Both Japan and the US (and other countries like Canada) have a Thanksgiving Day. Japan's is actually a public holiday "Labor Thanksgiving Day". In the US, it is a public holiday on the 4th Thursday of every November where families get together to eat and appreciate the good things that life has given them. Some of the more well-known foods eaten are turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Yum!
Recently, the international students and the study abroad students went on an excursion. The weather was really nice so I enjoyed walking around Tokyo. We went to a the Japanese national government building, called the Diet building. We also learned about Tokyo tower before climbing it to see the views. At a nearby temple called Zojoji, we also looked at the many jizo. The jizo that we saw today were especially made for children. It was interesting to see all the personalized jizo that people have dressed up.
I am happy I was able to make new friends with the students who plan to study abroad or have studied abroad in the past.
One of our international students from Finland last year, Eskild, participated in a Japanese calligraphy class (shodo) which also included carving his own name stamp. He did quite well and recently the shodo teacher, Mauro-Sensei, has sent him some of the artwork that Eskild had made as a present to remind him of his time in Japan.
Not bad, not bad at all.
Students in front of the main meeting point at Tokyo station, Gin-no-suzu.
Last Friday the international department rode into the massive Tokyo station to begin a historical walking tour for the morning, followed by a delicious chanko-nabe lunch.
Recently the students have been studying the history of Tokyo so the walk was a chance to go
see famous places explained in their textbooks, to touch and feel history up close so to speak.
Nihonbashi, once the main area of Edo and from where all the Tokugawa roads distances were calculated from, with it being point zero.
Mistukoshi Department store, beside Nihonbashi, about a 5 minute walk from the east side of Tokyo station.
Near the Imperial Palace on the west side of the station. The day was perfect for walking around being bright and cool.
We also visited the Imperial Hotel for a quick break, then went exploring for the statue of the founder of Edo, Ota Dokan, in the Tokyo International Forum. From there we quickly took some trains over to Ryogoku for traditional sumo food, chanko-nabe. As per any year-end party, everyone took terms speaking about their year now passing and the new year about to begin. It was truly an enjoyable day and way to end the school year.
On March 1, 2009, over 300 third year students graduated from Seiritsu. Here is the 'Graduation Ceremony' sign painted in Japanese calligraphy at the school gate.
In the school auditorium, Principal Fukuda gave the graduates some final advice on their last day at school.
Each homeroom president came up to collect the diplomas from the principal, of which would be handed out one by one to the students back in their classroom from their homeroom teacher.
When the class president receives the certificates, the whole class stands and they bow to the principal in unison, as per Japanese custom.
Here students in one homeroom gather for a group picture, with parents in the back row. When the diplomas are handed out, the parents are also present at the back of the class so they can take pictures.
Select first and second year students from the different clubs line the front courtyard as each graduating class is led out of the school by their homeroom teacher. As the graduates pass by, their juniors from the clubs hand them flowers and gifts. The graduates actually curl back into the courtyard when they get to the gate, as then much time is spent taking pictures with classmates, club members and friends.
Here is the karate club, with the four graduating members, their juniors plus the coaches Richard Sensei and Kakiya Sensei.
Dylan with his homeroom, 1A, and the card that they made for him. His homeroom teacher, Hamano Sensei, is on the very left.
Dylan shares a laugh with the captain of first year's soccer team.
As the school year winds to a close, we say farewell to Dylan who, after a year at Seiritsu, ends his time early here to return to New Zealand. But before he departed, he left this message...
My 11 months in Japan has been a great experience in many ways that I did not expect when I arrived. Before I arrived in Japan, I thought I already was strong mentally and physically, but the Japanese proved to me that I was no more than another person that plays soccer in Japan. They showed me that to be good at what you are doing you have to work hard in all aspects of life. Things like cleaning, dishes, school, soccer, practice, running, running, running, getting training ready and many more needed to be done properly or I did not get to play. And that is what I wanted most- to play.
The first 6 months here were the hardest as I had never worked so hard for this long of a period in my whole life. There were times when I wanted to just say I was finished and just fly back to New Zealand but resisting these temptations are the things that make you stronger in the long term. If you don’t accept them, you just accept that you have them and use it to your advantage.
I have only been away for a year but it feels like I have been living in Japan for 5 years or more. This year has strengthened me in every way possible. I now know what it really is like to work hard and to try to understand a different culture, but I still cannot imagine what it would be like to actually be a Japanese person.
I also now feel like I can tackle life at full speed as I know what it is like to be at the bottom of your game and to have no confidence at times. I have experienced it and the ways to get myself back on top, so if it happens again, which in no doubt it will, I am prepared. It was also a good age for preparing as 16 is a lot closer to adult life that I thought. My time in Japan will never be forgotten for reasons that I can not explain in words.
