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4-M1
Ishikawa |
4-M2
Suzuki |
1. The
Long Long Way to Torino
This July, we visited Torino, Italy to take part in The Global Environmental
Youth Convention (GEYC) 2002 and gave a presentation of our study on
the environment in the Sendai area. The topic of our presentation was
“ Air Pollution and Low Pollution Cars.”
We had been preparing for this convention since last year. At first,
we worked with some students in our grade and an EFL teacher. Then,
we were divided into groups according to our interests. We decided to
study air pollution and collected information about it from books and
the Internet. Finally, we were selected as the representatives of our
school.
In order to study air pollution further, we held discussions according
to the following procedures.
First, we visited Dr. Naganuma at the Sendai Science Museum to learn
about the effects of Nitrogen Oxides on the environment and the state
of air pollution in the Sendai area. We also visited a Miyagi TOYOTA
dealer to understand how hybrid cars work. TOYOTA sold the first hybrid
car in the world, ﾔPrius,’ on the open market. It operates on both
petrol and electricity.
Next, we distributed questionnaires to discover studentsﾕ awareness
of environmental problems. The questionnaires were also designed to
enhance their awareness.
Finally, we developed an experiment to examine the state of air pollution
caused by automobiles around us. We collected gas exhaust from our teachersﾕ
cars and determined the NOx concentration.
We completed the experiment just before our departure. Then we rehearsed
our presentation in English over and over until we felt comfortable.
It took almost four months to complete this whole procedure. We flew
to Torino, Italy with the project in our suitcases.
2. The
First Day in Torino
On June 29th, we went to Turin Polytechnic, the convention meeting site,
to register and participate in the welcome ceremony. When we arrived
there, we saw some other participants from all over the world! We thought
we could meet many people and make many new friends.
At first, we were excited and a little nervous. We had no idea what
to expect. But, as soon as we registered, a Chinese girl who took part
in GEYC the previous year talked to us. She was well-experienced and
made us feel relaxed. After that we talked to a lot of students from
Turkey, Hong Kong, Sweden, South Africa, India, and other countries
as well. We talked about our countries, cultures, presentations and
many more interesting things. Some Swedish girls were interested in
Japanese letters, so we wrote their names in Japanese on their name
badges.
The welcome ceremony started with a traditional Italian dance by
the local students. It was rhythmical and active. Then, the Italian
organizer, Dr. Luisa Viglietta, gave a welcome speech in English. It
was a little difficult for us to understand it all because of her Italian
accent. There were some jokes in it, that made us all laugh. It helped
us relax and feel interested with the convention. During the ceremony,
the chairman introduced the participants by calling the name of their
countries in alphabetical order. When they were called, they stood up
and waved their hands. We applauded every time. Then, it was our turn.
The chairman called, “Japan!” We were a little surprised, but we stood
up and smiled waving hands. The hall resounded with applause. We thought
they accepted us as their friends. It was a happy time for us.
After the ceremony, we all got on a bus to go sightseeing. There
are a lot of old buildings in Torino city. We saw solemn churches, sacred
art and reliefs. They were very beautiful. We could feel the long history
through these aged works of art. We also visited some natural parks.
They were wide and covered with a lot of green.
After the sightseeing, we drove for Pracatinat, which was where we
were going to stay. Pracatinat stands on a high mountain. It was cold
even though it was summer. But the air was so clean! We had a great
view from my room in Pracatinat. We liked it there right away. This
was the very place where we experienced the next five exciting days.
3.
The Day of Presentation
 On
the second day, we had parallel sessions. All the participants were
divided into 8 groups. We belonged to the group H, which we called “Happy
H”. In this group, there were students from Burundi, Ireland, Italy,
Finland, Uzbekistan and Japan. Each group gave their presentation in
turn.
When it came to our turn, we were nervous and our voices were shaking
a little. We tried our best. We wanted to present better than before.
When we showed them our materials, the audience paid close attention.
We could feel that everyone was interested in our presentation and this
gave us the courage to present with confidence. When we finished our
presentation, we were very happy to hear the loud applause!
One of the presentations that shocked us was that of Burundi. The
boy talked about the relationship between the environment and the wars
in Burundi. He said that when the war broke out, people thought only
about their safety and lives but not about the environment. The government
thought only about victory or defeat of the war and the people could
do nothing but try to survive. I was shocked to hear that. To be honest,
I had not thought that wars had such influence. I thought that we, especially
the people in developed countries, must confront present conditions
like this in the world.
