Hello, this is Yuri Makada from the Hakusanroku Office. This time, I would like to talk about the 1st and 2nd year Health and Physical Education classes held outside in the snow. In Ishikawa Prefecture starting from Tuesday, January 7th, 2025, the weather was a very harsh and it snowed intermittently from the 7th to around the 11th, accumulating as much as 1 meter of snow around the Hakusanroku campus.

On Thursday, January 23rd, 2nd Year Students

 The weather had been mild winter since mid-January in Hokuriku region, and although this is the time of year when it usually snows heavily, it had been raining on and off during the day. When the 2nd year Health and Physical Education class started, the sky was cloudy, and the snowball fight began immediately.
 The students were divided into two teams and they started attacking the other team's position after the signal to begin. It was difficult to move forward because their feet sunk deeply into the snow with every step they took, some students used sleds to move forward paddling like surfers!
 Next, a snowball fight took place with one team of three faculty members (Health and Physical Education teacher Philip Cadzow sensei and Learning Mentors Apirak Sang-ngenchai sensei and Domyson Abuan sensei) versus 20 2nd year students. After the signal to begin, the faculty team charged toward the 2nd year students' positions. However, the 2nd year students threw snowballs at them all at once from various directions, hitting them before they had time to avoid them, and the three faculty members ran back to their positions, gasping for breath to recover and try again. After this happened multiple times and the faculty were exhausted, their strategy was changed. They loaded a sled with a large amount of snow and headed once again toward the 2nd year students territory. By throwing snowballs one after another, they managed to pepper the students with snowballs.
 Towards the end of the class, a heavy rain began to fall, forcing the snowball fight to be canceled. However, it was impressive to see the 2nd year students enjoying the fight until the very last moment.

On Tuesday, January 28th, 1st Year Students

The snow had begun to melt due to mild temperatures and rain, but the weather turned colder and it started to snow on the 28th.
 First, as a warm-up, a free snowball fight took place. Since there were no rules, snowballs flew from various directions with students, laughing and enjoying themselves whenever they hit each other. After that, the students were divided into two teams and played capture the cone where each team had to capture the other teams’ cone and bring it back to their side to win. . After the signal, both teams began throwing snowballs at each other. According to the rules, anyone hit by a snowball had to return to their own territory and restart. The students desperately dodged the snowballs while continuing to attack their opponent's territory. In the midst of all this, Philip sensei sneaked into the opposing team’s territory, managed to grab the cone, and attempted to bring it back. However, the opposing team saw what Philip sensei was doing and pelted him with snowballs, and unfortunately Philip sensei had start again. The match lasted over 30 minutes, with both teams trying their best. Although there was no winner, each team showed great teamwork and gave the impression that they were enjoying the snowball fight.

Yuri Makada

Happy New Year everyone! I am Krishia Atillo, one of the learning mentors here at Hakusanroku Campus. I am delighted to share our Christmas Gift Exchanges from last year.

 To celebrate the essence of Christmas, we had a Christmas Gift Exchange for faculty, staff, and students last Tuesday, December 24th. We first had a White Elephant Christmas Gift Exchange for the faculty and staff who wished to participate. Since this type of gift exchange didn’t have a specific receiver, each person had to buy one generic gift that could be given to either male or female, young or old. All participating faculty and staff had to choose a number that corresponded to the gift they got. Once everyone got their numbers, we started to open the presents. The presents that each faculty and staff received were all useful and wonderful gifts, especially this winter season!

 During the learning session on the 24th, we held a Christmas Party Gift Exchange for the students. To make the party more fun and exciting, the Learning Mentors decided to hide the Christmas presents so students would have to find them. Once the students were able to find their Christmas gifts, each of them had to go to the center to open their presents. All of them were excited to open their presents! They were all delighted to receive their Christmas gifts!

 After the Christmas gift exchange, the Learning Mentors also prepared snacks for students to enjoy. They were able to enjoy drinking hot cocoa in cold weather, and ate cookies, chocolates, popcorn, and many more! Overall, the students had fun and were able to enjoy the Christmas Party Gift Exchange.

