Student Reports International

Farm trip-Kodai Fujimoto

I went to the farm on the 27 March with my ESOL class. It is in Leeston. We went with Mr. McCarthy, Mr Campbell, and Mrs Cooper. We took 1 hour to get there by bus. Then I saw a nice country view. It was good. The farm had a lot of sheep and some sheepdogs. We chased a lot of sheep to put in the sheep pen. It was fun. When I saw some sheepdogs, It was very scary because the dogs looked very big but afterwards when I touched the dogs they were so cute. After that we went to the farmer's house to have lunch together. When we got to farmer's house, the farmer's family made our lunch. We ate the lunch. We enjoyed the meals they made for us such as hamburgers, salad, and some fruit. It was very delicious. After the farm visit we went to have a look at Dan Carter’s house we he grew up. We had a very good time and a good experience. I enjoyed visiting the farm.

New Zealand – Christchurch by Riku Kobata

Firstly, I would like to talk about you kiwis and how strange it is for young people from Japan to come and live in a nation obsessed by rugby, driven by sheep, and solely focused on the consumption of the pie and fish and chips. I think NZ is a great place full of much natural beauty, such as many parks, rivers, stunning night skies, and massive mountains. Also, I think kiwis are really friendly and kind, much the same as all of the students here at STC. But living here can be bloody difficult sometimes eh? Transport is a little bit different in Christchurch compared to Tokyo. The Orbiter is not exactly the Bullet train, and although riding on this rickety, shaking bus gets me to Riccarton Mall, it’s difficult signaling the driver and figuring out where the hell you are going once you’re on, I always get lost because , the bus never tells me where the next stop is.

Next, I would like to speak about my school day in Japan and tell you a little about my home in Tokyo. To begin with, my school day starts at 6 o’clock. Usually, I get up 6’oclock and take a subway to go to my school which is central Tokyo. In the morning trains are packed with people commuting to work or school, so people are under stress every morning. My class starts at 8o’clock. We gather at the lecture hall to have an assembly then we read a newspaper and discuss about the articles together. At last, the class starts at twenty to nine. We have seven classes which are fifty minutes each class. In my school, we don’t have mathematics. Instead we have about fifteen English classes per week. The school finishes at fifteen past four, however almost every student stays after school to finish their homework, so we leave school at almost seven o’clock, then we take a subway to go home, therefore we often arrive home around eight or nine. Tokyo is always bright with neon bulbs, so it is not dangerous for us. After I get home I normally eat dinner alone as everyone arrives home later than me. Both my parents are still working and my brother is still studying at university. Year 7 to 10 students have lunch together every day to learn how to use chopsticks and also we learn about table manners. In this lunch time, we have to finish all of the lunch, so we can’t leave a little. It is important for us to not let food go to waste.

Finally, believe it or not, we actually do enjoy relaxing in Tokyo. This doesn’t necessarily mean going to the horse races, or the TAB, or watching a rugby game. We often go to an entertainment park, or go into the central of Tokyo for shopping or to play video games.

It has been a real pleasure to be involved in the STC community and I’ve really enjoyed all the great experiences of this school.

YUTA Matsuo Athletics

Finally I've finished in 3rd in the 100m final at New Zealand Nationals. I thought I could have won the title of the fastest man in New Zealand this time but it was not that easy but I am really glad and honored that I took part of that. I did what I all could do at that time so I am happy with the result.

Thank you to everyone who supported me!

My speech by Yoshito Inoue

Good day, everyone. How are you? I’m Yoshito Inoue. I attended St Thomas of Canterbury College for a year. Firstly, I’d like to talk to you about my experiences in New Zealand. I was nervous about making friends. But, I could make many friends. I learned New Zealand culture and New Zealanders way of thinking. Do you know how most guys spend their interval and lunch time? Most guys have lunch outside and play sport. Few people have lunch inside. I took grade four cello exam. The exam was quite hard. But I passed the exam just before the deadline. Secondly, I’d like to talk to you about what I have noticed. My friends often use words that are not listed in the dictionary. I think that English words keep increasing / continue to increase indefinitely. Using common words are different in each house. Thirdly, I’d like to talk to you about different points between New Zealand and Japan. I am surprised at the education of New Zealand. Why am I surprised at the education of New Zealand? I have two reasons. First, Mathematics test is on the computer and we can study mathematics on the “mathletics”. Mathletics has many questions and problems. This is a good website to learning mathematics. Second, each Student and teacher has a Microsoft account. We write essays in onenote in English class and ESOL class, and we make presentations in Social Studies class. In short, I often use the computer in class. Finally, I’d like to talk to you about why studying abroad is good to learning English. I think that we can make friends, can become independent and can improve our English ability. Probably, you change your mindset. In conclusion, I think it is very good that I went to study abroad. I guess that these experiences will benefit absolutely in my life. I’d like to appreciate everyone who supported me. Thank you for listening to my speech.