A special thanks to the Fukuda family for believing in me, Richard for helping me out with everything that needed to be done to help me stay in the country and Lawrence for teaching me more in one year than I have ever learned in my whole life at school. Also a big thank you to the soccer staff at Seiritsu for helping to make me strong. I am very grateful to Hiroshi Miyazawa and Wynton Rufer for getting me into this school and Seiritsu Gakuen for giving me this opportunity and I hope the school continues to succeed.
By Dylan Windust
Dylan has been a joy to have at the school and in the International Department. We wish him and his family all the best in the years to come.
Wessel, Dylan and Poom
Ryosuke and David
As today was the last day of school before the winter break, the International Department had our year-end lunch with the school Director, Mr. Yohei Fukuda, and the Vice-Principal, Mr. Tadao Kurihara. While we enjoyed an amazing lunch by the school chef Mr. Akakura (calling him just a cook would be too impolite) our conversation centered around how all the international students were adjusting to Japan.
In terms of conversing with Japanese students, the students had some troubles at first communicating since their Japanese is limited, especially the 3 EF boys who arrived in September, but all were getting better. Dylan said he feels in the last few weeks he is finally able to one of the boys and the soccer coaches are treating him less like a guest, probably due to his language skills having improved.
In terms of food, all the boys seem to like any type of noodle, be it ramen, soba or udon. Some students like sushi and sashimi while others don't like raw food. Wessel says he doesn't like 'pig nerves', probably refering to 'horumon-yaki', or broiled pig innards (which is not something Japanese people have everyday and I personally find delicious due to its marinated, barbeque taste).
As we prepare for the new year, when at least 3 more new students will be joining the school, Mr. Fukuda asked the boys where they would like to visit in Japan. It seems everyone would like to get to another part of Japan during their stay here, so I will be arranging a short trip probably around May.
Good food and pleasant discussion always seems to go by too fast, as soon we were finishing our coffee or tea with even little cakes and sweets supplied by Akakura-san, and then the boys were off, Ryosuke and Dylan to their soccer practice and the EF boys to enjoy their winter break.
Richard
Second year Australian international student Jason Davidson received some good news these last few weeks that not only has he been chosen for his country's national under-20 football squad preparing for the 2009 World Cup, but the Melbourne Knights Football Club in his home town has signed him to his first professional contract starting from January.
After 2-1/2 years training in the Seiritsu soccer academy, the school wishes Jason all the best as he pursues his athletic dreams. Definitely the time he spent at the Seiritsu training ground with the coaches, student athletes and support staff has paid off for him.
It's Lawrence again and I just thought I would explain what Richard and I did this past summer.
August 21-23 was the 2008 Wadokai World Karate Championships in Vancouver, Canada. The Wadokai is one of the four main karate style associations under the Japan Karatedo Federation (JKF) teaching the popular Wado-ryu style.
Both Richard and I competed as members of Team Canada in these World Championships which saw competitors from over 13 countries shoot for top spots in many different divisions.
Richard competed in Men's Individual Kata, Men's Over 35 Individual Kata, and Team Kata.
I competed in Men's Individual Kata, and Team Kata (with Richard and one other friend, we represented Team Canada).
And I'm very happy to say that we came home with some medals.
Richard got a bronze in Men's Individual Kata, 4th place in the Over 35 division, and gold in Team Kata.
As for myself, I got a silver in Men's Individual Kata and, like Richard, the gold medal in Team Kata as part of Team Canada.
The tournament was a really great experience for both of us and because it was in Vancouver, it was a chance for us to be back in our hometown and see all our friends and family at the same time.
-Lawrence
Konnichiwa and hey! My name is Wessel, I’m 17 years old and come from Holland and this is my first blog post. I will stay here in Japan for 11 months and will be living at several home stays. This is the second time I have visited Japan. Last year I won a scholarship to go to Japan for five weeks and I really enjoyed those weeks so that’s one of the main reason I wanted to go back. During this year I hope I will read many great manga, learn more about the Japanese history and arts and I really want to improve my Japanese as well.
There are a lot of manga that I like. At the moment my favorites are: One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Slam Dunk, Death Note, Gantz, Akira, Berserk and many more. I also like to draw manga myself, although I still need some more practice.
Beyond that, when I was 14 years old I wanted to learn more about the history of Japan. I really liked samurai and budo (martial arts). Two years ago I wrote a really big essay about the Meiji period though at first I didn’t really knew much about it, I learned a lot while writing it.
At the moment my Japanese is not really good. I can’t read hiragana or katakana and I only know a few words, but I’m very sure I will learn a lot while I’m studying here at Seiritsu and living here in Japan.
I’m sure I will have the best time of my life during the next couple of months. I hope I will make lots of friends and learn a lot about the Japanese language and culture. I know that it will be difficult at some points, but I’m sure it will work out well.
- Wessel Jansen
Seiritsu Gakuen is a private co-educational high school created in 1925 and it is located in Tokyo, Japan.