Hi, Everyone!  Long time no see!  How are you doing?  I finished all of my classes in UQ today and I am happy because I could finish my assignment!!  This time, I will write about the cultural differences between Japan and Australia.
There are a great number of differences between Australia and Japan in terms of eating meals and these differences mean people can have different reactions to other cultural norms. First of all, there is a big difference between Japanese and Australian greetings. In Japan, people often say “Itadakimasu” to appreciate people who cook the meal, those who cultivate the food and the food itself before eating every meal.  However, a lot of Australian households do not have a similar greeting at meal time. Polite greetings before eating dinner is a big difference between Japan and Australia. In addition to the greeting when people eat dinner, eating habits in Australia are really different from eating habits in Japan. For example, Australians tend to eat steak, pasta and something like that in dinner. On the other hand, Japanese tend to eat rice, miso soup, roast fish for dinner. Although some people think that eating habits are a trivial difference, in my experience, this is a huge difference because eating habits are considered as a relatively huge difference between Japan and Australia in terms of food. Together with eating habits, the eating manners in Australia are regarded as one of the most significant differences from eating manners in Japan. For instance, in Australia, people use a knife and fork when eating and if they finish eating, they put the knife and fork orderly. Even though Japanese know that Australian eat with knife and fork, some Japanese do not know this manner.

My trip to Sydney

Hi guys! How are you? These days, I am so busy that I can write a lot of things. Anyway, I would like to write about my trip to Sydney. I and my friends went there in our break from 21st to 23rd July

In first day, we met on the train and then we went to airport. However, the airplane was a little bit delayed so we had to wait longer time. After about 1.5 hours flight, we arrived in Sydney. At first, we went to Opera House and Harbour Bridge. It was so spectacular because we went there at night and it was sunny. On the way to Opera House and Harbour Bridge, we saw a lot of skyscrapers there. I felt as if we had been in Osaka.

In second day, we went shopping there. It was worth going shopping because there were many kinds of shops such as bookstores, cloth stores and so on.  After that, we went to Chinese restaurant to eat Chinese refreshments. There were so many kinds of Chinese refreshments that I wondered which one I should eat. Then we went to Manly Beach. Because of the nice weather, the horizon was clearly seen and the water is very clean. If I had brought my swimming wear, I would have swum there.

In the last day, we went to botanical garden near Opera House. There were many kinds of plants and we could see Opera House and Harbour Bridge from this garden. Afterwards, we went to Sidney Tower Eye, which is one of the tallest buildings in Sydney. We could see magnificent view. 

In conclusion, we could spend very wonderful time there. If possible, I would like to go there again and visit wherever we couldn't go this time.

at Manly Beach

Diffrences between Australia and Japan in Terms of Studying English

     Hello, everyone.  How are you?  Although it is sometimes a little bit cold especially in night in Brisbane, it is warm even in winter and I can spend wonderful life here in Brisbane.  This time, I would like to write about several differences between Australia and Japan in terms of English Education.

    

ICTE-UQ

     There are two main remarkable contrasts between English education in Australia and Japan.  First of all, what is the biggest difference is that English education in Japan focuses on especially grammar, while it pays attention to speaking in Australia.  In japan, students tend to learn English passively.  However, in ICTE, students can study it actively.  For example, my teacher often asks me some questions related to reading, writing and listening in the class and I also often answer her questions.  If I mistake in this conversation, my teacher tells me mistakes and teaches me some useful expressions.  This gives us the confidence to speak English in front of my classmates.  In addition to the contrast of focusing, class in Australia is totally different from that in Japan.  In Japan, almost all classes are consisted of only Japanese people so it is very difficult to talk with foreign students.  On the other hand, in ICTE, all classes include many different nationalities such as Columbian, Chinese, and Saudi Arabian etc.  Therefore, this enables me to study not only English but also other countries’ culture like music and food through conversation.  Also, I can introduce Japanese culture for them easily.

     In conclusion, these are two differences between Australia and Japan with regard to English education.  I hope that I can gain a lot of useful English expressions and speak English with confidence.

My Precious Friends in ICTE

The Most Interesting and Surprising Differences I Have Experienced between Australia and Japan

     Hi, everyone!  Approximately two months have passed since I arrived in Australia so I would like to write about the difference between Australia and Japan.  Actually, I have experienced studying abroad three times but this is my first trip to Australia so it is very easy to find the differences

     First of all, I was surprised to the differences of foods and drinks.  In Japan, we often eat rice in breakfast.  However, in Australia, people eat cereal as breakfast.  I was very confused this difference.  Moreover, people eat some fruits and snacks as refreshment break.  Although people in Japan eat snack and fruits, they do not eat them during the breaks. 