Krishia Atillo

Hello this is Kuroda, one of the Japanese language teachers at ICT. I would like to introduce some of the 2nd year students’ stories created in Japanese Expression IIB.
 In this class, instead of starting to write a story straight away, they wrote the main character's background and personality on a character sheet in the first lesson, wrote how the main character's problems would be solved on a story map in the second lesson, and finally started to write the main text in the third lesson. The character sheets for the teaching materials were created with reference to Eishi Otsuka's Character Maker (ASCII Shinsho, 2008) and the story maps were created with reference to Shigeki Yamamoto's Story Map for Creating Japanese Language Lessons (Toyokan Shuppansha, 2014).

 Yoh Nieda's work “Smoked Friendship” tells the story of the protagonist Chris P. Bacon, who loves bacon so much that he plots to ‘baconise all mankind’, but his friends, the roast pig man and Sal S. Chorizo stop him and return him to normal.
 I liked the ending, in which the protagonist's perverse wish is prevented by his friends, their friendship grows, and the culminating scene flows well. The work was also highly praised by other students.

 In Ruuna Nakazawa's work “Star Voyagers”, the main character is an alien who has lost his home planet. At the character sheet stage, the story seemed too grandiose, so she decided to cut out the scene where he lands on Earth first. Then, during writing the story map stage, she came up with the idea of transforming the protagonist into a police dog. This sci-fi-like story style setting makes me want to read the rest of the story.

 The protagonist of Kaya Yasuda's work “One Man and One Cat” is about an old man who lives by a lake. Since the death of his wife, he spends his days feeling as if he is neither alive nor dead, but an encounter with a cat brings about a small change. It is a quiet, heart-warming work, like a ray of light shining through an open window. Kaya says it was difficult to choose words that matched the atmosphere of the story. It is proof that he paid attention to every detail.

There were many other unique pieces of work. One student included his own rap lyrics. Another student included an image of an example of an Instagram anniversary story. Some students projected their personal problems onto the main character.
Although the class time was short, everyone seemed to concentrate on their creation.
 One student commented: ‘It was difficult to make the dialogue natural, professional writers are amazing’.
 There is no correct method for creating a story. However, in this assignment, I hope they were able to experience a process similar to engineering, such as designing the overall structure in advance and adjusting the detailed expressions. I hope that students enjoyed making the stories as much as they enjoy making things.

Kuroda

  Hello, This is Yuri Makada from the Hakusanroku Office.
 The 32nd MILE (Mobile Intensive Learning Experience) Program was held from Tuesday, December 17th, 2024, to Monday, December 23rd, 2024, for 6 nights and 7 days. The MILE Program, which began in 1989, is an exchange program with Singapore Polytechnic (SP), and this year marked its 32nd iteration. When ICT was Kanazawa Technical College (KTC), KTC students would visit Singapore as a school trip and then SP students would also visit Japan. SP students were hosted in homestays in Kanazawa, which fostered mutual friendships. There was a period of time when exchanges could not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program resumed last year, and this year, 10 SP students and 2 chaperones visited our school.
 For the first half of the program, the participants stayed at the KIT International Community House, where they mainly interacted with KIT students. In the latter half, they moved to the Hakusanroku Campus where they lived with ICT students. The main activities of the program at Hakusanroku Campus are listed below:

Friday, December 20th: Arrival at Hakusanroku Campus

 On December 20th, SP students spent the morning at KIT before arriving at Hakusanroku Campus in the evening. Then they were given an introduction lecture about our school and a tour of the Hakusanroku campus. After that, they had dinner at the cafeteria, then ice breaking activities were held with 1st and 2nd year students.
 During the ice breaking activities, 2 games were played. The first game was called Mingo. In this game, there are 25 squares with various questions, and you ask your partner one question, and if you get an answer, you fill in the name of your partner in that square and then find a new partner. Questions included “Do you like spicy food?” “Can you sleep sitting up?” and “Do you like Japanese manga?” The students were able to get to know each other by asking each other questions.
 Next was a game called Building a Paper Cup Tower, in which each student was given a chopstick and had to work with their teammates to transport and stack cups. SP students and ICT students formed mixed teams. When the start signal was given, the students struggled to pick up the cups and dropped them several times, but they gradually got the hang of it and succeeded in building up the cups by cooperating and supporting each other.

