Photo highlights - Friday 28 September (1)

These were taken at Ono Gakuen - our second school visit while in Japan:
* Japanese tea ceremony
* having lunch with the girls from Ono Gakuen
* participating in traditional activities led by the girls
* teaching the girls how to make poi

Elaine hardly had time to eat her own lunch

Nemo, with a flick of the wrist, showing how it's done  

Mallory, Rebecca and Pamela making origami pandas

Photo highlights - Friday 28 September (2)

continued...

Toral manages create a face - even while blindfolded!

Avril in action playing hagoita

Rebecca mastering the dance moves

With the ladies who ran the Tea Ceremony for us

Shinagawa Festival, Sunday 30 September

A few of us were lucky enough to be in Tokyo on Sunday for the annual Shinagawa Festival.
Joining the Japanese stall holders were two Kiwis (Jono & Asher in disguise) helping their host mother and her English class to sell biscuits!
The Shinagawa Mayor stopped in the middle of the parade to say konnichi wa to the Auckland visitors in the middle of the parade.
Some if us then went on to have a go at fire walking! For others it was already too hot a day to even contemplate 'walking on fire'!

Asher & Jono showing their potential in sales!

A few of the parade participants in their traditional dress

.

Preparing the burning coals for fire walking

VIDEO: Day 5 Ikebana (flower arrangement) class

Japanese ikebana class

Location:Ono Gakuen, Shinagawa

Thursday September 27th

yesterday, is spent the day with my host family.my　sister,　mother,　brother　and　cousin　and　i　went　to　tokyo　disneyland. it was an exciting, fun-filled day of constant rides, only stopping once to have lunch at a fancy cafe called the eastside cafe. we had our meals served in courses, i had a salad, then bread, then a delicious pasta with pine nuts (my favourite). ｍy favourite ride was space mountain, so we went on it twice. i also liked splash mountain despite having water chucked on my face. one thing i noticed about Tokyo Disneyland was the effort put into designs and the attention to detail. rides such as the pirates of the Caribbean ride had very detailed back rounds in which the characters moved in a very human like way, at one point i thought it was an actor! while waiting in line for rides(which can take a long time, especially for someone as impatient as waiting in line for rides(which can take a long time, especially for someone as impatient as me) i in　line　for　rides(which　can　take　a　long　time,　especially　for　someone　as　impaintent　as　me)　i　ate　caramel popcorn, from a container my host mum brought me which hangs around your neck and can be folded down to make it smaller. my host family were very accommodating and let me choose all the rides we went on, even if they didn't host　family　were　very　acomadating　and　let　me　choose　all　the　rides　we　went　on,　even　if　they　didnt　likｅ　ｉｔ！it was amusing to see my host brother and cousin on the merry go round, the seat belts too small to fit any of us. overall, i had an awesome experience yesterday, leaving me so tired i slept on the way home!

VIDEO: Day 5. Homestay families - Avril and Shivani

Avril and Shivani talk about their Homestay families.

Location:Shinagawa

28 September, visit to Japanese high school!

Japan so far has been amazing! The people here are so kind and I'm sure everyone would agree that every minute as been incredible. Today we went to Ono gakeun, a private girls school. My host sister attends this school and told me all about it. We had a tea ceremony to start with, some of us found it a little hard to sit on the floor, but the ladies dressed up and the ceremony itself was lovely. After that we did fun Japanese activities with the girls, things such as dancing and games. Our visit to the school was concluded by poi making. We then did flower decorating at the sifa building, I presented my flowers to my host mum as she loves roses, or bara as they call it here. For dinner today we had okonomiyaki, they're Japanese styled pancakes that I helped make. Tomorrow we will go to Tokyo tower. So far, everything had been wonderful and im looking forward to the rest of my time here

Shantrelle

Food Experiance

   My cooking skills and i were craving a chance to go to the supermarket. The oppoutunity arose and i gladly took it.I found pumpkin flovoured kit kats in preparation for haloween. I even managed to stumble across corn flavoured tofu. Which my host mother gave me for dinner, it was raw unlike the batter coated ones i make at home. This was a whole new experiance for me and was my first Japanese meal in Japan. Yesterday we went to a maid cafe in ahikabara (the electronic and anime capital of Tokyo) here we were treated to parfait (ice cream dessert) that looked like a kitten or bear.They even have baked chocolate that dosent melt. The grapes here are huge the siz e of a 50c coin (mum would be proud i eat more veggies now than i ate back home). The bread here is sweet, unlike the unflovoured plain bread im fimiliar with back home. As a vegitarian i was worried about the possibility of starvation, however my worries were put to rest especially after today, eating choclate pastry for lunch at the school. The people at the school were lovely and the group i got were truly wonderful. Even though they couldnt understand they all gave poi making a go.

