京都府立鳥羽高等学校

　On January 15th 11 students and 5 teachers from Hangyoung High School in Korea visited our school. They took part in an exchange meeting with our first year students.
At the exchange meeting we sang songs, introduced our schools and shared each other's culture with pictures.
Then they took social studies and Japanese lessons together. In social studies class they worked on a task together using Japanese, English and Korean languages. They found that their cultures had a lot in common.

Picture top left : They introduced each other's culture.
Picture top right : They explained their traditional food using gestures.
Picture bottom left : They experienced tea ceremony.
Picture bottom right : They took a picture together at the end of the exchange.

　On November 11th, first year students gave presentations in English about Japanese traditions and cultures through Kyoto Mirai Net Web Conference System. They communicated with students from NUS( National University of Singapore ).
　One of them was Ryutaro Sato. He graduated from Toba High School and now he is studying at NUS. He presented about the cultures and traditions of Singapore in English, and then they discussed their cultures.

　These excerpts are from students' presentations.
　" I'm going to talk about a Japanese-style hotel It is called a ryokan in Japanese. Ryokan are Japanese original lodgings whch grew in the Japanese culture.
　All ryokan staff wear kimono at work. The guests wear yukata or casual version of kimono, too.
　Ryokan attract many tourists because they can feel four seasons and spend time at historical buildings."

　"Tsukemono are famous pickles in Kyoto. Tsukemono originated in order to preserve vegetables by pickling them in salt. Japanese people think if there are unappetizing tsukemono on a table, our dinner is spoiled.
　The climate and water in Kyoto is suitable to grow vegetables. Shibazuke, Senmaizuke and Sugukizuke are especially famous in Kyoto."

　On Monday, October 27th, the second year students had a lecture by an associate professor of literature at Ritsumeikan University (Super Global University).
　The lecture was divided into three parts: quizzes about China, basic Chinese conversation and preparation for the international exchange.
　Students will interact with middle school students from China on October 31st. His advice will help them communicate with the Chinese students.

　On Saturday, October 18th, second-year students took part in a workshop titled, "Let's Make A Presentation In English!".
　Three lecturers from Eiken Foundation of Japan came and explained in English about "What is a presentation?", "What are the basics of presentaions?".

　The students worked in pairs and practiced various kinds of presentations such as "Tell me about yourself.", "Tell me about your culture. What do you recommend me to do in Kyoto?" and "Do you write letters by hands, or use e-mail?"

　Two second-year students stayed in Edinburgh, Scotland and one first-year student stayed in New Zealand for language study for about a month. They reported what they learned during their stay in front of classmates.

The first-year girl talked about her experiences in English.

　"By studying abroad, I had a lot of wonderful and interesting experiences. Before I went to New Zealand I thought there were a few Japanese teachers and students there. But when I went to my school for the first time, I was very surprised! There were no Japanese.

　At that time I felt a little scared and worried about many things but it was all OK. I never thought that the situation was bad for me. On the contrary, I felt thankful for that valuable situation.

　If some Japanese had gone to the same school with me, I would have talked with that Japanese and maybe couldn't have improved my Enligh skills! However, there were no Japanese so I could improve my English skills a lot.

　I made many friends in New Zealand. My best friend in New Zealand is Valenteen. She came from Tahiti by herself, too. Both of us like Disney movies and we are the same age so we could be good friends soon.

　Her native language is French so she taught me some French and I also taught her some Japanese.

　Many students are interested in Japan, especially Japanese anime and manga. "Naruto" and "Dragon Ball" are very famous in foreign countries, too. Many people know about Kyoto and some of them have already visited Kyoto! I was very surprised to hear it and I was very proud of living in Kyoto.

　Spending 25 days speaking only in English of course wasn't easy for me and I didn't have only good memories, either. I really thought I had to study English harder and harder. Now I study English much harder than before and I hope I can live and work abroad someday."

　On August 24th and 25th four Toba High School students took part in SGH (Super Global High School) Summer Global Workshop hosted by Sagano 　High School and H-lab (Harvard University) and the workshop was held in Arashiyama.
　High school students worked on a task with students from universities such as Harvard, Tokyo, Kyoto, Keio together.
　The task was to create a vision of Arashiyama and Kyoto which is likely to grow and develop in the future and suggest ways to realize it.

Arashiyama Fieldwork

Students were divided into several groups and worked on the task.

After discussion they put together their ideas and created a presentation.

They made their presentations in English.

One of the groups Toba students joined won a prize.

Dinner was a good chance to communicate.

At Tenryuji an American Zen priest, Thomas Kirchner, explained about Zen in English.

The typhoon is gone and the hot summer is back again. Students are working hard at their club activities.

Swimming Club Students playing water polo.

Broadcasting Club Club members making a video introducing our school.

Brass Band
Students practice very hard for several concerts coming up in August and September.

　It's club activity time! Some clubs are in training camps, some clubs are on the road, and others are practicing at school.

Baton Twirling Club
　They won the gold prize in the Kyoto Prefectural Competition.

Sando(Sado, Kado, Kodo) Club
　Students are practicing tea ceremony, flower arrangement and incense-smelling ceremonies.

Badminton Club
　As they have games coming up at August 18th, they are practicing very hard.

Basketball Club These boys always play hard.

Art Club
　They are preparing for the cultural festival and exhibitions.

Baseball Club
　It's lunch time. Let's take a break!

Soccer Club
　They are playing demonstration games.

It's really hot! But students are still active in their club activities.

The first year students of Baton Twirling Club

Weight Lifting Club (Left) is warming up.
Badminton Club (Right) is working on basic training.

Soccer Club (Left)
Volleyball Club (Right)

Girls' Basketball Club is training hard as usual.

Tennis Club is practicing in the hot sun.

Baseball Club keeps the dream of Koshien alive.

Brass Band pours all their effort into practice.

Sumo Club
Elementary school students join in the practice. (Right)

The second year students take part in a four- day study camp. They study twelve hours a day from morning to night.

Math class

English class

Self-study class

Students can't wait for meal time.
Before meals one of the students makes a short speech. (Left)
It's dinner time. Students look very happy. (Right)

　The Tanabata Festival (The Star Festival) is celebrated on July 7th. On this day, people write their wishes on slips of paper and tie them to bamboo branches.

　Students made these wishes for their future.
　" I want to meet the Japanese pop group, ARASHI."
　" I want to play baseball at Koshien Stadium."
　" I want to stay with my boyfriend until we are 86 years old."

　Summer is just around the corner. Our brass band held the annual concert titled, "Concert Just Before Summer".
Part 1

Part 2
First, Fushimi Junior High School Brass Band appeared on the stage, followed by the well-known tuba player, Kazuhiro Nakamura's performance. And then, to our surprise, the world-famous tuba player, Roger Bobo conducted the band!
The appearance of the special guests pleased the audience very much.

Part 3
Time flew when we were having fun. Did you enjoy the solos, dances and the joint performance with Fushimi J.H.S?

Toba High School students respect traditional culture. The second year students composed a waka (a type of short poetry) when they were in the first grade. The selected five works were recited by our poetry reciting club members. The members were wearing the costumes of the Heian Period.

She is a special guest teacher of waka. She was explaining the fine points of waka to the studens.