Dinner with Hostfamily

On the last night, I was invited to one of our student's host family. They are hosting students from China, Norway and Japan. The dinner was Vietnamese. It was very international.

My Last Day in Adelaide

This is the coffee shop where we had lunch meetings three times a week.



This is the ninth floor where the office of the English Language Center is located.



Outside of their classrooms on the eleventh floor

This is a foyer of the English Center. We greeted each other every morning.

Victor Harbor

On Feb 23rd, we went to Victor Harbor by two-storied bus. The tour only included transportation, so each student only paid $16. We went to Granite Island by a hourse drawn tram.

The ocean view from Granite Island was breath-taking.

We walked along a trail and we were overwhelmed by the untouched nature. We felt so small .

This is an umbrella rock. Its shape hasn't changed for many years.

We stopped by the Penguin Center on the way back. We saw Fairy Penguins (the smallest penguin in the world) being fed and we could even touch his beautiful blue feathers. It was softer than I had thought.

Fringe Festival

We went to see the opening night of Adelaide Fringe http://www.adelaidefringe.com.au/ on Feb 22nd. We walked to Rymill Park where an outdoor concert took place.






On the way to the park, we enjoyed watching performances on several mini stages.

Nearby Restaurants

Katsumoto

When you miss Japanese food, you can stop by a Japanese restaurant in Adelaide Arcade. They serve lunch such as katsudon or Yakitori. You see lots of local people eating there.

Hudsons Coffee

Hudsons Coffee and Chibo serve very good coffee. My favorite is White Flat.

Bush Dance

After class on Wednesday, all the Japanese students enjoyed a Bush Dance with their host families at the Dom Polski Center. Bush Dance is like a falk dance we did at primary school in Japan.

There were more girls than boys, so some girls had to dance with another girl.





Host families brought some finger food. Students ate and drank during a break.










They tried many different types of dances. First, the boys were very reluctant to hold a girl's hand, but soon they soon forgot about that.

















Can you see how much fun they are having? When it was over at 10:00 p.m., the students were very tired.

Field Trip to Gleneig Beach

We took a tram to go to Gleneig Beach. It took us about half an hour.

Students were so excited about their first group visit to the beach.

Each student received a 10 dollar card at the Beach House. The first thing they bought was ice cream.

Akiko, Guglielmo and me were keeping eyes on students' bags.

Boys finally managed to play volleyball with other students.

The National Sorry Day

Students in most morning classes went to Elder Park to see the Sorry Day event. The National Sorry Day this year was particularly important, because their prime minister formally said sorry for the mistreatment of Aborigines for the first time. http://www.smh.com.au/multimedia/2008/national/australia-says-sorry/main.html














There were many booths and people were giving out brochures, stickers and even hot dogs.

Students participated in writing "sorry messages".






We found many black swans in the River Torrens. One of the students heard them said "Hello!"?

BBQ

After the long orientation, we enjoyed an Aussie BBQ with our host families. It started around 5:30 p.m., but it was still very bright.

Meeting our host families

When we got out from customs, we saw a huge sign for NUFS. Was our school color red? Many host families were holding the names of students. It was easy to spot them.

Finally students could meet their host families. A lot of happy and excited but a little worried faces.

Have a good weekend and see you on Monday.

Stopping by Singapore

We left Nagoya before it snowed heavily yesterday. While people were freezing in Nagoya, we enjoyed a bus tour in hot and steamy Singapore.

This is our first photo stop. Say cheese in front of the Merlion. Singapore is in the middle of the New years Holiday and the city was decorated nicely.

Three students are pretending to be a family of Merlinon on the top of the tallest hill in Singapore. You can see the Papa Merlion in the distance.

We had a great Chinese dinner at a restaurant. Beijing Duck was my favourite.

