August 15 – 18 Whistler School Trip

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"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

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

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 )