Trajal Blog

Christmas day

2012-01-19T13:19:00.004+09:00

I am Azusa!

It was first summer Xmas for me.
Actually, it thundered on the Eve and it was cloudy on Xmas day though.
Many Australian people spend time with their family on Xmas day.
Most of shopping centers and restaurants closed and atmosphere on the bus was still.

In my case, about 40 people came to my house.
My mother told me everyone is my family and my family is really big!
My host prepared for this party since 2weeks ago.
And there were many presents under the tree. Xmas day is very important for Australian people.
My host gave me presents which were pierced earrings and bracelets.
I felt amazed.

There were plenty of food, drinks and sweets!
My house was full of smile and laugh.
I had a great great time and have one more good memory with my host!
I will definitely miss my host family.
1 month to go back to Japan!
Let’s enjoy and I will never regret everything!

Azusa

Farm stay

2011-12-24T16:14:00.002+09:00

This is Masa. I have been to a farm for Work Experience for a month. Actually, it was like a farm stay, but it must have been variable experiences for me.
The farm earns by farming and also there is an accommodation for kids. It’s not a hotel. It is a facility for learning environment. Children do some activities such as walking to the beach, running in a forest...I remember I had a similar experiences when I was young. I guess you couldn't imagine.
Basically, my work was to help the kid’s activities and prepare for dinner when there were kids around. Otherwise, I chased cows. I did not work much. Actually I couldn't do a lot for them because I felt exhausted to play with kid's who have inexhaustible vitality.
I was worried about communication during a month. I couldn't catch children's English first. I won't forget that a girl asked me "why are they (cows) scared of us?".Then I realized they don't speak fast, it's just because of my poor skill of listening. I couldn't understand staff's conversation as they spoke too fast! and dirty English...but I think I got used to listen to native chatting during farm stay. After Work Experience, I had a chat with my host family and I felt my English skills had improved. I can listen better and speak faster than before. Also, my host family ware glad that I made a big achievement!

Masa in Melbourne

2011 College Festival

2011-12-14T17:12:00.008+09:00

We held a college festival on the 19th and 20th of November.
On the first day, it was raining, but on the second day, we enjoyed clear autumn weather.
Many groups of students set up booths with different themes.
The hotel course set up a restaurant with “Tohoku” as the theme.
The theme-park course gave a song-and-dance show.
I think all the visitors enjoyed the festival.
I want to thank you all for coming!!

Yoshiyuki Sugawara
Public Relations Department

Students Go on Air

2011-12-14T16:58:00.006+09:00

Hospitality & Tourism College students were on TV on Oct 29.
We were filmed for a special program called “News from a Good Country”.
We help the “Shunran no sato” project in Ishikawa prefecture where the tourists can experience rice planting, charcoal making and stay in farmhouse bed and breakfast. This agritourism has been receiving attention, and has been selected as one of the finalists of the BBC World Challenge, a much-loved sustainable development show that has been held by the BBC since 2005. I believe our desire to re-build the farm and village, which young people now want to come back to visit, is appreciated globally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur2u0XbduK0&feature=related

Shinya Takahashi
Tourism Course Supervisor

Assignments for F1 Race Circuits

2011-12-14T16:36:00.007+09:00

Representatives of Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College arrived at Suzuka Circuit to act as service staff for V.I.P. guests at the F1 race.
The twenty seven students are also representatives of Japan, as well.
They struggled at the job site because their supervisors are all foreigners, but I think this was a rare opportunity for them to move ahead another step and improve their skills.

Kazuyuki Ishikawa
Section Manager

Soggy Half Marathon

2011-12-09T16:55:00.001+09:00

Thirty-five students from Trajal Seattle are registered to run in the Honolulu Marathon in December. I was concerned that most of them are taking too casual an approach to the full marathon (42 km) and not training enough, so I suggested that they test their strength and guts in the Seattle Half Marathon (21 km) on November 27th. Only five brave students took up the challenge. I don’t know whose brilliant idea it was to hold a marathon event in Seattle at this time of year, when it is almost guaranteed to be cold and wet – sometimes even snowing! This time the cold was bearable – about 5 degrees C for the start at 7:30 AM. But just when the starting air horn sounded, the cold rain began falling and continued all through the race. Clothing, shoes, socks – all got soaked, making it easy to get blisters on the toes.
So it was a rather miserable morning run, but the five students all finished between 2 hours and 2½ hours – quicker than I had expected, but it took its toll physically (most of them stayed home from school the next day. Now I think those five students realize what they are facing in the full marathon in Honolulu, and I hope they will make their friends aware of it too, but now it’s probably too late to begin an intensified training program.

Neal Colodner

Halloween

2011-12-09T16:50:00.003+09:00

From mid-October, the Seattle weather usually starts getting cold and cloudy, but the colorful autumn leaves and mountains of bright-orange pumpkins piled in front of supermarkets and produce stores make the season a little brighter. All stores decorate their interiors for Halloween – with various forms of monsters, ghosts, witches, cats – some creepy and some cute.
This year Halloween (October 31st) fell on a Monday, but college campuses held their Halloween costume parties on the previous Friday, since there are few classes on Friday afternoons, and there is no school the next day. But children going house to house yelling “trick-or-treat” had to wait for the actual Halloween on Monday, as that is the only day that people in their homes will give out candy. The HTC ESL classes also had their Halloween activities – like pumpkin carving and costume contests on the 31st.

Neal Colodner

Japan Festivals in Seattle

2011-12-09T16:43:00.004+09:00

In Japan, autumn is considered the season for sports competitions and culture festivals. America doesn’t have those traditions, but some major American holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving come in autumn.
On October 12th, our students at both Edmonds and Shoreline held the annual HTC Japan Festival. (Actually, this is also the date of another American holiday- Columbus Day – the day that Columbus first landed on a Caribbean island.) At the Japan Festival, HTC students introduce some traditional and modern Japanese culture to the general students and college staff. The Shoreline students had stations for wearing yukata, learning kanji, using chopsticks, origami, the “face game”, and getting brush-painted kanji for visitors’ names. The Edmonds students took a more modern approach – providing Japan tourism information, pop music, and Japanese-style makeup demonstrations in addition to calligraphy and origami. But of course, the most popular table was the one giving out rice balls wrapped in nori. HTC students at both schools performed a dance to Soran Bushi – a famous fisherman’s folk song from Hokkaido.

Neal Colodner

Hey guys! It’s me, Emiko!

2011-12-02T19:49:00.007+09:00

Sorry I’m late to write. It’s already at the end of November and we have just about 2months to go back Japan actually. We just finished work experience. I enjoyed myself and it was hard and difficult to communicate, but I’m sure it was good for practicing English. Anyway I’d like to write my holiday trip part2!

October 1st to 4th, I was in Cairns! But Mami may write about that trip. So I’m going to write after that trip! 4th of Oct. in the early morning, I’ve left Cairns for Ayers Rock by myself. It took about 3hours to fly. At about 1pm, I could see dear my friends and I joined a tour!

I had small lunch. After that, we went to Kata Tjutaand and walked about 2hours. Weather was so nice, so I felt very nice. Also we saw lizards. They were sweet. After walking, we saw sunset at Uluru. It was beautiful. We took lots of pictures! These are very very good and funny!

At night, we did OZ BBQ and had kangaroo. It tastes like chicken. I did not feel comfortable to eat anyway. After that, we prepared to sleep immediately because next day we had to get up early. That day we slept in a tent with a sleeping bag. Incidentally, in the day time, it was so hot over 30 degrees but the night time it was chilly. It’s interesting, isn’t it? However one of my friends couldn’t let me go to sleep, so we talked outside drinking cocoa until 2am!

Next day, we saw sunrise where I can see Uluru. The rocks changed colour little by little. It was fabulous that different from sunset.

Then before climbing, we went to culture centre of Aborigines. After knowing their culture, we heard bad news. We are not able to climb Uluru. The reason was that in the morning an aborigine who was important person died, so they didn’t let us climb Uluru to respect the person.

We were dying to climb Uluru! Weather was perfect. You can not have better weather than this for climbing, but we couldn’t so we obliged to change the plan. We walked around Uluru taking about 3hours. The rocks were spectacular!!! But we were walking long way and finally we were not surprised the huge rocks…

After walking, we said good-bye to Uluru and moved to Kings Canyon campsites. It took about more than 4 hours. I just slept in the bus but badly my friend took pictures of sleeping people including me! Oh my goodness.

After arriving there, we had a quick shower and made bush pasta for dinner which is like noodle, but no one minded because it was so yummy! Then we did a game called Emus game! To play the game, you pick up the box placed on the ground by using just a mouth, so we had to make our bodies flexible! That was so hard but we had a good time with tour mates. At night we slept in a sleeping bag under lots of beautiful stars!!!

On the final day, we went to Kings Canyon and climbed it! Actually we just walked and it took about 3hours. While walking, I thought that the view hasn’t been changed, but when I got on the top of the rocks, I was impressed very much!! That was magnificent!!!

After we had small lunch, we left for Alice Springs. The tour was finished when arrived at Alice Springs. On that day, my friends and me, and also 2people of the tour stayed at the backpacker and made dinner together.

In the morning, we said good-bye for them and we caught the bus to Adelaide. It took about 19hours so on the way back we played cards almost about 9hours! Such a long time, but the time passed so quickly. We didn’t get bored because we couldn’t control our mind with looking cards too much!

When we arrived at Adelaide, it was 7am, so we had breaky at McDonald's with of course playing cards! In the arvo, we had noodle for lunch and went sightseeing. Then we played cards in the park again. At the end, we had afternoon tea and peace of cakes at a café. That was so tasty. Then we came back to Melbourne at night!

This trip was so incredible and I had a lot of unusual experience. How can I forget it? Even if I paid a lot of money, I think it was good to go. I do appreciate my parents, and also thanks dear my friends Saori, Yurie and Takumi.

Thanks for reading long article! See you sooooooooooon!!xoxo

Royal Melbourne Show

2011-12-02T19:04:00.005+09:00

Hello, I’m Ayaka.
On 2nd of October , I went to Melbourne show grounds.
“Royal Melbourne show” was held there.

There were a lot of events.
I saw many animals.
For example, I could see Emu (Emu is indigenous animal), sheep, pig, alpaca and llama…etc.
I could pat them and their babies.
They were very pretty!

I rode a lot of rides.
I really liked it so I was interesting. ^^
Also I went to Hollywood horror house.
I was surprised because they used the real chain saw.
I was excited.

There were many food shops.
For example, there were Sushi, corn, yam cha and paella… etc.
I ate Sushi and yam cha.
It was delicious!

There were job pavilion.
I took fingerprints and experience to ride police motorcycle at first time! ww
I'm really interested.

Then I looked around show bag pavilion.
There were many kinds of design and these were very cheap.
For example, about 6 perfumes worth $400 were $35, 5 Elmo’s goods which had bag; slipper, note, wallet and pouch were $25…etc.
Its good shopping!

Finally, I saw TOYOTA cars show.
It’s very cool and powerful!
Then I saw fire work.
It’s beautiful and unique because fire work was matched with music.
I had a good time!

BBQ

2011-10-19T14:58:00.003+09:00

Hi, how are you? （^^*）I’m Ayaka.
Recently, it’s getting warmer in Melbourne. How is it the weather Japan?
On 16th of September, I had a barbecue with classmates and my teacher at Mordialloc beach. In Japan, If we want to do a berbecue, we need to prepare for a barbecue. But in Melbourne, there is BBQ area. How convenient!
Each student brought food and drinks. There were lamb, chicken, corns, onions, sushi and many kind of drinks. It was a big party. （^^*）
I took a lot of pictures with students. I had a good time!

Ayaka ( Melbourne )

Back to Gold Rush Times

2011-10-19T13:36:00.003+09:00

Hello, guys! This is Emiko. It is spring, and it’s gonna be warmer and warmer. We’re on holiday now, so I went to Sovereign Hill for 2days! It is a model park about Gold Rush. The weather was so nice! We had luck of sunny! I have a rainy girl, though.

