Saturday 7 December 2013

Arriving at Kurashiki and meeting host families


We caught the shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Okayama, then caught a local train to Kurashiki, Christchurch's sister city. We were met by James Benson and Miss Hasegawa of the Kurashiki City International Affairs department. James is an Ex-CBHS student who Mrs.T taught back in the day. James had kindly organized a van to take our luggage to Kurashiki Minami High School. We were given a quick tour of the historical quarter then taken to the school for a welcome ceremony. The students introduced themselves in Japanese and in turn, were introduced to their host families. Following a briefing session the students left with their host families for the weekend where they will experience home life and practise their Japanese. It is very interesting to see how highly the sister-city relationship is regarded by the citizens of Kurashiki, and the city council.