Sister Cities New Zealand had its annual conference last week, from the 28th to the 30th April, in Nelson. Active Wellington was lucky enough to be one of the conference delegates and we attended the conference on the youth focused day on Saturday 30th.

Photo courtesy of Sister Cities New Zealand. Copyright©SCNZ 2016. All rights reserved.

If you are not familiar with Nelson, it is a city situated in the North of the South Island, in the Tasman Bay with about 46,437 inhabitants (source 2013 Census). Only 30 mins away from Wellington by plane, it is one of the sunniest city of New Zealand and this nice climate has earned it the nickname of "Sunny Wellington".

As this year marked the 40th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Nelson and Miyazu in Japan, delegates were treated to a visit of and lunch at the Miyazu Garden, as well as a visit of the Huangshi Garden on the Friday and got the opportunity to see a performance from the Nelson Raijin Taiko Drummers.

Photo courtesy of Sister Cities New Zealand. Copyright©SCNZ 2016. All rights reserved.

The theme for the conference on Saturday was Youth Development Focus and saw the launch of the Sister Cities New Zealand Youth Sub Committee with an inspiring speech from Bing Lou, the SCNZ Youth Director followed by a video introducing the members of the Sub Committee. As we expected, the quality of the presentations and speakers was of course of a very high degree and Commonwealth Youth NZ's Executive Director, Aaron Hape, was especially engaging. What was, for us, the highlight of the whole conference was the opportunity to hear from various people who had gone on exchange through the sister city model and to hear how this had changed their lives and minds in way they had never imagined it would. The presentation from the Waimea College students who recently went on exchange to Japan and the presentation from Jessica Czarnecki, who after coming to New Zealand on an exchange from Tempe, Arizona decided to come and study at Victoria University, really stood out for us as good examples of the life changing experience that travelling overseas at a young age can be.

Photo courtesy of Sister Cities New Zealand. Copyright©SCNZ 2016. All rights reserved.

The afternoon was concluded by a workshop and discussion around youth empowerment and ways to encourage more young people to get involved with SCNZ, where delegates talked of success stories of the Sister City model at the International, National and local level, as well as areas of improvement and ways to go about it. Before the closing of the conference, delegates were invited to think about and share one action that they could take, at their level, to have a positive impact on youth and raise awareness of the Sister City model in New Zealand.

After this busy weekend of dialogue around youth and intercultural exchanges, we came back to Wellington our head filled with ideas on how to continue to engage with communities locally, nationally and internationally to develop stronger and long lasting ties and how to better help young people feel more empowered so that they can develop their potential and become the person they want to be. We are very much looking forward to the year ahead and to next year's conference, which will be taking place in Invercargill.

以前から農業に興味があったこともあり、ファームステイをしながら語学学校に通いました。私が滞在したPalmerston Northは街の中心から少し離れると辺り一面ファームで羊や牛がたくさんいたり、野うさぎが家の中に迷い込んできたりととても自然豊かです。高い建物がないので空を遮るものがなく、夜にはプラネタリウムにいるような満天の星空が見られました。毎日たくさんの動物と自然にかこまれた生活は最高でした。

NZに来てから1週間くらいは会話が聞き取れず苦労しましたが、そんな私にもホストファミリーはたくさん話しかけてくれました。休みのたびにいろいろなところに連れて行ってくれ、たくさんの思い出が作れました。

語学学校では様々な国、境遇の人と友達になれました。それぞれの文化や言葉を教え合ったりする中で新しい発見がたくさんありました。そして自分がいかに日本について無知であるかを思い知らされました。授業は主にIELTSの勉強でした。最初の1週間は授業についていくのが大変でしたが、だんだん授業のスピードにも慣れ、5週間でリスニングのスコアは2倍になりました。みんなそれぞれの目標に向かって頑張っていて刺激を受けました。

最後の1週間は観光もかねて首都のWellingtonでホームステイをしました。Wellingtonは海がとてもきれいでした。また、ミュージアム等の観光スポットの多くが入場無料で驚きました。Wellingtonのステイ先には5歳の女の子と2歳の男の子がいました。2人とも会話ができるので一緒に遊んでいながらも英語の勉強ができるという最高の環境でした。そこでわかったことは私の英語力は5歳児以下ということです（笑）日本で日常会話を勉強する機会はなかったので日常でよく使う単語や表現、生きた英語を学べました。これはホームステイならではだと思います。

6週間のNZ滞在を通して自分から行動していくことの大切さを学びました。受け身の姿勢では身につくものも少ないし、何より自分から行動して達成

できたことはすべて自信に変わっていくと感じました。大学の英語の授業もNZに行く前より余裕をもって受けられているし、自信をもって英語を話せるようになりました。私を受け入れてくれた2つのファミリー、NZで出会った友達、短期留学をアレンジしてくださったActive Wellingtonの方々をはじめ支えてくださった方々に感謝の思いでいっぱいです。ありがとうございました！！

Active Wellington's Daisuke Hayashi with Lower Hutt's Mayor, Ray Wallace and Harbour Ward Councillor, Michael Lulich.

