NyuusuA newsletter from the Kumagaya Friendship AssociationSeptember 2012 • Issue 20

Kumagaya Boys’ High School visits Southland Boys'

This year the annual exchange resumed after last year Southland

Boys’ had to cancel their trip to Kumagaya because of the

earthquake.

This year 19 students and two teachers from Kumagaya Boys’

visited Southland Boys’ for two weeks. The Boys’ experienced

New Zealand family life through staying with their home stay

family. While in New Zealand they went to some of their host

brother’s classes with them and they really got to experience

day-to-day Kiwi school life.

Some of the activities they did while they were in New Zealand

were a mare visit, civic reception, rock climbing, farm stay (a

weekend staying and experiencing New Zealand farm life), they

learnt a Haka and a Waiata and they went on an overnight trip to

Queenstown where they went skiing and bungy jumping.

To end the exchange a potluck dinner was held for the Japanese

boy’s and their host families and farm stay host families. This

was a great opportunity to look back on the 10-day exchange. It

was also a chance to learn more about Japanese culture, as the

Kumagaya Boy’s put on a show about their school and Japanese

culture.

Overall it was a very good exchange and both the Japanese

and New Zealand students had a lot of fun and this cultural

exchange was a huge success. With friendships made that will

last a life time and experiences that we will all never forget.

By Ainslee Wilson, HOF Languages, Southland Girls’ High

School

On Monday 30th July, a group of 20 students and two teachers

arrived in Invercargill for an action packed nine days at

Southland Girl’s High School. Both staff and students home

stayed with families around the Invercargill area, with many

staying on farms. Both of the teachers, Mr Shigeki Yajima and

Mr Katsuhisa Fukuda had been to our school on prior occasions,

so it was lovely to welcome them back again.

Kumagaya Prefectural Girls’ High School visit to Southland Girls’ High School, July 30 to August 8

Whilst in Invercargill, the main focus for the group was on

improving their English language skills. Special English classes

were put on for the students and by the end of their time here,

they were a lot more confident in speaking than they had been

at the beginning of the trip. Many students also learnt some

Maori words, in fact they learnt a whole song and a haka which

they performed alongside the SGHS Kapa Haka group at the

farewell assembly.

When the students weren’t in English classes, there were a

number of activities that they participated in. They went cycling

at the velodrome, did a hip hop dance class, shared Japanese

culture with Year 7 and 8 students, learnt a Maori song and

haka, made jewellery, attended a mayoral reception and spent

time in classes with their host sisters. The students also spent

a day sightseeing in Queenstown and Arrowtown. This year the

students also visited St Thomas’s School in Winton.

We are looking forward to meeting up with these students

and teachers again in a few weeks when a group of 14 SGHS

students and two staff go to Japan for our reciprocal exchange.

We will homestay in Kumagaya for a week, and then go travelling

to Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto and Nara before flying home via

Osaka.

By Samantha Tulett

At the end of August, a delegation of 17students from Kumagaya

City in Japan visited James Hargest College. The trip was the

20th annual visit organised by Kumagaya City Hall, (Kumagaya’s

City Council), for students from various schools around Kumagya

City. The group was led by Mr Gogami, from City Hall, and

Mrs Nakamura, from the Kumagaya International Friendship

Association. It was one of three groups of Kumagaya students in

Invercargill at the time, with other groups also visiting Southland

Boys’ High School and Southland Girls’ High School.

All three groups visited the Invercargill City Council, where Mayor

Tim Shadbolt put on a combined morning tea for more than 60

students from Kumagaya.

The students visiting Hargest ranged in age from 13 to 18 but

they were all very friendly and outgoing, and soon became part

of our New Zealand families.

Kumagaya City Hall Student Visit

By Tom Sawyer, KFA President

Finally we have had a good year for travel with no Bird Flu,

SARS or earthquakes to upset travel plans as has happened

in the last few years! Four school groups from Kumagaya, plus

a group from Rissho University have visited Invercargill so far

this year and as you can see from the reports in this Nyuusu an

educational, informative and interesting time was had by all.

Three of the school groups were here around the end of July and

whilst their itineraries were staggered, for a few days we had the

three schools here together, six adults and around sixty school

children. During this overlap time the opportunity was taken to

entertain the six adults for a dinner, which was well attended by

KFA members. It is always good to see KFA members other than

the committee attending these functions.