Its strange how fast things go when your having a once in a life time oppourtunity, just like the lovely tea ceromony we had the fortune to take part in today.

VIDEO: Elaine's Japanese speech.

How could I forget to add Elaine's wonderful speech she gave in front of the school during our visit yesterday to Ito Gakuen.

Well done Elaine!!

Location:Ito Gakuen

VIDEO: Yakiniku meal

Day 4 was spent with our families. Here's a video of a traditional Japanese dish called Yakiniku (BBQ meat).

Location:Kazu restaurant central Tokyo

Day 3 - Ito Gakuen

Let's imagine that today is Wednesday September the 26th and not September the 27th.
I forgot to post on the blog yesterday >.<  (haha)

Visiting a school that ranged from Year 1 to Year 9 was the first time for me. I could not get over the fact that there were Primary and Intermediate students learning in the same school. However, I got over that and learnt to appreciate it. First, the Principal of Ito Gakuen presented a speech to us and Mr Burden and Ms. Knell gave a speech back to show our appreciation. Then, we were taught the schools layout and what type of activities they have in the school eg. Club activities, athletics day and many more. After learning about the school, we were given a tour of the school. To my memory, Ito Gakuen, had 6 levels (I apologize if I am wrong). It was very different to Lynfield College in New Zealand due to the 6 levels, a HEATED pool, and overall, the size of Ito Gakuen was quite small compared to the size of our school in New Zealand. There were many stairs to climb and go down and some of us struggled towards the very end. During the tour of the school we were given the privilage to visit some of the Primary classes. We went to an English class, a music class and an Art class. The children were VERY ADORABLE. After the tour, we were given a very warm welcome with the drums, speech, musical performance with the Koto and the Shamisen (I hope I got the names right) and each of us were given a drawing from an art class.

We then went to our classes and I went to class Year 9 class number 4 with Avril. All of the students welcome the two of us by decorating the class, throwing small pieces of paper in the air over our head and having a 'WELCOME ELAINE AND AVRIL' at the back of the class on the blackboard. Then the students came rushing since they were intriged by Avril's eye and hair colour. We had lunch with them and I could not believe that I was served a bowl of rice, a potato dish that I didn't know but was really nice, a bowl of soup, a carton of milk and a mandarin. The lunch was rather unbelievable when you compare the lunch that the students eat in the school to our everday sandwich. The Japanese class that Avril and I were taking part in had a random Kanji test at the start and my piece was paper was beautifully blank. I could't read anything -.-
But the class was really fun and the teacher and students were really funny. Though I could understand what was going on, I had trouble understanding what they were learning about the Japanese structure in the text book. The guy next to me was very kind but quite and shared his book with me. To much of my surprise, the class was filled with laughter and entertainment. It was almost like Mr.Boasman's physics class. Also, I found out that the guy who was very kind and quite had his birthday yesterday. I nicknamed him Birthday boy xD
At the end, I gave him the rugby ball keyring like gift as a thank you for having me and as a birthday gift when class had finished. Avril and I then returned to 'the base' and then went to Oimachi and then returned to SIFA and went back home with our host family.

This concludes our long but short day.

Elaine Lee.

VIDEO: Day 3 - Overview

Nemo, Asher and Kevin talk about what they've been up to on Day 3.

VIDEO: Day 3 - Classes at Ito Gakuen

Avril, Elaine, Shivani and Shantrelle immerse themselves into some Japanese classes.

VIDEO: Day 3 - Welcome ceremony at Ito Gakuen school

Our first school visit was to Ito Gakuen, a combined primary/junior high school with students from Year 1-9.

Taiko drum performance

Location:Ito Gakuen, Shinagawa

Wednesday 26 September

Photos from today's highlights include:
* visiting Ito Gakuen
* Asher & Jono running a quiz on New Zealand for students of Ineko's Adult English class

Day 3: Junior High School

So today, we went to Ito Gakuen Junior High and the way we were welcomed was pretty impressive.
There was taiko drumming and koto playing and speech making and everything was just so perfect and well organised, like you could tell the students and the teachers had put a lot of effort into making us feel welcome.
After the ceremony, we went to separate classrooms where we ate lunch and hung out for a while before going to our classes to learn about things that most of the kids younger than us were better than us at.
But that's okay because they were all so sweet and nice and happy and it's impossible not to like Japanese people, especially the little kids.
I was knackered by the time we got to Oimashu, so the highlight of the mall was eating bread
Today was fun but I'm super tired and I'm looking forward to an extremely late start tomorrow. :D

First Reactions!

