DIARY ACCOUNT OF THE WHOLE EXCHANGE…………………………..

Friday

Airport and Welcome Party

Angela and I went to Heathrow airport. The Japanese arrived at 4.35pm. We waited in the arrival area for an hour. We were a bit nervous and not sure about whom we were going to meet. Angela and I wondered what would they look like and who would be coming. We greeted them and welcomed them to England. We tried to be friendly and made sure they were all okay. We explained whom we were, where we were going to from Heathrow to their hostel and gave them all underground tube tickets. Angela led them to the underground tube and I remained behind to make sure they didn't get lost. I chatted and teased them. They smiled and laughed a lot.

When the train arrived, I held the slide door and helped Japanese lifted their HUGE pieces of luggage on to the train. With about 22 huge pieces of luggage, there was just enough space in the train. I tried to secure the luggage but only just barely! We looked after, chatted, teased and laughed with them in the tube and tried to keep them entertained. Lots of photographs were taken of Angela and me and the whole group of Japanese. Luckily for us, we only had to catch one train and went all the way to the hostel without any changes. It would have been more difficult with lots of people and luggage if we needed to change! When we arrived Russell Square, I held the doors open to make sure everyone got off with their luggage. I think I caused a bit of a delay because they were a bit slow to unload! We went through the ticket barriers and checked that everyone got through okay. Masumi lost her ticket. However Angela had a spare ticket left and gave it to her. Angela went in
front and led the group to the hostel. It was about 5 minutes' walk away. I remained at the back to make sure no one got lost.

We finally arrived at the hostel. We introduced Ruth, Tyron and Ahmed to the Japanese. Angela and I delegated the responsibility to Ruth and Ahmed to sort the rooms out because we were so tired! We told them about supper and what time to meet us and where. We also gave them a formal welcome to England and a brief workshop to refresh their mood. We then told them about the programme. I gave them all an ID card in case they get lost on an outing. The identity cards had the contact number for the BDA and the hostel. I told them to ask the policeman etc in times of urgency. At the end, we gave them each a T-shirt from our youth exchange. They were pleased to have our T-shirts. After the briefing, we started our welcome party.

Lots of young deaf people turned up and welcomed them to England. I had not expected lots of people to come and meet the Japanese. I was really surprised. They all talked constantly and took lots of photographs. A Channel 4 deaf programme came to film the Japanese Youth Exchange. The director, Ramon Woolfe, interviewed a few people, as well as Angela and me about the exchange.

At about 10.30pm I went home because I was going to have a long day next day. I heard the party continued until 2am!

We found our communication with the Japanese to be easy. I thought the idea of Channel 4 deaf programme filming our exchange was a very good idea because it is a very good way to publicise the exchange and encourage other young deaf people to be involved in future exchanges. For her first time, Ruth tried to use International Sign Language. She made every effort to sign her name. She was very shy when she did it, but she was very determined and sat with the Japanese. She found it quite hard to communicate with the Japanese at first. Ahmed has not lost his touch with ISL because he has already had some experience in communicating with foreign deaf people.

Saturday

London and Planet Hollywood

The Japanese woke up at about 8am for breakfast. Angela and I didn't want them to be so tired because they were on a plane for 12 hours and then a busy evening ahead. We knew they would be so tired but managed to stay up a little longer than they expected to! They refreshed themselves and got ready for a long day in London. Our plan for London was sightseeing and walking around.

Angela and I was tried to avoid underground tubes and planned to walk from place to place. We were to visit Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Place, Guard's House, Downing Street and Big Ben. There were other places to see on our route to see more of London, lifestyle and buildings. Angela and I thought it would be best if we went as a whole group because I don't know London that well. Angela suggested she went as a leader. I agreed and I remained at the back. I was a bit nervous because I didn't know if I would explain correct information about London. One other thing, Channel 4 team filmed us for most of the route.

So, at 10am, we gave them each a packed lunch, which was provided by the hostel. We started walking to Goodge Street from Russell Square. It was the first time for the Japanese to actually see London! I explained about the buildings such as churches and many old buildings. They told me they thought London have very big roads! There were many old buildings too. In Tokyo, many buildings are so new and bright! When in Charing Cross station, I warned them about beggars who could be rough. A few of them noticed them and passed them with respect. When we arrived Trafalgar Square, the film crew was there already and started to film us. When Yuki asked me a question about who was Nelson, she did it in front of a cameraman! They filmed me while I explained them about Nelson in ISL. I was a bit nervous because I wasn't sure if I gave correct information
about him!! I explained her about Nelson's ship war against France and Spain. I checked with Angela and she told me I was right about it. Phew! Yuki asked me about the buildings, which surrounded the square. I pointed to the National Gallery etc. The Japanese took pictures and fed millions of pigeons!

