Australia-Japan festival bridges cultural gap<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
How do Japanese people serve tea to their guests? How do
\nAustralians and New Zealanders serve tea?<\/p>\n
Indonesian Melissa Maria, a sixth semester student of the
\nJapanese language department at LIA college for foreign
\nlanguages, showed her audience how to perform Cha No Yu, the
\nclassic Japanese way to serve special green tea.<\/p>\n
"First you have to hold your body steady while you sit with
\nyour knees bent and folded back," she claimed.<\/p>\n
Ten minutes earlier, it was New Zealander Shane Boyd who
\npresented a different kind of tea ceremony called "Billy Tea",
\nwhich is done in Australia as well as his country.<\/p>\n
The tea-serving exhibition was very lively, as it involved
\nswinging the tea pot several times. Different from the Japanese
\ntradition, generally tea is served with milk in Australia and New
\nZealand, he said.<\/p>\n
The Australian and Japanese tea ceremonies are among the
\nhundreds of cultural performances, scheduled to be presented from
\nWednesday to Saturday at the school in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The Aussie-Japan Festival also include a bilingual Romeo and
\nJuliet play. During the Shakespearean tragedy, Romeo delivers his
\ndialog in Japanese, while Juliet speaks in English.<\/p>\n
"We aim to show that Indonesia, as a country located between
\nJapan and Australia, can bridge the differences that both
\ncountries have," the festival's project officer, Caesar Rizqie,
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
According to the college's director, Sudibyo Siyam, the
\nfestival was meant to expose the culture of the two countries
\nthat have the closest relations with Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"We want to show the students the culture of these countries
\nfor the sake of a cross-cultural understanding that we want to
\ndevelop among our students," he said.<\/p>\n
In order to motivate the students to attentively observe each
\nperformance, the college's administration had decided to give
\ntheir students four days off for the event.<\/p>\n
"But they still have to come to the school and write a paper
\nabout the performances," said Sri Suryanti Sugeng, the college's
\ndeputy director for student affairs.<\/p>\n
Representatives of the Australian and Japanese embassies, who
\nattended the opening ceremony on Wednesday, praised the college's
\nefforts at bridging the gap between their country's culture with
\nthe Indonesian culture.<\/p>\n
"We really appreciate this kind of festival because it could
\ncreate a peaceful environment among countries and could nurture
\nthe relations between people in Australia, Japan, and, of course,
\nIndonesia," said Katsunishi Noriyuki, a representative of the
\nJapanese Embassy.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Beverly Mercer, a cultural counselor for the
\nAustralian embassy, said that this kind of festival could
\nminimize misunderstanding, which often occurs between Indonesians
\nand Australians and sometimes affects the countries'
\nrelationship.<\/p>\n
"It's good to see that the students here are learning both,
\nthe Australian and Japanese cultures...And hopefully this will
\nlead to a greater understanding between the people of those
\ncountries," she said. (006)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/australia-japan-festival-bridges-cultural-gap-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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