 I expected to experience a massive culture shock arriving in Japan, and during the first day especially, but in the end it wasn't so bad. The one thing that has had the most effect on me since I arrived in Japan would have to be the hot humid climate, I slept ontop of my sheets the first night here.
  I find it funny that since we have arrived we have had pizza three times, here I was thinking I'd be living off nothing but unfamiliar foods. Don’t get me wrong, we've had alot of Japanese food since we've got here and I'm yet to try somthing I dislike.
　The highlight of today for me would have to be the reunion, even though I personally wasn't reuniting with anyone. I met alot of new people and it turned out to be heaps of fun even though alot of us were pretty tired after the second long day in a row. Even though we are tired I would say we are all trying to make the most of it while we are here!
10/10 so far!
 Sorry if there are any typo's, It's been a long few days. >_<

Day 2 - Shinagawa outdoor shopping arcade

Our first full day commenced with the Mayoral visit, followed by a stroll down an outdoor shopping arcade (approx 1km long) in Musashi Koyama, Shinagawa.
Most goods in the area are most reasonably priced, as seen by the shopping splurge by Mallory, Rebecca and Pam.

Location:Musashi koyama, Shinagawa

Sep 25 Day 2 video - Earthquake simulation + fire extinguishing

Following our Mayoral visit, we had the opportunity to take part in a simulated earthquake where students were able to appreciate to some degree what the people of Northern Japan experienced in March 2011.

Students also had the opportunity to test out their fire extinguishing skills.

Location:Shinagawa

Tuesday 25 September

A few of the edited highlights from our day:
* meeting with the Mayor at the
Shinagawa Council Offices and giving and receiving gifts
* at the Shinagawa Council Offices doing our earthquake drills (we will be thinking of you when you 'drop, cover & hold' at 9:26am on 26-09-12)
* Shinagawa summer school reunion (it was great to hear how many students have kept in touch)

Sep 25 Day 2 video - reunion with students from Shinagawa that visited 2011/12

The evening of our second night in Japan was spent at a reunion with students from the Shinagawa Summer School that visited Lynfield College in either 2011 or 2012. It was great to see students from both countries sharing in so much fun with one another.

Video 1: Shantrelle finds a new dancing buddy.

Video 2: I thought you were supposed to sit down in the vacant seat. Asher?

Location:Shinagawa

The Diary of Awesome: Day One

Japanese People. Japanese people EVERYWHERE.

We made it to Japan, good job us!

So, Alys is here to type up her bad diary entry from today!

Day One,
Yay, Japan! I`m really excited! There was another school group at the airport, turns out they`re coming to Tokyo aswell!

We were at gate 4, which was the same gate I was at when I went to Australia. How nostalgic! 

Can`t seem to find the rubbish bin, I`m having to store all my rubbish in my bag....

I wonder if three hours sleep is enough to get me through the first day?

They didn`t have any anime on the plane! I watched a Japanese drama instead. I cried three times. What I wuss.

Slippers. Slippers on a PLANE! You Japanese people are geniuses.

`Life`s too long to spend it with someone else` - Note to self: Community is AWESOME!

Pride. That`s what I felt after I ate half my carrots AND broccoli. Oh yea! If only you could see me now Mum! Oh yea, Note to Self; Plane coleslaw is horrible.
Also, I`m a slow eater.
And Thor is very cute.

Oh wow, we can see Japan out the window! My life is complete.

I lied.
Japanese People.
Japanese people EVERYWHERE.
Speaking JAPANESE.
NOW my life is complete.

Waiata time at welcome ceremony

Not a bad effort considering most of us had been awake for 20hrs.

Location:Shinagawa

All ready to board!

Cherry, Alys and Toral talk about their expectations just before boarding.

Location:Auckland airport

Farewell NZ - our adventure begins!

Happy Birthday Adam

Birthday cake and all! Thanks Averil for the cake. Was a very special breakfast shared with everyone at the airport hope you weren't planning on keeping it quiet.

Sakura song

Here's the sakura song we'll be singing for those who haven't had a chance to download it.

SUCH EXCITEMENT !!

It is going to be amazing !! Can't believe we were counting 100 days and now its 2 DAYS AWAY !! Hope everyone knows what they are going to pack and give to their hosts families (: Let's make the most of it :D !!

Photos from Poi making session.

Mallory, Pam and Rebecca

Nemo and Kevin

Shantrelle, Shivani and honorary group
member, Nishita

Poi making session

Students from the group each brought along one friend to teach how to make poi. This was used as a test-run to the real thing when we teach the Japanese students of Ono Gakuen Girls School how to make poi.

Let's see how they went!

Group Photo at Lynfield College