アデレイド研修に役立つリンク

いよいよ来週アデレイドに出発します。今回は研修に役立ちそうなサイトにリンクを張ってみました。

まずは、現地のお天気情報からです。
http://www.weatherzone.com.au/sa/adelaide/adelaide

次に長いフライトを退屈しないで過ごすために、シンガポール航空機内のentertainmentを紹介します。
http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_UK/content/exp/entertainment/movies/thismonth1.jsp

最初に立ち寄るシンガポールの情報です。
http://www.wordtravels.com/Cities/Singapore/Singapore

オーストラリアのホームステイに関するサイトを見つけました。業者のサイトなので皆さんの状況に合わないところもありますが、準備と心構えについては納得です。
http://www.ryugaku.com.au/accom/01.php#4

The University of Adelaide のEnglish Language Centerのサイトです。右上の大学のロゴをclickすると大学のHPも見られます。
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/elc/

Adelaideは見所の多い、美しい小都市です。勉強に疲れたら少し街にも足をのばしてみてはいかがでしょうか？
http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/scripts/nc.dll?ADCC:STANDARD::pc=PC_447

ちょうど皆さんの滞在中にfringeというお祭りがあるようです。普段見られないようなコンサートや映画も公開されるようです。

http://www.adelaidefringe.com.au/getdoc/0609fce7-0d55-4c9b-96c1-64acf1951237/Fringe-Guide.aspx

アデレイド研修に参加する皆さんへ

オーストラリアに出発するまで3週間をきりました。　準備は進んでいますか？引率教員の一人の宇治谷です。私は2月の26日までアデレイドに滞在します。　何かあったら気軽に声をかけてください。





今回研修に参加する皆さんのために、ブログを立ち上げました。リンクをはったりしながら、役に立つ情報をどんどん載せて生きたいと思います。皆さんが立ち上げるブログにもリンクを張っていきたいと思っています。お互いの情報交換の場になればと思っています。





最近去年同じ研修に参加した皆さんの先輩や、現在留学中の先輩とお話する機会がありました。内容をまとめてみます。





ホームステイについて


ホストファミリーは年代も人種も家庭によってまちまちです。お母さんがパキスタンから来たfamily もあれば、老婦人の一人暮らしの家庭、子供が独立してしまった中年夫婦の家庭、小さい子供のいる家庭もあるそうです。現地についたらすぐ家庭に移動するので、最初の週末は少しストレスもあるかもしれませんが、少しづつ慣れるようです。週末はfamilyと過ごすのですが、色々なところに連れて行ってくれるfamilyもあればそうでない家庭もあります。先輩の一人は外出好きのfamily にあたり、少し疲れたので、時には家にいたいという意思をはっきり伝えることも大切といっていました。





ストレス解消方


日記が効果的だそうです。特に最初の週末は自分の時間も多いので、暇つぶしにもなるそうです。英語で書いても、日本語で書いても後でとてもよい思い出になるそうです。



食事について

お昼はランチを持ってくる人と、近くのshopping centerで食べる人といるそうです。shopping centerには回転寿司も入っているし、日本の食材も手に入るようです。

自由時間の使い方
大学のそばにはshopping centerやmuseumがあります。South Australian Museum　http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/page/default.asp?site=1　に電子辞書片手に通いつめた先輩もいました。オーストラリアの歴史がわかってとても面白かったそうです。入場は無料。

又皆さんの方から何か質問があれば、コメントをどうぞ。

How to make your own blog

1. At the Blogger Start Up page click on the orange arrow: CREATE YOUR BLOG NOW.

2. Enter your email address, password, and display name. Click on the orange arrow: CONTINUE.

3. Name your blog (e.g. Welcome to my blog) and complete the url. Make sure the name reflects the purpose of the blog. Click on the orange arrow: CONTINUE.

4. Choose a template. Click on the orange arrow: CONTINUE.

5. You've created a blog!.

If you want to look at blogs created by other students, please clikc on the first url. If you would like to know more about how to make a blog, please click on the second url.
http://www.topics-mag.com/call/blogs/viewing_blogs.htm
http://prosites-vstevens.homestead.com/files/efi/blogger_tutorial.htm