Kiaora!
My last week passed really fast, and I had a great, but long flight home. I left at 5am Saturday and arrived into Blenheim at 5pm Sunday! First it was the subway, then bus, then flight Fukuoka to Bangkok (5.5hours). In Bangkok I had a 5 hour wait, so I had wondered around the shops, read, and had a Thai curry. Then the big flight, 11.5hours to Auckland. Followed by a 3 hour wait inwhich I caught up with my parents and sister, and then the final leg home.
It's wonderful to be back. Everything is so green and spacious! New Zealand is so beautiful.
I'm looking forward to Term 4 and seeing everyone again.
Enjoy the hols,
Amelia
Carnival Balloons!
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Greetings from Japan,
Only one week left of the term, I bet you are all counting down till the holidays!
I've had a busy week. Suddenly my classes seem to be a lot harder and it's hard to learn so many new words. I'm expected to learn about 20 a day, but I find that really tough! I'm glad tomorrow is Friday!
I'm going to go to an island that has been designated a National Park and UNESCO reserve. It has a lot of endemic species of plants, birds and insects, so I'm really looking forward to tramping and exploring the island. It has the World's largest nesting area for endangered Loggerhead turtles. I wonder if I will see any.
I thought today I'd tell you alittle about buying things in Japan.
Don't hand the shopkeeper your money...... Use the money tray. One of things that struck me about Japan was the use of a little rectangular tray for your money when you pay for something. For having a reputation of being so technologically advanced, nearly all shopping transactions still use cash. After the cashier tells you the total amount purchased, you place your Japanese Yen in the money tray- you don't hand them your cash directly. Most Japanese people don't know what an EFTPOS card is because the banks don't provide them here. It's credit card or cash only. And most places don't except credit cards.
Here is what Japanese money looks like but this photo is a little old, 500Yen notes aren't in circulation any more:
1000Yen equals about $17. So can you work out what 1Yen equals? (answer is at the bottom of this blog).
Japanese cash registers- A lot of the bigger shops and chain stores have these. When you give the cashier cash to pay for your things, the cashier doesn't open the register and give you change... the register spits out the exact change. Thus, if your purchase cost ¥2,800 and you give her ¥5,000, she "feeds" the ¥5,000 bill into the register (like how you would feed a vending machine a dollar bill to buy a Coke), and the machine will automatically spit out ¥2,000 in bills and ¥200 in change (and the register never once opens).
Interesting aye.
That's all for now,
Bye bye
Amelia
P.S 1Yen equals almost 2 cents.
Only one week left of the term, I bet you are all counting down till the holidays!
I've had a busy week. Suddenly my classes seem to be a lot harder and it's hard to learn so many new words. I'm expected to learn about 20 a day, but I find that really tough! I'm glad tomorrow is Friday!
I'm going to go to an island that has been designated a National Park and UNESCO reserve. It has a lot of endemic species of plants, birds and insects, so I'm really looking forward to tramping and exploring the island. It has the World's largest nesting area for endangered Loggerhead turtles. I wonder if I will see any.
I thought today I'd tell you alittle about buying things in Japan.
Don't hand the shopkeeper your money...... Use the money tray. One of things that struck me about Japan was the use of a little rectangular tray for your money when you pay for something. For having a reputation of being so technologically advanced, nearly all shopping transactions still use cash. After the cashier tells you the total amount purchased, you place your Japanese Yen in the money tray- you don't hand them your cash directly. Most Japanese people don't know what an EFTPOS card is because the banks don't provide them here. It's credit card or cash only. And most places don't except credit cards.
Here is what Japanese money looks like but this photo is a little old, 500Yen notes aren't in circulation any more:
1000Yen equals about $17. So can you work out what 1Yen equals? (answer is at the bottom of this blog).
Japanese cash registers- A lot of the bigger shops and chain stores have these. When you give the cashier cash to pay for your things, the cashier doesn't open the register and give you change... the register spits out the exact change. Thus, if your purchase cost ¥2,800 and you give her ¥5,000, she "feeds" the ¥5,000 bill into the register (like how you would feed a vending machine a dollar bill to buy a Coke), and the machine will automatically spit out ¥2,000 in bills and ¥200 in change (and the register never once opens).
