20 August 2009

Kiwi Experience at IPC Open Campus

High School Students from Japan Experience Local Lifestyle and Culture

By Shirley Ghozalli. Edited by Moira Blake.

On Tuesday, 4th August, IPC welcomed 40 high school students from Japan. These students came to IPC for the 5-day Open Campus programme where they can experience Kiwi lifestyle and culture. Arriving in 2 large groups, one in the afternoon and the other one in the evening, the students were welcomed by Mrs. Setsuko Ohashi, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, and IPC President, Prof. Wayne Edwards. Some IPC students were also there to welcome them and to act as buddies to the visitors.

The group that arrived in the afternoon had the chance to play a game called "Amazing Race Campus Tour". For this game, the students were divided into small groups. Each group had to find clues by exploring IPC campus and completing several tasks, such as making 100 basketball shoots and watching a Haka performance. A welcome dinner with IPC staff members and students was arranged in the evening.

The next day, an ice-breaking activity was carried out in the morning so that the students from different arrival groups would know each other. English classes followed after that. On their second night, the students had the opportunity to experience Kiwi lifestyle by visiting Kiwi families and home-staying with them for 2 nights.

School visits were scheduled on Thursday. The students were in four groups, with each group visiting one of 4 local schools: Roslyn School, Carncot School, Parkland School, and Whakarongo School. These schools were selected because each has their own speciality and uniqueness. "Most of the Japanese students enjoyed these visits. They felt that they could understand NZ culture by observing and they think the students in NZ have more freedom in classes (compared to the classes in Japan)," according to Hannah White, an IPC staff member who organized the school visits. "When it was time to play, most were surprised that they didn’t have to speak English well to communicate with Kiwi students," Hannah added.

On Friday, the students engaged in outdoor activities, which they had chosen before coming to IPC. A large group, accompanied by a number of buddies, left IPC at 8.30am and travelled by bus to Gravity Canyon, where they could choose between bungy-jumping, bridge-swinging, and/or going on the amazing flying fox. A number of students took up more than one of these challenges, facing their fears and definitely very happy to overcome them and experience the adrenalin rush of these adventure tourism activities as well as watching their friends do the same in an awesome natural environment. Many students also enjoyed seeing the horses, sheep and cows in the paddocks alongside the route to and from Gravity Canyon.

The rest of the students had a shorter journey in the morning. They went to see the local wind farm, then to Bazza's Baas where they saw sheep shearing and wool spinning, and those who wanted to were able to try their hands at both of these activities. After that they had a short walk in the bush. In the afternoon, they chose between rock climbing, watching movies and bead jewellery making.

In the evening, all the students were back in the classroom to start work on preparing for their presentations for the next day. Each student had to make a one-minute speech in English, on any topic related to the Open Campus. Their audience would be IPC students and staff members, as well as the other participants in the Open Campus.

The students spent the last day of Open Campus finishing their presentations. It was not an easy task for them, but after much consultation with their buddies and staff members, followed by practice sessions outdoors in the beautiful sunshine, at the end of the day the students all succeeded in delivering their presentations from the stage in the Senior Common Room. They spoke on a variety of topics, including the excitement and fear of the adventure activities and the fun of the first plane trip. Many of them even surprised the audience by their keen observation of the differences between Japanese lifestyle and Kiwi lifestyle, such as the novelty of having an open fire inside a house, or the fact that schoolchildren were allowed to be barefoot in the classroom.

After the presentations the students were able to relax and enjoy a special Farewell Dinner in the Dojo room of the Recreation Centre, before heading back to their rooms for their last night and packing for the bus trip to Wellington the next day.

It is hoped that by having a taste of NZ, these students will come back again in the near future.

IPC President Prof Wayne Edwards welcomes the visiting Japanese students	The Japanese students with IPC staff and students after the Farewell Dinner	Learning English in classes
Meeting and playing with the students of one of the local schools	Arriving at the sheep shearing shed	Learning to perform the Haka, a Maori traditional dance

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