Post trip

Hi All

Its the end of the trip but the start of the learning journey. Hope you all enjoyed the trip. Now for the post trip.

A few administrative details -

1 Blazers will need to be returned on 27 or 28 Dec 07. Please be there at 0900 hrs to 0930 hrs to return it. If you have dry-cleaned it, please attach the dryclean bill to the blazer and the $10 deposit will be returned. Blazers that are not drycleaned will be done en-bloc and the charges deducted from the $10.

2 The learning journey booklets are ready for collection at the general office. If you need them to jog your memory a bit, please trot down there and collect them. Look for Miss Chloe Tan if the office staff seemed unsure.

3 Your memoir and your powerpoint presentations should be someway done already. If you have already done so, please pass them to me when you hand in your blazers.

4 Come January 08, in Week 2, your parents will be invited to view your works and provide their suggestions to make future trips better. I will confirm the date once I am able to determine the best time. It will be in the evening and in all likeliness be on 10 Jan 08 starting at 7 pm ( so that your parents can be there after work).

5 Miyazaki Troopers, you owe me $10 for the postcards. Please hand them to me when you hand in your blazers. Hokkaido troopers, thank you. I have received all in full.

6 See you all on 27 and 28 Dec.

Blessings

EC

Hokkaido

Hi All

Hokkaido has been a wonderful experience from all of us. Thus far, we have "brought sunshine" to the people in Hokkaido who were expecting snow the next few days but instead had a beautiful sunny day when we arrived.


















The weather here is very cold (-2 when we arrived and -7 when we went to the convenience store across the road on the first night here). Here's Derek showing you how cold it had been! This was during the day.



On the first day, on arrival, we actually went to a high tech tomato farm which produces tomatoes as fruits instead of vegetables! They would measure the sugar content and any tomato which has a rating of less then 6 is sold off as vegetables. The rest are sold as fruits. And they are really expensive!



















On the second day, we went to ride the buggies at Noboribetsu Offroad Park which was of course at Noboribetsu. All of us had a fun day experiencing a little snowfall in the morning and the exhilirating ride at the park's racing circuit.




All are well and everything has gone smoothly so far. 3 pupils: Derek, Hui Ting and Anna has gone for the homestay a day earlier. They will join us when the homestay finishes on Sunday afternoon.

Today, we visited Chitose High School which was an eye-opener. At the end of the visit, we had a group photo. Can you spot your own child? Anna, Derek and ui Ting did not join us as they were already on homestay.


















Following the school visit, we went to Hakone Ranch where we made our very own cheese and butter which we had for lunch. Other pupils you see here are from Assumption English School. I must say the pupils from both school were very well mixed in this trip.



















Finally we went back to the hotel where the pupils were matched with their host families.




All pupils have gone for their homestay already- they left with their host in the afternoon.

Blessings

EC

Hokkaido Team

Hi All

Your hosts namelists have been published in the site. Please retrieve it so that you know who your hosts are.

Thanks.

EC

Miyazaki Team Return Timing

Hi All

The return flight from Tokyo to Singapore has a different timing. Apparantly the airline had changed the timings and the return timing is not correct.

The correct timing should be 00:05 hrs (5 Dec 2007).


Date of Departure : 4 December 2007
Flight Number : NH 901
Estimated Time of Departure : 17:25 hrs
Estimated Time of Arrival : 00:05 hrs (5 December)
Estimated Flying Time : 7 hours 25 minutes

This detail was checked with the ANA office in Singapore.

Thank you for your understanding.

Day Four

Today, the pupils have begun their homestay proper.

Some however had a special treat presented to them. They witnessed the presentation of Royal Orchids from Singapore Botanic Gardens to the Miyazaki Botanic Gardens. One was named after the Late Emperor Hirohito and his wife, the Queen Akihito.

This is really an honour for us to be a part of this joyous occasion and I pray this will further enhance the relationship between the governments of Japan and Singapore.

We also had lunch at a farm that had the most interesting delivery of food Go look it up. Silly me tilted the camera and I guess unless someone is kind enough to teach me how to tilt it back, you'll have to simply tilt your head!

Goodnight!

Day Three 29 Nov 2007

Hi All

I am really proud of all the pupils in this programme. They were very well-behaved and were punctual in all the meetings. The weather has turn slighly colder but it is still bearable. Most pupils are already acclimatised (some took off their blazers when I was still feeling a bit cold - guess age plays a part!)

I was with the group that went to Ikemi Junior High School and I also followed the Sadowara Junior School group today as they made a tour of the Miyazaki Shrine. Nope, there were no praying (only if the kids wanted to) and it was quite an eye-opener. I was told that on special occasions, there would not have been any elbow space at all let alone walking space.

The group at Ikemi Junior High School was treated to the school's band playing two lovely pieces and later to a Karate display! Very impressive. Itemi means "bright eyes" and thus the school believes in bringing education alive and seen through their lively eyes!

The part where they met their partners was exciting and I've got pictures for you here!

Cheers!

Pictures are up

Hi All

I have put up the pictures for today. Just click on them.

Will strive for video with sound tomorrow!

Cheerios and goodnight.