[Savviers]

272 students are here as part of Japan international youth exchange programme The ship is slated to leave for Colombo on Tuesday and return to Japan on March 5

For Bhagya Mary it was a sort of homecoming on Sunday when Fuji Maru, the 24th ship for world youth, called at Chennai port. One among 272 students who have reached Chennai as part of the international youth exchange programme operated by the Government of Japan, Ms Mary was overwhelmed by her experience in Japan.
Like her, students from other countries, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, New Zealand, Peru, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Venezuela and Japan, were impressed by living together and the joint activities on board.

A life skills education student at Rajiv Gandhi national institute of youth development, Kochi-based Ms Mary has been networking with foreign students from January 18. “Students from Peru and India stayed with Japanese families in Okinawa, while others were sent to different provinces in Japan,” she said.

While it was interesting and entertaining to visit new places and learn about varied cultures, Ms Mary was taken aback when she tried sushi, a famous Japanese dish. “Unlike what we find in India, the rice was very sticky and there was no curry to go with it. It was eaten with raw fish and vegetables,” she noted. However, she was surprised when her host at Okinawa made something similar to unniappam using vegetables.

“I am looking forward to learn as much as I can about other cultures,” said Ms Eveline Lefebvre, a communications student from Canada, who is aspiring to work in a television channel.

The students visited various institutions in Chennai including two women’s colleges, IIT-M, Banyan and Balavihar. The ship is slated to leave for Colombo on Tuesday and return to Japan on March 5.

-dc chn