Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2008)
4 March Student witnesses cultural differences in Japan u HlLLI ClAVARELLO____________ Staff Reporter Julian Rollinson spent the first half of this school year being the "weird American." The 5'11", blond, Dutch-born senior spent the semester studying in Japan where he was completely immersed in Japanese culture during his stay. The Japan-US Mutual Understanding Program, JUMP, was his program of choice. "I stayed with a host family in Miyagi prefecture in the city of Sendai. It's about two hours east of Tokyo via the train. I went to 'North East Life Style and Cultural School of Higher Education/ and all of my courses were taught in Japanese. I was basically living, breathing, thinking and feeling Japanese," Rollinson said. Rollinson became a Japanese enthusiast after starting his study of the language freshman year. During his sophomore year, he hosted an exchange student from Kyoto, and the following summer he went to Japan for the first time. "I'm not 130 percent sure why I picked Japanese, but I'm glad that I did because of the enormous opportunities and experiences it's opened up for me," Rollinson said. As well as being occupied by the Japanese language, Rollinson was also occupied by art during his stay. He was enrolled in his school's art program, and took classes ranging from pottery, to art sketch, to art studies. "The style professors used to teach was really insane. It was basically an hour of them lecturing; there weren't any group activities or involvement with the class. It also wasn't as intensive as the classes here at West Linn, because over there students received almost no homework at all. But I really enjoyed it because of all the art classes I was able to participate in," Rollinson said. Rollinson also saw a huge cultural difference while in Japan. "People are really not open at all; when they communicate things, it's being respectful," Rollinson said. But even with the cultural difference, Rollinson was able to break down personal boundaries. Daiichi Kurosawa, and Julian Rollinson, senior, visit Okinawa Beach, Japan. Besides attending school in Japan for a semester, Rollinson visited Tokyo Disneyland, Kokusai Doori and Roppongi Hills. Photo submitted by Julian Rollinson always through a really roundabout manner. But also, respect is kind of a really big deal. There are four different forms of Japanese, three of them "I became able to adapt to new situations and environments quickly— adjusting to a completely different culture than that of America. Because of Bailey chosen to be new p rin c ip a l* urn Principal named________ m job opening, as he had continued from page 1 Unplanned Pregnancy? You Deserve to you really pregna you explored all your questions ..Are ...Hare ....-In? Hum ComA&m% Uferasound to PKC Tests frtpancy » V^b#.. All Servie«« Free Convenient t lour« TIGARD No AftpNHntfmttfi! I l SOT SW P&afK Wwy * 0 Tf*ard 97224 N«e«**»ry 9 ? 1.2 3 0 .0 4 1 S rt*n ty Uremie*n * € # ftt# r * * *^**v<? * ........................................................................................................................*•-............................................... - ......— m r w w .p r t o f p o r t f a n d .« o m f ................ * V ***** ....................... ......- ................................ ............................................................................ this, I made a lot of friends in Japan that I will never forget, and I had a lot of good times," Rollinson said. Rollinson was also able to partake in the tourist aspects of Japan, visiting places like the Kokusai Doori (International Road) Okinawa, Roppongi Hills, and Tokyo Disneyland. He also enjoyed the food. "I loved the food. It was ridiculously delicious. My host mom was sort of lazy about cooking so when she did decide to make food for the family, it was always a super exciting experience," Rollinson said. Rollinson hopes to attend Asia Pacific University, an international university in Oita prefecture Beppu City, Japan, after high school. "Right now I plan to major in Japanese but I also want to just live my life and do whatever. Maybe make a Pancake Robot to help me engineer some Robotic Pancakes," Rollinson said. According to Bailey, he feels at home already. "My first experiences at WLHS have been very positive. There is a warm feeling here, a sense of openness, all the good makings for a positive educational atmosphere," Bailey said. "The students are happy, there is a professional relationship between staff and students. It’s everything you would want to find in a high school. It's a school known for strong academics, motivated students with high expectations for themselves as well as a tight knit community with involved parents," he said. Bailey officially begins on July 1. However, students are likely to see him around the school the remainder of the school year, as he stresses the importance .of being interactive among students. "You guys have so much going on around here so it shouldn't be difficult to get my face out there, especially for the current freshman, sophomores and juniors. I want the students to get to know who I am," Bailey said. Bailey did not have to think twice when he first heard about the already heard of West Linn's prestige and strong reputation. "Well, it's West Linn High School," Lou Bailey said, "What else needs to be said? It’s one of Lou Bailey those schools that is just exceptional in every way possible. It is the premier job for a principal." Students, staff and parents took part in interviews with Bailey to learn about him and to provide feedback to Woehl. The group included several leadership students as well as Julie Kahle, Secretary to the Principal, Jamie Welle, Student Services Secretary, Michelle Olson, counselor, Ron Chappell, PE teacher, and Barbara Fontana, Choir teacher. Samantha Dewart, senior, and Morgan Joscelyn, sophomore, joined West, Woehl and several other administrators in the scouting trip to Canby. According to Bailey, he is looking forward to learning about the school and its students, and developing relationships and trust from the start. "I want to be a principal who they [the students] will know, because establishing relationships is very important to me. I'm very excited, very honored and very flattered to come to WLHS," he said. A re y o u tired of hearing y ou r parents gripe about the cost of y ou r car insurance? Jost. 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