Interesting aye.
That's all for now,
Bye bye
Amelia
P.S 1Yen equals almost 2 cents.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Japanese Intermediate School
Konnichiwa!
How was the science fair and art auction? And the choir is tomorrow proformance right? Have fun!
I visited a chougakkou (Intermediate School) yesterday. Man, are they different to NZ schools. For starters, intermediate schools are for 3 years (from 13-16years old). Everyone (including the teachers) has a hot lunch, and you must eat it all. You can't choose what you eat. Most schools have a cafetaria where you eat, but at this school, you must eat in your classroom. I ate lunch with a class, it was curry vegetables, bread, salad, a cheese stick, and a bottle of milk yesterday. Sorry I forgot to get a photo, the food was all packaged like airplane food, and on a tray.
There is no morning tea or afternoon tea, and the school day is from 8:30-4:30. After that, students are expected to do at least 2 hours of homework, a school club activity (such as sports, music, art) and go to a cram class (for help in which ever subject they find the hardest). So the kids come home for dinner, then straight out again. You can't just go to any intermediate school, it depends on your grades in Year 6. If you have good grades, you can go to a good school. The same is for college and university. So it is very competitive and education is taken very seriously.
I was amazed that during class the children sit with their desks test style, and they don't talk! At lunchtime, the library is busy but quiet, and the classrooms are full of children doing homework and extra work. It's tough!
For every subject the children have their own textbook and that is all the teachers use. So everyone in the class does the same work. There are no groups like we have for maths, writing and reading.
There is very little art or children's work on the wall. Parents are only allowed to visit on special open days. At this school, there are no day trips. But everyone has one camp a year. No assembly, and no special guests. And the children do the cleaning of the school too- mop the floors, clean the white board etc,.
There are only 3 terms. And the children move from class to class like we do in college. Each subject has a different teacher. Every class has a homeroom where they meet in the morning for notices/role and at the end of the day. Most classes have 40 students.
Here are some pictures:
That's all for now,
O genki de ne, (take care)
Amelia
How was the science fair and art auction? And the choir is tomorrow proformance right? Have fun!
I visited a chougakkou (Intermediate School) yesterday. Man, are they different to NZ schools. For starters, intermediate schools are for 3 years (from 13-16years old). Everyone (including the teachers) has a hot lunch, and you must eat it all. You can't choose what you eat. Most schools have a cafetaria where you eat, but at this school, you must eat in your classroom. I ate lunch with a class, it was curry vegetables, bread, salad, a cheese stick, and a bottle of milk yesterday. Sorry I forgot to get a photo, the food was all packaged like airplane food, and on a tray.
There is no morning tea or afternoon tea, and the school day is from 8:30-4:30. After that, students are expected to do at least 2 hours of homework, a school club activity (such as sports, music, art) and go to a cram class (for help in which ever subject they find the hardest). So the kids come home for dinner, then straight out again. You can't just go to any intermediate school, it depends on your grades in Year 6. If you have good grades, you can go to a good school. The same is for college and university. So it is very competitive and education is taken very seriously.
I was amazed that during class the children sit with their desks test style, and they don't talk! At lunchtime, the library is busy but quiet, and the classrooms are full of children doing homework and extra work. It's tough!
For every subject the children have their own textbook and that is all the teachers use. So everyone in the class does the same work. There are no groups like we have for maths, writing and reading.
There is very little art or children's work on the wall. Parents are only allowed to visit on special open days. At this school, there are no day trips. But everyone has one camp a year. No assembly, and no special guests. And the children do the cleaning of the school too- mop the floors, clean the white board etc,.
There are only 3 terms. And the children move from class to class like we do in college. Each subject has a different teacher. Every class has a homeroom where they meet in the morning for notices/role and at the end of the day. Most classes have 40 students.
