Seiritsu International Education

Hello everyone!

Tomorrow is the day for the junior high entrance exams. We hope everyone is ready and we wish you all the best of luck!

In particular, we hope that the snow is able to hold off until later in the day. They are calling for snow again tomorrow and, if it comes early, it means we could have problems with students getting to school.

If it does snow, please make sure you leave early so that you can get here on time. And please travel carefully.

See you tomorrow!

writer: staff  date: 11:47 AM | Life at Seiritsu

My first time in Yokohama, December 14, 2017, we went for an excursion of the school.


We were numerous - three teachers and ten students. We visited and saw the famous spots like the bridge, park, and the boats of Yokohama. We found them by help of a map. We created groups and each group was trying to take a picture of spots wrote on the quiz sheet. Everyone enjoyed this day.

writer: staff  date: 9:26 AM | Life at Seiritsu

We had a wonderful visit with some students from Korea on Friday. The students were here in Japan on a short homestay experience made possible by the Korean Japanese Association (KOJA) and their educational branch, Haewei Education Development (HED).

They only had the morning available as it was the last day of their stay in Japan. So we tried to pack in as much fun as we could in the short time we had available.

After greetings and a tour of the school we had them spend an hour with our junior high school third-year students. In this class we played with a bunch of different traditional Japanese activities, such as: kendama, ayatori, karuta, koma, and den-den daiko.

And then in the next one hour session we had them with our first year high school students who will be going on the Homestay trip in March. In this session, we played more physical activities including a gesture game.

At the end of the morning, students spent a lot of time exchanging contact details and taking pictures together. They really enjoyed themselves.

It was really good to see the students connecting despite language and cultural barriers. In fact, despite all of the challenges that occur at the government level, many times on a personal level we can overcome most of these challenges and make wonderful friendships. That is a big part of our mission here at the international department. We want to foster those friendships and those wonderful experiences to help promote international communication and cooperation.

We would like to thank the people at KOJA and HED for contacting us and enquiring about a visit. We hope to see you again!

writer: staff  date: 8:11 AM | Life at Seiritsu

Tokyo had a lot of snow come down Monday and Tuesday. We had about 23cm of snow. It was a record amount. We have not had so much snow since 2014. And the metropolis is not so good at handling such heavy amounts of snow.

This means we had a day off from school. For most teachers, this means our families were at home too. So it was a nice day off with our families.

However... Not everyone was off. Some people had to come in for the entrance exams. And they had to shovel the sidewalks and the other areas to make sure that students could arrive on the next day.

Students don’t often see what happens behind the scenes. It’s very important to make sure that everything runs smoothly and this means making sure that they don’t see anything happening behind the scenes. But then again we also make them help us clean the field when they do come to school. This is for them for their clubs. This helps them feel appreciation for just how smoothly things run in the regular times.

It’s a nice balance.

writer: staff  date: 8:10 AM | Life at Seiritsu

In the winter holiday of my grade 1, I went back to my home,Shanghai. By the way, I brought my friend Tsunoda to Shanghai for a trip. He stayed for one week in my home with me.
The first day, I took him to the center of Shanghai to watch the skyline of Shanghai, the place which called Lujiazui. A lot of skyscrapers. We went to the TV Tower of Shanghai of a great view, saw the opposite of Huangpu River.


We also went to the Shanghai Disney Land. It was fantastic and gorgeous. We went to a brave road, seemed very dangerous but we have safe ropes, very exciting experience.
We took the bulled train of china which called ‘Gaotie’ to Hangzhou for a great trip of Chinese culture. At evening we had dinner in a restaurant called ‘Louwailou’, which G20’s dinner took place in.The meal there was perfect.

writer: staff  date: 9:19 AM | Life at Seiritsu

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year！！
Winter holiday is coming and I am going back to Shanghai！
Many of my friends studied abroad came back to shanghai during the new year. I was happy to met them and sent them Nengajio. My friend and I went to a department store at Cristmas Eve. We had a delicious mocha cake and took pictures under the shining Christmas tree. I also met my family, we had a wonderful meal together.

The most meaningful thing I did during my stay was i went to the airport, where my mom works. I helped as a one-day intern about their Christmas event. We gave costumers little gifts, like Christmas candies ,candles and cards. They were all made by ourselves! We also have a ‘Santa Claus’. He helped taking pictures with the costumers. When we see the smile on their face, we felt joy and blessed them having a great Christmas.

I went to the biggest Starbucks in the whole Asia during my stay. It had opened only for a month in Shanghai. There were not only coffee,but also many Starbucks goods,bread and tea. You can also see many many huge machines that keep the coffee beans. They showed you how they were made into delicious coffee. Many people sat down and at the bar desk enjoyed drinking Starbucks drinks and cakes. We were amazed at huge structures and the atmosphere. We loved this place so much!

