The school trip
experiences
of exchange students


Nine exchange students, studying at Sendai Ikuei Gakuen on a 10-month exchange program, had an opportunity to visit Kyoto and Osaka last December. They also had a chance to cheer on this school's Rugby team at the All Japan High School Rugby Tournament in Hanazono, Osaka. The following letters presented to Principal Katoh expresses their gratitude towards him.

 
 
 
 
 
 
■Letter-1
 りょ行はとても楽しかった。どうもありがとうございます。
  The trip was very fun. I saw a lot of interesting places. The first day we spent most of the time in the bus and we had a fun time there too. The Japanese style hotel was neat. We went to a golden temple, some shrines, an aquarium and Universal Studios. The temple that has the most Buddhist statues in the world was really interesting. I found the design of the god statues very interesting. The rugby match was fun and I was pleased that Seidai Ikuei won. One night we got Sukiyaki that was very tasty. I liked the trip very much and I am looking forward to the ski trip!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

 Best wishes from Sebastian Ljungdahl
 
■Letter-2
 こんにちは!お元気ですか。私はワニット・ラピンパンです。タイから来ました。私は去年の12月に仙台育英のりょ行に行きました。良かったです。タイにもお寺がたくさんありますが、日本のお寺が大好きです。本当に楽しかったです。その日行ったお寺は5つぐらいです。私の1番大好きなお寺は33げんどうです。いっぱいぼさつがありますから。私はびっくりしました。どうやってぼさつを作るのか私はいぶかるをかんじました。りょかんも私はかんどうしました。おふろに入りました。みんな留学生はいっしょに入りました。みんなはおふろが大好きと言っていました。日本の物を知るようになりました。日本の物は寺だし、りょかんだし、りょうりだし、おふろです。私はこの仙台育英りょ行をいい思い出と思います。日本がもっと好きになりました。どうもありがとうございます。

 ワニット・ラピンパン
 
■Letter-3

 12/28 to 12/31 (03) We went on a school trip. The following will try to describe the events that occured and some of the feelings I had about it. The destination was (for the most part) Kyoto, even though most of us saw the “Universal Studios” as the ultimate purpose of the trip. It begun with a really, really early morning, shortly to followed by a bus trip that seemed to last forever (Approx 10 hours). We were all quite tired (as sleeping on the bus was difficult), and went to bed quickly.
 The next day's hours were spent partly on a sightseeing-bus, with visits to big temples and shrines on the schedule. We also visited a “handicraft”-center, where we had our lunch. According to me, this was the best day.
 The third day we went to the Osaka castle and an aquarium in the same city. This day was quite the least pleasant, even though the magnificent castle was quite a sight.
  The last day was scheduled for the “Universal Studios” and the trip home by plane. The amusement park was fun, but not as fun as expected. Luckily, the food was superb. Other things... well, the hotel was far nicer than expected, and the service five-starred. Overall, it was a pleasant experience. Thank you for letting us go.

 With many grateful thanks
 Martin Holm

 
■Letter-4

 ありがとうございました 。
 大さかはとても楽しかった、でもちょっとみじかかった。
 I really liked the temples that we went to. I think that was the best part of the trip. The best temple was the 1001 Buddhas. Sleeping in the old Japanese hotel was interesting. 大さか城はとてもおもしろくて大きかった。The things, places where the next students should go are the Osaka castle, 1001 Buddhas,and Universal Studios.
 どうもう ありがとうございました
 
 ニッキ ホウー

 
■Letter-5
 Hi I'm one of the exchange students of this year named Terri Lui. I want to thank you for letting us go on a 4 days 3 nights trip to Osaka and Kyoto. We had a great experience, lots of great memories felt inside our heart. We also cheered for the school's Rugby game during this trip. It was full of fun and excitement. Once again, thank you for giving us a chance to go on a school year end trip to Kyoto and Osaka.
 
