Seiritsu International Education

Spring is seen everywhere as a time of renewal, especially in Japan. It is the time businesses hire and schools start the new academic year. It is also the time the when the sakura / cherry blossoms bloom, which is early this year due to warmer temperatures. The love of sakura comes from their fleeting beauty - such a feast for the eyes but gone in a few days. This fleeting beauty and the implied appreciation of it is known among Japanese literary types as mono no aware, or in Japanese ものの哀れ.

Let's take time to look around and appreciate life and nature's beautiful and get our minds set for a renewed outlook on this year's study and work.

writer: staff  date: 9:53 AM | Life at Seiritsu

高一的时候文理都得学，这作为一个外国人来说实在是很难，但是今年我去了理科，虽然一样很辛苦但是相比去年好太多了。
在二者面谈的时候，老师跟我说了英检的重要性，随后我就去将准二级考了下来，下面我将要努力去把二级考下，这对我考大学很重要。

When I was in the first year of high school, I had to study arts and sciences. It was really difficult for me because I am not Japanese . But this year I went to science class. Although it was hard work, it was much better than last year.

During the interview before my second year, the teacher told me about the importance of the Eiken , and then I studied and passed the pre 2nd-level test. Next, I will work hard to take the level-2 test, which is very important for my university entrance examination.

writer: staff  date: 1:01 PM | Life at Seiritsu

The International Department works with Seiritsu Zebra and teaches English to local kids after school. There are lessons several days a week. We have been holding various events for the regular students and their friends and family members. With Covid-19 the events have been limited but they are still happening and the kids enjoy them a lot.

Here is the link to the Seiritsu Zebra website where there was a blog post about the event yesterday. It is in Japanese but you can get an idea of what it is like thru the pictures.

https://www.seiritz-zebra.jp/english/

writer: staff  date: 3:43 PM | Life at Seiritsu

This year, with the help of the International Department, I learned English and Japanese. My weekly study enabled me to communicate with my teachers and classmates in high school. I didn't understand at first, but now I can communicate normally. This year's help has been very great for me. Although there is the impact of the epidemic, and I needed to take classes online, I can take classes without subtitles because of the help of everyone in the International Department.

writer: staff  date: 3:28 PM | Life at Seiritsu

Because of the pandemic, we couldn't practice soccer with the team for almost 3 months from December through March. Instead, we had couple online trainings with the team and I managed the time to practice on my own. It was tough to keep up the energy and constantly practice by yourself, but I always wanted to be better and work more than others. I watched some professional soccer games, and my own games to compare and learn. I went on runs in the morning when I had time. I didn't have anyone to pass the ball with, but I used the wall to be my "passing partner". Practicing by myself wasn't as bad but it was a lot different because it was not as fun as when you're playing with your friends/ teammates. We can always learn from each other and make ourselves better by practicing together. Since we have tournaments in March, I will practice harder and hopefully get back in shape so we can win!

writer: staff  date: 12:48 PM | Life at Seiritsu

There were a lot of changes and different activities this past year. Normally, we would have had many chances for students to spend time in SGC (Seiritsu Global Centre) and get to know all about the room. But that was not really possible this past year, so some students didn't really know much about this special room and all the activities that typically happen here.

With class times at a premium, we could not do much during regular class schedules. During the spring seminar season though, we were able to get some time to introduce the room the 1st graders of high school. So, starting this week, we are showing the room and the Tadoku program to a number of groups of students - split into smaller groups to keep social distancing. And we are making sure they use alcohol hand-sanitizer before and after their visit. We also limit the number of books they can touch in each group so, while they can not look freely through the almost 2000 books on hand, they can still get a fairly clear idea of what we have in SGC (and the library, too!).

The first groups of students really seemed to enjoy the visit and the chance to try out the English books. We look forward to seeing more students drop in in the new school year!

writer: staff  date: 3:43 PM | Life at Seiritsu

While the Extensive Reading Program, called Tadoku, was not used as much in classes this past year due to the pandemic, several students would come regularly to SGC to take out books. We did not have a proper system in place so we could not expand the idea, until now!

Thanks to Makise Sensei and several International teachers, we have been able to introduce Tadoku into the main school library. There are still quite a few bugs to work out but we really wanted to be able to offer the ability to take out more English books from the library.

Here is one more way that we are helping the students work towards their dreams and passions.

writer: staff  date: 12:49 PM | Life at Seiritsu

It seems that spring has sprung early this year. In some areas, sakura is already blossoming.

My favourite thing to do this time of year is to cycle around the city and spot sakura wherever I go. I usually do a tour of lots of different parks in Shinjuku ward.

When I stop for a break, I go to the konbini and explore the limited edition spring items. Or, if I want to treat myself and spot a Starbucks, I get the Japan limited sakura frappuccino. As the weather gets warmer I also love the ice-cream mochi that you can buy everywhere. They do a range of flavours: vanilla, strawberry, pancake, and coffee.

Where do you go to see the sakura? What are your go-to snacks?

writer: staff  date: 10:16 AM | Life at Seiritsu