Haru Otsuji
Futaba is our sister school and we barely know them, therefore, I was very excited when I heard that MSSC could go there and experience it ourselves. Even though we have the same school logo, founders, and location, it was very different from our school.
Saint Maur MSSC member in Futaba classroom
First of all, the school is operated by Japanese. That was a big difference. Even though many of the equations were familiar to me in math class, I could not recognize them—especially word problems since my Japanese is not as advanced as Futaba students. Furthermore, they used a chalkboard and not a whiteboard. It was interesting since I got to hear the screeching sound of chalk which I only heard online and there was also a machine that’s dedicated to cleaning the blackboard eraser! Futaba also had us change into our indoor shoes which I am not used to. I usually take off my shoes completely (when I go in my house) or put them on (when I go out of my house). That was an interesting experience.
Moreover, the learning style of Futaba was different from Saint Maur. They have no morning break and have 4 classes in A ROW! That was very surreal for me. I was not used to that. However, they had 10-minute breaks in between classes which was very nice since I got to change classrooms and go to the restroom without rushing, and the classrooms felt very far to me. Maybe it’s because I don’t know anything about Futaba’s building structure.
Saint Maur and Futaba students working together
Withal, the lessons at Futaba were hard (except for English). Teachers spoke as if they were rapping. I could only understand a fraction of what the teachers were saying. Also in music class, we learned how to play the recorder and sing. It was very new to me. Saint Maur stopped learning the recorder in elementary school, however, Futaba was still learning even when they were in middle school. I still remembered a little bit about how to play the recorder but, my skill was nowhere near my classmates. Singing was also very hard for me since every other student had a high voice but I was the only one who had a low voice. That was very awkward.
One of my highlights was when we got to go outside and play dodgeball. We played a game with Saint Maur V.S Futaba, and the Futaba students were very good at dodgeball. Their throw was strong and accurate! We found ourselves losing by a lot of points very quickly.
This day was very special. I got to meet new people and learn new cultures. I was amazed at how lives and cultures can be different in just walking distance. I thought that the school would look and feel similar to Saint Maur, however, I was very wrong. They had their separate pros and cons and I loved how I got to experience that.
Haru Otsuji