Former CedarBridge Academy student Jamari Douglas is living in Yanagawa, Japan.

He has just entered his fourth week of high school there and told he was absolutely loving it.

He said: ?School is great, the students and the teachers are so kind to me you?d think I had been here for years already.

?I am a part of the judo, kendo (a form of martial arts) and the jazz band clubs; it?s so great interacting with people and learning so many things about the Japanese culture just by talking with my peers.?

He said he is catching onto the language quite quickly, although in his regular classes he cannot understand a single word.

?And even when he (my teacher) speaks English, he seems to be speaking in Japanese,? said Jamari.

He said they wear slippers around the school and their day begins at about 7 a.m. and at the moment he begins at 8.30 a.m. until about 5 p.m.

?Japanese children are busier both in school and after during school clubs, than Bermudian children,? he said.

?They have less time to get into trouble, as they are in school six days a week and have a host of clubs and other activities to be involved in.

?I have made many new friends those in my class and those in the clubs that I have joined.

?The schools give students something to do after school instead of just milling around looking for something to do.?

After school clubs can be fun if you join the right one. In Bermuda, most schools offer after school activities and it should be the student?s responsibility to join which ever one they like.

But he said: ?The school should not be babysitters for students ? parental responsibility also plays a major role.?

Along with a rigourous schedule of 12-hour days, the students also take part in a daily after school clean up programme, which was a bit of a shock to Jamari.

The 19-year-old said: ?The students got up and start taking out cleaning supplies, I thought that they had detention, so I threw my bag over my shoulder and said Sayonara.

?But then my homeroom teacher told me that we have to clean up and then I could go.

?I asked him if he was serious, and I told him that in Bermuda we have cleaners and the only time I had ever cleaned up my school was on community service days and detentions.

?After cleaning up, you have your club activity until about 7 p.m.?

Jamari said having the daily chore of cleaning up or cleaning windows makes everyone take pride in the school and their surroundings.

?I get upset when people go and touch the glass, if I had cleaned the windows,? he said.

?It means more work for me and the same with anybody.

?If you just cleaned up your room would you want a bunch of people to come over and deliberately make a mess?

?I think not.?

He thought that if Bermudian children had to clean up after school they would think twice when dropping rubbish or spraying graffiti on the walls.

?There isn?t any graffiti on the school chairs or walls, students here really care and respect their school,? said Jamari.

He said his host parents own a beauty school in Yanagawa and one day it was pouring down with rain and the roof in the gymnasium was leaking. All the students ran out of their classrooms to clean up the water.

He said after mopping up, all the students returned back to class and stayed late because it took and hour to clean the gym.

Jamari said the new foods that he has discovered and enjoys are oodong, which is a soup with chicken and huge noodles, tempura, which is anything dipped in a batter and fried, and, cow tongue.

He said: ?I am used to the fact that everyday and with every meal I will be having white rice.

?I hated sushi when I came out here and I still hate sushi.

?I have tried things like wasahbe, which is tuna fish, sea bass, jellyfish etceteras, but it is really not my thing, and I also hate tofu.?

He said the foods he misses are Cini Minis cereal, ketchup chips, wine gums, Crow Lane Bakery?s cream puffs, Ice Queen?s chicken finger kids meal with a chocolate milkshake, apple tarts, chocolate milk, Papa?s Sunday cod fish and potatoes, and his mother?s chicken and rice.

?The food, well I am getting used to it, I still don?t like sushi except for sea bass and jellyfish, but that is about it,? he said.

?My host mom keeps trying to give me tofu, which I have had three times and hated three times.

?We eat out a lot so that is also a plus for me because I can sample the Japanese food then go on to eat what I am used to.?

Remembering the Rotary Club?s host party, he said they had traditional Japanese meal, all sushi.

?I left the party hungrier than when I arrived,? he said.

?I said to my host parents, ?umm yep, that was okay, now can we go to McDonalds?.?

Jamari also misses English television, to hear the language spoken and being able to speak English.

He said: ?When I watch Japanese television, I don?t understand a word they are saying, but my host family are around me cracking up.?

Not being able to speak English so much, he can see how his English usage has changed.

?I can now see how students come back from foreign countries not speaking proper English anymore,? said Jamari.

?I find myself speaking in fragments so that I can be understood, then when I get a phone call from home I slip up and catch have to myself.?

He said when he goes home in the evenings he studies all of the new words he learned for the day.

?So you can just imagine how I feel at the end of the week,? said Jamari.

He said he would look forward to Saturdays, but he has spent most of them in school.

?It?s amazing how much time they spend in school,? said Jamari.

?Some people may say that is a good thing, but there needs to be some sort of balance in which you work and study hard, but then you also need time to just relax.?

Jamari said at times he is a little home sick and misses his family and friends.

?My birthday was on September 20 and it was the first time my twin brother and I didn?t celebrate our birthday together and it was also the first time I was away from my family,? he said.

?But I couldn?t stay sad for long though, because my friends here in Japan threw me two birthday parties, so it ended up being a pretty good day.

?I am having the time of my life.?