Hi my name is Sumiko Yamanaka. I am a high schoolteacher and have been teaching English for more than twenty years. I am in charge of career counseling this year. In Japan, high school students who want to work after graduating have to decide what company they will choose in summer. So I am very busy now. I like to travel abroad. My hobby is listening to music. My favorite TV program is the Korean drama Winter Sonata,which is accepted by many Japanese women. I was in charge of e-mail exchange class last year. To tell the truth, I had very little knowledge of Korea before I started the lesson. But as the lessons went by, I came to know little by little about the country. The most surprising thing was that in Korea, high schools are devided into two types;one is for students who work after graduating, the other is for students who will enter university and work actively in many fields, and most E-pals are the second type!!! My students exchange mails with such hopeful students! I wish that the VANK E-pals would have good impressions for Japan! Exchanging mails with foreigners is a very exciting experience for both. Actually, some of the students who had taken e-mail lessons began to study Korean (Hangeul) and hope to visit Korea in the near future. And in Japan now, because of the hit of the drama Winter Sonataand the Korean movies, the wall between Korea and Japan seems to get lower and lower. Now is the time for both of us to get closer, I think.

Sumiko Yamanaka from Ishiyakushi Senior High School