Here are some pictures:
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| Science-Intermediate 2nd grade (Year 8) |
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| Each student has their own goal for the term on the wall of their homeroom. |
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| Social Studies. |
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| The main school building. First floor is 1st grade, second floor is 2nd grade, 3rd floor 3rd grade. There are about 230 students at this school. On the other side of the walkway where I took the photo from is the computor room, art room and woodwork room. |
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| The school field. |
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| The art room. See how every room has a big tv on the wall? Every classroom in Japan has one. |
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The children take of their shoes and put on their undershoes. |
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| A music class. All the children in this school learn the alto recorder. Every music classroom in Japan has a grand piano. |
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| The corridor on 2nd floor. |
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| The library |
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| In the kitchen: milk |
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| All the food arrives each day in a truck. The student have to take turns collecting the food for their class and dishing it out. |
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| The lady in the mask (she has a cold) is in charge of the kitchen. She's watching the students are doing the right thing! |
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| Dishing up the food. Before eating the children say 'itadakimasu' (thanks for the meal) and after the meal they say 'gochisosamadeshita' (I appreciate the good meal). They have to stay at their desk for 30mins until the bell goes, then they have 30mins left of lunch do what they like. Not many children choose to go outside. I was the first Westerner to visit the school. The staff were nervous. The children were extremely shy and quiet. The staff were really nice, and I was really lucky to get a peek at a Japanese school. |
O genki de ne, (take care)
Amelia
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Shrines, a giant Buddha and forests!
Konnichiwa!
Genki?
How has your week been?
Here are some photos from my day trip to Nanzoin. A tiny town in the mountains, about 1hour from my city (Fukouka) which has a beautiful shrine and a giant Buddha. In Japan most people are both Buddist and Shinto: they have shinto weddings and buddhist funerals. Many people visit the shrines during special holidays and festivals.
Genki?
How has your week been?
Here are some photos from my day trip to Nanzoin. A tiny town in the mountains, about 1hour from my city (Fukouka) which has a beautiful shrine and a giant Buddha. In Japan most people are both Buddist and Shinto: they have shinto weddings and buddhist funerals. Many people visit the shrines during special holidays and festivals.
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| Beautiful rice paddies on the way. |
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| All around the mountain were little shrines and statues of all sizes as this area is a sacred spot. |
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| Lots of little caves and tunnels to explore! |
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| And ponds full of turtles |
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| This shrine is famous for providing good luck with money and safety while driving. |
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| See the snake! I was lucky to catch a photo of it. |
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| And here is the giant buddha having a lie down in the middle of the beautiful forest. |
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| See the size of it! I'm only as tall as Buddha samas foot! |
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| Beautiful water falls and bridges |
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| At the train station, time to go home again. Just as it began to pour down! |
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| And off I go! That's all for now. On Monday I'm going to visit an intermiedate school. If you think up any questions for me to ask the students or teachers let me know. Also any thing you'd like me to take a photo of at the school? Have a good weekend, Jaa Mata, Amelia Whiting |
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Carnival Time
Minnasan Konnichiwa,
I've had a great weekend, went to the festival I told you about and also to an amazing shrine amongst a very beautiful forest. I'll post you pictures of the shrine and info about it my next blog.
Here are some pics from the festival. It was actually more like a carnival, with lots of people, lots of food, and great music.
I've had a great weekend, went to the festival I told you about and also to an amazing shrine amongst a very beautiful forest. I'll post you pictures of the shrine and info about it my next blog.
Here are some pics from the festival. It was actually more like a carnival, with lots of people, lots of food, and great music.
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| Raw cucumbers on a stick! Very popular with the weight-watchers! |
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| Chocolate coated bananas- a great idea for the Harvest Spring Fair! |
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| Sausages |
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| Really good bbqed corn on the cob |
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| Kumara Chippies: with sugar or salt. Delicious! |
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| Is this a pet or dinner? |
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| Japanese Style Ghost House! Scary stuff |
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| Outside of the ghost house |
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| More fishing! Very popular! |
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| Cute baby turtles: these are definately pets! |
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| No carnival is complete without a train! |
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| And a bouncy castle |
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| This is in the middle of the carnival area: The shrine where everyone visits to give thanks for all living things. |
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| Posters for sale: Very popular with teenage girls. |
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| These girls must have come straight from a club activity. Japanese children usually go to a club (sports/calligraphy/languages/music) on Saturdays, and have to go in their school uniforms. |
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| Fried noodles |
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| And of course music! These drummers were amazing. That's all for now, Jaa Mata, Amelia Whiting |
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