G3 Korean and Japanese Culture Assembly

On March 5, 2021, Kuei Shan’s grade three students learned about Korean and Japanese culture from parents in our school community who are Korean and Japanese. Having recently completed the “How We Express Ourselves” unit in which we inquired into the central idea, “Stories told and retold express a culture’s values and beliefs,” this special assembly helped students understand different cultures and values in a meaningful context.

Parents Mr. Scott Ho and Ms. Sarah Che helped the children understand the importance of the food and traditions around Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), a celebration of abundance and harvest. In addition to learning how to say “hello” and “thank you” in Korean, the students learned that bowing to greet elders is a custom almost every Korean child tries to follow, as it demonstrates respect in Korean culture.

Next, Ms. Michiko Sasaki shared a children’s story about Japanese New Year in Japanese. By carefully examining the pictures while following along the text, students made meaning of the narrative, even chiming along in Japanese with “どこ” (where) as it repeats in the story. Ms. Sasaki also introduced the decorations, food and games to celebrate the holiday.

Kuei Shan students eagerly participated in the presentation, asking questions such as “Who in the family prepares food during traditional holidays?“ and “What are traditional tales that everyone in Japan knows?“ while responding enthusiastically to the Q&A session. Afterwards, students wrote thank-you notes, which were presented to the parents by their children.

Having learned how to say thank you in both languages, “감사합니다” (pronounced “gamsahamnida”) and “ありがとうございました (pronounced “arigato gozaimashita”), students left the assembly being more caring and open-minded, as well as ready to embrace the cultural diversity within our learning community.

2021年3月5日，奎山三年級學生從韓國和日本家長的身上，進一步接觸到日韓文化。學生剛完成學習『如何表達自我』單元中裡的中心思想：“如何說故事與重述故事，都一種文化價值觀和信念的再現”，因此，特別集會幫助學生在有意義的背景下理解了不同的文化和價值觀。

家長Scott Ho先生和Sarah Che女士幫助學生了解 Chuseok （韓國感恩節）的食物和傳統，Chuseok是一項慶祝豐收的活動。另外，學生也學習用韓語怎麼說“您好”和“謝謝”，並了解到鞠躬問好是每個韓國孩子都遵循的習慣，因為在韓國文化中，這表達了對長者的尊重。

接下來，家長Michiko Sasaki女士用日語分享了一個有關日本新年的兒童故事。學生在跟隨文本同時也仔細瀏覽圖片，加深自己了解故事的程度，甚至到最後可以用日語“どこ”（在故事中重複出現）來說明故事的含義。 Sasaki女士也介紹了用來慶祝新年的裝飾品、食物和遊戲。

奎山學生們熱切地參加了演講，在問答時間問了諸如『家庭中，誰負責在傳統節日期間準備食物？』和『日本每個人都知道哪些傳統故事？』的問題。之後，學生們也寫了感謝信，由講者的孩子轉交送給父母。

在學會了用“감사합니다”（發音為“ gamsahamnida”）和“ありがとうございました”（發音為“ arigato gozaimashita”）表達感謝後，學生離開集會的同時，胸懷更加開闊也更懂得關愛之情，並已準備好擁抱學習環境中的文化多樣性。

Introduction to Korean food and culture 韓國文化與飲食介紹