At last my friends came to my home in the evening before new year. We ate hotpot! We took raw food into the pot, add some seasoner. That was perfect! We watched Kohaku Uttagasen and enjoyed the food. We really had a great time! At last,we counted down together and gave each other a big hug. Hello, 2018!

The next day, all of the Alice members went to the Senior’s Home. We held a New Year Concert for them,we sang songs and danced. I hoped we can helped their children to visit them instead. I hoped through our performance, they can feel happy and not being alone anymore.

2017 has past. I looked back and realized I had a wonderful 2017. I have done everything and approaching to my dream step by step. Many things had happened to me and I expected to the new year. So wish you all have a wonderful year!!! Happy New Year 2018!

Rebecca

writer: staff  date: 11:57 AM | Life at Seiritsu

Happy New Year! Fifteen days have already passed since the ball has dropped in New York, signaling that 2018 has started.





Have you done anything different since the new year has begun? Personally, I have been attached to my Harry Potter audiobooks, so you won’t see me without my earphones! I’m not sure if I want to set a reading goal, but I definitely want to re-listen to the Potter books once I have finished listening it for the first time. There are always details you miss that could open your eyes.


As it’s nearing late January, we are approaching something called “daikan” (大寒), which essentially means really cold weather. This year, “daikan” starts January 20th and ends on February 3rd. As it’s said to be very cold during this time, be sure to dress properly!





Here is a fun, random fact about “daikan” weather: eggs hatched during the early “daikan” weather are called “daikan eggs!” Apparently, they are extremely nutritious and delicious. According to Feng Shui, these eggs also bring luck, health, and fortune! Since it brings such prosperity, I think I’m going to grab a couple of these eggs myself! Why don’t you try some these coming weeks?


See you!

Teresa

writer: staff  date: 1:03 PM | Life at Seiritsu

JET Teacher Laurence here.


Happy New Year to all of our readers!


This past December, I decided I would spend Christmas and New Year in Japan in order to travel and save money. Plane tickets back to Canada usually cost me around $1500! That is over 133,000 Yen!


Instead, I had a video call with my family on Christmas. Then, I went to Numazu, in Shizuoka. The sea was so beautiful. The weather was great too.








I went to Izu-Mito Sea Paradise there. It’s a famous aquarium. My favorite part was the jellyfish tank. You can see Mt. Fuji from the Aquarium. It was very very windy.











I also went to the Numazu Fish market. I had Kaisendon, pickled squid and fish Miso Soup there. Everything was delicious.





A friend from America came to Japan for New Years! I guided her around Tokyo and on the 30th we went to the Winter Comiket. It was at Tokyo Big Sight. I had never been to the Comiket before. It was a very impressive event. There were so many people! It was hard to move around but I am glad I went.


I spent New Years at home. I had a lot of things to do. There are so many things I want to do this year. What are your goals for 2018?


Cheers,

Laurence

writer: staff  date: 12:53 PM | Life at Seiritsu

In term four, we had a international school trip to Yokohama, mainly in helping the Japanese students who would go study abroad with their English stuff.

For me it’s just a trip to relax during the schooldays LOL. First we went to a fantastic place called Harbor view park. It has beautiful gardens, gorgeous museum and perfect view of the harbor between Tokyo and Yokohama. When I stood on the corner of the mountain in the park, I could clearly see the whole harbor and the Rainbow Bridge, that made me feel great.

That day was really cold with big wind. Although I wore a large coat, it didn’t work very well to protect the wind. Although I think I should wore more clothes, it’s much better than the Japanese students who wore the uniforms, that seems freeze.

writer: staff  date: 12:57 PM | Life at Seiritsu

A belated happy new year to everyone!


Although there have been extra classes thorough the winter holiday, today is the official first day back at school for staff and students alike at Seiritsu. We hope everyone has had a relaxing end of year break.





This year in the Japanese calendar is Heisei 30, and is a year of the Dog. Dog in Japanese is inu (pronounced 'ee-nuu'), but the kanji (written character) for the usual pet poochie (犬) and the zodiac hound (戌) are different!


In Japan there are several traditions associated with New Year. One of them is Kagami Biraki, or breaking the kagami mochi (rice cake) ritual. More detail on it can be found here. Every year I take part in the kagami biraki ceremony at the Nippon Budokan, the national hall for martial arts. This is a special ceremony because it invites various styles of martial arts to all practice together in the center arena.



Lots of exciting things are planned for this year, and the countdown to Tokyo 2020 Olympics is well underway! We are also hoping for lots of visitors, so if you are thinking of coming to Tokyo and want to experience life in a Japanese high school, please get in touch and let us know!


Peter Williams
International Department Coordinator

writer: staff  date: 8:52 AM | Life at Seiritsu