November 28, 2017

Kabuki

Have you heard of Kabuki? Do you know much about it? Have you ever seen it?

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Last week, on the Thanksgiving holiday (November 23rd), all of the junior high school students had a chance to go to the Kabuki Theatre in Ginza to see a live performance of Kabuki. Our school was also able to get a few extra tickets for some of our high school students. Originally we had hoped to bring all of the international students, but we did not get enough tickets. So instead we brought along the Japanese students who are about to go abroad for 3 months on a study abroad experience. Undoubtedly they will be asked about Japanese cultural traditions and they will need to learn a little about the major traditions before they go. This was an excellent opportunity to help them prepare.

We met at 8:20 am below the theatre and then went inside at 8:30. The show started at 9am and finished at 10am. It was meant for children so it was shorter and "easier" than usual. But it was still very difficult to understand. However, even if the words and meaning were difficult to understand, the beauty and complexity and richness of the tradition came across very clearly.

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It was an excellent experience and we hope to expose the international students to a similar event in the future.


November 27, 2017

An update on Connor

Hello everyone,

We had some more good news come to us the other day. One of our graduates, Connor O'Toole, took another major step in his career. He had his A-League debut and did a very good job. According to one site, they said he "had a composed and mature performance" which "earned him a spot on the... team of the week." Several people emailed us with updates and praise. We were all very happy to get and pass on the news.

There are several articles and short video clips available. Here are one of each :

Article:


https://www.brisbaneroar.com.au/news/roars-rising-star-shaped-land-rising-sun

Video link:


https://www.a-league.com.au/video/young-player-follow-connor-otoole



We have also added a blog post on the main Japanese website. If you can read Japanese, check it out:


http://www.seiritsu.ac.jp/articles/-/2705

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All of us here at Seiritsu are confident Connor will continue to do a wonderful job!

November 18, 2017

Teresa's November 2017 blog

Teresa Here!


What does November mean to you? Is it the boring month after Halloween? Perhaps it signifies an acceptable time to gobble up an entire turkey with a can of cranberry sauce before heading out to take advantage of Black Friday sales. Maybe it’s an extension of the holiday season!


Maybe it's none of that! I'll tell you what it certainly means to me… the changing foliage!


Back in the States, I didn't pay much attention to the red, orange, brown, and yellow leaves. It wasn't because we didn't have fall; it was because it wasn't part of our culture. Ever since moving to Tokyo, the idea of taking trips to see the autumn colors (紅葉) has been growing on me!


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Last weekend, I found myself in Nagano prefecture with a group of friends, new and old. Together, we had a walking tour around the town and took lovely pictures. It was slightly cold due to the higher altitude, but it was worth it.


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Believe it or not, we went further up where it actually started to snow! It was my first snowfall of the year. I was so excited because as a Bostonian, I expect to see it as soon as the temperature drops!


Amongst the snow and strong winds, we warmed our bodies and relaxed our muscles in a hotel with more than 6 hot spring pools. I definitely cannot explain how amazing it feels to be soaking in a hot spring with pale blue water while the snow and steam blocked your view.


The combination of the foliage and hot springs made this weekend an unforgettable experience.

November 16, 2017

JET Laurence Sensei's November 2017 Web post!

Talking in front of other people is stressful, especially if it’s in front of your classmates. However, we at the Seiritsu English department think it’s important for students to be able to talk in front of a crowd. It’s a skill that is going to be useful for them in their professional as well as personal life. It teaches them to deal with stress, memorization, and pronunciation and how to share something personal with other people.


We have a wide range of subjects for the essays for all levels of classes for the 1st and 2nd year students in High school.

The higher the level of the class, the more we try to challenge the students. The students have to do at least one speech per semester. We usually start simple for everyone, with short speeches about their latest holiday. Then, we move on to talking more about themselves, things they like or that are important to them or places they would like to visit. Finally, for higher level students, we try to tackle more difficult subjects, such as the future and social problems.


We hope the school continues to evaluate speeches in the future as speaking becomes a more important part of English education in Japan.


Thank you for reading!
Laurence

November 13, 2017

Seiritsu's soccer team narrowly miss out on National spot

On Saturday November 11, 􂤁􀅒[􏿿majority of Seiritsu school students assembled at Komazawa Daigaku grounds in order to cheer on the senior soccer team as they entered the final of the Tokyo block in the National High Schools Soccer Championship qualifications.

Winning the tournament would book them a place in the 96th National High Schools Championship, where champions from all 47 prefectures of Japan compete to be the best! The tournament takes place from December 30th to January 8th, and is televised across the country. Many athletes that perform well in the tournament are scouted for professional teams, so this is a massive opportunity for all entrants!


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Seiritsu's opponents were Kanto Daiichi High School, who were looking to enter the nationals for the second year in a row.

Sadly, despite a thrilling game and vociferous support from all students, the result was a 1-0 loss to Kanto Daiichi.

This means that the current third years will now 'retire' to prepare for university entrance exams and their future prospects.

I'm sure the first and second year athletes will use the frustration of getting so close as fuel for improvement, and will be back better than ever next year!