We walked to Buckingham Place, stopping at the Guard's House. We took the Japanese to see the Queen's traditional soldiers on the horses. Six soldiers and 6 horses, they stayed for over 15 minutes and we waited for them to change guards and then marched to Buckingham Place. The Japanese stormed in and watched them in awe. It was a great experience for them. It was so exciting to see the real Queen's home! I told them about the flag, which if it is up and flying at the top, it means the Queen is at home. We then took them to St James' Park. I was so hungry and I bought a hot dog from a kiosk. Seconds later, the hot dog kiosk made big profits because the Japanese bought some more hot dogs after me! We then walked through the park. On the way they saw some squirrels
and were surprised because we were so close, almost one foot away from squirrel.

When we arrived at the Guard's House, we walked through the building and saw a few soldiers standing outside. Lots of tourist took photos of them and our Japanese too. We took them to Downing Street and explained that our Prime Minister lives there. The Japanese saw policemen for the first time and they were so friendly, letting them take a few pictures of them. Next, we walked to see Big Ben.

The weather turned really wet and strong winds started. We didn't stay there for a very long time. We told them it was time to go to Tower of London. There were two hours and a half for the Japanese to explore the Tower of London. We let the group go off on their own for a look round and to come back about 4.30pm. I was so tired and little ill. I had a bad headache for most of the day! I managed to get through it but it was not over yet! We went outside of Tower of London, the Japanese were so surprised to see London Bridge illuminated so bright, it looked so beautiful. We stayed a little while to let them take a few pictures of London Bridge. We then went back to the hostel to get ready for Planet Hollywood's.

When we got there. Angela told all the Japanese to not bring too many clothes because they will stay for only one night at a families' home. About 6.30pm we left hostel and went straight to Piccadilly Circus. We took the underground tube there. Angela and I were surprised to see so many people who turned up! We waited for nearly one hour for our tables to be ready for us. Channel 4's film crew filmed us this night too. When the tables were ready, we went upstairs and made sure each table had a mixture of Japanese and English people. There were about over 40 people in our group ordering food. We chatted for ages and ate a big burger and chips. At about 10.30pm, Yasuyuki, Masami and I left Planet Hollywood for Chelmsford to stay at my house for one night.

Sunday

Family home and workshop

Yasuyuki and Masami were very tired from the night before. They were so exhausted after a very long day in London. They went to my house with me in my car. They slept nearly all the way. I decided to let them sleep little more in the morning before I woke them up. At about 10.30am, I woke them up and served them a cup of tea and breakfast. I told them about my plan. My plan was take them to my local town centre - Chelmsford to walk around and tell them about Chelmsford's history. And then to go to Malden - which was a very old town with a small port and few ships. They thought it was a good plan. I encouraged my parents to talk to them. They managed okay with slow English. Yasuyuki and Masami are good at English and were able to communicate without difficulty. At 12 noon Yasuyuki and Masami were ready and went out to town with my dad and me.
My father explained them about Chelmsford and then took them to see a church but it was in repairs.

At Maldon, they were surprised to see the road so narrow through an old town. They took a few pictures of Maldon. We went to the seafront and showed them the old ships. We walked for a bit then turned back to Maldon. At this moment, I told them it was worth it to take a picture of Maldon with its port and few ships. It was a good scene of an English town for them to photograph.

Yasuyuki and Masami were looking forward to have the English tradition of a roast dinner. I explained them about British culture to have roast dinner every Sunday. My sister Alix and my brother-in-law Matt turned up at my house to join us for Sunday dinner. We started eating and chatted all the way.

I explained them what food is it etc.… which sauce goes with. My family asked them where they lived, about Japanese food. When they had a communication problem, I helped and explained them in ISL. My mum asked me to tell them about Japanese silly games. I found it quite hard to explain to them what we thought of their television programmes as being silly games. I wasn't sure if they understood me. I still have no idea!!

At about 5pm, I took them back to the hostel in my car with some of my other friends. We arrived there at about 6.45pm. I talked with Angela about the forthcoming workshop. Angela and I told the whole group about our plan to do the workshop at 7.30pm. Angela and I prepared the chairs and made some plans. Everyone arrived a little later as usually! We began the workshop. Angela asked them all if they enjoyed themselves in England. All of them really enjoyed themselves. Angela asked them to think of one thing they were surprised about England or London and to tell us about it. It was a nice idea to make them share their thoughts about England and London. They had to stand up and tell the group what they thought. It was really interesting to see what they thought. Not too many
negatives though! Angela and I thought it would be much better if they did an activity. We explained to them what we wanted. When we announced a statement, they had to think if they thought it positive or negative. They had to stand on positive or negative areas. Left side of the room was positive/yes, middle area was 50/50 and right side was negative/no. We asked them about 20 questions and they walked across to the area they felt appropriate. Angela wrote the all answers down. We will look those answers in the future to improve the start of our future exchanges. Lots of questions we wanted to ask received positive feedback. Few were 50/50. Few were negative. The workshop lasted about one and half-hours. Japanese were then free to do whatever they wanted to do. Angela and
I went home afterwards because we were so tired!