There was like a real land! because people were there as if they lived there. I thought as if I was in 200 years ago. I felt very strange, but it was not too bad.

We enjoyed just walking around long long time and taking a lot of photos!! We joined some tours about history of the gold rush and how to look for gold. These were so difficult to understand. I felt that gold was a distance and so valuable. We tried to look for gold in the river, but we couldn’t find it. Oh, dear.We also made own candle to paint the color. I mean that we dipped into the color bucket. We knew who has a sense of taste.

We stayed at accommodation in the park, so we could watch night show! The show didn’t have people. I mean that people have never entered on the show. However it was so nice and powerful! I wondered how the show changed to the next stage. I loved that.

Finally, we could have a valuable experience! So we wore the Western dress. It was comfortable than we thought. The reason skirt looks fluffy is that they put on a wire under the skirt! I have solved the puzzle. Anyway,we were soooooo cute!! Don’t’ you think so?

We had a sooo good time and filled nice experience and fabulous memory. I want to live there.Thanks guys, love you! …Oh! I would forget it! If you send a letter from the park, your letter will be stamped on a Sovereign Hill postmark! So you should try!

I’ll go to other trips, so see you sooooooooooooooooooooooon! Oxox

Emiko ( Melbourne )

August 15 – 18 Whistler School Trip

2011-09-28T12:44:00.002+09:00

We made our annual 4-day, 3-night school trip to Whistler Resort in British Columbia, Canada. All of our long-term students at Edmonds and Shoreline, our four staff, seven of the students from Kanagawa University, and 3 of the Edmonds conversation partners made the trip. Other than the dinner party on the first night and the cooking contest on the second night, all activities were optional, but most students joined one of the activities led by one of our staff, such as jogging, golf, tennis, cycling, alpine hiking. About 20 students went out for river rafting or zip-lining (sliding along a cable between trees in the forest). For the past few years, Mr. Nojima’s transformation at the dinner party has been one of the main spectacles of the trip, and continuing last year’s sexy theme of “Noji Gaga” (Lady Gaga), this year’s Marilyn Monroe was just as hilarious.

Neal Colodner

August 7 Blue Angels

2011-09-28T12:42:00.002+09:00

The climax of the Seafair festival season comes in the first weekend of August, with the hydroplane races and the Blue Angels Navy jets air show over Lake Washington. Some of the residents around Lake Washington complain of the super-sonic speed and jet-roar of the Blue Angels, but many people come from far and wide – even from other states – to watch the show. Their aerial acrobatics and precise coordination are fascinating, but on the other hand, when I watch them I can’t help thinking that I wouldn’t want to be under attack by these fighters in a real war.

Neal Colodner

Trajal Internships from Kanagawa University

2011-09-28T12:40:00.003+09:00

Eight students from Kanagawa University came to Seattle through the Trajal Internship program, to work for six weeks at four locations ( one or two students per location): the Mariners Team Stores at Safeco Field and Westlake Center (customer service, merchandising), the YMCA in Shoreline (child care, summer camp, customer assistance), the Executive Hotel Pacific (bell assistant), and Tillicum Village (customer assistance, meal service). Aside from their internship work, they had 20 hours of English instruction from the Trajal Seattle staff, four field trips to famous places around Seattle, and they joined our long-term students on our 4-day school trip to Whistler in Canada. Coming at the best time of year weather-wise, I am sure they can enjoy their jobs and brief time living in Seattle.

Neal Colodner

July 30 Torchlight Run & Parade

2011-09-28T12:38:00.002+09:00

Every year, the last Saturday of July is one of the big Seafair events – the Torchlight Parade. Various businesses, organizations, schools and sports teams from around Seattle and Washington State send marching teams and floats to parade down Fourth Avenue from Seattle Center to the International District. The ethnic costumes and dances of various cultural groups, the brass bands and cheerleader squads of sports teams, and the pirates riding a float resembling a pirate ship are particularly impressive. Over one hundred thousand people line Fourth Avenue to watch this annual spectacle.
Just before the parade, there is a race held on the parade route – the Torchlight Run. About ten thousand runners participate, choosing either the 8 km or 5 km course. They run down Fourth Avenue, spurred on by the cheers of all the parade spectators, and then head back north to Seattle Center along the waterfront viaduct, just as the sun sets beyond Elliot Bay – what luxury! This year five girls from Shoreline joined me in the race.

Neal Colodner

July 28 Shoreline trip to Mount Rainier

2011-09-28T12:33:00.003+09:00

Compared to the Edmonds trip just one week ago, the snow had melted quite a bit and more of the trail was visible, but there was still plenty of snow for some mid-summer “winter fun”. The teachers repeatedly warned the students to stay on the trail, but they were easily lured by the beauty of the vast fields of virgin snow. Sure enough, some students fell through hidden snow bridges to land ankle-deep in rivulets of icy water running under the snow fields, and they would get scolded by park rangers as well, but thankfully no one got injured. We lucked out with another perfectly clear day, and the contrast of the white mountain against the blue sky was striking.

Neal Colodner

July 23 Lake Party

2011-09-28T12:30:00.003+09:00

Many of our Shoreline students attend the “Rock Talk” conversation hour at the Rock of Ages Church. The parents of Dave – the Rock Talk leader – have a big house on Lake Washington, where they held a barbecue party for our students and the other church members. After a big lunch, the students enjoyed all sorts of water sports in the lake – jet-skiing, motorboat rides, swimming, and just floating on inflatable rafts in the warm sunshine.

Neal Colodner

July 22 Edmonds trip to Mount Rainier

2011-09-28T12:25:00.003+09:00

In recent years, with talk of global warming and climate change, there was much concern that the glaciers of Washington State’s mountains were in danger of disappearing, but for the past two years we have had cool temperatures and lots of precipitation in winter and spring, so even in mid-summer there is still a record-breaking amount of snow in the mountains. The normally dusty hiking trails are still buried in snow, making it difficult to even find the trail. We even considered changing the destination for our full-day outdoor adventure, but the rangers at Mount Rainier assured us that at least part of the trail was hikable, so we stuck with Mount Rainier and chose an abbreviated version of our regular hike. We avoided treacherous, slippery slopes, but still many students were slipping and landing butt-first in the snow. Actually, that was kind of fun. Here and there we could see some mountain animals like deer, marmots, and squirrels.

Neal Colodner

Mid-July HTC mini program

2011-09-28T12:17:00.003+09:00

Fifteen students each from HTC Tokyo and HTC Osaka came for a 12-day study abroad/homestay experience. They had English class every weekday morning at Edmonds Community College, and in afternoons and on weekends they spent time with their host families, explored on their own, and had 5 field trips to famous places in and around Seattle. They went on a tour of the Safeco Field baseball stadium, and watched the Mariners play against the Texas Rangers that night, but alas, the Mariners lost once again.

Neal Colodner

July 16 Wedding Day & Bon Odori

2011-09-22T19:56:00.003+09:00

Some of our students from the Osaka School’s Bridal Studies division attended the wedding of one of the host families’ daughters, and assisted at the buffet-style dinner at the reception. Weddings in America vary greatly depending on the religions and personalities of the bride and groom. Normally, to conclude the ceremony, the bride and groom, followed by the wedding party, exit the room elegantly, hand in hand. In this case however, following the first kiss, the chapel suddenly became dark, and the bride and groom and wedding party all put on glowing-neon eyeglasses, began dancing wildly, and exited the room dancing, with rock music playing all the while.
Hopefully, the students will get to observe various weddings during their stay in America.

Every year in mid-July, Seattle’s International District hosts a Japanese-style Bon Odori. The event was begun about 90 years ago by Japanese immigrants to the Seattle area who fondly remembered their homeland and families, but now it is a standard event in the series of summer festivals known collectively as Seafair. The participants are not only Japanese and Japanese Americans, but also include many white people, black people, Latin Americans, Asian Americans, etc. Of course, many people come in yukata, but there are also many people dancing in Western clothing, African dashikis, Indian saris and other ethnic clothing. The HTC students who attended seemed less interested in the dancing than in the booths selling Japanese food – yakisoba, somen, beef bowls, shaved ice.

Neal Colodner (Seattle)

July 4

2011-09-22T19:53:00.001+09:00

Blessed with blue skies, warm sunshine, and a pleasant breeze, HTC students celebrated Independence Day in American style: having barbecues with their host families, playing at parks or beaches, and attending the biggest fireworks show in the northwest on Lake Union in Seattle. While waiting for the fireworks, everyone enjoyed picnics and listening to the music playing from giant speakers. In summer in Seattle, the sunset is quite late, so it does not get dark enough for fireworks until 10:00 PM. Because of the great weather, people began filing into Gasworks Park on Lake Union before noon. By 6 PM there were so many people that the park’s vast lawn was completely covered up by the people and their blankets. Late arrivals had to stand near the top of the hill to see the fireworks. At 10:10 it was finally dark enough. Everyone rose for the National Anthem, and in the last measure of the song, suddenly FLASH! BOOM! – the fireworks went off to the accompaniment of various standard tunes of jazz and marching songs. The show lasted only about 30 minutes but was very impressive both aesthetically and technologically. After the show, of course everyone heads for the exits at once. To help calm the crowds and perhaps encourage some people to wait around longer, a local band continued its live performance for a while.

Neal Colodner (Seattle)

June 11 River Rafting

2011-09-22T19:39:00.002+09:00

The annual river rafting trip sponsored by Shoreline Community College is always a popular event – a great deal at just $30 – less that half the regular cost of participation, and with a barbecue lunch included! This year we went in a group of 20: 16 HTC students, 1 regular Shoreline student, 2 friends from the Rock Talk group, and me. We met up with other Shoreline students and staff at the rafting location. The morning in Seattle was cool and cloudy, and it didn’t seem much like a day for water sports, but once we crossed over the Cascade Mountains, Eastern Washington was sunny and warm. Because this spring has been unusually cool and wet, the mountain passes were still white with snow, and the melt-off made the river level twice what it usually was at this time of year. So the rafting ride was fast and furious! We boarded the rubber rafts in groups of 7 or 8. For most of the 3-hour trip we were just floating downstream, but there were 6 rapids in which we had to paddle with all our might – following the guide’s commands – or risk flipping over. All the HTC students made it through okay, but a boat with a different group of Shoreline students crashed into a bridge post, leaving one student slightly injured.
On the way to the rafting location we stopped in Leavenworth’s “Bavarian Village” for an hour of sightseeing. The students enjoyed German sausages and ice cream, and looking at various crafts shops. The architecture, music, and surrounding mountain scenery were reminiscent of “The Sound of Music”.

Neal Colodner (Seattle)

Our college was featured in a Bridal Industry Newspaper

2011-09-15T13:23:00.003+09:00

The Bridal Course appeared in the “Bridal Industry Newspaper” (July issue) which is the only newspaper for the industry.

The article is about “devising business solution” in which the Bridal Course focuses on debates and the exchange of opinions among the students.

The wedding ceremony is something that the wedding planner will plan together with the bride and groom, so “devising business solutions” is a must in the curriculum.

If you have any Inquiries regarding this article, please feel free to call us toll free at 0120-115-784.

Miyuki Fukuda
Hospitality & Tourism College

Job Hunting Season

2011-09-13T14:53:00.009+09:00

"Shukatsu" or job hunting in Japan is different from other parts of the world.
Students here start job hunting a year and a half before graduation!!
It is truly a tough year for students to get an official job offer.
However, they dedicate all their strength for job hunting.
Here are some outcomes of their efforts.

JR Central Japan Railway Company

JTB Business Travel Solutions

Hyatt Regency Saipan

JAL SKY

Q.E.D.CLUB

Hokkaido International Airlines

Bridal OHGIYA

They all have a happy look, don't they?

Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College
Carrier Support Department
Satoshi Tsukada

August Koala Blog

2011-09-07T10:31:00.005+09:00

Hey guys! This is Emiko. Actually I have heaps of homework, but I have to write koala blog during August. Where are the other mates of koala blog?

