On March 30, 2002, six Japanese students represented Silver Creek High School at the 10th Annual National Japan Bowl in Washington D.C. This competition pits schools from all over the nation against one another in a Jeopardy-format answering questions about Japanese language, culture, history and politics in Japanese. This year, Silver Creek fielded two teams in the Japanese 2 and Japanese 3 levels. Our Japanese 2 team kept up the strong traditions for excellence set by last year's team, placing 4th in a field of over 25 schools. Our Japanese 3 team tied for third place in the preliminary round (handily defeating last year's Japanese 2 champions from Georgia--175-100), necessitating a run-off against Punaho High School from Hawaii. Punaho won the run-off and went on to win the national championship. We like to say that we actually finished quasi-second place. Seriously though, our two 4th place finishes rank as the best ever overall showing by Silver Creek in this competition. Further, only two other schools out of 50 schools had overall finishes better than Silver Creek. Of course, all thanks and accolades belong solely with our wonderful student/competitors who worked tirelessly to prepare for the competition.
The 2001-2002 Silver Creek High School Japan Bowl Teams are:
Japanese 2:Alex Balzer-Carr, Angela Le (captain), Jean Nguyen
Japanese 3: Miriam Lueck, Ngoclan Nguyen, Amanda Te (captain)
Here are a few examples of the fun from this year's competition:
Hall Sensei juggles at Wet Seal......ushiro wa chotto.....!
Later, we met Hurley Sensei and walked around the Capitol Building.
Silver Creek Japan Bowl takes the Capitol by storm!
As the day drew to a close, we finished our tour on the Mall.
Cool bumperstickers found on the Mall.
The day of the competition dawns...and Silver Creek is ready!
During the break, Ngoclan-san tries on a kimono for jollies.
The 2001-2002 SCTHJP Japan Bowl Team Photo.
Just a small gathering at the Japanese Embassy with a few close friends.........
After the competition, the team relaxes on the veranda of the Japanese Embassy.
Ngoclan-san and Angela-san enjoying some of the free sushi, courtesy of the Japanese government.
Philly Pizza, friends, and the Potomac.
Before departure, the team gets dragged to the Lincoln Memorial by Hall-Sensei.
The team finally loses it at the Washington Monument.
Hall-Sensei scores a famous Potbelly's sandwich during the layover in Chicago.
