A vividly colourful, very hands on, Asian experience.

Inspiring imagery, costumes, music, puppets, objects and stories are all utilized in this hands-on interactive adventure into the exciting continent of Asia. To begin, a map of the vast Asian continent shows where each of the countries visited are and their size compared to Australia and to each other. In just a few minutes, Karina’s clever rap song will have your students remembering and identifying a number of Asian countries.

Students are shown the goods Australia sells to Asia and those goods we buy from Asia. You may be surprised.

Though Get to Know Asia looks at Asia as a whole it also focuses on a number of individual Asian countries.

Karina first tells of her personal experiences in Asia. She remembers how as a child she visited Malaysia and the Batu caves. Today the site is towered over by an enormous statue of Lord Murugan. While nowhere near the size of the real statue, Karina’s statue of Murugan is no less impressive. Students as shown how the saree is still worn by many Hindu women is Asia today and how this long length of material is draped over the human body to create an elaborate and practical garment.

Students are called up on stage to model a collection of Asian hats from the very practical coolie to a very elaborate and all but impossible to wear shell covered headwear from Pakistan.

The land locked country of Laos is well worth a visit to meet one of the local monkeys, the Douc Langurs. Students will fall in love with this lesser known Asian primate. They have been called the cutest monkey in the world.

No matter where they live in the world children have trouble getting to sleep the night before a big celebration. So the night before the big New Year celebration, parents tell their children traditional folk tales and the tale Karina tells is the story of the Moon Bear. This black bear is from central Asia and has a crescent moon shape of white hair, encircling its neck. To find a cure for her very troubled son a mother must found the courage to pluck a white hair from the bear’s neck.

For her finale, with the help of twenty volunteers Karina’s recreation of Asian New Year celebrations is quite an event. Students carrying lanterns, good luck symbols and imitation fireworks and operating not one but two dragons each over 5 metres long. Please note that Karina will ask for two teachers to operate the large Foo Lion.

Get to Know Asia thoroughly entertains and engages students, leaving them with vivid lasting impressions and insights into the culture and day to day lives of Australia’s northern neighbours.