Now, we’ve already been in Australia for 5months. It means that it’s the turning point. It was sooooo quick!!

I’m writing about my birthday today. My birthday is 23rd of August. It is always in the summer holiday in Japan as you know, so I’ve never celebrated my birthday during school terms. However, now I’m in Australia! I could celebrate it on my school day!

Well, before the main topic, can I get off track? In the beginning of August, we had a birthday party at a Vietnamese restaurant for the people who were born in Aug. We talked about each host family and what’s happen recently and so on. It was so nice and we had a good time.

Anyway, let’s move on to my birthday! On the day in the morning, my host brother took me to the kitchen with blindfold. There were a pile of pancakes with candles stuck. I was surprised! Then my host family sang a birthday song! After the birthday song, Aussie say “Hip, hip, hurray! Hip, hip, hurray! Hip, hip, hurray!!!” It means wishing pleasure.

At school, every friend said to me “Happy birthday!” I was sooooo happy! Moreover, classmates celebrated my birthday and Shizuka who had birthday on the 21st of Aug in the English class. Suzy who is our teacher and coordinator of our class prepared a birthday card and doughnuts and also one of my classmate brought lemon tart. These were very yummy! After that at the lunch time, my Japanese friends celebrated with a chocolate cake!

At the dinner, my host family took me to a Japanese restaurant. It was sooooooooo nice! Some Japanese restaurants in Melbourne do not taste like Japanese, but this is it! I was so impressed. Then I drank champagne for the first time on the 20th birthday. I thought I am an adult! haha After the dinner we had a huge ice-cream cake! However, we could eat everything…

I enjoyed my birthday! Thanks to you, I had too much food...but! It doesn’t matter. Thank you everyone. I promise to still enjoy my Aussie life! Catch you later, guys!!!

Emiko (Melbourne)

St. Leonard College

2011-09-06T19:50:00.004+09:00

Hello everyone. I am Azusa!
It is the second time to write a blog.
This time i want to write about ST Leonard collage.
On the 24th August I went there with Megu, Megumi and Yuki .

It was soooo exciting. We enjoyed more than we thought.
First, we taught Japanese for the students around 14 years old and then we tried fencing!
Do you know fencing?
It was a little bit dangerous for us, but it was fun.

Next, we played with 3, 4 years old children. It was hard because they were very tough. We realised we are getting older. (^^;)
We saw cows, alpaca and horse!
The collage is in a rural area.

We listened to the student’s speech in Japanese and we joined Japanese class.
We had a great time. We love Australia more!
All teachers and students are very funny, friendly and fantastic.

I hope today’s lesson was helpful for them.
If I can do, I would like to visit again.

After that we went to the beach in Mordialloc.
Please have a look the photo of the beach, too.

Azusa ( Melbourne )

School visit

2011-08-11T15:45:00.002+09:00

Hello, I'm Ayaka.
How are you? ^^

On the 2nd of August, we went to Xavier collage.
The school is a fast class boys' school.

We helped them to study Japanese.
We could eat sushi, rice ball, fried shrimp and takoyaki...etc with them at lunch time. It was delicious and I felt nostalgic.

After lunch, we talked about school in Japan, Sports, Japanese cartoon and fashion with them. We were surprised because they spoke Japanese well. Also questions were very difficult for us. Most students said that they had been to Japan.

After that we looked around the school. We could see very beautiful view from school. It's now an important memory for us.

I want to meet them again！＾＾

Ayaka

My holiday memory

2011-08-11T14:35:00.006+09:00

Hi　（＾０＾）/　☆＝
I’m Mami who is one of Koala-blogger.
Today is the first time to write a blog.
I'm a student of Hospitarity and Tourism Technical College. My major is ‘Airline’. I'm from Kagoshima prefecture. In Kagoshima, it is famous for Berkshire (Black pig), a clear liquor (distilled from sweet potatoes), Sakurajima, Takamori Saigo and Steaming hot springs sand and more. Did you know that?? I love Kagoshima !! Actually, we have been here 4 months, but I'm not homesick yet. Now, we get used to Australian life. Now, there are many things I want to write but today I’ll tell you about a trip during my holiday.

I went to Sydney with Namiko, Manatsu, Ayaka, Shuri, Hidemi and Yuna for 4 days. We stayed at the airport the night before. We spent a time in the morning at the airport. And then, we had a breakfast. After that we were waiting to board. We were excited about going to Sydney!! Actually, the airplane was delayed for 4 hours! So, this ruined our plan of day one in Sydney. This can happen when travelling. We went to the city on the first day in Sydney. We were very lucky when we went to the city because there was the concert of Lady GAGA!!!So the City was very packed. In the City it was very busy because most people dress up like a Lady GAGA. It was a lively night!

On the second day, we visited to Sydney aquarium. We could see many kinds of fish, shark and crocodile. So we were high spirited like children. The aquarium is enjoyable place for even adults.

Next, we visited to the Opera house. The Opera house is so big. It is worthwhile of cultural heritage, isn't it?! The Opera house is built in 1973. The Opera house is located in the cape of Sydney port. The Opera house was created with the image of shells and a sail of sailboats.

We could take a lot of pictures at the Opera house.
It was a very beautiful illumination at night.

On the third day, we visited to Greater Blue Mountains Area. It takes about two hours by train from the City. The Greater Blue Mountains Area is Nature Heritage Site registered. So, I was speechless when I saw the scale of beautiful nature. We took on Scenic Skyway and Scenic Cableway. The floor was glass at Scenic Skyway. We were also able to enjoy walking like in the sky while seeing view 300 meters below. Scenic Railway looks like a roller coaster and it goes into a nosedive on slopes of 52 degrees. It was surprisingly fast so I did not get a chance to see the view much. It was the best roller coaster in the great nature. I could enjoy Blue Mountains forest from the air. Finally, we crossed the Three Sisters. The Three Sisters is famous for the legend by Aborigines. Huge three rocks "Three sisters" have a fantastic shape. The heights are 922 meters, 918 meters, and 906 meters and they are 3000 feet (more than 915 meters) above sea level We walked down stairs gingerly about 10 minutes. I stood there in utter amazement when I looked at majestic nature from “Three sisters”. On the last day, we went to the market. We could buy souvenir a lot. Every day when travelling, we talked a lot until morning, so we could not have enough sleep but we enjoyed and it was a full life.
Above all things, I saw two world heritages which is the best memories to me. The trip was very precious.

I want to Sydney once again. After this trip, I want to see more world heritages in the future. Now, where should I go next?

Mami

Surprise for my birthday

2011-07-27T14:50:00.004+09:00

Hello everyone! I’m Shige. Nice to meet you!! Sorry. I was really busy so I didn’t write Koala blog. Three month have passed since I came to Australia and I feel homesick for Japan. When I came to Australia, I was very nervous. Because I couldn’t understand my host family’s English. But nowadays, I’m becoming to understand English.

Anyway, I became twenty-years old. This is special year in Japan. My host family held the birthday party. And, my mother's dish is very delicious. It prepared from early morning.

After lunch, host father's handmade cake was gotten with some present. Then we played billiards and it had continued until night. Many people celebrated for my birth day. I could have a wonderful birth day and I will never forget this 20th birth day. Next time, I want to surprise someone.

Shige

Holiday in Melbourne

2011-07-27T14:42:00.002+09:00

I am Masa. This is the second time to update blog after the second holiday. The holiday is for a trip, so I had a trip in Melbourne.

I wanted to go to a trip far away, but I had a problem with money. It was a big problem, but then I asked myself."Do I really know about Melbourne?" then, I remembered a conversation with my host father. He said to me "I like Melbourne than Sidney! Melbourne is a good place for sightseeing in Oz!

The trip began from breakfast. It was like my purpose of this trip. There are a lot of cafes on the street. It is my ideal of foreign country. We had a beautiful breakfast there and we checked our plane. We did not need to care about time specially.

After having breakfast, we went to Carlton garden. Why I wanted to see it was just because it is on the World Heritage. I did not know the details about it, as I did not learn it before. A bit regrettable! Of cause, it was a beautiful building, but when I felt cold by cool winds, we wanted to go inside of the building.

After a while, we went to a museum behind the garden. "Something" of limited exhibition is our purpose. It is in gold from Egypt. I never dreamed of seeing Tutankhamen really when I departed from Japan. A lot of exhibits send out godliness.
We saw a lot of exhibits such as model of some animals, insects, dinosaurs and more at the museum not only Tutankhamen. It was interesting, but these are parts of exhibits, so we could not see all.
We decided to eat diner because of the darkness outside. We went to the same lane as in the morning, but atmosphere was different. Narrow street was filled with energy and staff worked busily. Again it was my ideal world of foreign country. We had a good time with feeling a successful trip. It was very fun!

We spent for 2days to explore in the city, so this story continues but I will conclude this blog as it is a long article now.

Masa

At Safeco Field

2011-07-25T16:00:00.006+09:00

〝 Ichiro!〝
An American man whose seat was ahead of us on the right shouted at the Japanese player on his back. We had bleachers seats behind the right field, so we were able to see Ichiro’s back very well.
This “We” means 15 Hospitality Tourism College students, 15 Hospitality Tourism College Osaka students, a tour coordinator from ISS of the Edmonds Community College and two Japanese teachers (including me). We visited Seattle for a two-weeks short-term studying abroad programme and I was their escort. Yes, it was a business trip to me. The baseball game? It was Mariners vs. Rangers and, of course, I had to be with the student, didn’t I?
As the player did not react to him at all, the man did a palms up gesture and happened to turn around to us. Naturally he did not know more than 30 Japanese were watching him, so he was surprised to see us first. Then he smiled to us saying, “OK, guys, let’s call Ichiro together!”. Well, why not? So, after his calling out “One, two, three”, we shouted “Ichiro!!” a couple of times and we successfully made him glace over his shoulder! The poor player did not know what was happening, but we were so happy with his attention.
The American man left before the 9th inning started. The score was 0 to 4 and the Mariners were losing. However, before his leaving, he said to us “You guys are awesome!”. Though I said “You, too!” back to him, I regretted not saying “So you are” which can be more smart. English learning will never end.

Kazuko Sato
Hospitality & Tourism College Tokyo

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.31) ＊♪＊

2011-07-20T11:58:00.003+09:00

Bonjour!

I am writing this Trajal Blog from TOU-NICHI-BUN （東日文）every time, but I have never shown my face. So, today, I want to introduce myself and my nice “helmet”. I am Junko Fujisaki, Japanese language teacher of Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College, and I’ve been teaching here for 8 years.

Today, I’ll tell you about this beautiful round helmet. Our company lent this glossy strong helmet to every staff the other day. We have prepared to cope with earthquakes properly. We also received the “KANPAN” (hardtack biscuits）!

Junko Fujisaki
Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College

Sydney Trip

2011-07-15T14:43:00.012+09:00

Hey guys! I’m Emiko. We are having holiday now. Then I went to Sydney with Yuki on 6th to 9th in July. Melbourne was rainy but Sydney was sunny all day and it was such a beautiful day! So now, I will tell you about this trip but it is so long! Please don’t be bored.

Sydney was very busy! So it seemed like Tokyo. Transportation is convenient and easy. It was not difficult for us. But we didn’t think about the plan for this trip! Then 1st day we went to Bondi Beach in the morning. There is a famous beach for a surfer so I could see the surfer’s spite in winter! But they were cool. I want to come here to look for a handsome guy in summer again! Then we went to Koala Park. It was very good! We could touch a koala and play with kangaroos. They were really cute. It was nicer than zoo! ha ha! Yuki said the koala is pretty and it has a good smell. I couldn’t believe it because it is said that a koala has a bad smell.

2nd day we wore the Australia jumper which we bought the day before. We said“good morning”to Opera House, and then we went to Greater Blue Mountains Area which is a world heritage. Luckily we could pay no money because we went there by ourselves. It was amazing and huge! I don’t know how to explain and probably you cannot know anything from the picture. If I have to explain about that, I may say just “fantastic”. So we said “やばい！”all the time. Then we explored in the bush about 2hours. It was so fun! But of course we were exhausted.

