October 30, 2014

Connor's October Blog Post

Hi People,


After a long, warm and tiring Summer I am back into the swing of things at school and as we are already nearing our third testing period there have been a few long and late nights back at the dorm in preparation for exams.


20141027_01.jpg


Despite such a busy study schedule football never stops! On the first Sunday of October the first qualifier for the All Japan High School Football Tournament was played against local rivals The Korean High school (Tokyo Chousen) in Jujo.


The day started off bleakly, the rain had been hammering down since the morning and didn’t look like it would ever end. The game itself started quite brightly with Seiritsu gaining a quick lead in the first 10 minutes, but as the game drew on mistakes crept in, resulting in a 2-1 loss in extra time.


20141027_02.jpg


20141027_03.jpg


On the following Tuesday all member of the football club met at the training ground where we were informed that the current 3rd year students would continue to train until the 29th of October and play their final game on the following day and from that point onwards next years ‘A’ team would be selected from the current 1st & 2nd year students.


20141027_04.jpg


This meant that everyone became everyone’s rival; with only 25 spots available, only a third of the players can be selected for the ‘A’ team.


Anyways I'll fill you in again later!

October 29, 2014

Kamakura

Our third international department excursion of the year was to Kamakura. In our history class we are finishing up the Heian period and will soon be learning about the Kamakura period, so it seemed like a good chance to enjoy the area and see the changing leaves. Despite having a bit of drizzle all day, it was nice to walk around to see some of the wonderful sites.

After arriving at Kamakura station, we transferred to the Enoden line. This line has interesting old trains. The trains are only two cars long and the floors are wooden. We got off at Hase station. The conductors picked up the umbrellas some people left behind and took them to the station office. Such amazing service!

We had a short walk to Kotoku-in Temple. This is where the Great Buddha statue is located. There were lots of elementary and junior high aged students around this area. It is a great time right now for school excursions. Our own school's second graders of junior high went to Kamakura two days after our trip. We lined up with some kids from a nearby school to go into the statue. Many of the students we saw this day were very friendly and called out a variety of greetings to us.

After our visit to the Daibutsu, we walked down the road to Hasedera. This is a wonderful temple/shrine. Besides all of the amazing features you can see here, it has excellent views of the ocean. But you need to be careful of the birds. They are pretty aggressive and will take food right out of your hands.

These two shrines took up the whole morning and it was time to go for lunch. We took the long way so that we could walk by the ocean and the beach. Our hearts were set on some western food so, despite seeing some promising choices, we had lunch at a Hawaiian burger joint.

The restaurant is on Wakamiya Oji street, the main road running from the ocean to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine. This allowed us to walk along the path in the middle of the road and pass through the three torii (gates) much like they did in the distant past.

We spent a little time at the shrine. It is a major shrine and on special days it is an amazing place. Pete gave us a bit of history on the famous 1000 year old gingko tree that was finally felled in 2010. I wonder if either of the students will catch the hints between this visit and the classes about the tree’s famous history…

To finish off the trip around Kamakura, we walked along the shopping street that runs from the station to the shrine. One of the really nice things to see is that it is still all boutique shops along this street. The major franchises have not been allowed to creep into this area. There are a lot of incredible artisan shops and unique eateries.

Kamakura is a place you can visit many times and see something new every time. If we had had more time, it would have been nice to visit the graves of Masako Hojo and others, or a few more of the many temples in the area. But I guess that once they learn more about her and the rest of the time period, they will find themselves wanting to go back and find some key historical sites on their own.

October 27, 2014

Jeremy's October Post

Hey, Jezza here,


October saw the 3rd year students high school footballing life draw to close in the national tournament qualifiers, as well as a trip to Kamakura to give us an insight on our next topic for Japanese history.


Not only this but our training schedule has increased because the process of selecting a new "A" team is now underway.


20141024_01.jpg


The start of October saw the yearly national tournament qualifiers, where a loss results in a early goodbye to high school football for the third years. This was exactly the case with our club, which lost the first round of competition in difficult circumstances: two starting members were out due to injury and university entrance exams. This was not the only factor that lead to the teams downfall; we also lacked the capability to play in bad weather which had been demonstrated throughout this year.