     As well as the meal, the transportation system of Australia is quite different from that of Japan.  First, the ticket system is very different.  In Japan, students who go to university by train buy a commuter pass.  This is very useful because once people pay fare, they do not have to pay during a given period.  On the other hand, in Australia, people purchase Go-Card instead of a commuter pass.  This is also very good system because if people get on train, bus and ferry nine times in a week, they can get on these transportation systems without fare.  So, in the weekend, I often go to Gold Coast, DFO near the airport and so on.

     I believe I will be able to find further differences by the time I come back to Japan and these differences will be useful when I talk with my friends in Japan about Australia.

 

My life from 9th to 22nd in May

     Hi, everyone?  How are you going?  These days, I'm very busy to prepare for IELTS because this test is approaching.  I hope that my English ability is improving day by day but I can't have a confident.  Anyway, these 2 weeks were also magnificent for me!!
     First of all, my second session began in 9th in May.  Fortunately, I can pass the test and go to EAP 1 green.  At first, I was very nervous because I hadn't studied academic English since I arrived at Australia.  However, my teachers and classmates are very good so they sometimes help me when I am in trouble in the class.  I want to try to study harder to get 6.5 in IELTS.
     Second, some previous classmates and I held small party for my friends who would come back to their countries.  My previous class is very wonderful class so I was missing.  In future, I would like to go to their countries for meeting them and sightseeing. 
     Finally, I went to the bar in Toowong with my other former classmates.  Some of my friends study by themselves so I can't meet as usual.  So I was very happy to meet them and talk with each other.  One of my friends told me that he would go to Melbourne for sightseeing.  I want to go there for sightseeing so I wanna talk with him about his recommendation after he come beck from Melbourne.
     I will go to Gold Coast to cut my hair with my friend.  Maybe, I will upload the picture after cutting my hair lol haha

My life from 2nd to 8th in May

     Hello, evryone.  How are you?  This week is my first break in ICTE-UQ.  I would like to write about my trip to Noosa as a highlight of this week. 
     Noosa is one of the most beautiful towns in Queensland.  It takes about 3 and half hour to go from Brisbane to Noosa by train and bus.  While we were in train and bus, we play the game and it was very exciting.  We went to the sea to swim as soon as we arrived there.  It was more beautiful than I expected and there were many people at that day.  The water was a little bit cold but I could swim.  After swimming, we went shopping for dinner and cooked pasta.  At second day, we went to Noosa National Park, which is one of national park in Australia.  It was very good weather.  In national park, we could find some kinds of birds and animals.  After walking for 1 hour, we could see the beautiful landscape.  It became one of the unforgettable landscapes in my life.  After dinner, we talked a lot with each other.  At last day, we went to sea again.  I borrowed the body board because there were strong waves.  All I can say is that this trip is unforgettable memory in my life in Brisbane.
     Thank you everyone!!

In Noosa Heads

 
 

My life from 25th in April to 1st in May

 

     Hi, everyone!!  How are you?  1 month has passed since I arrived at Australia.  I can spend good time here.  There are two big events this week lol

     First, I finished my first session in ICTE-UQ.  My class, 5 green is very wonderful.  At first, I was very nervous because everyone around us can speak English more fluently and they can answer questions immediately.  However, as the class was proceeding, I could be familiar with my classmates and I could go to Japanese restaurant with some of my classmates lol.  Now I am missing because some of my friends go back to their own countries or travel around Australia.  But I believe that we can meet each other some day.   

 

     Second, we held a birthday party for my best friends, Jun and Bobby after we enjoy the BBQ party in ICTE-UQ on Friday in Red Room.  There were a lot of people in Red Room so at first, it was very difficult to find avaliable seats but I could find them eventually.  We drank some kinds of alchole including beer and wine.  It was awesome.  After we ate dinner, we went to the table in front of the pizza restaurant and we ate birthday cake.  It was very tasty.  We spent good time with my friends there.

     Now, I am on vacation.  I will go to Noosa (it takes about 3 or 4 hours from Brisbane)  from 5th to 7th of May.  I will swim in the near beach.  I would like to enjoy the trip to Noosa.

 

wonderful class, 5 Green