We couldn’t finish only that because Sydney never sleeps like Tokyo which was why we stayed in the city till late at night. Firstly we went to Star City which is the biggest casino in Sydney. It was the first time for me by the way. We didn’t play Casino but just looking so we could enjoy just looking! Good for money! And we could find a good looking guy who is one of the coolest guys I met in Aus. Oh dear… So, of course we had a nice time there.
Then we walked in the city. There were a lot of bars and night clubs, and it was strict on age limit, so police men stood at an entrance all bars and night clubs. It was scary~~. But we tried hard and went in there! Well…what should I say.. We couldn’t find a cool boy or a cute girl. But anyway! Everyone seemed having a good time! And also we had a good time. We went back to the hotel at 3am!

3rd day we got up lat, then we said “hello!” to Opera House. The day was Saturday, so there were a lot of people and markets at some places. We went one in the city. It was crowded and bustling. Then we went to Taronga Zoo which is one of the biggest in Australia. Well, OK, just went to the front of there. Then we found “sky safari” which is a ropeway. We took it which was free! It was a nice view from there. We were happy!

Finally we went to St Mary's Cathedral which is a big church. There was a big chessboard and big chessmen in the park that is close to the church. I want to play the chess there someday. In the church it was so beautiful so I felt tensed.

We could go to fashionable cafes and have good meals not only sightseeing. Um~~~ I can’t tell you everything!! We didn’t pay a lot of money for this trip as you know. But this trip was so fun and we had a pretty good time! We could fill our memory in Sydney!

Thanks a lot Yuki!
And thank you for reading!! See you sooooooooon!

Trajal Blogs from Seattle (June, 2011)

2011-07-07T09:46:00.003+09:00

June 5: Skimboard with Rock Talk friends

This first weekend of June we are finally getting a taste of summer weather. About 25℃ under blue skies, some Shoreline students went to Richmond Beach to attempt skimboarding under the direction of Roger (pastor of Rock of Ages Church). Skimboarding is low-tide surfing, or hydroplaning on a thin wooden board in shallow water. Roger was impressed how well the students did on their first day of skimboarding.

Neal Colodner (Seattle)

As always, the first year students are showing rapid improvement!!

2011-07-06T17:52:00.005+09:00

It is already summer in Tokyo. It’s hot and humid day after day.
The first year students develop close friendships with their classmates.
First year students（daytime course）have improved their skill in making balloon sculpture dramatically in the last two months.
They first made simple animals, and then took the challenge of making complicated dolls.

This is the stage performance by the first year students (evening course).
They sang and danced along to the AKB48（beautiful girls vocal group）’s music.
We can tell just by looking that they have been growing and developing day by day.
　
Don’t miss the next Blog!!

Satoshi Harigai
Theme park Course
Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College

Sports Day

2011-07-06T17:14:00.004+09:00

The annual Sports Day was held at the Todoroki arena in Kawasaki city on May 27.
It had been raining on and off the whole day but all the students become excited about the games.
Dodge-ball, Basketball, Futsal, Tug-of-war were the events of this year and the competition was between the First year students and Second year students. 　
The victory went to the Second year students but all of them seemed to enjoy this annual event.

Yoshiyuki Sugawara

Public Relations Department

Hospitality & Tourism College

Enjoying USJ

2011-07-04T21:10:00.003+09:00

35 foreign students with 4 teachers went to USJ(Universal Studios Japan) on June 25th. USJ is in Osaka City and one of the most famous and popular theme Parks in Japan. It was a beautiful day, but too hot and humid like mid summer. Most of foreign students have been to USJ once at least , but they all had very enjoyable time.

Hidekazu SUZUKI
Hospitality & Tourism College Osaka

TRAJAL FESTIVAL

2011-07-04T21:02:00.003+09:00

“TRAJAL FESTIVAL”,the most exiting event in our college, was held on June 10th.
The main competition of it is “Class Performance”. Each class, 31 classes in our college, had been practicing their dances and making their costumes for more than a month. There are 69 foreign students from 9 countries. While they took part in the event as class members and prepared“Class Performance”, they were able to make friends with our Japanese students.

Hidekazu SUZUKI
Hospitality & Tourism College Osaka

Welcome party

2011-07-04T20:41:00.002+09:00

Hello! I'm Ayaka

I'm sorry to be late to update Blog.
Since we came to Australia, a month has passed very quickly.
On the 13th of May we had the Welcome Party at school.
We invited our host family.

Every student wore a dress, yukata or suit.
So everyone looked very beautiful and cool!

Kiyo,Kasumi and Kaho made a good speech as representatives of the students.
They sometimes made us laugh.（＾＾）/*
We had a good time and we made new memories with our host family.
We enjoy Australia!!

See you next time.

Nice to meet you.

2011-07-04T20:20:00.003+09:00

Hi, how are you?

We are a Koala blog team from Melbourne.

The name of members on the photo is as follow.
(top）　　　Emiko Akaka Mami Azusa
（bottom）　　Masachika　　Shigeki

We are going to write about the life in Australia.

Please enjoy yourself reading it!

Emiko / Akaka / Mami / Azusa
Masachika / Shigeki

Trajal Blogs from Seattle (May, 2011)

2011-06-10T20:32:00.002+09:00

May 6: Bowling Tournament
After class on Friday afternoon, we held our annual HTC Edmonds-Shoreline Joint Bowling Tournament at Robin Hood Lanes, which is just on the border between the Edmonds and Shoreline neighborhoods.HTC students were joined by six of the conversation partners from the Edmonds ESL classes. In 4-person teams we bowled three games, and prizes were awarded to the top three teams, and also to the top three individual male and female scorers, based on total points for the three games. The male winner was Yuto Imazeki, and the female winner was Ai Tsunaki (both from Japan Hotel School).

May 6: Edmonds students visit junior high
Right after the bowling tournament, the Edmonds students went straight to Eckstein Middle School for some interaction with American students preparing to visit Japan in June. The middle school students were having a study-abroad preparation overnight at their school. The HTC students helped them cook a Japanese dinner (curry, yakisoba, oyakodon), and offered advice about some of the do's and don'ts of Japanese home and school life. They wrapped up the evening with some fun activities - teaching and playing some Japanese children's games like hana-ichi-mon-me (something like "red rover") and atchi-muite-hoi ("point-and-look" combined with rock-scissors-paper).

May 20: Hiking in forest at Shoreline
There is a forest behind Shoreline Community College with a hiking course that I had wanted to show the students for a while. Although we don't have classes Friday afternoons, school events and bad weather had prevented me from taking the students on a walk through the woods until now. But today was a perfectly clear, warm day, and 13 students took me up on my invitation for a hike. We walked for about an hour and a half, working our way past a small lake, a stream with a dam and waterfall, and fallen trees. It seems like the kind of place you might run into Tottoro.

May 21: Volunteers for tsunami victims
The Rock of Ages Church in North Seattle held a fund-raising event for the victims of the Tohoku/Kanto tsunami. About 20 HTC students participated, helping with advertising, cooking, and sales of used goods. The event raised a few thousand dollars.

May 26: SCC students visit kindergarten
As part of the ESL program, HTC Shoreline students visited the kindergarten/1st grade class at the local elementary school and introduced various elements of Japanese culture to the children - children's songs, origami, the "face game", calligraphy, and 'darumasan ga koronda" (a game like "red light/green light"). Kana Uchiyama, Makoto Yamaguchi, and Ami Iwata demonstrated karate and judo techniques. But what the little kids enjoyed most of all was having the big college students join them in the school yard at recess in playing basketball, soccer, jump rope, hula hoop, monkey bars, etc.

May 29: Northwest Folklife Festival
Monday May 30 was Memorial Day, so we had a 3-day weekend. Some students had barbecues or visited cemeteries with their host families. Others took a short trip to Vancouver, Canada for the weekend. Still others headed to Seattle Center (the park around the Space Needle) for the annual Folklife Festival.The festival features folk music and dancing from around the world performed on various stages throughout the park, as well as various ethnic foods and all sorts of spontaneous street performances. The cool, cloudy/partly sunny weather persisted through the 3-day weekend, but it should improve by next week - just on time for Quarter Break! But before that we still have to get through final exams...

Neal Colodner (Seattle)

Trajal Blogs from Seattle (April, 2011)

2011-06-10T20:22:00.006+09:00

April 2: New Students Arrive!
A new group of 59 students arrived on Saturday on 2 planes - one from NRT and one from KIX. (7 students from HTC Tokyo, 19 from HTC Osaka, 32 from Japan Hotel School, and 1 from Keisen Hokkaido Kanko College.) From Sea-Tac Airport they transferred by bus to Edmonds Community College where their new host families were waiting. After greetings and some information from the Seattle school staff, the students met their new families and all headed off separately to their new homes. Many host families greeted their new members with flower bouquets, balloons, or colorful posters.

April 4-7: Orientation Week
Over 4 days, for a few hours each day, we conducted our new student orientation, including a campus tour, and brief "getting-to-know-you" interviews with student advisers. The La Nina pattern of cool, rainy weather, which has been plaguing us since last fall, continued through Orientation Week, making the students turn up their collars against the cold and open their umbrellas for their first commute to school on Monday, and on the campus tour.Aside from HTC teachers, we had the leaders of the Talk Time programs, scuba diving teachers, tennis team coach, and Japan Culture Club president come to orientation to introduce their activities and invite HTC students to join.

April 8: Seattle Tour
In a stroke of luck, we had clear skies for our city tour. Actually, at the first place we stopped - the Kerry Park view point - the Seattle skyline was still backed by a gray sky, but by the next stop - Pike Place Market - the warm rays of the morning sun felt good. We also visited Seattle Center, West Seattle (across the bay from the Seattle Waterfront), the Team Store of the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field, and Broadway Avenue - Seattle's Mecca of grunge and punk fashion.

April 15: SCC Japan Club welcomes HTC
Every spring, the Japan Culture Club at Shoreline Community College throws a welcome party for the new HTC students.As the Japan Culture Club has few Japanese members and is comprised of mostly American Japanophiles, the members are eager to practice Japanese and get the latest scoop from Japan from the newly-arrived HTC students. Hopefully, some strong friendships will develop between members of the two groups.

April 20: Baseball Game, Mariners vs. Tigers
Every year in Spring Quarter, HTC students from both Edmonds and Shoreline go as a class to watch the Mariners play at Safeco Field, with tickets provided by the colleges. Normally we would go to a Sunday game, but this spring the only available Sunday home games were on either Easter or Mother's Day, and we wanted the students to spend these holidays with their host families, so we chose a mid-day game on a Wednesday and canceled classes for the afternoon. The Mariners played against the Detroit Tigers. Once again the Mariners lost, but it was a sunny day, and the students really enjoyed the feeling of an American Major League baseball game - hot dogs, garlic fries, cotton candy, Cracker Jacks. They went all out rooting for Ichiro, and everybody was ecstatic when they saw themselves on the stadium's big screen a few times.

April 25: Safeco Field Stadium Tour
With last week's baseball game still fresh in their memories, the Shoreline students went on a field trip to Safeco Field for a tour of the stadium's facilities. They toured the locker room, club house, broadcaster seating, press conference room, and also got to sit in the Mariners dugout and walk on the field - though just in the dirt, not on the grass.

April 29: Tulip Festival in Skagit Valley
Because of the cool weather this spring, the famous tulips of Washington's Skagit Valley were late to bloom, and were just at the peak of their color this last weekend of April. With camera shutters clicking away, we walked around vast fields of pink, purple, red, yellow tulips separated by color. It was a warm, sunny day, but due to the abundant rain throughout April, the fields had many muddy areas, and if you didn't watch your step you'd sink up to your ankles.

Neal Colodner (Seattle, USA)

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.30) ＊♪＊ Our foreign students’ smile

2011-06-03T14:58:00.010+09:00

After the earthquake which struck the Tohoku area （東日本大震災）,
many foreign students went back to their home countries.
But, some students decided to stay in Tokyo to pursue their studies and others have come here in spite of the difficult situation. They are …our students!
They came to Tokyo, with dreams.
From the pictures, you can see that they are really enjoying their school life!

