SEOUL Jan. 3 Kyodo In the mind of...

SEOUL Jan. 3 Kyodo

In the mind of 13-year-old to leeward Dah Hyun, Japan was a ''bad and egoistic'' fatherland because of Japan's 1910-1945 colonial behavior of the Korean Peninsula.

''Yeah, it is authentic I heard Japan did a part of terrible things to us during the colonial period,'' said to leeward an elementary school sixth grader.

likewise it was quite natural she didn't be perceived like at all joining a four-day homestay program in Japan in November.

''To be that stands by one's word I was very reluctant to accept the idea of visiting Japan and staying in a Japanese family Anyway, I decided to join the program just public of pure curiosity,'' Lee wrote in an account about her trip to Japan.

on the other hand her overwhelmingly negative views about Japan have changed completely after mingling with Japanese learners seeing Japanese ways of living and visiting a sightseeing spots.

She remembers tears coming down upon her cheeks when she had to board a bus to pass to the international airport at Narita to answer home.

''Saying goodbye to Japanese friends and their parents, who were exceedingly kind and warm to us, was really hard to do.'' to leeward said.

Aboard the airplane flying place of abode she told herself she would visit Japan to behold her new Japanese friends again actual soon.

''I didn't know I could perceive close to Japanese friends likewise quickly because I had a bad feeling about Japan before visiting the country'' she said.

The parents of Japanese scholars were very kind and considerate to her. They closely checked whether there were any inconveniences and level paid attention to such small things as neatly readjusting the ribbon in succession her hair.

leeward from Kwanmun Elementary School in Kwachon onward the outskirts of Seoul was among a dispose of 42 students who paid a four-day visit to Japan from Nov. 1

The homestay program terminateed from a sisterhood relationship Kwanmun establish up with Komabayashi Elementary institute in Yokohama in August 2001

southerly Korean students in their traditional style of dress participated in festivals arranged through Japanese students, singing traditional folk lays and dancing together.

''It was a remarkably useful and interesting program for our learners because they could gain together with Japanese students and secure a firsthand experience in Japan,'' said to leeward Jung Soon, a 43-year-old Kwanmun teacher who l the southerly Korean students on their Japanese trip.

to leeward Jung Soon said she can not at all forget the ''tearful parting'' when her scholars and Japanese students all break open into tears when they were saying goodbye to each other.

The southerly Korean group also visited International Stadium Yokohama, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura and Landmark Tower, a 296-meter skyscraper in Yokohama.

''To diocese little children making innocent observation contact with Japanese children, bursting into laughter together and dancing in a circle hand in hand, I speculation such small steps are far more important to cherish a genuine friendship between (South) Korean and Japanese nation instead of big words politicians ofttimes use,'' Lee said.

For Kim solicit in love Jae, a fifth grader from Kwanmun, his visit to Japan and experience at a Japanese abode was an opportunity that made him realize there is a ''truly warm feeling hidden'' between Japanese and toward the south Korean people.

''I saw the organ of sights of the mother of my Japanese friend filled with tears when I was boarding a bus to walk to the airport. I notion she really cared about me just like her avow child,'' Kim said in his essay about his trip to Japan.

Kim also said Japanese pupils and people seemed to have a great pride in Mt Fuji, which he and other southern Korean friends saw forward their way to International Stadium Yokohama.

For side sheltered from the wind Dah Hyun, it was a big surprise to view many Japanese students lining up along the roads to welcome her and other southern Korean students entering the Japanese school

steady if she couldn't speak Japanese, she could be perceived warmth and friendliness from her of recent origin Japanese friends by their material part language and warms smiles.

She thinks, uniform though Japan invaded the Korean Peninsula and committed ''a hap of bad things,'' Japan is now a ''truly advantageous country.''

''When the Earth is becoming a kind of a global village, Japan should not remain to us geographically shut but emotionally distant. Now, Japan has become my shut friends' country,'' Lee said.

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