Teacher Training Program: Expo

More updates on the Japanese language program that I got to do with 32 teachers from ten other countries (here are part one, two and three if you need them). One of the hands-on learning experiences we had to do was present an Expo. We were allowed to choose whatever topic we liked and then work with a group to come up with some kind of presentation. 

There were people performing dances, or telling others about fashion and sharing local cuisine. Just like a regular world Expo, the focus was sharing things that were unique to your country. Some of the groups focused on one country - like the group of Indonesian teachers who all performed an Indonesian folk tale for us. Other groups were made up of people from a variety of countries - like one of the dance performance groups with a representative each from Myanmar, Cuba, Morocco and Algeria. 

Dance group from Indonesia

I really didn't mind what I did, since Australia is such a melting pot of culture anyway, so I ended up joining in with two other teachers who wanted to talk about the oceans around their countries. Celine from the Philippines and Cynthia from Indonesia and I had a great time working together. 

Umi-Gumi; the Ocean Group

All of our team work and then the presentation were done in Japanese. We had three sessions leading up to the Expo day as well as a full day of preparation before the event. It was pretty big and a lot of work. If you opted to perform on the stage (like the dance groups, or the drama groups) you had to prepare a short information speech to give as well. For the people who made posters, we also had to organise a speech explaining things, but didn't have to give it on stage. We just presented on the floor to whoever came to view our exhibit. The plus side was not being on the stage, the down side was that we had to do it three times over. 

By the third time, we were quite confidently giving our speeches and sharing the information, so that was great. Achievement unlocked I guess? So thankful when that was over though! Our poster was pretty awesome. Celine had a big vision for it to be 3D (possibly inspired by her love of BTS and their song 3D), and we had a lot of fun putting it together. I suggested the origami animals and promptly made quite a few to give it that extra something. They came in handy when I was describing the oceans of Australia and warning people to be careful of all the dangerous animals that could kill you. Visual aid is always good right?

It was so cool on the day to see everyone dressed up, and many people in their country's traditional clothing. It does make me a little sad that Australia doesn't have something, but I also love how multicultural Australia is so I don't mind that much. 

After my group presented their poster in the morning session, we all watched the stage performances for the middle and afternoon session. There were a number of extra roles to help run the day, tech people and MCs to keep everyone on time and things moving. I had to MC the afternoon session, but thankfully that was only two performances and the final remarks. Still don't love having to talk with polite language since I'm so bad at it. 

Ai-san and Carlos-san checking the tech was all going to work. 

And here we are celebrating the fact that it's all over and we made it through, thanks to Aiman-san with his excellent selfie taking skills.