Junko Fujisaki
Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College

Welcome party

2011-06-01T17:09:00.003+09:00

Nice to meet you.

2011-06-01T17:03:00.003+09:00

Hi, how are you?

We are a Koala blog team from Melbourne.

The name of members on the photo is as follow.

(top) Emiko, Akaka, Mami, Azusa
(bottom)　Masachika, Shigeki

Emiko / Akaka / Mami / Azusa
Masachika / Shigeki

We are going to write about the life in Australia.
Please enjoy yourself reading it!

Bridal Course “Virtual Wedding”

2011-05-17T10:29:00.003+09:00

A virtual wedding produced by first year students of the bridal course was held at a wedding hall, West 53rd Nihon-kaku in March.

The first year students of the bridal course invited the second year students.
A bride was selected from among the second year students of the bridal course, and a groom was a second year student from another course.

The first year students had been learning various things from teachers and seniors.
And this was an opportunity for them to present the results of their year of training, so they were very nervous.

Even though it was the first time for the students to produce a virtual wedding,
the second year students were really impressed by their performance.

Miyuki Fukuda

Hospitality & Tourism College Tokyo

Wave of Injustice

2011-03-16T16:59:00.000+09:00

Picturesque coastal towns since time immemorial
Where they scratched out a living from brine and from soil
Manicured fields in rectangular patches
Boats in the harbor just back with their catches

Houses they’d lived in so many years
Paddies were sown with their ancestors’ tears
All swept away in one massive wave
Thousands condemned to a watery grave

Far removed from the centers of politics and businessmen
Small-scale farmers and seafaring fishermen
What was their crime – that they should face such horror
And meet the same fate as Sodom and Gomorrah?

Was it that they outsmarted nature with quake-proof construction
That a tsunami was sent to ensure their destruction?
Adding insult to injury one more little factor
Fuel rod melt-down at a nuclear reactor

Why such a target for heaven’s wrath
What justice is there in this aftermath?
But there is no answer to such questions one poses
Except the one given to Job and to Moses

We cannot understand, we dare not ask why
When, where, or how people may live and die
We can only help the survivors and stay well prepared
And pray that next time, again, we too will be spared

Neal Colodner

The 5th Hotel and Restaurant Service Contest - 2011

2011-03-11T11:47:00.009+09:00

Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College students participated in the 5th Hotel and Restaurant Service Contest held at Tokyo Big Site in February.
All contestants passed the Restaurant service national exam and they competed against each, showing their skills. Mr. Yoichiro Ejiri and Ms. Kana Ishiguro participated in the contest representing our college.

Opening Ceremony

Prejudging themes are “Making Margarita” and “Orange Carving”.

ISHIGURO, Kana and EJIRI, Yoichiro

ISHIGURO, Kana and EJIRI, Yoichiro

Facial expression, posture, skills, and time limit are all judged by the jury.

The contestants get really nervous. And all contestants efforts are lined up.

Despite their best efforts, they couldn’t move into the final.
But they are happy because they did the best they could to show the results of their years of training in front of the professional jury.
They thanked their teachers for their support and guidance over the past two years.

I was moved by what I saw. They have accomplished so much in two years. I wish I could give them a fighting-spirit award!

Mari Tanaka
Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College Tokyo

ＳＫÅＬ Scholarship student

2011-03-11T11:37:00.005+09:00

We have good news today. Our hotel course student, Ms.Namiko Abe won a ＳＫÅＬ scholarship to study abroad!!　She was so delighted when she heard the news.

This scholarship is a memorial of the achievements of Tetsuya “Jimmy” Moritani (founder of Trajal group) who devoted his life to the development of the Japanese overseas travel industry, and for the “Association internationale des Skål club Tokyo” (“Skal”) members serving as leaders in the international tourism industry who support students studying abroad to become future leaders in the tourism industry.

Skål is a professional organization of tourism leaders around the world, promoting global tourism and friendship. It is the only international group uniting all branches of the travel and tourism industry. Its members, the industry's managers and executives, meet at local, national, regional and international levels to discuss and pursue topics of common interest. http://skalnet20.skal.org/

Namiko is scheduled to leave Japan for Melbourne, Australia on April 2. She will study there in Melbourne for 10 months through our “Study Abroad Program”.
She is required to submit an English essay,“Things what I want to achieve during my study abroad” before her departure. Also she has to make a report twice during her stay, and she is asked to make an English speech at a ＳＫÅＬ Tokyo meeting when she comes back.

Akiko Ikeuchi
Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College Tokyo

Namiko (left) and her homeroom teacher

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.29) ＊♪＊

2011-03-09T18:26:00.006+09:00

We had a special class for advanced level class students last month. Students gave a presentation about their interesting area to Japanese guests. Some students gave the presentation using “iPad”. So much has changed!!

Junko Fujisaki

Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.28) ＊♪＊

2011-01-06T17:29:00.004+09:00

We will start our new class at new school building from Jan., 2011.
So, we have to leave the school building where we have been spending for 10 years.　
Students also have taken the last class here in this building.
The new school building is located right across from our current school building.
I would like to ask for your continuous support.

Junko Fujisaki
Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College

Work experience

2011-01-06T16:46:00.007+09:00

Hello! I am Haruka!! How are you doing?
After great holiday, we had work experience.
We worked at hotel andtravel agency and so on.
In my case I worked at YHA travel, travelagency.
I had really good time. All staffs are so kind and friendly.
They organized me to join the tours.
I could join two tours, great oceanroad tour and Phillip island tour.
In there I could meet many people whocome from various countries.
I had really good time in there.
And Ifound many good shops around my work place.
Cafe, food shops and so on.
Especially, I love the hot chocolate at cafe “”.
This hot chocolate isso sweet and chocolate was melting in the bottom of cup.

ＹＨＡtravel / great ocean road

My favorite hot chocolate

Thank you YHA travels.

Haruka (Melbourne)

JAPAN DAY

2011-01-06T16:34:00.003+09:00

Hi how are you going? Good?

I’m Shun.I haven’t seen you for a long time. Sorry.

We were really busy that’s why I did not write Koala blog.

Anyway, we did JAPAN DAY about 3 months ago.

By the way, do you knowJAPAN DAY?

It is like “BUNKASAI” dancing~, singing, Fashion show or other..

It was fantastic!!!!!

For example, Yoshino Kai (AKB48), NARUWIMPS(band group).

It was soooooo cooooooool. Fantastic!! Awesome!!!Thanx!

Shun (Melbourne)

Excursion

2010-12-20T09:37:00.016+09:00

Hello! I can’t believe that it’s already December!
I’m Minako who will suffer from summer in Australia.
(Yukiyo isn’t with me this time)
Koala blog’s renewal rates are...
I promise that I’ll do write articles in 2 months, so please don’t go away-!!
Today I’d like to write the excursion with ELICOS class.
I went to the city with my classmates and teacher as an excursion last Friday!
When we was walking on the street while eating sushi,
We saw a lot of illuminations and performers because Christmas is coming soon.
There was a normal Santa Claus and...

There was a normal Santa Claus and...

It’s called “Santa Stone”.
There was a mime artist as well.

The city is always busy with many people!
After that, we took pictures in front of Parliament House.

We could take a good one!
Then, it started raining hard!!!
We decided to evacuate St Patrick Cathedral which is famous in the city.

People can see insides of the church freely.

I was impressed by a big stained-glass window!

I’d like to visit there again before I go back to Japan!

When we left the church, it stopped raining.
So we went to the Fitzroy Gardens.

We also visited to Cook’s cottage which is in the garden.
Captain Cook is the first person who found Australia.

They are my classmates, Tony and Lee! (& Captain Cook)

His house remains and attracts many tourists.
It says that ancient people’s body is smaller than us,
Even though the house and beds are small size! They are so cute!
Finally we said good bye after having afternoon teas.
After that, I went to Korean restaurant with Naru-chan and Yuka!

Korean BBQ and Reimen were lovely!

So, see you next time!

Minako

Thank you very much for coming to our Campus Festival！

2010-11-22T18:35:00.009+09:00

The campus festival was held on Oct 30 and Oct.31.
There were so many visitors during the two day festival despite the typhoon that was approaching on the 30th.
We hope you enjoyed our fare!

Here are some pictures.

College Administration

Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College

Working abroad!

2010-11-22T18:29:00.003+09:00

Now the second year students are hunting a job for next year.
Happily, already some students got a job in abroad!!

They are going to US and Switzerland, Holland, Malaysia, Maldives, Germany, Saipan, Cambodia as hotel staff, theme park staff, or travel agency staff.

They are very excited to work there!!

Now, over one hundred graduates work all over the world.

They are contributing greatly to the travel industry in the world!!

Kumiko Yamamoto
Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College Osaka

The GOEN market open!

2010-10-27T11:11:00.008+09:00

On Sunday, September 19, after the open campus,

we held "flea-market" to be able to buy things for only 5 yen!

It is called GOEN （ご縁goen＝relationship）market.
We think "relationships" are very important.
This activity supports the daily life of foreign students learning in Japan.
This time, there are many different things, such as a microwave

oven and a sandwich maker, clothes, bags, cups, plates and so on.
Obviously, the microwave oven was the most popular one!!
A Chinese girl got it, for only 5 yen!
We will hold the next flea market on Saturday, November 27!
Just wait and see it what kind of things are on offer!

Kumiko Yamamoto

Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College Osaka

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.27) ＊♪＊

2010-10-27T11:01:00.002+09:00

The new semester has started from last week.
Today, I want to introduce our advanced level college bound class,

business class, and conversation class.
For example, the class to study for entrance examinations,

the class which introduces marketing, and the class for practicing for interviews.
They are all our original and distinctive classes.
All students look serious about studying!

Junko Fujisaki

Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College

September

2010-09-26T18:16:00.004+09:00

Hello. I'm Sakko & Haruka.We came to Australia 5months ago.
We already booked airplane ticket to go back to Japan.10 months sounds like a long time, but time goes so fast.We have work placement next month and next week we have a JAPAN DAY so we are excited. We went to a private school which is St.Leonard college. Most of the students study Japanese so that they can speak Japanese well. The school had the JAPAN DAY and we helped them.Everyone made a fan (Uchiwa) and top (Bunbun goma) moreover we saw a performance of Japanese dram and a Shamisen.
Children were very interested in seeing the performance. Then!!!!!! we were surprised by our lunch which was Bento.It was delicious however we missed Japan... At the end, we played "Janken train" , but Trajal students won the game.We found a Japanese girl who came to Australia a week ago.She tried to speak English. We thought that we have to follow her. We could enjoy with them so we spent a really good time. By the way, Trajal students will stay 10 days in Osaka came to here who.We hope they can enjoy in Australia.

Sayoko & Haruka ( Melbourne )

Special month for me.

2010-09-26T18:09:00.003+09:00

Hi my name is Haruka. This is my second blog.
We have been here for 5months.
That means we spent half time of this study tour.

We became accustomed to Australian life.
We had Japan day on September 9. It’s like a Bunka-sai.
Every day after school, we prepared for Japan day.

This month was very important for me, because I had my 20th birthday!!!!
Every year my birth day is very hot because it’s summer, so it was first time to have my birth day in winter. Many people celebrated for my birth day, Trajal friends, classmates, OZ friends and host family.

Some of my friends sang and danced ‘Namida-surprise’(by AKB48) for me and Ayaka who was born just next day of my birth day.

I could have a wonderful birth day and I will never forget this 20th birthday.
I love my friends and family!! Thank you soooooo much!!!!

Haruka ( Melbourne )

Summer “Industry Experience Fair”.

2010-09-22T17:50:00.005+09:00

Our summer “Industry Experience Fair” which there featured a large number of participants was held on Aug.16 & 17 for two days. The first day gave an overall view of the tourism industry, and the second day featured reports and presentation by the current students in each course.

There was a get-together after the program and we took a group photo.