Not all of the Japanese went to families' home. Some went to student homes. Nearly all of them really enjoyed their stay. They told me they were so disappointed because their stay at English home was so short and quickly. They wanted to experience English families home more. They would like to settle down for 2 nights, not just less than one day. I had thought about it but Angela and I couldn't squeeze 2 nights in youth exchange programme. Many people had to go back to work on Monday. So in the future we will try to do 2 nights. We believe we learnt a valuable lesson from this workshop.

Monday

Bowling

(See Angela's quick account for more details of this day)

Ahmed brought the Japanese to Streatham for a game of 10 pin bowling. They arrived about 5.30pm for a take away before the game. I arrived half hour later. About 15 deaf people turned up from a Local deaf youth club called D-Zone.

We started playing bowling and I made sure each lane must have Japanese and English mixed. They all chatted and teased each other, which was good to see. Lots of laughs and smiles all the time. Japanese players were very good. Some of them beat me! Yasuyuki and Masami scored about over 130 points!

They all were a bit disappointed because they had only one game. They told me it would be better if they have two games. Time went so quick after one game. After bowling we took the Japanese back to Russell Square. The evening went really well and I think it could have been improved if we played two games.

Tuesday

(See Angela's quick account for more details of this day)

Wednesday

(see Angela's quick account for more details of this day)

Romford Deaf Club

Emma, Della and other members of Romford Deaf Club prepared food for Japanese. Angela and Tyron brought Japanese to the club at about 6.30pm. Members served food to Japanese. It was English food! Bangers'n'Mash! With baked beans! Japanese enjoyed eating this! The club then started to open for the public. Lots of deaf people turned up and I introduced older deaf people to the Japanese. But I felt Japanese saw the real deaf local community in Romford. They slowly mixed with other people.

Angela and I stood up on the platform and told the club about our exchange and how pleased we were to welcome the Japanese to Romford Deaf Club. Mariko made a speech and gave a gift to Emma to thank her for providing lovely food. She also thanked members for their welcome to the club. Emma made a speech for the club and gave gifts to Japanese to remember the night. We stayed there until 11pm. Angela and Ahmed took whole Japanese back to hostel.

Overall, I felt there was not enough young deaf people at the club. I was bit disappointed about that. But apart from that, it was really brilliant. It was good to see some of the Japanese talking to older deaf people about community and many things.

Thursday

A day trip to Wolverhampton

In the morning, everyone was ready but the coach had not arrived yet. Half an hour later, the coach arrived. The driver told me he was sorry and explained why he was late because it was slow traffic. We took everyone on the coach. We realised one person was missing. I asked Mariko where was he? Actually he was at the laundry! He caused a few minutes' delay! We finally left at about just after 9am. Mariko asked Angela why we were not going to Cambridge or Oxford University because they're famous than Wolverhampton. She told her we were bring them to a University where lots of deaf student goes to, not Oxford or Cambridge!

At 12.00pm we arrived Wolverhampton and meet Oliver Westbury, Colette Hogan, Matthew Fenlon, and James Martins. They were going to guide the group around the university, student union, library, CSU and deaf studies etc. I introduced Japanese about them and encouraged them to introduce themselves using International Sign Language. They started their tour. But it didn't go as planned as there was not enough time to cover the whole University because we arrived a bit late. Therefore they decided to split the group in half. Few times, Matthew explained what each floor in Library covered, most of them understood him but I had to stand next to Matthew to re-emphasise what he was saying.

At 12.30pm, Oliver and Colette split the group in half again. One group went to Colette's house (Student house) to see the real student's lifestyle! The other group went to Oliver's. Oliver and Colette prepared food for the Japanese and entertained them. They showed them what was in their house and explained how they cope with little money! Japanese were very interested and shocked to see how different they were to family homes. At 1.30pm, Oliver and Colette brought Japanese back to university for a 2 hour lecture.

Lecture

2.00pm:- Welcome to the University of Wolverhampton.

2.10pm:- University provisions for Deaf students.
Communication Support Unit.

2.30pm:- Deaf student's experiences in University lifestyle.
Colette, James and Deepy shared their experiences.

2.50pm:- English for Deaf Learners.

3.00pm:- Deaf Studies and BSL/English Interpreting course.

3.15pm:- British Deaf Community

3.30pm:- British Deaf Culture.

