three students from the Foreign Language Course
At All Corners Of
The Globe...
Every Year we have many students traveling
abroad on both short and long term exchanges and trips. In addition, every
year there are many students studying here from many countries around
the world.
Last year we had twelve students
studying in Canada, New Zealand ,the United States, Sweden and Mexico.
The following reports were written by three of those students.
| Sendai Ikuei Students abroad for 2003/2004 |
| ��Studied at George S. Henry Academy Toronto, Canada |
made me cry, happy
and grown up.
Last year I was fortunate enough to spend 11months studying abroad in Toronto, Canada. The first sight of Toronto still remains with me and how this 11month studying abroad began with my big hope.
�@The first couple of months it seemed that everything around me was going well and I thought I was doing well in Toronto, too. But I had been a half-baked person. I found some difficulties that I had to face. It was not only English problems that I couldn't speak well, but also other languages gave me a troublesome headache. Toronto is the biggest city of Canada and it is like a "salad bowl of race", so often, referred to America which also has multiple nationalities. Thus, there are many people who come from different countries all over the world. I had an anxious feeling how was I going to supposed to communicate with people because sometimes they spoke their own language. Furthermore, they even made friends with people who could speak same language. I was impatient being stuck on the wall of communication.
�@I told myself that I should do something so I tried to talk with whoever I could have a conversation with. So I got firsthand impressions of various countries by talking to them. It was really fascinating for me to know both the culture and lifestyle of Canada and other countries.
�@I was also gifted by my teachers. They are one of the important parts of the improvement in my English skills. If there wasn't their help, I wouldn't have success in my exchange program. But my effort was everything to improve my English. Even though the teachers taught me strictly, my effort and guts had never been defeated. In order to make a good progress in my English skills, I worked really hard. Eventually, I could have a confidence to myself and get faith from teachers and friends.
�@I also spent my time at a Japanese language school working as a volunteer. It was also a good experience to take care of Japanese-Canadian children every weekend. They were so small but their big smile always made me feel good. I learned the importance of using polite Japanese and kindness.
�@I also enjoyed the great tastes of Toronto. I visited some well-known places in Toronto such as the biggest tower in the world (CN tower!), one of the famous millionaire's big castles (Casa Loma!) and so on. The most unforgettable thing was the musicals I saw. I had a drama class so I become interested in plays. Then finally I got a chance to see real musicals, "MAMMA MIA!" and "The Lion King". I cannot explain exactly what I feel in the theater by all words that I know. That totally moved me. I think musicals make us come to realize new worlds that we don't know. These are all my pleasures in Toronto that I've never experienced before.
�@There were a lot of things that made me cry, happy and grown up. I believe there will be more new things and discoveries in the world that I don't see and find yet. I hope I will be able to go abroad again to see new worlds.
Grade 12,
Foreign Language Course
Graduate at Funabasama Jr. High
Studied at George S. Henry Academy Toronto, Canada
From September 2002 through June 2003
| ��Studied at A. L. Fortune Secondary School, B.C., Canada |
the music with
the Canadian musicians.
"I want to make friends in Canada!!" This was my biggest purpose of studying in Canada. Of course I wanted to learn Canadian culture and improve my English skills more but I believed if I could just make friends, I would achieve those two purposes as well and get really great experiences. So I tried to talk to people as many as I can and smiled all the time at school. This is kind of weird but it worked! It had been just only 3 days that I could make friends but they were not real friends at that time though. When we became real friends, I think it was at least 3 months later. During that time, we did a lot of stuff like a party, going to a concert, shopping, going to fair and so on. I cannot remember exactly because we did so many things. I really enjoyed spending precious time with all of my best friends.
�@ At the school, of course, I had many great times, too. I took Foods (this is my favorite), Band(this one, too), Computer Graphics, Math, CAPP (in this class, you think about your future job) , Japanese (this was so much fun) and ESL. In my band class, I played the violin, which I had been practicing since I was four, talking charge of the oboe part.
�@ At first we could not communicate with each other because I could not speak English that much. Before we could communicate in English, we could communicate just through the music. We attended two big festivals and both of them were really great. Each member did such a great job that I have never seen. I think it is really good to communicate with others through something that you have been doing and interested in. I also took part in the Okanagan Youth Symphony. This was introduced by my band class teacher and orchestra and it had about 50 people. When I was in Sendai, I was a member of the Sendai Junior Orchestra, so it was not really hard for me. We had three concerts around a big city. It was so fun to play with Canadians and I'm really glad to have made friends out of the school through the violin. I really appreciate my band teacher that I got such a great opportunity. I think the something that you had been doing will be great and very useful and helpful, which was violin for me. My skills of the violin helped to make friends, communicate with others and even help people in need.
