TCFL Study Trip 2008
About this original series
Each spring, Japanese students learning English at the Toyama College of Foreign Languages in Toyama City, Japan, embark on a 25 day study trip to Christchurch, New Zealand. This show chronicles the events and activities of this year's group, consisting of 17 students and 2 chaperones. We left Toyama on Friday, February 16th, amidst typical snowy west-coast Japan weather. Arriving in Christchurch two days later via Singapore, our students met and stayed with their host families for the rest of our time there. During the mornings, students studied English at King's Education, a small language school in downtown Christchurch. We returned safely to Toyama City on March 10th after a very long but smooth journey with many great memories. We hope you enjoy watching the short video clips. Please feel free to leave us some feedback!
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# Episodes
15 episodes -
Rating
TV-UN
Episodes of TCFL Study Trip 2008
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TCFL Promo Video
A shortened version of the Toyama College of Foreign Languages' promotional video (in Japanese).
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Release date
Apr 8, 2008
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Runtime
03:19
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Christchurch parks
Christchurch, New Zealand, is a medium-sized city with maximum space allotted to park land. Whether it's along the banks of the Avon River, within huge Hagley Park (the 3rd largest inner-city park in the world), or walking on the trails of the finely manicured Botanical Garden, you are never far from a relaxing green scene. All photos were taken by Kawahata Kuniaki.
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Release date
Apr 3, 2008
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Runtime
02:48
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Inside Christchurch Cathedral
As THE church in Christchurch, this landmark building is at the physical and spiritual heart of the garden city. Here's a short video clip of what it looks like inside, with background music taken from an actual Evensong service, sung by "The Men of the Choir."
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Release date
Apr 2, 2008
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Runtime
02:20
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Studying at King's Education
Here is a short video clip that shows a bit of what it was like to study English at King's Education. Overall the curriculum was quite challenging for our students, as they were required to use English all the time, both in and out of class. Our students were grouped by level into three different classes, and each week on Friday they had to prepare and present a short public speech on that week's given topic. Also on Fridays, all the King's students gathered in the cafeteria for a short school...
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Release date
Apr 2, 2008
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Runtime
05:26
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Farewell lunch
Friday, March 7th was the final day of classes for our group at King's Education. During the weekly student assembly, each of our students received a graduation certificate from their teacher. Afterwords, we took them out to Oxford on Avon, a great all-you-can-eat buffet place right on the Avon river. It was a sumptuous meal, and good times were had by all. This also gave us an occasion to offer up some appreciation to Beth Pettigrew, the King's administrator who was in charge of our group. Sh...
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Release date
Apr 2, 2008
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Runtime
07:05
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Farm visit
With 40 million sheep in this country, it was only a matter of time before we had a real direct encounter with some of them. Our sheep farming experience took place on a cold and cloudy day as we drove out to the Rubicon Valley sheep farm in the tiny village of Springfield, deep in the South Island countryside. The farm was unbelievably huge by Japanese standards, but medium-sized by Kiwi ones. There were about 3,000 sheep on hand, and the land owners, Chris and his wife Dell, managed the plac...
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Release date
Apr 2, 2008
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Runtime
06:22
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Akaroa day trip
On the 2nd Saturday of our study trip, our group went out to the Banks Peninsula near Christchurch for a day trip in Akaroa, a small tourist town. This was our big chance to get more acquainted with the famous natural scenery of New Zealand, and while it was indeed spectacular, the weather on that day we went was terrible! It was cold, wet, and cloudy, and this really affected what we were able to do. Still, we made the best of it, and despite the less than idea conditions, we managed to have ...
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Release date
Apr 2, 2008
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Runtime
05:06
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Punting on the Avon
What seemed like a boring activity at first glance- riding on this flat little boat on a slow, shallow river- turned out to be one of the most relaxing activities we experienced. One of the key attractions to downtown Christchurch is the presence of much park land, and a key feature of that is the winding, meandering Avon river. Being so low on the water and moving on it in such a traditional way really provided our group with a unique perspective on this beautiful city. There were moments you...
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Release date
Apr 2, 2008
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Runtime
03:20
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Horseback riding
On the 2nd Wednesday of our trip, we drove out to the Waimak River Adventureshorse ranch on the outskirts of Christchurch and spent a leisurely afternoon riding horses around the countryside. After getting outfitted with helmets, we watched a demonstration on how to get on and control a horse. For most students, this was their first time riding, so I'm sure everyone appreciated having the instructions translated into Japanese by a Japanese farm hand. The ride was very slow and controlled. Abou...
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Release date
Apr 2, 2008
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Runtime
03:11
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