From Australia_Term 2_at St. Andrew’s Catholic College_May 2nd_2016

Otsuma Nakano has an excellent “sister school” in Cairns, Australia.  It is St. Andrew’s Catholic College, Redlynch.  We are very keen to see the students exchange program between St. Andrew’s Catholic College and Otsuma Nakano continue to grow over the coming years.  In this academic year of 2016, Shiho Ogata and Kaho Mitsuhashi, enjoyed staying at St. Andrew’s for Term 1.  Now Marin Nakamura, 11^th year student from Otsuma Nakano, are joining St. Andrew’s for Term 2.  Here is the updated report from Marin at St. Andrew’s.

Hello, everyone there!  Winter is approaching here and it is quite usual to start to rain suddenly in Cairns, Australia. How is the weather in Japan?  I guess the climate there must be moderate.

Two weeks have passed since I handed in my first report and I felt that the second due day for me to hand in my report came quickly.  That means I have gotten used to the life and St. Andrew’s Catholic College over here.

On April 17th, my host family took me to the Port Douglas market. There were many white tents put up and the streets were filled with so many people.  All the shops were interesting and there was a little boy playing a traditional Aboriginal musical instrument, called didgeridoo.  He moved around a lot to get attention from even more people. It was interesting for me to see it because I have never seen that musical instrument before. After that, we went to the zoo called 'The Wild Habitat'. I saw a koala, kangaroo and so on. I said to my host family that I want to hug a koala while I'm here in Cairns, so I was really excited. Did you know that the some states in Australia cannot permit people to hug a koala?  There are only three states where it is possible to hug them due to the environmental conditions, which are Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.  For this reason, I had a very precious experience.

On April 22nd, we held an Anzac Day ceremony in fourth and fifth period in St. Andrew's. ANZAC Day is one of Australian's most important national events and celebrations. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.  After the ceremony, I had a religion subject excursion. I learned about how a person can become a Buddhist in Kacho Yulo Ling Buddhist Centre. In Otsuma Nakano, we don't go on such excursions in separate classes, so it was a good experience.

On April 25th, we celebrated the actual ANZAC Day. I woke up at three o'clock and went to the cemetery.  My host sisters are in the Navy Cadets, so they were standing in the line. After one hour of watching the ceremony, I went home with my host mother and had a nap for a while. From ten o'clock, there was an ANZAC Day parade at Munro Martin Park and my host sisters were marching with their Navy Cadets, so we went there to watch them.  There were also real Navy, Army and Air Force as well.  Everyone was very cool and it was my honour to see the parade. There are no stores open on ANZAC Day because it is a public holiday. Even the super market!  So everyone has to buy groceries the day before.

On April 27th, after school, my economics teacher invited Emily and me to his house and had dinner with his family.  His name is Mr. Walker and he is coming to our school at the school festival to perform the ukulele. I was very surprised that his Japanese was very good!  I hadn't eaten Japanese food for a while, so I felt nostalgic.

There are many differences between Japan and Australia. I am surprised at something new every day. I still have about two month here, but I guess time will fly quickly.  So I want to find more difference and enjoy the rest of my stay here in Cairns!

Best regards,

Marin Nakamura

こんにちは！ ケアンズは冬に近づいてきました。日本はちょうど良い季節になってきたのではないでしょうか。最初のレポートを提出してから早くも2週間が経ちました。この2週間はとても早く感じ、こちらの生活に慣れてきたのではないかと思います。

4月17日はマーケットに連れて行ってもらいした。白いテントが沢山たてられていて、歩道は人で溢れていました。小さい男の子がオーストラリアの伝統的な楽器、ディジュリドゥを人々の注目を浴びるため、そこらじゅうで演奏していました。私はディジュリドゥを初めて見たのでとても興味深かったです。その後はThe Wild Habitat という動物園に行き、コアラを抱っこしました。私はケアンズに滞在中、コアラを抱っこしたいとホストファミリーに話をしていたのでとても楽しみでした。オーストラリアでコアラを抱っこできる州は３つしかありません。ケアンズはその１つなのでとても貴重な体験ができました。

4月22日はANZAC Dayのセレモニーが学校でありました。この日はオーストラリアとニュージーランドにとって、とても大切な日です。セレモニーの後は宗教の課外授業があり、私のクラスだけが行きました。大妻中野では１つのクラスだけ課外授業をすることはないので初めての体験でした。4月25日、この日がANZAC Dayです。朝の3時に起きお墓に向かいました。ホストシスターが子供用の海軍に入っていて、お墓で1時間整列していました。そしてセレモニーが終わり、家へ帰り仮眠をとってから今度はパレードを見に行きました。このパレードでホストシスターはマーチングをしていてとてもカッコよかったです。また本物の海軍、陸軍、空軍もマーチングをしていて見ることができ、光栄に思いました。ANZAC Dayは祝日なのでスーパーマーケットはもちろん、どこのお店も開いていません。なので食料品などは前日に買わないといけないのです。

4月27日は経済の先生の家で日本食をご馳走してもらいました。Walker先生は大妻中野の文化祭でウクレレを披露するそうです。私はWalker先生の日本語が上手で驚きました。また久しぶりの日本食を食べれて嬉しかったです。日々、オーストラリアと日本の違いに驚いています。まだ約2ヶ月はありますが時間が経つのはあっという間です。これからもいろいろな違いを見つけ、ここでの生活を楽しみたいです。