To mums and dads waiting in Japan

Just to let any mums and dads reading this that I have just left the boys at Dublin airport and they all checked in safely. You'll be seeing them soon! I was sad to see them leave but proud of every single one of them. They've been great and I think you'll agree that they've all grown up a little. Thanks for lending them to Ireland for 3 weeks. Warmest regards, Patrick

What I learned in Ireland

Different from in Japan

During lessons at ICE the boys are expected to speak English. Although the lessons are sometimes hard, they've been having a lot of fun. There are 15 students in a class which means they have more individual attention than they're used to. And because most of the other students aren't Japanese they have a real reason to speak. As for this picture. Well. I don't know!

Multilingual!

The students have even been learning some other languages.

A Nice Story

The other evening Masaki kun was at the park. Oh no! He lost his camera. Some other students were passing by and they asked him what was wrong. Then they helped him for a long time and happily they found it. What a great experience.

Spanish Blog

Here is the link to the Spanish group's blog.

Happy Times

It's been a lot of fun and I think it will be hard for the boys to say good-bye to Ireland.

Only three days to go

It's been a real learning journey for them all. Unfortunately there are only three days left.

Welcome, Murata Sensei!

Welcome to Ireland, Murata Sensei. Mr. Murata is a veteran of the Tokai Study Abroad Programs. He has taken many groups of our students to the UK and Ireland. Thanks to him, many Tokai students have had the opportunity to study abroad.

アイルランド涼しいです！

The average temperature in Ireland during July was 16 degrees. That's pretty cool! What was it in Nagoya? About 30 degrees, I think. It's great for the boys to escape from the heat of Japan. They can play outside comfortably every day and sleep well at night.

Thank you, Tsukiyama Sensei

Many thanks to Tsukiyama Sensei. He has now returned safely to Japan. As you can see from this photo he had a lot of fun while he was here and was a great influence on the students.
水谷くん!　カッコいい！
ふなとくん！楽しいそう！
築山先生！大丈夫？

Friends

Friendships have now been made between all the boys and students of various other nationalities. It's wonderful!

Homestay in Ireland

Uchida kun's homestay family like the simple way of life. Here he is in his bedroom.
Only joking! This is Kilmainham Jail, a historic prison that the students visited this week.

Evolution

We visited the Natural History Museum. Check out these fine specimens!

Guinness. うま！

The boys visited the Guinness beer factory. Of course they are too young to drink Guinness now but maybe they will come back to Ireland when they're older and they can have a pint with Patrick!

Glendalough

This is Glendalough, one of the earliest homes of Christianity in Ireland. The boys visited here and enjoyed the beauty of the scenery and the sight of these 1500 year-old buildings.

Our Activity Organiser

Many thanks to Ian (in the middle). He organises all the afternoon activities at ICE and he does a great job. Thanks, Ian.

Belfast

Some of the students visited Belfast on Saturday. Takeuchi kun took this great shot of Belfast City Hall.

Real Communication

The best way to improve at English is, of course to USE English! It's wonderful to see our students making friends and, of course they HAVE to speak English. Here is Kuzuya with a European friend getting on the DART. That's the local train that takes students from Malahide into the center of Dublin.

Don't shoot!

Here's Asahi 君 at the National Museum with two of his new friends.

Homestay is Great!

Staying with an Irish family is a really great way to use English for real and get to learn about the way of life in an Irish family. In Malahide the boys also stay in homes where there is another foreign student. Here we can see Eguchi 君　with his host family.

Howth

This is Howth, a scenic area near Malahide where The boys visited here on an 遠足. It's very beautiful.

Dublin city center is a lively place, especially in the summer when lots of visitors come from all over the world. In the middle of the city there's a pedestrian shopping street called Grafton Street. There are often street performers there, musicians and so on.

The Tokai groups have all had a chance to go into the city centre a few times. Thanks to Masuda kun for this picture.

Origami Wanchan

Nishida 君 has very kindly made an origami helmet for his host family's dog called Titch. This is the true meaning of cross-cultural communication. It looks great on Titch and I think he looks happy.

Irish Times

Jo Masuda has really turned into a real Irishman. 日のまるは？？？

やっぱり先生頭いい！

Cheese!

Thanks to Uchida kun for sharing this great picture. Happy days!

???

Who are these Tokai boys? Please help us identify them!

Rice Balls!

The boys had a special surprise today after a week of Irish packed lunches. I think they were pretty happy!

Ito Tatsuya Sense だ

Ito 先生　arrived in Ireland yesterday. He has come from Edinburgh in Scotland where he is accompanying 18 Tokai boys at the Fettes College Summer School. You can see some pictures of them here.

In these picture Ito 先生 is presenting the Irish College Of English with a hand-written piece of Japanese calligraphy.

The light of the moon shines on everyone equally yet only those who gaze at the moon can grasp its true beauty.

Monday Morning!

Noodles!

Mr. Imasato and Mr. Tsukiyama cooked dinner for their host family. Looks good!

World Cup?

In the evenings the boys meet up to play soccer in the park. Is Japan doing better than in the South Africa? It's a great way for the boys to relax and make friends.

Today was another fun day. A special thanks to Imasato先生. He is returning to Japan tomorrow. He has taken so many Tokai students abroad every year even though he misses time with his own family during the summer vacation.
先生ありがとうございます。 Safe home.

DISCO!

Tonight was the disco. The boys were amazing! Really! Look at Oya君 go. Click on the video. You'll be surprised!

Germanyの友達

Russiaとイタリアの友達

Spainの友達

The boys have started to be more friendly with the teenagers from other countries. It's nice to see them making the most of this opportunity to meet different nationalities.

アイルランドの食事

This is a traditional Irish meal of bacon and cabbage. Look at all those potatoes! Can the boys eat that much?

マラハイド祭り！！！

There's a festival in Malahide starting tomorrow. Click here to go to the festival website. Should be fun!

今日の遠足

Group A: Bowling
Group C: They were supposed to do beach volleyball but it was raining so they went to the cinema instead. （アイルランドのＰＯＰコーンはおいしいよ！）
Group F: Shopping trip to Dublin （おみあげ買うかなあ?）

先生はどれですか?

Tsukiyama先生は若いです。頭がとてもいいです。英語もペラペラ！
In this picture he is flanked by Kanie君and Funato君。

今日の遠足

Click the group to see where they went.
Group A
Group C
Group F

Kuzuya君何か面白い話しています!　なんだろう。。。

Jun-U君の番！

アイルランドいただきます！

Onakasuita!

That's a hungry boy! Takeuchi君！ゆっくり食べてね!　急がなくていい!