We hope those who attended the fair were able to make new friends with whom they can share their thoughts. For those who attended and all our other readers, we extend an invitation to come and visit us at any time.
For more detailed information about our programs, you can access the individual course blogs from the main page of our web site.

Admissions Office
Hospitality & Tourism College

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.26) ＊♪＊

2010-09-15T11:13:00.002+09:00

“It’s been a long time !”
Teachers joined in greeting three alumni from last year.

They became university students and it seems they’ve grown up.
“ How is studying at the university? “
“ It’s so hard.”, was the answer from all three.
I understand their feelings, but that’s the real world.
I’m sure they will hang in there!!

Junko Fujisaki
Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College

The Japan party in youth hostel, Osaka

2010-09-02T21:21:00.002+09:00

The students who majored in the English communication held the Japan party at shin-Osaka youth hostel in July.

The students taught Japanese cultures and traditional, such as Calligraphy,　SADO, YUKATA, ORIGAMI and Bon-dance in English to the foreigners from China, USA, Canada, German, and so on. They are really enjoyed them ,also the students had good experiences and made many friends!
Our school thinks that student has experience and think about it is very important chance!

Kumiko yamamto

Hospitality & Tourism College Osaka

The Heat Goes On

2010-08-25T09:59:00.006+09:00

Seattle closed out the month of July with the Torchlight Run and Parade, part of the month-long Seafair Festival. Eight HTC students ran in the Torchlight Run – five students in the 8 km race, and three students in the five km race. Hiroyuki Abe (from Osaka school) was the first HTC student ever to finish the 8 km in under 30 minutes (29:50). After the race, we moved to the parade route to watch the floats and costumes of various associations and ethnic communities of the Seattle area.

In the first week of August, six new students came through the Trajal Internship Program, to work at Hotel Pacific, the Mariners Store, YMCA, Tillicum Village, and Evergreen Escapes (a tour company). They had a week of intensive English practice and then began work at their unpaid internships.

The climax of Seafair – the Blue Angels air show and the hydroplane races on Lake Washington – was unfortunately accompanied by cool, cloudy skies with occasional rain. But the Edmonds students took a field trip to the Boeing Museum of Flight before the clouds rolled in, and they could watch the Blue Angels taking off and landing on their practice runs. On the same day, the Shoreline students visited the Asian Art Museum and the grave of renowned martial artist Bruce Lee. The final project for the Summer Quarter was short comedic plays based on themes relating to the students’ experiences in America – travel troubles, bad restaurant service, homestay situations, etc.

We held final exams in mid-August, and the following week our whole school headed north across the Canadian border to Whistler resort, about 2 hours north of Vancouver, for our annual three-night school trip. Our first night, we had a dinner/dance party, at which the students continued a tradition of converting Mr. Nojima into a pop-culture figure, which this year was of course Lady Gaga. On the suggested itinerary, I included a 5 km jog/run on each of the three mornings. The first morning, there were 18 students able to roll out of bed for the 7:30 start, but the second day there were only 4 students, and on the last morning only one student joined me. One exciting thing happened on the second morning run – we encountered a black bear on the trail! We took care to pass by slowly and quietly, but the bear was focused on getting food out of a garbage can, and showed no interest in runners and cyclers.
For daytime activities, our students played tennis and golf, paddled canoes or kayaks in a lake, took a two-hour cycling trip, tried horseback riding, and rode the gondola up Whistler Mountain for some high-altitude hiking to the summit. Nighttime activities included star-gazing, gossiping/drinking, and hopefully some sleep. The weather was very cooperative – warm and crystal-clear through the first three days. It cooled down and clouded up a bit on the final day – departure day – but we didn’t have time for activities anyway.

Now it is summer vacation, and our students are off traveling or preparing to travel here and there around America. Four students stayed at the hotel in Whistler for a four-week summer internship. This week we have 31 students visiting Edmonds Community College from the Airline studies divisions of the Osaka school. They are the last segment of the All-School Short Term Study Abroad experiment being implemented for the first time this summer.

Neal Colodner
August 24, 2010

Our daily life ～Conversational style～

2010-08-20T18:22:00.003+09:00

Minako: Hello everyone! I’m Minako who is a koala-blogger!
Yukiyo: Hi! I’m Yukiyo who is a koala-blogger as well!
We’d like to write this blog together^^

M: We have to do a lot of homework now, so we are very busy everyday…

Y: So today we’d like to tell you about our daily life!
I’m sure our parents want to know what we do every day!

M: Hey Yukiyo, how is your school life?

Y: It’s pretty good! I’m enjoying my new class.
And our work experience will begin this October, won’t it?

M: Yes, The places where we will work at have already been decided by our teachers.

Y: There are many kinds of places such as hotels, restaurants and travel agencies.

M: Where will you being placed, Yukiyo?

Y: I’m going to work at a hotel in the city. My jobs are housekeeping and preparing meals and so on. How about you?

M: My place is Ryokan in Melbourne. I’m looking forward to work there!

Y: Ryokan? It sounds good!

M: Yeah, I hope we can have a good working experience.

M: By the way, how is your host family?

Y: My family is very kind to me! I’m so happy everyday^^ This is my family’s picture.

M: Oh! This man who is next to you is your host brother, isn’t he?
He looks so cool!

Y: Yeah he is funny and friendly^^ How about you?

M: My family is so crazy!
Everyone is powerful especially host father is pretty fun^^

Y: Oh- your family is also pretty kind to you, isn’t it?

M: Of course! I’m happy everyday! By the way, what do you do on weekend?

Y: I often go shopping with my friends or study very hard^^

M: Do you?? Last June, we held your birthday party at Yoko’s house, didn’t we?

Y: Yes! I was surprised because I didn’t know anything about the party!

M: Hahaha, we kept the party secret from you and Yoko’s host father.^^ He was a target as well! And we made some Japanese dishes such as Sushi, Okonomiyaki and Teriyaki-chicken.

Y: They were so yummy-! I was excited^^

M: Oh Yukiyo, I forgot to do my homework!
I have to go home quickly and do it!!

Y: So let’s go home now. My bus is coming soon!

M: Ok! See you tomorrow!

---------

This time, we tried to write the article like our conversation^^ Was it clear?
So, see you soon! Next blogger is Haruka(M)-!

Earthly Paradise----Hamilton Island

2010-08-10T09:25:00.003+09:00

Have you ever thought where would be “earthly paradise”?
I would say “Hamilton Island”, which is situated on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef, amongst Queensland’s Whitsunday Islands.
I’ve been longing for visiting there since I arrived in Australia.
It’s nearly for 10years. My dream finally came true this year!
I visited there with my colleagues for 3 days during school holidays in July!
It’s completely different place from cold winter Melbourne, though it took only 2 and half hours flight.

Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef is unbelievable!

The color of the reef and the tropical fish were so beautiful.

I felt like dreaming of “Little mermaid”.
I’ve already been looking forward to next time!

I wish you were there, too.

Mariko Yoshikawa ( Melbourne )

Summer Internship program starts!

2010-08-06T17:19:00.004+09:00

Hello, everyone.
The summer internship program has started mainly for the students who belong to the Hotel and Bridal courses.
They will receive intensive on‐the‐job training for almost two-months at Tokyo suburbs hotels, resort hotels and wedding halls.
The purpose of the internship is not only to experience a challenging job but also to learn how demanding a job in their field can be.
We look forward to seeing the students grow in maturity over the two months.

Students Counseling Center
Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College Tokyo

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.25) ＊♪＊

2010-08-06T17:12:00.002+09:00

We had a special class (D-class) inviting Japanese guests on Aug. 5.

The theme of the class was “Our country’s enigmatic quiz. ”

The students introduced their country’s customs or culture to the guests and the guests guessed which students had false answers.

The guests were surprised at their ease in talking, and seemed happy to participate in the class.
If you interested in this special class, please contact us! (jlc@trajal.ac.jp)

Junko Fujisaki

Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College

Summer in Seattle: Sun, Field Trips and Festivals

2010-07-31T21:14:00.005+09:00

Independence Day
Summer finally arrived, but two days late. Our unusually cool-cloudy-drizzly weather continued through July 5th, and since July 6th we have had no rain, with warm sunshine everyday. So on July Fourth – Independence Day – everyone had to endure cool temperatures and some light showers at their picnics, barbecues and fireworks celebrations. Fortunately, at the big fireworks festival at Gasworks Park in Seattle, the rain stopped before dark, so the fireworks could go off on schedule.

Strawberry Picking
After we finally got a few days of warm sunshine, I took a few students to a strawberry field to catch the end of the strawberry-picking season. Perhaps because it had been cool for most of June, the strawberries were not very big, but they were sweet and juicy.

World Culture Projects
One of the highlights of ESL classes this quarter is a group learning project in which the teaching assistants from various countries teach the HTC students, in small groups, about their home countries – history, social culture, music, dance, native clothing, food, language, etc. Then the students present the information they have learned to the rest of the class. We had presentations about Hong Kong, South Korea, Gambia, Iowa (USA), Vietnam and Indonesia.

Hiking on Mount Rainier
In mid-July, our Edmonds students and Shoreline students, on separate days, went hiking on Mount Rainier – the highest mountain in Washington and the symbol of our state. The peak is around 4400 meters, but the elevation where we hiked was around 2000 meters. We took a three-hour course, with spectacular views of glacier-covered mountains everywhere. We also saw some unique wildflowers and animals, such as chipmunks, marmots, and deer. Because of our long, cool spring this year, there was a lot more snow on the hiking course than in most years, which made the steep parts of the trail somewhat precarious – one slip could send you sliding down about a hundred feet! But no one slipped or got injured. However, some students did seem rather shaken by the experience.

Seafair Festivals
Seattle has various festivals here and there throughout the summer, collectively known as “Seafair”. Our students have enjoyed the Bite of Seattle (food festival), Indian pow wow (intertribal song and dance competition), and Japanese Bon Odori. On July 31 several students will enter the 8 km Torchlight Run which goes through the downtown streets at sunset, just before the Torchlight Parade. The climax of Seafair is the Blue Angels (US Navy fighter jets) Air Show and hydroplane races at Lake Washington on August 6 through 8.

Lake Party
Last weekend, many of our Shoreline students enjoyed a day of brilliant sunshine, fantastic views of Mount Rainier and Lake Washington, and various water sports, preceded by a delicious lunch, at the annual summer Lake Party of the Rock Talk conversation group. Everyone had a great time swimming, jet-skiing, and riding in a motor boat, or getting pulled behind the boat at high-speed in a floatation device.

Short-Program Groups from HTC Tokyo and Osaka
In mid- to late-July, we had student groups from the Tokyo school (Travel and Railroad majors – 46 students), and then a combined group of Airport majors from the Tokyo and Osaka schools (24 students) who came to participate in an ESL/homestay/travel program at the Edmonds campus for about one week each. During their stay, they studied English with Edmonds ESL teachers for half the day, and visited various Seattle tourist spots in the afternoons. The Railroad majors did not do homestays, but rather stayed in the newly constructed campus apartments. Their time here was so brief, but filled with activity, so I am sure they all have good memories of their few days in Seattle.

Neal Colodner
July 29, 2010

Visiting the nursing home

2010-07-26T09:51:00.003+09:00

I visited the nursing home to introduce Japanese culture with a teacher and two friends. Firstly, Ryoko, who is one of our teachers, took us to there. It took about 45 min from our school. Ryoko dressed Kimono, and my friend dressed Yukata already. Both are one of Japanese traditional dresses. When we arrived there, I was surprised because the nursing home looked like a castle. And then we entered there and I wore Jinbei, which is also one of Japanese clothes. Finally, we had an interview the elderly and we introduced ourselves. After self-introduction we introduced one of Japanese traditional culture at once. It was Origami. At first we showed various works to the people. After that we taught how to hold Origami.

Needless to say, the conversation was English as they were Australian. I thought I could manage to communicate in English as the elderly spoke English very slowly. Anyway the elderly was interested in Origami and our dresses. So I was really glad to visit there.

Teaching Origami to old people in English was very difficult for me. But it was a good practice to study English for me. And also I could have a good experience. i want to visit there again if I have an opportunity.