 Yours truly, Terri Lui WingLam
 
■Letter-6
 12月28日から12月31日まで私たちは旅行しました。この旅行はとても面 白くて楽しかったです。ありがとうございました。私たちはラグビ-・チームとバスで京都へ行きました。これは面 白かったです。
 私たちの旅行では京都と大阪に行きました。冬休みでしたから奈良に行きませんでした。だから大きいブッダの像を見ませんでした。
 京都は私たちの初めての日。お寺をたくさん見ました。とても面白かったです。私は京都で日本の文化を思いだしました。大好きでした。色々有名なお寺を見ました。世界で一ばん大きなお寺を見ました。それから金のお寺を見ました。とてもきれいでした。
  29日私たちは大阪に行きました。大阪城はとても面白かったです。先日私は本を読みました。そして本で大阪城がありましたから大阪城はとてもとても面白かったです。
  30日私たちは大阪で「ユーニバセル・スチューディオズ」に行きました。とても楽しかったです。私たちの「ユーニバセル・スチューディオズ」の時は少し短いですが大丈夫でした。後で私たちはひこうきで帰りました。とてもきれいでした。午後6時ぐらい帰りましたから夕日を見ました。だからとてもきれいでした。ありがとうございました。

 コリン・ヒュー・ロバーツ (カナダから)
 
■Letter-7
  I would like to thank you for paying for our trip to Kyoto, Osaka and Universal Studios, Japan. Me and my class had a lot of fun. I loved looking at the temples in Kyoto and Osaka and I took a lot of photos. I enjoyed staying at the traditional Japanese hotel, the meals there were delicious and I was very sad to have to leave. My favorite temple was the gold temple but I really liked the one with all the Buddhist statues. So thank you very much for the trip and it will be in my memories forever.

 Yours Sincerely Matthew Nelson
 
■Letter-8

  十二月二十日から十二月三十一まで京都と大阪の旅行はすばらしかったです。Although we sat on the bus about 10 hours to get to Kyoto, it was a good time for us foreign exchange students to share that time together. On the morning of Dec 28, 2003, everyone arrived on time at the meeting place because no one wanted to be left behind on this great trip.The 9 of us were on the bus with the Rugby cheering team. Most of us stayed awake on the bus and passed time by listening to music, chatting, reading, and looking at the beautiful scenery while the Rugby cheering team slept their time away. We arrived at a 旅館 in 京都 just before dinner time. The name of it was called“お花ぼう”and was located right across one of the bigger temples in 京都 called“Higasi Houganji Temple”お花ぼう旅館は百年前にできました。とてもきれいでした。We ate a marvelous dinner at the 旅館 and then got free time to wander around outside a bit before we had to take our bath and then go to sleep to get well rested for tomorrow's full planned schedule of exciting activities. Of course, we had a relaxing shower because we got to go in the traditional bath called“お風呂”. The next morning, we ate at the 旅館 and of course, 朝食はうまかったです。今日は京都のツアーです。We visited temples, shrines, and pavilions all across Kyoto. They were monumental. Most of them were built before anyone of us were born! I was so glad it was sunny that day.
  On the third day, we visited the famous 大阪城 where the samurai stayed a couple of eras ago. Unfortunately, it was closed so we were not able to go in but looking from it on the outside was enough to amaze us already. Our next stop was at an aquarium. Standing tall outside of it was the biggest Ferris wheel I have ever seen! We entered the aquarium going up a really, really long escalator which basically brought us up to the top floor. We circled from top to bottom of the aquarium looking at fascinating seawater animals ranging from stingrays to jellyfish. Afterwards, we cheered on the Rugby team which played a great match and won. Our last day was spent at the famous UNIVERSAL STUDIOS JAPAN. We had a blast on the rides and ate delicious food. We also did some souvenir shopping at shops like the snoopy shop and the Hard Rock Cafe. No one wanted to leave when the time came but we had to catch our plane ride back to 仙台. It would be great to spend 正月 in 京都 but spending it with our host family is equally as great. この思い出、わすれません!   

 ゆきえ リー

 
■Letter-9
 ありがとうございました!
 大さかときょうとはたのしくておもしろかったです。
 一ばんおもしろかったはきょうとのじんじゃとお寺です。ウニベルセルもおもしろくてたのしかったです。りょうかんはおもしろくて食べ物がおいしかったです。
 仙台いくえいのラグビー部活はつよいですね。よかったですね。
 きょうとはきれいでふるいまちです。私は日本の文化が好きですからこのりょ行はよかったです。
 でも侍とげいしゃをみませんでした。
 ども ありがとうございました    

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