After the presentations, each group made proposals of Youth Declaration.
They were to be put together and to be announced at the Earth Ceremony
on the fifth day of the Convention. It was also to be presented as the
voice of the youth at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg in South Africa
this summer.
Throughout this parallel session, we realized fully that Japan SHOULD
start aggressive environmental protection programs and enhance peopleﾕs
awareness of the environment at once.
4. Lectures
During the convention, we were given three lectures about environmental
issues. One of the lectures we were especially interested in was about
low pollution cars. The presenter showed us pictures of many kinds of
low pollution cars. Some Japanese cars were among them. Then he explained
to us how they work. He said, “Japanese cars have high-performance.
They are powerful and their use of gas is efficient.” After the lecture,
a boy from India talked to us. He said, “Japanese cars are famous for
their quality and performance, arenﾕt they?” Of course we said, “Yes!”
We were glad to know that Japanese cars were highly praised in the world.
5. Poster
Session
We also took part in the poster session. Many groups displayed not
only their studies but also their folk crafts. We displayed the panel
of our presentation, the pamphlets of Sendai and our school, and some
traditional Japanese toys.
Other countriesﾕ exhibitions were very interesting. For example,
one of the groups from South Africa studied the use of taxis. A group
from Greece displayed some small empty envelopes on a big piece of paper
on which a road was drawn. They asked for opinions about roads in the
future and people put their messages into the envelopes. It was wonderful
to look at them.
6. Japanese Culture to the World
Whenever we found the time, we went to the exhibition room. Some people
were interested in Japanese toys. We talked to them and taught them
how to play with the toys. We displayed origami, ohajiki, kami-fusen,
otedama and more.
In particular, Ohajiki was very popular among the participants! Ohajiki
is a game in which you use small round pieces of glass. One player flicks
a piece back and forth and makes the other piece pass through the pieces
which were flicked first. If you succeed, you get a point. First, we
asked a Finnish boy to play this traditional Japanese game with us.
As he showed an interest, we started to play with some of our other
friends as well. They were absorbed in it immediately, and so were we.
After a while, we noticed a crowd of people surrounding us! The people
playing Ohajiki increased every time a new game began. To our surprise,
some of the teachers and executive committee members were also interested
in it!
At last, we gave Ohajiki as a present to two friends who liked it
very much. After we returned to Japan, an e-mail sent by the Finnish
boy said that he felt the game was very interesting. We were very glad
to hear that. We donﾕt think we will ever forget playing Ohajiki with
people from all parts of the world.
7. Social
Evening
 The
evening of the third day was beyond description - it was “the social
evening.” It was wonderful. People wearing their countriesﾕ traditional
clothing introduced their folksongs and folk dances.
We wore Yukata and sang Akatombo and Kojo no Tsuki, which are Japanese
folk songs. A storm of applause - everyone was in highs spirit that
night - impressed us! Many beautiful and interesting dances and songs
were introduced one after another. We were fascinated as were the other
members! Light and bouncy steps to folk music, charming body movements,
entertaining performances which involved the audience... We will not
forget it. It was a great evening.
8. Earth
Ceremony in Fenestrelle Fort
The Earth Ceremony took place on the fifth day at a huge ancient fortress
called Fenestrelle Fort. Before we left our accommodation, we were divided
into two groups. One group, of about one hundred people, climbed up
the hill to the fortress and then walked down stairs along the fortress
wall for two kilometers, holding their national flags, until they reached
the square where the ceremony was going to take place. The other group,
another one hundred people, drove down the hill and then walked up to
the square, each bringing a box filled with a handful of earth from
their country so that both groups could meet together at the square.
We took different courses; I belonged to the first group and Moe
the other. Let me tell you what I experienced first.
ー I walked a different course from Moe. I walked a long distance
holding a big Japanese national flag. I had to walk a difficult way.
It was an ancient fortress. I made my way through the long and half
ruined steps. Some steps were steep, others were narrow. The wind was
strong. I was getting a little tired of walking.
Then an Irish student talked to me. She said that she hardly knew
anything about foreign national flags but she knew the Japanese flag.
