said they found the differences between elementary schools in the Philippines and Japan very interesting. We hope this experience will inspire children to take an interest in various countries around the world.
