INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2011

Hi, my name is Roy Ju and I'm the international leader for 2011. Over the last two years it has been a tough challenge for me to adjust to Kiwi culture but it has been enjoyable experiencing this life style as I got to know many foreign friends. My job as an international leader this year was to help the new international students adjust to New Zealand life and also not to create an individual society of international students but to help them get together with the others and help sort out things that they struggled with such as finding classes they needed to go.

This year, our international boys have had a tough year due to the February Earthquake. As a result of the earthquake we weren't able to have an international week which is the main event for us during the year. However, we went to an ESOL trip to the Antarctic Centre which was very exciting and fun. We had a chance to feed the tiny little penguins and we had to overcome a wind speed of 180 metres per second in a -20*c cold storm which made us feel scared. Also in Term two, our international boys went to Ten Pin Bowling to relax ourselves and get to know each other because we had some new international boys from Korea, Japan and China this year. During that trip we made a bet for the top scorer which was Ricky Kang, he was outstanding bowling a curved ball.

Although we have had an inconvenient year due to the Earthquake, I reckon we have still had a great year focusing on our academic studies and having fun at school without any trouble. Our international boys are really looking forward to going back to their home countries during the summer holidays to meet their families and friends. Our main topic of our conversation at lunch is about our home city which is a bit awkward to talk about every day. However, we usually enjoy having a conversation together in English; we try to speak in English so that we can improve our English abilities.

Overall I enjoyed being the international leader for the school which I took great pride in. I hope that next year will be just as incredible as this year, well... except for the earthquake! Good luck to the next year's leader, I hope that the leader next year will do an awesome job and even better than me helping other international students for their school life in New Zealand. I think I will miss not only our international department but also everybody in St Thomas and I wish everybody good luck. I also thank Mr McCarthy, Mr McCombie and Mrs Cooper for their help to me being an international leader - giving me good ideas and organising trips and lunch for the international boys.

"Man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in." - Confucius

Roy Ju, International Leader 2011.

INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2010

It has been a great year for international students, with many of them complementing our job as international leaders. Roy Ju said that he really enjoyed this year and that the main highlights like the international week was a great success. This year we had two International leaders and it made the job seem less daunting and more fun. Nigel Nguyen was the head honcho of the two and David Correos was referred to as "second banana "by many of the students.

The main highlights of the year were the quiz days, the Villa/STC International lunch and the international week. Though some of the students dreaded the international meetings they would normally have fun by the end of it with most of the meetings packed with fun games and prizes including lots of chocolate and lollipops.

Our job as international leaders this year was not to create a secret society of international students but to help them out with things that they struggled with like finding classes they needed to go to, helping them make new friends with the Kiwi kids and basically acting as older brothers and helping them out with any problems they had. One of the best things about being an international leader was that we really got to know the internationals students this year and become their friends.

Overall we had a lot of fun being international leaders and we hope that next year will be just as awesome. Good luck to next year's leaders, we hope that you do a great job in helping the students with their troubles and help create unity and cultural awesomeness within the school and community. "Man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in." - Confucius

STUDENT INTERVIEW

James Hwang

Q: How did you find St Thomas' this year?

A: It was fun and I liked it, my English skills are getting better and I have quite a few friends now who are both kiwi and international students.

Q: What's the difference between studying in Korea and New Zealand?

A: I can understand here more easily and I can study with fun.

 Yi Liu

Q: How did you find St Thomas' this year?

A: I learnt about St Thomas school from my cousin because my cousin was working in New Zealand, and because St Thomas is a catholic school and is the top school in Christchurch hehe, I was a little bit nervous because I was a new student and I didn't have any friends but I believed I would make a lot of friends at this school. So now I've got a lot of friends who are both kiwis and international students and now I am very confident with my life in New Zealand.

Q: How did you find Nigel and I as international leaders?

A: On the first day I met both Nigel and David and I felt they were really good and kind to me and helped me out a lot on my first few days of school when I had trouble understanding people and making my way around school.

INTERNATIONAL WEEK

International week 2010 was a very successful week of only a few select events due to the earthquake catastrophe which dragged everything back a week leaving the ESOL department a little unprepared, however we were still willing and had our minds set on a great week of international awareness.

The earthquake didn't stop us as we still managed to pull through our more engaging and interactive events such as the name signing on the Monday and the traditional food fair on the Thursday. These events had a great turnout with many students and even teachers participating in them with very positive responses. The name signing event had a wide variety of languages from the student community, consisting of languages such as, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Samoan, and even Tongan. The boys took great pride in their own individual nationalities and everyone seemed to appreciate their ability to read and write in more than one language. One teacher took advantage of this ability and got the students to write interesting messages to a certain member of the staff, which was quite hilarious aye Mr. Strachan.

The food fair event may have been a St Thomas' record, as we sold all the food in about ten minutes, with a total of around one hundred and seventy dollars raised! The food was thoroughly enjoyed by mainly students as the teachers were too slow to make it in time for the good stuff, which included David's delicious noodles, some Vietnamese Spring rolls from my restaurant, and a platter of succulent sushi brought in by a friend of the ESOL department.

The Finale of the week was the international assembly, which started off in style with a grand entrance of flag bearers to the song "Kung Fu Fighting." It was epic! Our assembly addressed the differences between the many cultures of the school, covering Chinese high school, Korean society and living, and the heartfelt story of a big Tongan in his home country of New Zealand.

I would like to conclude this report by thanking all the people that helped set this week of international adventure up. The ESOL department ensured the successful planning of the week and the teachers involved showed great positive attitudes that made the whole event a week to remember. Thank you to the teachers that helped out: Mrs. Lake, Mr. McCarthy, Mrs. Wong, and Mrs. Atia. Also a great thank you to the ESOL students that made a big effort to express their cultures and finally a big thank you to the student community of St Thomas' because without your acknowledgement of other cultures we wouldn't have a unique country in which we can all live in and share our experiences together. Thank You.

Nigel Nguyen and David Correos