“Your flag is so impressive. I like it,” she said. I was glad to hear
that. I also talked with students from Indonesia, Vietnam and China.
We were interested in each otherﾕs countries. We talked and talked.
I didnﾕt realize that I was speaking so smoothly. There wasnﾕt any fear
or shyness. Without noticing we reached the square. Our friends were
waiting for us. When we entered it, they gave us great applause! I walked
around the square and finally lined up beside the stage with the other
flag bearers. They were fluttering in the wind. I felt it was a time
when all of the students could widen their circle of friendship.
Now this is Moe's experience.
 ー
I decided to join the latter group, which seemed to be an easier walk.
Soon, I reached the square. Holding the box of earth, I was waiting
for the other group with the flags to arrive.
After a while, the flags of various colors up on the hill came into
sight! They got closer and closer and finally entered the square one
after another! I was so moved that I nearly wept. It made me realize
that people from all parts of the world were gathered here. In addition,
thanks to the social evening the night before, we were able to make
many friends such as students from Indonesia and Vietnam.
When we gathered at the square, we poured the earth from Japan on
the root of the commemorative tree. Then we said our message in Japanese.
It was like this: “We would like to take this opportunity to save our
beautiful earth in the 21st century.” The earth from all the countries
was mixed in the pot. The touch and color of each handful of earth was
different. I thought it was an appropriate symbol of our position as
students from all parts of the world hoping to achieve peace on the
earth.
Finally, the Youth Declaration was announced. It was the corpus of
all our suggestions. It was submitted to the Earth Summit in Johannesburg,
South Africa.
9.
The Last Day at theConvention
On the last day, we had our final session. Each one of us was called
to the stage and given diplomas. Then Dr. Luisa Viglietta announced
that next yearﾕs convention would take place in Kenya.
We were really proud with what we accomplished at this convention.
But, on the other hand, we were a little bit sad because it was the
last day that we could spend time with our friends. We decided to collect
messages from our friends to take back to Japan. We asked if we could
videotape their messages, and they replied positively. Their messages
varied. Some of them had known about Japan already, while others knew
very little. Most of them were friendly and said that they enjoyed spending
time with us. We were glad to hear that.
That night we took part in the folk dance party. Most participants
gathered in the hall and were taught the steps to the dance. It was
not so difficult so we could learn it quickly. The folk dance was enjoyable!
We asked our friends to join. We danced and danced until nearly midnight.
As we had to leave Torino early in the morning the next day, we gave
some presents to our friends and said good-bye. We were sad to leave
them, but we enjoyed the convention and their kindness. We thanked many
of them. We will never forget this wonderful time that we spent with
our great friends.
10. Be
Positive, Active and Confident
 Kahori
Suzuki
I learned a very important lesson during this convention. I should
be positive when I communicate with my friends. Sometimes Japanese people
tend to think that being positive is something to be ashamed of, but
I realized that this was a stereotype. When I communicated with my friends
actively, it was so joyful. They responded to me with their wonderful
friendship.
Moe Ishikawa
I learned two things from this convention.
The first is to be confident. As we proceeded with our study, I began
to notice that we should not be timid. At first, I had little confidence
about my opinions. I couldn't say what I wanted to say clearly, even
when I had to speak to our teachers. Now I understand that such an attitude
can make a bad impression. What is important is to be confident about
my own opinion and express it clearly. I practiced this. Then it seemed
that othersﾕ impression of me changed for the better and the work began
to go more smoothly.
The second is to be more active. Before going to Torino, I was anxious
about communicating with people from all over the world in English.
But I learned that we should talk to them without being afraid of failures
and mistakes in grammar. I tried saying what I thought even when I stammered.
Everyone listened to me carefully. Sometimes, when I couldﾕt find a
word, they gave me a hint willingly. Later, I began to talk to people
I hadnﾕt spoken with before. They were so friendly that I lost my fear.
This convention gave me an opportunity to consider environmental
problems and my awareness of them. In addition, communication with people
from all parts of the world has broadened my outlook on life. I am very
glad to have made many friends and be able to exchange e-mails with
some of them still now.
I don't want to take this experience in GEYC 2002 as just a wonderful
memory. From now on, I would like to take action with the small things
that I can do without forgetting the views concerning the earth's environment
that were formed at this convention.
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