—ae a eer Se

dents bid farewell to Cana

fA Japanese visitors have time of their
lives during short Castlegar stay
NEWS STAFF

Twenty-two Japanese students said say-
onara to Castlegar today. ; -
And Monday they threw a going away bas!
they'll remember forever.

i ish i da.
Ni tudents learning English in Cana
bs But Frostian said the kids also came for

other reasons.

i i i dous-
“Their English has improved tremen:
ly but that’s not what they will remember

most,” she said.

isn’t the
“They learned that the language isn't tt
end-all It’s the experiences they had while

“I don’t believe

anything like that
before,” said tour
co-ordinator Don-
na Freeman of the
three-hour

“Tm sure none ae iahin
f them had ever played bocci, jum
sremnmetiess had a wild waterfight and then

been thrown in a hot tub fully clothed in one
night before. Z
on was an experience they'll never forget.

The students, aged 18 to 21 years old, came
to Castlegar as part of the Selkirk-Aoyama
Exchange — a program which sees Japanese

farewell fiesta. weaned Bowe od

ty ed done ‘They learned that the language isn’t the
end-all. It’s the experiences they had

while learning the language.’
— Co-ordinator Donna Freeman

learning the lan-
guage.

“They came
for the experi-
ence of a lifetime
and they got it.”

And Freeman
said that a cut-
loose party was

just what the teacher ordered to close their

three-week tour.

“You couldn't tell that these were the same
kids that got off the plane three weeks ago,

she said.

“They've definitely been Canadianized. The
party vl a fitting end to their tour, and the
tour was a raging success.

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@ Wednesday, August 12, 1992

AroundTOWN

y

Our person
for

Our People
Glen Freeman
365-7266

WHAT'S IN

_A. NAME?

The Vital
Statistics branch
of the provincial
government has
released its
annual list of
most popular

names. If you
were n
Michael or

Jessica in 1991
you are in good
company, they
were the most
popular infant
names in B.C.
Other popular
boys names
included
Matthew,Christo-
pher, Ryan,
Jordan, Kyle,
Joshua, Andrew,
James and
Brandon, while
Sarah, Ashley,
Samantha,
Amanda,
Stephanie,
Jennifer, Nicole,
Megan and
Brittany rounded
off the girls top
10. The name
Glen was a
glaring omission
from the list.

LAZY?

OurPEOPLE

Local ladies experience Japan

Rae Carter and

Janet Kalesnikoff

This summer we were lucky enough to
visit Japan on exchange for three weeks.

Sixty-six students from throughout B.C.
participated in this UTREK organized
exchange.

We arrived in Japan on the evening of
the 15th. After spending one night at the
Washington Hotel in Tokyo we met our host
families and began our two-week homestay.

We gained a valuable insight into
Japanese culture in these weeks. We
experienced first-hand Japanese daily life
and culture.

Our host families could not have been
nicer to us — we were treated royally.

Janet stayed in Yokohama — a sub-
prefecture of Tokyo. The city was huge and
the constant bustle of people was
unavoidable.

Rae stayed in the beautiful city of Fuji.
Her houses location was at the base of Mt.
Fuji, which provided a spectacular view.

We both saw and did many interesting
things. The most outstanding aspect of our
travels would have to be visits to the
beautiful temples and shrines.

The workmanship in the temples and
shrines was incredible — flawless detail
and design.

Although the temples were the most
outstanding aspect of Japan, the thing that
we will never forget has to be the high
density of people..

Janet Kalesnikoff (right) and her homestay sister

Megumi enjoy one of Japans many shrines.

No matter what time of day or night
these people were always on the move.
We couldn’t go against the masses
there — we were carried along by each
passing crowd.

When we came home it was
wonderful to stretch over arms out and
walk around without being pushed
along.

One week of our visit was spent at a
camp in Hakulva — near the Japanese
Alps. Our definition of camping is
different than Japans. We stayed in
lodges that were fully furnished, with
phones, electrical power and toilets.

The camp was great. We met many
new friends — both Japanese and
Canadian. These friendships will last a
lifetime.

At camp we did many neat things
including trekking in the Japanese
Alps and traditional Japanese crafts.

The Alps were beautiful. We rode a
gondola and two chairlifts up before we
began the hike.

The nature hike was quite different from
a nature hike in Canada — people crowded
along the path.

The main view was of more people.

Space was very limited in Japan so
everybody wanted to get away to nature
and as a result met everyone else there.

Unfortunately, an end came to our dream
exchange in Japan and before we knew it
we were back home in our regular
lifestyles.

One thing we both learned is that the
Japanese people are very similar to us.

Rae Carter tried on a traditional ukata as part
of her cultural exchange.

We like to the same music, fashion and
food. Language is the main difference, but
was quickly overcome by smiles and
dictionaries. We learned you don’t need
language to communicate.

We all strive for and want the same
things out of life. Our similarities outweigh
our differences by far.

Although we seem far apart we are
actually very close.

Media ‘mogul
Conrad Black is
quoted in The
Vancouver Sun
as saying
journalists are “a
very degenerate
group, ignorant,
lazy,
opinionated, with
a terrible
incidence of
alcohol and drug
abuse.” That
seems a little
unfair to me. The
journalists | know
are anything but
lazy.

Designing woman awarded

Glen Freeman
NEWS REPORTER

For some people, having a professional
design company completely refinish their
bedroom is a dream.

But for 18-year-old Ryanna Westhoff of
Castlegar, it’s a dream come true.

“Sapphire Interiors will be re- doing my
carpet, the wallpaper, the bedding, the

windows and I'll be getting a lampshade,” ©

the recent Stanley Humphries Secondary
School graduate said.

“I think it’s awesome.”

Westhoff first heard of the Sapphire
Interiors contest while she was taking a
family management class in decorating, a
love she has had for some time.

“Our teacher told us about it and I just
did it,” she said.

“We had to create our dream bedroom,
either a model scale or drafting.

“I chose to make a model of my dream
bedroom because it shows the dimensions
and the furniture — just what it would
actually look like.”

So Westhoff built her dream bedroom to
scale, an effort which took about 20 hours
of her time.

But the effort paid off in a big way.

“When I first heard (about f
the contest) I thought ‘Oh,
whatever’ and I didn’t think I
could win,” she said.

“But when I found out I won I
was pretty excited. It’s pretty
cool.”

And it will cost a cool $500 to
redecorate her room.

“It'll cost at least that,” said
Sapphire employee Shelagh
Ash.

“But she earned it. Her model
was picked because (we were)
impressed with her design and
the way it was put together.

“It was quite professional.”

But Westhoff, who has been
accepted to the University of
Calgary and will be shooting for
a degree in physical education
says she has one regret.

“It’s really too bad they didn’t
have this contest earlier
because now I’m leaving
Castlegar,” she said.

“Oh well, I guess it doesn’t

matter. My little sisters will §Ryanna Westhoff holds the project with which she won a
complete bedroom makeover.

like it anyway.”

dream room

4

News photo by Glen Freeman