Sadly the Kiwi ‘Hanami’ in Queen’s Park this year had to be

cancelled owing to bad weather forecasts. We hope for better

weather next year. There will also be a pre Christmas KFA

function…watch this space!

2013 marks the 20th anniversary of the Sister City relationship

with Kumagaya. As a mark of how important is this relationship

to both our cities the Mayor of Kumagaya will be heading a

delegation of about ten councillors and citizens to Invercargill in

the middle of February.

During this visit there will be a formal re-signing of the Sister

City Agreement in the Civic Theatre. It is also planned to have

several other functions, mainly around Friday, 18th February to

which all KFA members will be invited. We will advise details of

these functions once everything is confirmed.

President's report - important milestone for the city in 2013

The whole trip was about sharing our cultures and language.

They were welcomed to Hargest by a stirring performance of

the haka and showed us some of their own culture during the

traditional farewell party. While the students were here they

got to do lots of different things, from an overnight farm stay

where they rode horses and drove tractors, to their day trip

to Queenstown where they enjoyed attractions such as the

Shotover Jet and the luge.

Over the course of the their stay we were also able to enjoy

several lessons with our students, and I think it’s fair to say our

Japanese was put to the test as we tried to explain to them what

we were supposed to be doing in each class. As usual it was

sad to say goodbye to our new international friends. The great

thing was that despite our obvious differences and language

barriers, we were able to make lifelong friends that we all hope

to see some time in the future.

Report from the Southland Japanese Language Teachers

We would like to thank the Kumagaya Friendship Association

for their support at our speech competition in June. Both

the prizes donated and the sushi and drinks supplied for

KFA members at lunchtime were thoroughly appreciated by

the both the students and teachers. There were 70 students

competing from across the local High Schools. Students had

to try out at their own schools first to be picked to compete

in the competition. The competition gave the students the

opportunity to perform role plays or present speeches in

Japanese, as well improve their listening skills by listening to

others. In the afternoon the senior students took part in an

NCEA assessment which involved having conversations with

students from other schools.

The results were:

YEAR 9

1st George Popham & Ryan Kim (JHC)

2nd = Anna Faulkner and Katie Bowman (SGHS)

2nd = Taine Forbes & Henry Smith (SBHS)

3rd Nikaitla Robertson and Jy-Sharna Wells-Phillipson

(SGHS)

Year 10

1st Tina Wei (JHC)

2nd Jayden Holten (SBHS)

3rd Billy Hansen (SBHS)

Year 11

1st= Edward Popham (JHC)

1st = Emily Croft (JHC)

3rd Christal Leung (SGHS)

Southland Interschool Japanese

Speech Competition 2012

By Krista Richardson, Y13, Southland Girls' High School

Recently, I hosted a student from Kumagaya Girls High School

for my third consecutive year. It is always an enjoyable

experience for me as I not only get to share Kiwi culture with

the student but I also get to have a taste of Japanese peoples'

ways of life. In the past three years, I have made sushi and miso

soup with my host sisters and learnt the secrets of origami and

calligraphy!

Each year, friendships are established that long outlive the

nine short days in which we are graced with the Kumagaya girls'

presence and I still have contact with each student my family

has hosted through our sister school via email. It is especially

neat to see the journey the Japanese girls go on as they are

immersed in this wonderful English speaking nation.

While the girls are here in New Zealand, their English improves

dramatically and I think it's fair to say my Japanese (which I have

been studying for four years) also improves slightly over the

duration of their visit. I look forward to visiting Japan someday

and meeting up with my 'sisters'!

Learning the secrets of Origami and calligraphy

Year 12

1st Samantha Tulett (JHC)

2nd Kenji Suzuki (SBHS)

3rd= Julie Grenfell (JHC)

3rd = Lucy Fisher (JHC)

Year 13

1st Nadine Grigg (JHC)

2nd Nam Havareevongsilp (SGHS)

3rd Ben Frengley (JHC)

MAYOR’S PRIZE FOR THE MOST PASSION AND EXPRESSION

Junior Section George Popham & Ryan Kim (JHC)

Senior Section Emily Croft (SGHS)