Last Blog

I can’t believe that I am livening in Brisbane for more than 7 months and about to off to Japan. Looking back to time which I spent here, I’ve got an array of experiences. Accordingly, I will write my experiences in this final blog. The most unforgettable memory is that I met a range of nice people like my friends from school, host family, neighborhood or even crazy guys who I met at backpackers’ hostel etc. I’m 100% sure that those wonderful people will enrich my life throughout my life time, so I’m grateful to all the people for every encounter. What’s more, I’ve made beautiful memories through traveling around Australia. Astonishing sceneries and undeniable experiences of cultural difference attributes to spending a good time which in turn inspiring my motivation for English, even though I’ve never traveled alone before. I want to come back to Australia and travel again if it is possible. After all, I had a really good time at Australia. Admittedly, I didn’t accomplish my intended purpose of studying abroad (studying hard), those incredible experiences make my life good, I think. And now, I’m just wondering about coming back and studying at Kansai Uni again since my dream-like time at Brisbane is about to over!

My journey

 Last month, I went to Perth which locates in Western Australia. I’ve been interested in Perth since there are so many beautiful natural heritages and finally, I went there, so I’d like to write about my journey.

  I went to a lot of landmarks or famous spots in this trip, but above all, Rottnest Island was awesome. Approximately 20 km off the coast of Freemantle, this island is located and I visited there by ferry. Soon I arrived, there was an extensive scenery of beautiful ocean which was clear sky-blue and had a different color from gold coast. After a while, I decided to hire a bicycle and ride around.  It was so exciting that I rode that bicycle forgetting the time. On the way to cruise Rottnest Island, I found so many adorable animals, and above all quokka was super super cute because they were really friendly that I attempted to bring one of them back to Brisbane.

  Also people who I met in backpackers’ hostel were quite nice.  There are lots of affable Germans and I tried to speak my poor German- they couldn’t understand what I said though- we had a good time.  Also, funny and talkative Frenchman was in the same room as me. Once he started to chatting, nobody couldn’t stop him. He is also really kind that, one day, he gave a traditional French wine which tasted rubbish like a mud to me, so I had a drink with him(it was a bit torture because I’m easy to get drunk).

  

Last but the least, I spend a wonderful time at there. I hope I would travel to Perth again.

CULTURE-RELATED TOPIC

  Even though living in different culture is quite challenging for international students at the beginning, it would be a good experiences for them. I’ve experienced a lot of Australian cultures and found some favorite costumes. In this blog, I’d like to write about Australian customs which I like the most: hug.

  One of my favorite customs in Australia is hug. Many people in this country hug a lot and lot as a purpose of greeting, apology or gratitude even though they don’t know each other. I was really surprised at the first time since apparently, Japanese are not so willing to hug quite often. However, in these days, I’ve gotten used to hug and almost every day before going to bed or school, I hug with my host children. The point what I want to say is that hug has enormous potential to make people happy and healthy. There is a proper evidence about this, according to the article or TED talk which I read or watched (I don’t remember exactly though), says that some physical actions like a kiss or hug release the particular hormone which eliminates the stress and any anxious or even pain. This means that hugging could play a role in medicine because it has valuable effects on not only the psychological health, but also the physical health. 

  To sum up, the most important or beneficial conventions which I found in Australia is hug. Thinking about picture or photo, I don’t have any photos which indicate that kind of custom, so Ill attach the photo of my host family.

My studying at ICTE

I’m so sorry for late to post this blog about ICTE. I thought this article was posted properly, but it didn’t, so I am posting again.  I’ve been here for nearly 3 months since arrival and got abundant experiences at ICTE including both good and bad experiences. Then, I’d like to write about my studying at ICTE. At the beginning, I struggled to study English in the group of international students since I have to express my opinions by myself even though I didn’t have any confident about speaking English. Also, it is obvious that the education system in Australia is totally different from Japanese one in terms of approach which means that a student-centred approach like a group work or hands-on learning is the main method to teach in Australia while Japan takes a teacher-centred approach such as passive learning or lecture. This experience is totally different from what I expected. In addition to that, the duration of each class at ICTE is much longer than the classes which I took in Japan so I was really surprised.  As a results of that, in the first week, I depressed and wanted to go back to Japan. However, I met a lot of friendly classmates and teachers and now, thanks to them, I’m getting used to studying at ICTE, though my English skills are still poor particularly speaking. In these days, after the class, I usually hang out with my friends because I got a plenty of time. This is the feature of ICTE which I like the most. To sum up, I experienced lots of things at ICTE. I hope my studying is going to go well.

I’m so sorry but this is the second time to write blog because I am lazy student. Then, thinking back to this month, I did not do anything which can be the topic of this journal so I’d like to write about last break on July.

 

   During the previous break, I went to Melbourne and Tasmania for a week by myself. In Melbourne, there are lots of beautiful buildings such as church, mall and even though its station. It was like a cosmopolitan city and I felt I was in Europa country. Also, I went to The Great Ocean Road which is Australian national heritage road along the south-eastern coast. The most impressive places along The Great Ocean Road was Loch Ard Corge. There was a stunning beach and clear sea water flanked by huge yellow cliffs which was like a private beach. Unfortunately, that day was not blessed by the weather but I had a really good time.

 

   In Tasmania, it was freezing that I couldn’t go out without wearing heavy jacket. In addition to that the backpacker’s hostel which I stayed 3 nights was rubbish because it was too dirty. However, I had a great experience at Port Arthur. It locates in southern Tasmania and used to be jail. I didn’t know about Australian history at all actually, but classis and old prison was breathtaking. Also, I met some friendly people as hostel. That was a good opportunity to brush my English skills.

 

  To sum up, I really enjoyed this small trip. I will never forget this experiences and the people who I met there. 

 

I don't understand how to write this blog exactly, so I hope it will work correctly.

 Two weeks ago, I went to Yamba for camping with my host family. Actually, Yamba is far from Brisbane, but I will write about this memory because it is the most unforgettable. Yamba is a bustling holiday resort and it locates 4 hours drive from Brisbane. There are nice beach and river, so I was able to totally enjoy nature and get refresh with my host family.Anyway, I had a really good time.

 I experienced lots of things, but above all, I really enjoyed the beach. The beautiful ocean was speeded and  it was stunning landscape ever I had experienced. Then I rode bodyboading. It is some kinds of marine sports, likes surfing. I slid on the big wave over and over again. It was really exciting. I'll never forget this experienced.

 The view of beautiful stairs is  also unforgettable. Yamba is so far from city that we were able to see so many stars. It was a really relaxing time that I saw the stars with my host children. Unfortunately, I couldn't take a picture because the quality of my camera is quit poor, but I enjoyed that time through drinking a hot chocolate.

 To sum up, I had a terrific time in Yamba. It was totally suited to my holiday and times went by fast in there. I want to express to host family my gratitude. I will never ever forget this experienced.