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Goodwill Exchanges with Swiss and Canadian Visitors (February 15)
The Sugadaira Middle School in Sanada, Nagano Prefecture, welcomed 16 elementary and middle school students from Davos, Switzerland--a sister city of Sanada.The 16 students are visiting Nagano during the Olympic Games at the invitation of the Sanada town government. On February 14 they made a goodwill visit to Sugadaira Middle School, where they spent an afternoon with 18 students. The kids from Davos learned to make "origami" (folded paper) objects and played "sugoroku," a Japanese dice game.
The encounter with "origami" was eye-opening for many Davos students, who said it was great fun to be able to make different shapes from just a piece of colored paper. "I heard that Japanese kids were shy," one Swiss student commented. "But they turned out to be really friendly and a lot of fun to play with."
The students had lunch together and later sang and performed dances for each other. The group of students from Davos leaves Sanada on February 16 and will make a tour of Tokyo before returning home.
In another goodwill encounter, Canadian Ambassador to Japan Leonard J. Edwards paid a courtesy call on Karuizawa Mayor Kunio Matsuba to announce that 100 Canadian sugar maple trees will be presented to the township.
Karuizawa is the host of curling events at the Nagano Games, where the sport is part of the official Olympic program for the first time. Curling is one of Canada's national sports, while the maple is a national symbol of Canada.
"I'm delighted that Karuizawa was chosen to host the curling competition," the ambassador said. "And I hope that our maples will prove to an attractive memorial to Karuizawa's place in Olympic history."
Ambassador Edwards explained that curling is enjoyed by many farming families in Canada during the winter. Mayor Matsuba replied that he hoped Canadians would teach the Japanese more about this unique sport. (Shinano Mainichi Shimbun)