Sarucch ( Melbourne )

My holiday

2010-07-23T17:22:00.009+09:00

Hello. I’m Emiko who is one of Koala-blogger.
The weather in Melbourne is getting colder and colder day by day.
At the same time, my appetite is getting better.
There are many things that I want to talk you but I’ll tell you about a trip during my holiday. I joined a bus tour whoever students in Moorabbin, Chadstone and Waverley Campus can apply. The trip was Sydney and Gold Coast for 9 days and I went there with other Trajal students. The cost was $640(about 62,000yen), including breakfast and dinner for 8 days and accommodation.
On our way to Sydney, we spent nice time on the bus because staffs prepared some games and DVDs for us. Some winners on the game got wonderful prizes such as stuffed animals, bags and snacks. Unfortunately, I’ve never taken a prize. But one of guy who won the game gave me a lovely bag. It was lucky for me^^

Surfers Paradise, Blue Mountain, Harbor Bridge were much more beautiful than pictures on a book. That’s why I was excited the nice view. However for me the most impressive place is Opera House. It was a tight schedule on the day and we kept on moving until night. After we had a breakfast, we left our accommodation for Opera House. It took 30 minutes. Everyone slept like a log on the bus. But sleep has gone the moment we arrived at Opera House. After we observed it a little together, we rode on ship. We wore sunglasses to protect our eyes from the strong sunshine but the temperature on the day was 6 degree!!
It was cold and windy on the ship. We took many pictures there, fighting against windy and the swing of the ship. After we rode off ship, I ate sandwich, walking along shops. Then a bird came straight at my sandwich and took it!!

While we stayed at Sydney, World-Cup was held. We found a big screen to watch the match that soccer team in Japan may precede 8 places! We had my cheek painted for free and we all cheered until 2 p.m. It was a freezing cold but we had a lot of fun!

Through this trip, I met new people and made nice friends^^

I had amazing time on the trip.
See you.

Emiko ( Melbourne )

Hello My name is Shunsuke！

2010-07-07T11:58:00.002+09:00

You know- I have been here for three months. How fast the time passes!! Don’t worry. Our English is improving. …I believe.

We came here and changed variously. For example, I saw the shooting star too much and lost the sense of values but we felt the importance of our parents.

I saw UFO…

The first semester ended on the 25th! It was really good class-^^ Companion who cross the border… Yes!! This is it!! Incidentally, I was only a man in my class!

At last, the holiday started on the 26th. Each of us goes on a trip and we will enjoy holiday!. Next koara bloger is CHINAMI !! Good job (for myself)

Shunsuke (Melbourne)

Hello! I'm Chinami

2010-07-05T15:02:00.006+09:00

Hello! I’m Chinami who is Koara blogger. We had a good time today, so I’d like to write about it. Some of the trajal students went to Disney on Ice with Ryoko and Mariko.

The hall was very big and there were a lot of people.
There were many girls who were wearing dress of princess as well. They were so cute !!!!!!!! The show was so cute and we enjoyed it. The time passed 2 hours quickly, it was really like a dream world ! We took many pictures and shouted for joy. Everyone was excited all the time. I think we were enjoying it more than children around us.

After that we were hungry, so we went to Vietnamese restaurant which is recommended by teachers. We ordered a lot of food but it was $10 per person X) Asian food in Australia is very very delicious because they are cooked by local people. We were satisfied!!!!!

We went to the city for shopping before travelling to Gold Coast after we left teachers. You know, we are going to wear bikini in Gold Coast, so we stood not to eat cakes… Australian sweets are so cute and look delicious !!!!! We are really looking for to traveling :-) Next Koara blogger is Emiko !!
See you later. Bye ^^

Chinami (Melbourne)

Here comes summer…

2010-07-01T11:22:00.004+09:00

In late-May, just before the Memorial Day 3-day weekend, the Shoreline students visited the local elementary school to share Japanese culture with kindergarten students. We were all impressed by the children’s enthusiasm and curiosity in learning from Japanese college students. None of them seemed shy at all.
In mid-June we had Quarter Break – a vacation between quarters of about ten days. Many students made their first attempt at individual travel in America, going places like Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Afterward, we learned that some of them had various problems on their trips, like missed flights, no-show tour buses, etc, but the students had the courage and determination to handle the problems on their own, without calling school staff for help. Experience is the best teacher, as they say.
At the beginning of Quarter Break, twenty-seven of our Shoreline students joined a river rafting trip sponsored by the college. Quite fortunately, the weather that day was gorgeous – blue skies, bright sunshine and warm breezes. On the way to the river, we stopped in the mountain village of Leavenworth, also known as “Bavarian Village” because its architecture, food, music, and businesses portray the culture of German or Swiss mountain villages. Then we headed to the nearby Wenatchee River for the rafting trip. Because June had been quite rainy until then, the water level was high, making for a wild ride! The waves in the rapids were high and everybody got soaked. Many people even got thrown into the water by the wild waves. (The water was really cold!) Nobody got hurt, but two of our students’ eyeglasses were washed away.
Just before the Quarter Break, Edmonds Community College had a ceremony to unveil a plaque acknowledging the contributions of Jimmy Moritani to the college’s International Programs.
　Last week Summer Quarter began. It seems some students are still in “vacation mode” – having trouble getting up on time for class, and concentrating. But I am sure they will readjust. As we enter July, everyone is looking forward to the many summer festivals of Seattle, starting with the Independence Day fireworks at Gasworks Park on Lake Union in Seattle. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Neal Colodner
June 30, 2010

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.24) ＊♪＊

2010-06-30T15:18:00.003+09:00

We had cultural exchange sessions with two classes of fifth-year students at Nakano Municipal Tounoyama Elementary school on the 22nd and 29th of June.

The activities included not only cultural exchanges but we also participated in class room cleaning with the pupils (we actually mopped the floor!) and played dodge ball.
The students had a great time but were exhausted after trying to keep up with the pupils who were so full of energy.

Junko Fujisaki

Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College

PE Festival

2010-06-16T15:45:00.004+09:00

Hospitality & Tourism College Tokyo’s PE festival was held on June 4, 2010 at the Todoroki Arena in Kawasaki city. All students, teachers and staff members were able to deepen their friendship through this PE festival.

This year’s events were volleyball, dodgeball, tug-of-war and basketball, and all of the participants took part in every event with great enthusiasm.
Each group made their unique and original T-shirts and wore them at this event.

Hospitality & Tourism College Tokyo
S.Tsukada

Unveiling Ceremony

2010-06-12T17:56:00.007+09:00

Twenty Japanese maple trees have been planted to commemorate 20 years of educational partnership between Edmonds Community College and Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College, Japan and to honor Jimmy Moritani (1933- 2007) former chairman of Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College. He began a study abroad program in 1986 that has brought over 1,700 students to Edmonds Community College to study English and travel and tourism for an academic year. The program is the oldest partnership between the college and an international institution. May, 2010

Nojima ( Seattle )

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.23) ＊♪＊

2010-06-02T13:38:00.003+09:00

Today, I want to introduce one of our school’s classes to you.

The name of the class is “News” taught by Mr. Masami Tanaka.
He gives this class once a week and his intelligent explanation is well received by the students, so this class is very popular in our school.
His art of explanation would surprise even Mr. Akira Ikegami (the famous commentator)?!
I want you to experience this “News” class if you have a chance!!

Junko Fujisaki

Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College

May in Seattle

2010-05-27T13:00:00.002+09:00

May in Seattle this year has been hit-or-miss weather-wise; a good mix of bright sunny days and cloudy, drizzly days. But it has been just a little cooler than usual. Nevertheless, the students have been actively joining outdoor activities, such as “skim-boarding” with the Rock Talk conversation club, tennis, and jogging. Three HTC students entered the 8 km “Beat the Bridge” run near the University of Washington, to support diabetes research.
At the beginning of the month, the Shoreline students went to see the Mariners play against the Texas Rangers at Safeco Field (the Mariners lost again!), and the next day they went on a tour of Safeco Field as a class field trip. (The Edmonds students went to a ballgame and stadium tour last month.)

A special event this month was the wedding of one of our former students – Yoko Arai (TTJC) – who had studied at HTC Shoreline in 2006. She had worked at the Nikko Restaurant in Dusseldorf , Germany for two years, visiting Seattle occasionally. At some time during those visits, she got engaged to Dave, the leader of Rock Talk, and they had a lovely wedding on May 15. Most of the HTC staff attended, and several of our current students helped at the reception, serving drinks and cake. Several of Yoko’s former classmates came from Japan just for the wedding to serve as Yoko’s bridesmaids. It was great to see them all again. Yoko and Dave will be living in Seattle. Let’s wish good luck to the newlyweds.
Another special visitor who arrived in May is Yuki Okutsu, from Hotel Century Southern Tower in Tokyo. She has come through the Trajal Internship Program to work at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Seattle for a few months.

Some students have been acting a bit moody lately. In Japan you would probably call it “go-gatsu byo”, but in America we don’t have an expression like “May sickness”. I guess we would call it “adjustment issues” – a combination of homesickness, relationship problems with old friends and new friends, and just being a teenager. (Actually, we have something called “Spring Fever”, but that means feeling lazy and losing concentration when the spring weather gets warm and sunny.) We have a 3-day holiday weekend coming up for Memorial Day. The holiday is to remember soldiers who died in wars, but most Americans celebrate the holiday with picnics and barbecues. Many of our students will attempt their first independent travel, going to Vancouver, Canada or Portland, Oregon. I hope they don’t have any trouble or lose anything. And I hope that the change of pace helps them overcome their moodiness. For students who stay around Seattle, there is a huge international culture festival at Seattle Center – the Northwest Folklife Festival. We can see music and dance performances from all over the world, and try many kinds of food. I am looking forward to it.

Neal Colodner
HTC Seattle
May 26, 2010

Koala Blog

2010-05-25T12:25:00.003+09:00

I would like to introduce member of us! we will renew this weblog at least once in 1week. so please check this site ! Incidentally,Haruka(M) takes in charge of this week. we went to city,camp and lots of places. I will renew lots of pictures together! So please look forward to seeing!All of parents and friends ,put your mind ease! we enjoy Australian life and school!

http://www.trajal.com.au/koalablog/p/4709

Harumi (Melbourne)

Students arrived in Seattle on March 27th

2010-04-30T09:36:00.005+09:00

Since our students arrived in Seattle on March 27th, one month has already passed. This week I heard some student comment amazedly, “Wow! A whole month already. So fast!”, but considering all the activities they have had, I can’t believe it has been only one month: Orientation, Seattle downtown tour, elementary school visit (Edmonds), tulip fields tour, Mariners game and Safeco Field stadium tour, hiking in the forest around campus (Shoreline), conversation clubs at local churches, gospel choir practices, parties with college clubs, and of course classes, classes, classes every weekday. Some students have already been selected for internships and will begin working at the Mariners Team Store, Executive Hotel Pacific, and Tillicum Village (Northwest Indian Cultural Facility) in May.

The students have been adjusting well to American life – learning the bus system, making new friends at school and in their communities, and adapting to homestay life. At orientation we emphasized “Be active!”, and most students seem to be following that advice. About 35 students have signed up for the scuba diving course this summer, and several students work out in the school gym or do sports in the local park every day after school, trying to shape up more fun activities this spring and summer.

Tomorrow we will have our bowling tournament with all HTC students from Edmonds and Shoreline, as well as teachers and some international and local students from the two colleges. No doubt, the students will be excited to see school mates from the same school in Japan who are now studying at the other school (Edmonds or Shoreline) whom they have not seen since arriving in Seattle.

Neal Colodner
Seattle
4/29/2010

Our facilities have been renovated!

2010-04-28T18:03:00.004+09:00

Hello everyone!!

This is to let you know about training facilities which have been newly renovated in April.

This is the customer service desk.

This training room is used for a practical training such as selling tours, basic training of sales by using brochures of actual travel products.

This is a practical room for care-helper classes.

This is the first certified practical facility in Japan.
The floor was renewed.
We should study harder to acquire this qualification.

