Japan Exchange's blog

Hi All,

Wow what a great sleep we would of all had last night.....no doubt after watching the Phoenix win, Kiwis get smashed and then the AB's doing the business!

I am guessing not many kids got up before the afternoon today and they will take another day to recover.  They will catch up on their sleep and then be telling you stories non stop for a long time.

Ohayoo gozaimasu

Well yesterday was our last true school day and the kids got to experience some really fun classes.  The day started off with a shodo (calligraphy) class and everyone got to make a wall hanging that was presented later in the night.  The teachers commented on how strong many of the students were at this and this is shown in the quality of their characters.

Minasan Ohayoo gozaimasu

Hope all is well back home.  We had a great day yesterday at USJ and as you can imagine the kids (and some teachers) went mad there.  We split into 3 groups as it is fairly difficult to get 21 kids and teachers and SGJHS students through rides together without delays.  The 3 groups made it around many rides and had a real blast.

Hi All,

Today we travelled by bus to visit Kyoto temples and shrines.  It was all very impressive.  The students took lots of photos and this will be with them forever.  We were lucky enough to see a baby christening at Heian Jingu and this does not happen very often. 

Hi All,

Had a great day today at the sports festival.  I guess the pictures will really speak for themselves and the kids had to get in and participate with the Japanese students.

In our team relay we got a very credible 3rd and if the baton changes had been a bit sharper we could have taken it out!

We had ball throwing games, tug-o-war, novelty race and a few other minor games that the kids really enjoyed. 

Hi again,

Day 3 started with a celebration.  I managed to sneek down to a very rare bakery in Japan that sells proper cakes, as we know them anyway, and we had a small birthday celebration for Amber.  She was pretty embarrased but enjoyed the moment, and especially the cake.

Minasan Konnichiwa,

We all had a great day today with our welcome ceremony.  The performances were outstanding and our students realised just how much effort the people here really put into everything they do.

Our speeches were awesome, it honestly would be the best set of speeches by a group I have ever taken to Japan.  They all slowed down, spoke clearly and the pronounciation was brilliant.  They really did an amazing job.

Hi All,

Will make this short and sweet but everyone got here on time and in one piece.  Its now 10.43pm and have just had a meal with my host family after seeing everyone off with their families from school.  The kids did a great job organising themselves and getting through the airports and flights.  Everyone was a bit tired and nervous about going off with their host families but I am sure those nerves will be all but gone in a day or two.  Will upload some photos tomorrow and now its time to catch up some much needed sleep.

Hi All Parents,

Thanks for all the support and positive feedback over the past 10 months.  We really have covered a whole lot of different things that have, thanks to you all, run extremely smoothly. 

The kids are ready to go, the paperwork is done and now things are all set.

Believe me when I say this is going to be life changing for our kids and I hope that they all really put  110% into everything and they will get so much out of the exchange.

Hey All,