With this bad performance came the reality of retiring the old team in search of a new capable team for next year, which has been the talking point of October and will happen in the upcoming months before the announcement in January sometime. However, as I'm still unable to play not much can be done to prove my ability until my injury is healed; however you have to stay positive minded and have a focused plan in order to achieve these goals once you are able to play. This is what I am working on, so when the time comes nothing will stop me!


20141024_02.jpg


October was not solely soccer related events, but also the termly tests and an excursion along with it. This time the International group went to Kamakura, absorbing all it's culture and information for the next period we are studying in Japanese history. Whilst we were in Kamakura we visited some temples, shrines and a big Buddha- learning why they were there, and why they were built. Along with the cultural side of things we had a nice lunch adjacent to the beach and overall it was enjoyable day out and a good experience.


20141024_03.jpg


20141024_04.jpg


Throughout October it has been relatively busy with the tests, team selections and the soccer events but overall it has been an interesting month and relaxing at times.

October 2, 2014

Seiritsu's Culture Festival 2014!

over 2,000 visitors came to celebrate and have fun at Seiritsu's annual culture festival on the weekend of September 27-28.


20141003_bun00.jpg


This year's theme was "Big Smile", and everyone certainly showed a big smile all throughout the weekend.


20141003_bun02.jpg


20141003_bun03.jpg


20141003_bun08.jpg


There were many Halloween-themed stands, including the lunch hall, and this year the English conversation club's stand also had a spooky feel.


20141003_bun06.jpg


20141003_bun05.jpg


20141003_bun04.jpg


Of course, the main draws were the performances on the stage, where the rock bands, Orchestra and dance shows (and of course the karate demonstration!) brought in the largest crowds.


20141003_bun01.jpg


20141003_bun07.jpg


It was a great weekend, with a lot of laughter and good feelings. A wonderful memory for everyone involved!


20141003_bun09.jpg


Peter Williams

International Department Coordinator, Seiritsu Gakuen

October 2, 2014

Cranbrook School visits Seritisu!

In the week of September 22-26 Seiritsu School hosted twelve Australian schoolboys, from Cranbrook School in Sydney, and gave them a taste of life and culture in Japan.


20141001_friends2.jpg


For many of the students, aged 14 and 15, it was their first time coming to Japan, so Seiritsu made sure that our guests could get hands-on experience with some of Japan’s most famous creative activities, as well as help our students prepare for the Seiritsu culture festival.


On Monday, they were given a tour of the School and took part in a Manga drawing class taught by professional Manga Artist Atsuhisa Okura. He showed them how to draw in a manga style, and how to measure different proportions of people. He also drew caricatures of the students and their teachers !


20141001_manga1.jpg


20141001_manga2.jpg


From Wednesday to Friday, the Australian boys also joined in with Japanese homerooms, making new friends and working together to make stalls for our ‘bunkasai’ (culture festival). Of course they were given a really warm welcome and soon got involved alongside their new Japanese friends.


20141001_friends1.jpg


Shodo was taught by Mauro Sensei on Wednesday; everyone was impressed with his enthusiasm and energetic character, and really enjoyed his class! We worked through the kinds of strokes used in shodo, and practiced some basic characters. Some of the boys already do shodo in Australia, so it was a good chance to show Mauro Sensei their skills!


20141001_shodo1.jpg


20141001_shodo2.jpg


20141001_shodo4.jpg


20141001_shodo5.jpg


The group also made (and ate!) a traditional Japanese meal on Thursday, making yellowtail teriyaki, miso soup, green beans in sesame, as well as a sweet riceball desert. It was delicious!


20141001_cooking1.jpg


20141001_cooking2.jpg


20141001_cooking3.jpg


Finally, the group took part in a Karate class taught by Brent and Peter, before saying goodbye to Seiritsu school and moving on in their tour of Japan.


20141001_karate2.jpg


20141001_karate1.jpg


Everyone looked like they had a good time, and it was great to have them here. We hope that they will come again!

アーカイブ

[2018]
[2017]
[2016]
[2015]
[2014]
[2013]
[2012]
[2011]
[2010]
[2009]
[2008]
[2007]
[2006]

about Seiritsu

Seiritsu Gakuen is a private co-educational high school created in 1925 and it is located in Tokyo, Japan.

≫more info