Please come to see us!!

Admission Counseling Office
Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College

A graduate of Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College Osaka appeared in a newspaper article

2010-04-21T15:36:00.004+09:00

An international student, Wu E-Ting from Taiwan who is a graduate of Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College appeared in a newspaper article recently.

She has been offered a position at the KAGAYA PEITOU hot spring facility which will be opening in Taiwan at the end of this year.

The KAGAYA is located at the WAKURA hot spring resort in Ishikawa Prefecture is a long-established ryokan(Japanese-Style inn) which has won the first prize for thirty consecutive years since 1981 at "The Japanese Hotel & Ryokan competition".

The KAGAYA plans to open the KAGAYA PEITOU which is the first Japanese style inn to be established overseas.

Wu E-Ting is studying Japanese culture and ryokan to become one of the opening staff at the KAGAYA PEITOU every day now, and she is learning flower arrangement and tea ceremony as well.
She has to learn many things, but she is trying her best to do everything with a smile.

KAGAYA web site: http://www.kagaya.co.jp/index.php

Kumiko Yamamoto
Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College Osaka

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.22) ＊♪＊

2010-04-15T12:03:00.004+09:00

A new course, called the “LS course” (TOU-NICHI-BUN Language Studio) started on the 8th of April. This course is intended for the students who have Working Holiday visas, Short-term visas, or Family visas, and focus mainly on conversation skills.

This special course lasts only 3 months, but already the teacher and the students are communicating actively in the class.
I can’t wait to see how much they are able to improve their conversation skills.

※ This LS course will be held every 3 months.
Also if you are interested, you can join the class that is already in progress.

Junko Fujisaki
Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College

“Omikoshi” in Melbourne

2010-03-26T16:44:00.005+09:00

Our 11 students who stayed in Melbourne for 2 months joined people from “Japan Club of Victoria” and took part in Parade at “Moomba Festival”
We were worried about the weather because we had wild weather the day before and quite heavy storms and rain in the morning.
But luckily when the parade started at 11:00, the rain stopped! Even blue sky and the sun came out for us!
We worn HAPPI (Japanese Festival Jacket) and carried OMIKOSHI (Portable shrine) on the main street of Melbourne City.
Moomba Festival is one of the biggest cultural festivals in Melbourne.
Despite the weather, there are so many people came to see the parade. We were on TV on that day too!

Ryoko Yoshiura

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.21) ＊♪＊

2010-03-26T16:22:00.005+09:00

Today, I want to introduce our conversation class (advanced level).
The lesson was a type of training called a “Buzz session”.
The buzz session consists of dividing the participants into small groups to discuss an issue or carry out a task.

The groups work simultaneously in the same room.

(the word "buzz" comes from the resulting noise)

The task is brief and relatively simple.

The students all took part in the conversations calmly and finally managed to frame ideas. I have no doubt that they will survive in the real situations after graduation.

Many thanks to Ms. Fukada who coached the class as a facilitator.

Junko Fujisaki

Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College

Bridal Fair

2010-03-10T15:16:00.004+09:00

The bridal fair had been held by the second year students at Hospitality & Tourism College Tokyo on the 15th Feb.
The theme of the fair was “Change”.

The first division was the “Bridal Collection”.
The second year students transformed classmates into brides in line with the five different themes. The third division was the “Future Wedding”. After looking back over the “good old days”, their quest produced a new concept, an all-weather convertible wedding dress that was both practical and eye-catching.

What impressed me most was that the students tried to produce a comfortable atmosphere. This bridal fair projected an air of “Hospitality” and I realized the student’s professionalism.

I was really surprised there are so much to learn at vocational college in two years.
I felt assured that the students will become work-ready graduates with practical skills by the time of they are employed.

Hospitality & Tourism College Tokyo
Misato

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.20) ＊♪＊

2010-03-03T12:15:00.006+09:00

We had a cultural exchange activities with two classes of fifth-year students at Nakano Municipal Tounoyama Elementary school on the 25th of February.
This kind of session with neighboring schools was the third this year.
The lunch of elementary school was enjoyed by everyone.
The cultural exchange activities succeeded well. One of pupils performed on the “Koto” and received a big ovation from all.

Junko Fujisaki

Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College

The restaurant was opened by students for only one day

2010-02-24T16:25:00.010+09:00

The second-year students of the Restaurant & Banquet Staff course opened an “Alpine restaurant" in the Hospitality & Tourism College Osaka. The atmosphere of the restaurant was inspired by the animated film “A girl of the Alps, HEIDI”.
There were two items on the menu, a pasta and a hamburg steak.
The restaurant was filled with guests (students and teachers).

They seemed to enjoy the dishes very much♪

The Restaurant & Banquet course students want to be professional banquet staff with knowledge about food and beverage.
The atmosphere of the class is very nice and shows good teamwork.
Their hospitality and smiles made us very happy.

It was really wonderful♪♪

Kumiko Yamamoto
Hospitality & Tourism College Osaka

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.19) ＊♪＊

2010-02-24T16:04:00.007+09:00

We gave a short-term study course for 7days from 4th to 10th of February.
Seven students from Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Canada participated in this course, learned Japanese language and experienced Japanese culture like wearing kimono, making soba, tea ceremony, a trip to Hakone and so on.
It was the first experience for them, so I guess this one week was unforgettable.
It was great to see everyone and we hope you come to see us again !

Junko Fujisaki
Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College

Summer Events and Festivals in Melbourne

2010-02-23T11:37:00.003+09:00

There are a lot of events and festivals in Melbourne.
Major events are “Australia Open Tennis” in January and “F1 Grand Prix ( car race)” in March. They are broadcast to all over the world. Have you seen these events on TV?
Also many festivals are held in Melbourne in summer time. They are “The St. Kilda Festival ”, “Chinese New Year Festival”, “ The Japanese Summer Festival” and “Moomba Festival” etc.
Australia is a multi-cultural society which means that people came from many countries to live in Australia. So we have different backgrounds such as culture, food, religion, race and so on. It is a good opportunity to understand differences through the festivals and it is “fun”.

Teruko Ue

“Hotel Design Contest” ～Result of an excellent team effort～

2010-02-17T13:00:00.005+09:00

The month of February is the busiest month for second year students. They were preparing for a series of events as a result of an excellent team effort.
Let me tell you about the “Hotel Design Contest” which was held at our college.

The theme of the contest was “Propose a novel idea to promote the “Phoenix Seagaia Resort” in Miyazaki. It is not easy to propose a profitable plan for a company. We had been preparing for this event for almost six months, since September last year.

Many thanks to the corporate sales director and to the branch manager of Phoenix Seagaia Resort East Japan branch office who came all the way to our college as special judges.

They chose “Vivid Agricultural Experience” as the winning plan out of the six submitted. One reason they chose this plan, was the clear vision toward the future. The participants will be able to experience genuine agriculture, and the judges thought this could lead to revitalization of Miyazaki prefecture economy and that of our country Japan as well.

Akiko Ikeuchi

Hotel Course

Hospitality & Tourism College

The brochures of Student- created Tour is ready!

2010-02-12T16:19:00.005+09:00

This article is one of a series following one posted on this site in Nov. last year. Finally the Student-created Tour developed in collaboration with NOE(travel agency) has gone on sale. The tour is named 〝LET’S ENJOY THAILAND 120%!〝　

There are many attractive optional tours, such as 3 courses for Shopping, 2 courses for Massage, and the night plans include traditional dancing, a drag queen show and watching Muay-thai. There are 8 courses and you can choose whatever you like. These tours have a number of unique points which makes them stand out from all the others. For example, the price of 40,000yen is competitive and attracts many people.

This plan has been sold already, and many reservations have been made as well! I have no doubt that it will be very popular!
Also it was featured in the SANKEI newspaper!!!!

Kumiko YAMAMOTO
Hospitality & Tourism College Osaka

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.18) ＊♪＊

2010-02-12T16:08:00.003+09:00

We had a cultural exchange session with two classes of sixth-year students at Nakano Municipal Hakuou Elementary school on the 29th of January.

Our 17students from Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and China introduced their own cultures to the pupils, who responded by sharing some aspects of Japan.

One of our students who is a former kindergarten teacher was able to overcome the difference of nationality or language and her ability to communicate with children was most impressive.

Young children show a remarkable ability to communicate in many ways.

Junko Fujisaki
Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College

On-the-job Training

2010-02-10T11:21:00.003+09:00

The real wedding hall is our classroom!!
The first year students went to a real wedding hall and checked the procedures for a virtual wedding that is scheduled to be held in March.
Everyone seemed a little nervous because the facility was different from their usual classroom.
The wedding hall with illumination and music created real wedding atmosphere.
Our Bridal course students are fully occupied with events.
The first year students are preparing for the Virtual Wedding, and second year students are preparing for a Bridal Fair.
Let’s make these events successful!!

Isshin Takasu
Bridal Course

Hospitality & Tourism College Tokyo

Fast-evolving Technologies

2010-02-05T17:55:00.006+09:00

On the Jan.28, we had a first online hiring interview through Skype.
A student from our Tokyo college applied for an internship at the Sofitel Manila in the Philippines, and the student had an interview answering various questions.
There are some difficulties in sound quality, but the student could manage to wrap up the interview.
The progress of technology is certainly eye opening.
From an educational point of view, we will be able to do something that is not bound by the limits of time and space.
It is so exciting when I think of what we can do in the near future,

Travel Journal Educational Foundation
Satoshi Tsukada

Graduation in summer

2010-02-03T14:30:00.002+09:00

Hello from Melbourne! As you are having very cold days in Japan or the Northern hemisphere, Melbourne is having very hot days. The temperature is getting nearly 40 degrees!

When mid-summer arrives, it’s time for us to say “Good bye” to our 37 students.
Yes, we had graduation day on 28th of January. A lot of laugh, tears, smile and hugs….Graduation day is always special.

However, this year’s one is remarkable because of some students’ great efforts to decorate the place gorgeously! So, we had a fantastic ceremony as if we had been in wedding reception! The 3-course dinner was also very nice. Thanks to Holmesglen!

Our students show us great performance each year. This year, we decided to surprise them by showing our performance, Hip-Hop Dance! First of all, we asked our ex-student who is working as a dance teacher here to choreograph. And we practiced a lot without letting anyone know. That’s our challenge to please them! ----- I think our efforts were paid off! If you would like to check it out, please visit our web.
Anyway, the night was so unforgettable!
Dear students, good luck with whatever you choose to do in the future!

Melbourne Mariko Yoshikawa

The third ASEAN-JAPAN CENTER Travel Plan Contest

2010-01-29T18:36:00.004+09:00

Good news from the Tourism Course.
The ASEAN-Japan-Center conducts an annual contest as part of its ASEAN Visit Campaign. The students worked on the project as part of their classes　and then submitted their tour plans.
We have received news that Ms. Maiko KAN, a second year Tourism Course student has been awarded the first prize in the “ASEAN THEME category” for the contest held in November, last year. A second year evening Tourism Course student, Ms. Asami UEDA from our Osaka college won the “Special Award Category” at the same time.

They won the awards out of 296 products submitted in four categories.
The prize winner will be joining a package tour for marketing research as an extra prize.
As a point of interest, students from Trajal have won the award three consecutive years.

Congratulations!!

Shinya Takahashi
Hospitality & Tourism College Tokyo

＊♪＊ TOU-NICHI-BUN (vol.17) ＊♪＊

2010-01-27T17:37:00.002+09:00

We had a cultural exchange session with the second-year students at Nakano Municipal Dai-Go Junior High school on the 22nd of January.
This exchange is the fifth such event this year, and the 21students from our school and the Junior High school students participated to learn about and deepen their knowledge of each other’s culture.
Our students introduced their own culture to the Junior high school students after lunching together with them. Each of the classes went very well and the students all voiced their satisfaction with the event.

Finally, the Junior high school student chorus performance for us and all our students were very impressed!
We are planning this kind of cultural exchange with other neighbored schools.

Junko Fujisaki
Tokyo Japanese Language & Culture College