Our Quesnel Shiraoi Twinning exchange student, Satsuki Yoshii, arrived in the later part of August for 10 months and is attending Correlieu Secondary.
Satsuki is staying with Harpal and Sukhi Aulakh and their three children, Khya, Daneeta, and Navin, who have graciously offered to have her live with them, join in their activities and meet their family and friends.
The Aulakh family had a welcome party in August to introduce Satsuki to family and friends. Satsuki is off to a great start immersed in the Canadian culture. She has already been to Barkerville and had a wonderful time. She seems to be understanding conversations between family members even though they are speaking quickly.
She has started school and is enjoying each day. She told me she’s already made some new friends and looks forward to meeting more. She hopes many students from Quesnel will want to come to Shiraoi with a delegation to study Japanese and learn more about her culture. She already knows a student who wants to go take another trip to Shiraoi.
Satsuki came to our Shiraoi twining meeting on Sept. 7. During our meeting she stood up and greeted our members and told us how she appreciates the opportunity to be here in Quesnel.
She also mentioned she would be our bridge of communication with Shiraoi Town, our City of Quesnel and our Quesnel Shiraoi Twinning Society (QSTS) if there is anything we would like to know or ask and she will pass the information along.
At the meeting Satsuki had a large box in front of her. She told us she wants to teach us a Japanese game named “Karuta”. The game consists of wooden cards with calligraphy on each card representing a musical tone. It’s a type of memory game; however, not the typical memory game we know. This game is played in competitions and is a musical game. One person hums a tone, the others need to pick out that specific tone from the cards in front of them and turn the card over. Satsuki is very good at this game, as she has an ear for music.
She learned this game when she was in elementary school from ”Mac” – Mr. Ogura – who taught this game to the students. Mr. Ogura gave this game to Satsuki to bring to Quesnel to show anyone who would like to learn. Satsuki is looking forward to teaching this game to others; she told me it’s a type of sport in Japan.
Satsuki told me since she was four years old she remembers the Sturts, a local family. Her father and Kevin Sturt are friends, and from the beginning Kevin and Andrea were her inspiration for learning English and travelling to Canada and ultimately Quesnel. She came last year for a short visit and stayed with the Sturt family and was able to meet some Shiraoi members.
With a big smile and lots of enthusiasm she told me about her interests. She wants to take guitar lessons during her second semester at school. She also likes swimming and looks forward to going to the Rec Center, as well as learning more about Canadian nature.
Satsuki shared a video on her phone with us of a performance she gave at Kura Center before she left Shiraoi.
Satsuki writes her own music, sings and has her own videos on youtube. If you would like to see her concert, visit: https://youtu.be/0HZmgXR6cJw.
She would also like to give a musical performance here in Quesnel.
Satsuki feels that the twinning between Quesnel and Shiraoi is going to fade without efforts on both sides. She said that she doesn’t want to seem negative, but she has noticed the lack of interest and communication.
The Twinning Society has the opportunity to send high school students to study in Shiraoi, Japan in the next two years for a semester or school year. For more information contact, Andrea Sturt at 250-992-9337.
The Shiraoi House is open for rentals throughout the year. Call 250-992-6532, leave a message and someone will get back to you.
–Contributed by Diane Graham