3.45pm:- Sign Language Planning.

4.00pm:- End of the teach-in seminar.

During the lecture, Angela and I checked if everyone were in the room. We noticed someone missing! We checked again then we realised there was one person missing. So Oliver went and looked for him. He was lucky because he found the Japanese very quickly and brought him back to the lecture. I asked him where have he been after the lecture. He told me he went to toilet without letting anyone know. So he came out of the toilet and everyone had disappeared! So he stayed in library, waiting for someone come for him. I wished I checked more properly before the lecture started.

In the room, nearly half of them fell asleep and chatted to someone else! I was surprised to see that. I realised myself because I did the same in Switzerland and Russia! I felt it could be too long or too hot or too tired after a long exhausting week. I asked a few of them, some thought it was very good lecture and some thought it was too long and too hot in the room. Some were just so tired. I couldn't blame them.

After the lecture we took them out to town and told them they have one hour's shopping in
Wolverhampton town centre and come back to Yates pub at 5pm.

At the 5pm we gave them money to buy dinner. We encouraged the Japanese to mix with English students. Most of them did. I was pleased to see everyone enjoying themselves. Seiji was ill, I believe he caught a cold and headache. I looked after him and made sure he was all right. We stayed there until 7pm then went to Scream pub. This pub is very popular, where every Thursday lots of deaf students turn up to meet other deaf people. Oliver brought them to this pub and encouraged them to mixed with other deaf people. They had a blasting time! Lots of them exchanged addresses and emails with English students and hope they will stay in contact.

At 10pm they were all so disappointed because we had to go back to London. On the coach everyone slept all the way to London.

I thought everything went really well as planned. Angela and I were pleased to see everyone enjoying themselves and really mixed with English students. I thought Oliver organised the day with his guides, great. At the start, they thought a big group was bit too difficult and decided to split it in half and it made it more efficient which was good. Lecturers explained almost everything about university, deaf culture etc. There was nothing too deep nor too much. Some of the group were really interested in it.

A lecturer asked Japanese about sign language features such as past, present and future. I saw lots of Japanese were involved to explain about JSL, which was really good. It was nice to see the Japanese mixing with the lecturers. Japanese really absorbed British deaf culture and many thing. They were surprised to see deaf society in England to be totally different than in Japan. They told me they learned so much. The trip to Wolverhampton University was definitely worth it. For future exchanges, I would go to Wolverhampton again.

Friday

(see Angela's quick account for more details of this day)

My own evaluation as a leader

When Angela and I went to Tokyo, Japan to see Mariko for 3 days, we agreed on issues and signed the reciprocal contract. Nearly 11 months later, it all happened and we tried hard to organise the programme within 2 and half months because Mariko confirmed the date at short notice. Angela and I were so exhausted trying to organise everything and planning the programme. We also worked hard at raising funds for the Japanese to come to England. They were so successful.

Actually, I felt I didn't put much input into the planning of the exchange. I am quite a laid-back person and like taking it easy. But when time got shorter and shorter so quickly, I realised the programme was not organised yet. I wished I could have done it before it happened. I learned a lot from Angela and Tyron. I could not have done it without Angela and Tyron. They did lots of work on it There was a lack of communication between Angela and me. There were few misunderstandings and this was frustrating. I feel it is because I rarely saw Angela face to face. Angela was in Sheffield doing her degree course and I was in Chelmsford doing my work. We used emails mostly to communicate.
I started to improve and got more involved with the exchange in time. I think I was not 100% committed to the exchange like Angela.

When Japanese group arrived England I got my act together and worked hard. I communicated well with the Japanese leaders. After they went back to Japan. Angela and I talked about our working relationship and how we saw it. I think she took more control of the exchange than I did. She was very determined to do it and achieved it herself. She did lots of work on it while doing her degree.

She had a lot of time off university to work on the exchange. I couldn't take a week off so soon having just started my new job because it will look bad. She told me she thought I had not enough experience about what a leader's purpose is. She had more responsibilities in controlling the money, programme and planning than I did. Mostly, she told me what to do, which I always did. I feel I never had control of the exchange. The only time I had full control was at Streatham Bowling Centre because Angela went to Heathrow to meet Mariko. I can see Angela's point that I have not experienced being the main leader yet. Now I am determined to be more active for the outgoing visit to Japan. I will make sure it happens. My relationship with Angela was really good because she and I understood each other. There were hardly any arguments between us. In so far, I am really pleased
that exchange went very well and was successful.

From now on, I will work with Angela harder than I have ever done in the last year. I want to be more of a leader and hopefully Angela will help me all the way - I will help her as well. I am positive it will be successful again. I am looking forward to going to Japan with Angela and 16 young deaf people in late November 2001.

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