Saturday, December 21st: Group Tour of Kanazawa City

 In 2 groups, SP students explored Kanazawa City with 12 ICT students. They enjoyed shopping and dining while conversing in English. They learned about the preferences of Japanese students and deepened their friendships through shared experiences. This cultural exchange provided new and valuable time to foster friendships.

Sunday, December 22nd: Hinoki Craft Experience and Farewell Party

 Under the guidance of an instructor, the SP students made hinoki woodcraft coasters, a traditional craft of Ishikawa Prefecture. Working together with ICT students, translating Japanese into English, they created their pieces, and the students cherished their completed works. In the afternoon, a farewell party was held. Students presented about their countries, cultures, histories, and schools, deepening mutual understanding. Traditional games were introduced and enjoyed by all, further strengthening friendships.

 The SP students were impacted by their experience in Japan. They were deeply moved by their exposure to Japanese history, culture, and daily life, gaining new perspectives and understanding. Through interactions with Japanese students of the same age, they experienced moments of connection beyond language barriers, realizing the importance of intercultural communication. They cherished their experiences in Japan and were motivated to pursue their future goals with renewed enthusiasm.
 Similarly, our students deepened their understanding of foreign cultures and customs through exchanges with SP students, broadening their global perspectives. Making new friends expanded their international networks and provided wonderful opportunities to build friendships.
 The MILE Program offers students valuable experiences that lead to new discoveries and growth by exposing them to different cultures, significantly impacting their futures. The sight of students interacting with bright smiles remains vivid in our memories. We hope to continue cherishing such exchange programs, providing students with wonderful memories and experiences that will benefit their futures.

@ictkanazawa

2024年12月20日（金）〜23日（月）、シンガポール理工学院の学生が国際高専白山麓キャンパスに滞在し、国際交流を目的とした「マイルプログラム」が実施されました🇸🇬🇯🇵日本文化体験や金沢市内•白川郷での観光、学生同士の交流を通じて親睦を深めました🤝🌟 #singaporepolytechnic #ict

♬ Lilac - Mrs. GREEN APPLE

Yuri Makada

  Hello everyone, I am Aki Yamamoto, a 3rd year student at ICT. By the way, how much do you know about New Zealand? If you are reading this article, you are probably thinking of entering ICT in the future. In this article, I would like to introduce some interesting points about New Zealand based on my experience of traveling and staying there.

  First of all, when we think of New Zealand, we think of beautiful nature and wilderness. It is full of outdoor activity sites. If you like to get in touch with nature, you will find plenty to enjoy. I recently went on a family vacation in New Zealand for the summer. Our first destination was Lake Tekapo, a 3-hour drive from Christchurch. Photo 1 shows a mountain road I took along the way. It looks like a beautiful photo from a mineral water label, doesn't it? Next, Photo 2 shows Lake Tekapo, which was the main destination for that day. The water is a nice light blue! It was so beautiful that I forgot that the weather was cloudy.

  The next day, we went trekking on the Hooker Valley Track, the most iconic hiking trail in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. Photo 3 shows Hooker Lake, located at the end of the hiking trail. I was surprised that you can see the glacier even in summer. It is incredibly beautiful, and the water's surface reflects so perfectly that you might not be able to tell which way is up or down.

  We also enjoyed a thrilling boat tour, speeding down the river on a high-speed jet boat. Additionally, we visited Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, where we marveled at the unique landscapes formed by volcanic activity. Photo 4 shows “Devil's Bath”, a lake created by volcanic activity that looks like a pool of slime. We experienced many other natural wonders as well.

  Now that you have probably gotten a better idea of what makes New Zealand so appealing. I would like to talk about my life in New Zealand from here. School hours are basically from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, which is not that busy. I am almost done with classes, having completed most of my course credits, and I am only taking engineering design classes now. As for the difficulty level of obtaining credit, I would say that it is almost the same as ICT. Furthermore, I think it is easier to pass the math course than the ICT course. At Otago Polytechnic, where 3rd year ICT students study abroad, 95% of the math content is a review of what we learned in ICT, and there is no new content in particular. This means that there is a lot of free time after school and on weekends. In my case, I play badminton with friends at the sports center, which students can use for free, and visit nearby sightseeing spots.

  Studying abroad is often thought of as challenging, but ICT's New Zealand study abroad program is an easygoing experience, so why not give it a go?

Aki Yamamoto