Frank Quinn of the Roxboro Lions Club and Bob Vokey of the North Shore Youth Services got together with the idea of bringing their visitors together for an informal session. Mr. Quinn was coordinating a visit by several Japanese students to the North Shore area while the North Shore Youth Services were hosting the Guyanese young people.

The Guyanese students presently visiting Montreal are returning the visit of several youth from the North Shore who travelled to Guyana last month. The. Japanese, numbering about twenty, were part of a long exchange program, involving several hundred students, which is based in Toronto.

"When the thing began, there were groups of people in twos or threes sitting around the hall. Then people began mixing and introducing each other. They then found common grounds to talk on and were soon in two large groups," explained Mr. Salvis.

The N.S.Y.S. coordinator said the meeting was a good example of people getting together without bias or prejudice colouring their attitudes towards each other.

"The only things these young people had in common were their youth and their smiles," Mr. Salvis said.

Mr. Vokey was particularly surprised at the ability of the young people to communicate despite limited English on the part of the Japanese students and the broad West Indian accents of the Guyanese. Some of the young people went as far as drawing diagrams to explain their points when the language barrier became. too much.

On the other hand, the Guyanese pointed out that their women marry at quite a young age - sometimes as early as fifteen or sixteen - and have quite a low status in comparison with Canadian women. Mr. Vokey told of one incident which brought home this point. He was at home with his visitor and began washing the dishes. His guest swore it was the first time he had ever seen a man doing such work.

When told that many Canadian women work after marriage and often while raising a family, the Japanese girls reacted with equal surprise.

Mr. Vokey explained that all of the Japanese young people Were college students while most of the Guyanese are working to support them- selves - a factor which naturally left some wide differences in the experiences of the young people.

Standards of living and relative states of affluence were not major points of, discussion.

One point which the Japanese found very striking,, was the ability of the Canadians in general to make use of their leisure time in very diversified ways - an ability the Japanese people have not yet developed.

When the topic of discussion came around to sports, the Japanese seemed involved with their ancient arts of judo and karate and the American game of baseball, while the Guyanese young people took more interest in the British sports such as soccer and cricket.

"In this day and age with the jet airplane, it is becoming increasingly easy for people to travel to other countries and the best way to get to know the people of the country you are visiting is to sit down and talk," said Mr. Salvis.

Both Messrs. Salvis and Vokey were impressed with the smoothness with which the meeting game off considering the very short notice given to the parties involved.