To even get to the qualifying finals in the Tokyo block is a significant achievement, and the boys should be proud of their accomplishments.

Seiritsu Gakuen is currently accepting enquiries from high-performing soccer athletes who want to make the grade in Japan and graduate in our three-year program. If you think you have what it takes to be an athlete student in Tokyo, please contact us at international@seiritsu-int.com.

Peter Williams
Coordinator, International Department

November 11, 2017

William's Term 3 Blog

We had an excursion in October, which traveled to the museum of Edo.
The weather was very cool that time, unfortunately with a little rain, and I didn't bring the umbrella. We first took a train to Akihabara and then change one in order to go to the museum.
In the museum, the perfectly reapper the buildings in Edo times. Like the structures about vegetables shops, rice factory, house for fishing man and even the moving noodle shop, etc. Pretty interesting. I also met a Japanese staff who can speak chinese fluently, he surprised me and we talked a lot.
I also got some new Japanese friends, feel good.
Thanks for this trip made by Seiritz!

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November 9, 2017

Seiritsu on TV again

Once again, our school has been on TV a few times recently. These last two times we were on the same show which is called Kamigimon (神ギ問).

The show features some famous comedians as well as some other visitors and the theme or purpose of the show is to ask questions and find the answers.

One of the recently asked questions was: Is a teacher of English nervous if they have a class with some returning students or kids from mixed international families?

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It was an interesting episode. I really enjoyed watching it.

As the number of returning students and the number of students in international families at our school increase, this is more and more likely. Luckily, our teachers enjoy such challenges and Iwasaki Sensei was no different. Great job, Iwasaki Sensei!

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November 5, 2017

Rebecca's Edo Museum Excursion Blog

On October 25th, we went to the Edo Museum. The Japanese students who will go abroad for homestay also attended us.When we went into the museum, we were all very surprised. In the museum, the streets and houses were all built like the Edo ones. Not only the outside, you can go inside any of the buildings, and they were all been set properly.There were the shops for selling vegetables and rice.We learned how many rice that Edo people had for each meal, and how they make rice.There were boats in the water, we learnt how them catch fish and use shells to trade.We also went in people’s house, we saw the mirror and the futon.There is also a square to rest, we saw the cars selling Tempura, Soba and Udon.Although they were fake, they looked so delicious! The most impressive one was the place to keep the rice.To prevent no mice go into the house. The guide told us that they invented a kind of lock which only can open it by a special “key ”.That was wonderful!
We went into many different houses and learned how people live in ancient Edo
City, and we were all amazed by the technology and their wisdom, and we had so much fun in Edo Museum!

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November 2, 2017

News from our student in the US

Hello everyone,

We have a student from our high school who is now currently studying in America.
He is in our “Naishin” class - which means he was in our junior high and moved up into the high school - and he has chosen to study abroad in his first year of high school.

We put up a few messages from him before and this here is his most recent update.
I will post the Japanese here and below that will be the English translation. I hope you enjoy reading his adventures.

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留学生の話を聞くと大概皆んなこう言いますよね。「3ヶ月で慣れる。」
1.2ヶ月前の僕は、イメージしていた留学と今の留学がかけ離れすぎていて、なぜ留学をしようと思ったのかわからなくなっていました。それがもう3ヶ月経ち、今ではそんなこと全く考えなくなりました。要するにもう慣れた!!まだまだ授業のスピードにはついていけないし、友達の話が理解できないことも多々ありますが少しずつそれにも対応できるよになってきました?!! 自分でもよくわかりませんがとりあえず今は前より楽しいです。この間は家族でアーカンソー州へ旅行に行ってきました!東京では決して触れることのできない大自然、真っ赤っかな紅葉に唖然!口が開いたまま3分ほど閉まりませんでした笑笑。パターゴルフ、マジックショー、大自然の中の教会にも連れて行ってもらいました。濃い時間をホストファミリーと過ごし、また1つ仲が深まった気がします。来週、レスリングの大会があります。負ける気が一切しません。今までの練習の成果を十分に発揮して優勝しようと思います。

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When you talk to exchange students, you often hear them say “you’ll get used to it after three months.” One or two months ago, if you had asked me how I was feeling, I would’ve said that I was very unsure why I was doing the exchange because it was so different from what I had imagined before. But now that the three months has passed, I am not thinking like that at all anymore. In fact, I have actually gotten used to it. I still haven’t totally adjusted to the speed of the language in the classes and I can’t understand everything that my friends are saying, but I am starting to be able to respond and react to that and to adjust accordingly. And I’m certainly enjoying it all a lot more now.

The other day I went on a trip to Arkansas with my host family. I was awestruck by the nature and the beauty of the changing leaves. I probably stood there for about three minutes with my wide mouth wide open in shock. My host family took me to church and putter golf and a magic show and many other exciting things surrounded by this wonderful nature. It was another chance to deepen the bonds with my host family.
Next week I have a wrestling tournament. I have no thoughts of losing. I will do my best after all the hard training I’ve done and I expect to win.

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It is exciting to see how much he is experiencing and growing. We are very proud of all the hard work he is putting in, and we know he is going to get so much out of this adventure.

Take care, Shobu!


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about Seiritsu

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

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