�@ My host family was Christian and we went to the church every Sunday morning. The church needed a musician who can play with the guitarist, drummer and singers so I offered to play with them. I played the piano every Sunday morning and I played the violin in some special events such as Christmas. I think it was incredible that I could help people using my specialty and they appreciated me. Also I would make good relationships. I enjoyed very much to play the music with the musicians in my church. I'm pretty sure that you had better to show your specialty in each case that you need to in foreign countries so that you will get the good results and relationships that you never expected.
�@Through my staying in Canada, I could get my English skills improved and make so many friends. I'd like to thank the A. L. Fortune Secondary School and the Ikuei International Center for having given me the wonderful opportunities. And I'm really glad that I got to meet someone as special as all of friends, host family and all the people I met in Canada. They always brightened my staying and made me feel so happy! I will never forget all of my friends and all the great times that I had! I love you guys from the bottom of my heart!
Grade 12,
Foreign Language Course
Graduate at Miyagi Kyouiku University Fuzoku Jr. High
Studied at A. L. Fortune Secondary School, B.C., Canada
From September 2002 through June 2003
| ��Rotary Exchange, U.S.A |
will be a special
memory forever.
I studied in Washington, USA as a Rotary exchange student. This experience for 11months was such a wonderful time in my life and I learned many important things during this stay.
�@The town I stayed is called "Battle Ground". It was a little town and full of nature. Most of people in that town were farmers and my first host family was also. They had 3 children who were about my age. They were shy, but very nice to me. They lived in countryside and they had a huge, famous farm. Honestly saying, when I got there at the first time I was in anxiety because I had never lived in such a countryside, but it was unnecessary worry. Thanks to the stay with them, I had valuable experience I wouldn't be able to have in my hometown. They had farm animals such as cows and goats, so I enjoyed taking care of them. And when I was free I went for a walk with my host family to a hill at the back of their house. One day, when I and my host dad went to shopping, a deer was hit by his car and the meat of this killed deer was served at our dinner table, and it happened twice. It made me really surprised.
�@After staying for 4 months with them I moved to another host family. They had 3 children. They were already independent of their parents. My second host family were very lovely people and it didn't take a long time to get to know each other. They treated me as if I was their own daughter. They took care of me a lot. If I was in a sad or hard situation, they always helped me to get out of there. I love them very much.
�@The school I went was big and about 2000 students were studying there and 90% of them were white people. There were only a few Asians, including me. School life was really fun but was also hard. I enjoyed taking interesting classes such as drama and pottery class, but English and US history class, which were required for foreign students, were very hard for me. I still remember I studied until midnight to understand these classes. So I was very glad when I found out that I got good grades for them. The first day of school I talked to the girl who was sitting next to me. She was the first friend I had in America and she became my best friend after that. Through this 11 months, I think I made many friends not only in America, but in all over the world. I always tried to talk to anyone around me positively, so I got to make many friends without many difficulties.
�@However, the most unforgettable thing was that I met other foreign students from other Asian countries in Rotary. We got along quickly and shared our life in America. If somebody got some problem, we could tell everything to each other, and they were good listeners and advisers. We also shared our own cultures and I was really surprised that they are interested in Japan very much and they know about Japan more than I expected. And I realized how much I was ignorant of own culture. There are words which my Korean friend said to me that I can't forget, "Chie, I had very bad images for Japanese people from my parents and grandpa's view before I came here, but I found it wasn't quite true because I met you. Thank you". This really touched my heart and I thought I want many Asian people to know about Japan more and I want to know about their cultures, too.
�@I had really precious experiences in the US. Months went by very quickly. My English is much more improved than before, and I grew up a lot. Now I have friends all over the world. I'm sure that time will be a special memory forever. I want to say thank you to my host family, all of my friends and people I met over there. I'll never forget that we've had a great time together!
Grade 12,
Foreign Language Course
Graduate at Takasago Jr. High
Rotary Exchange U.S.A
From September 2002 through June 2003
