09 March 2009

Mayor welcomes students from International Pacific University, Japan

Translated by Shirley Ghozalli. Edited by Moira Blake.

The IPU exchange students with the Palmerston North Mayor Jono Naylor

Seventeen students from International Pacific University (IPU) currently studying at IPC met the Palmerston North Mayor Jono Naylor at the City Council Building on Wednesday, 4 March.

The Mayor gave the students a warm welcome and expressed his hope that they would enjoy their time at IPC and in the city. Emphasizing Palmerston North as a student city, the Mayor also suggested that they might like to come back and study full-time at IPC. The Mayor then spoke about the roles and duties of a Mayor and city officials.

The IPU students surprised the Mayor with flowers and showed their appreciation of the city's support by singing their university song. A representative of the students, Naoya Tokuda, greeted the Mayor and told him that their experience at IPC and in Palmerston North has been "good, fun and exciting". "Spending weekends in Palmerston North city, I found it full of kind-hearted people. We really want to say thank you to those who are supporting us in Palmerston North," Naoya stated.

Informal conversation over morning tea after the welcoming session gave the students an opportunity to talk to the Mayor. A tour around the City Council building followed afterwards.

The representative of the students Naoya Tokuda

An IPU student Miharu Mori presented a bouquet of flowers to the Mayor

About IPU

IPU is one of the tertiary institutions established under the International Pacific Universities plan, which is aiming to establish an educational network of tertiary institutions in the Asia-Pacific region, providing international educational opportunities for young people in the region. The plan was developed through meetings of academic people from all over the Pacific in 1987, and led to the opening of IPC in Palmerston North as the first IPU institution. Since the launch of IPU in Okayama City, Japan in April 2007, IPC and IPU have had a close and trusting relationship. Students at IPC and IPU have opportunities to participate in exchanges, enabling them to gain international experience and credits towards their qualifications. Three Kiwi students who participated in the exchange programme from IPC to IPU in 2008 have recently returned from Japan, enriched by their exciting cultural experiences.

IPU focuses on sports and education in its programmes. Professors at IPU include top world athletes such as Olympic Gold Judo Master, Toshihiko Koga. Recently IPU also hosted a softball training session run by Steve Jackson, a former NZ national team member. IPU's rugby team also visited Palmerston North in 2007 and played exhibition games with the rugby teams from IPC, Massey and other clubs. IPU also offers a teacher training programme for Japanese students wanting to teach English ing and an early childhood education training programme.

This year IPC is hosting 17 students from IPU. The students will stay and study for 6 weeks at IPC. The main purposes of their stay are to improve their English and to gain practical experience in their own fields. Those who are majoring in Early Childhood Education have visited several kindergartens, and the students in the teacher training course have observed classes in different schools around Palmerston North. Students have also enjoyed participating in events like the Great Lake Relay in Taupo, and activities like horse riding, rock climbing and tramping.

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