On Wednesday March 2nd the Hutt City Council organised the Sister City Educational Exchange Expo at the Dowse Museum in Lower Hutt.

The event aimed at promoting existing exchange programme for students, as well as teachers, between Lower Hutt and its sister cities of Tempe in Arizona and Minoh in Japan.

Active Wellington's booth at the Expo, with Active Wellington's Directors Daisuke Hayashi and Celine Ronze.

Alongside the two booths for each of the sister cities, Active Wellington had a booth promoting its New Zealand side services as well as courses on offer at Minoh House for people who want to discover more about the Japanese culture.

The event invited former students and teachers who went on the exchange to share about their experience and the impact it had on them. Representatives from the American and Japanese embassy also came to talk about the other existing programmes available for people wanting to go and study or teach abroad. The highlight of the event being a Skype session organised with people from Lower Hutt's sister city in Japan, Minoh City.

The presentations were concluded by a speech from Lower Hutt's Mayor, Ray Wallace and followed by some refreshments and opportunities for attendees to go and ask presenters any questions they might have about the programme.

Active Wellington's Celine Ronze with the US Embassy's Public Affairs Officer, Robert Tate and Harbour Ward Councillor, Michael Lulich.

The team at Active Wellington is very excited to be able to be a part of the development of intercultural exchanges in Lower Hutt and we are looking forward to seeing what the future has in store for both Lower Hutt and Active Wellington.

私は３か月間、国会議事堂のvisitor centerでwork experienceをしました。Visitor centerでは、国会議事堂を訪れる観光客の方々にツアーや施設についての案内をします。ニュージーランドの方はもちろん、世界中からたくさんの人たちが、国会議事堂にいらっしゃいます。私は主に、cloakroomとtour deskで働いていました。このwork experienceを通して、たくさんの貴重な経験をすることが出来ました。中でも、多くの人と出会ったこと、そしてニュージーランドで接客業を経験できたことがとても良かったです。そしてその経験とともにコミュニケーション能力を向上できたのが大きな収穫となりました。国会議事堂を訪れる観光客の方々はそれぞれ個性があり、彼らとのコミュニケーションを通して様々なことを学びました。コミュニケーションを取る上で基本となるのはやはり笑顔で明るく振る舞うことだと実感しました。また接客業は国や文化によって異なることを知りました。ニュージーランドでの接客業では、初めは戸惑うこともありましたが、新しい発見もありました。Active Wellingtonやvisitor centerの方々は期間中しっかりとサポートをしてくださり、とても心強かったです。３か月間、楽しみながらたくさんの経験を得ることが出来たので、work experienceをして本当に良かったと思っています。

最後になりましたが、ニュージーランドでwork experienceをしようと考えている方は、ぜひ挑戦してみてください。きっと忘れることのできない、貴重な経験になると思います。

One of the great things about living in a city like Wellington is that you often get some awesome unexpected visitors in the harbour! Click here to see the NZ Herald video of Orcas in Wellington Harbour yesterday.

L'un des avantages lorsque l'on vit dans une ville telle que Wellington c'est qu'on a souvent la visite d'invités inattendus dans le port ! Cliquez ici pour voir la vidéo, postée par le New Zealand Herald, des orques qui ont visité hier le port de Wellington.

Waitangi ウィークエンドはWellington SPCAで動物たちと触れ合おう！　Active WellingtonはSPCAをサポートしています

Active Wellington would like to encourage you to come and support the SPCA for their Open Day on Waitangi Weekend.

More info below:

http://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2016/wellington-spca-open-day/wellington?utm_campaign=were-you-looking-for-events&utm_medium=click-through&utm_source=2015%2Fwellington-spca-open-day%2Fwellington-region

A New Year often comes with its lot of resolutions. If you are interested passionate or curious about Japan and are interested in taking a new class this year don't miss the Hutt Minoh House "Meet the Tutors Day" which will take place on the 31st January from 1.00 pm to 4.00 pm at Minoh House.

Among other traditional Japanese cultural activities such as Tea Ceremony, Japanese Calligraphy, Kyudo... Active Wellington is happy to announce that we will be launching two Japanese language programmes in the Hutt area:

-Japanese Language for Beginners: as it's name indicates this class is for beginners, with an emphasis on conversation. The class will take place every Thursday from 6.00 pm to 7.30pm at Minoh House with the first class starting February 4.

-Japanese Conversation Practice: this is a class for people who already have a knowledge of Japanese and want to maintain or increase their level of fluency in spoken Japanese. Inspired by Wellington's Jkaiwa, classes will be taking place at Minoh House on the second Wednesday of the month from 6.00 pm to 7.30 pm, with a start on February 10.

If you are interested or want more information don't hesitate to come and see us at Minoh House's "Meet the Tutors Day" or email us info@activewellington.co.nz

As always, a new year brings new resolutions, and at Active Wellington we are not different from everybody else.

Before going in depth over our resolutions for this new year, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy 2016, may it bring you all the happiness in the world and see you realise all your dreams and successfully fulfill your resolutions.

As for our resolutions, we plan to make 2016 the most Active year ever with more tips on how to make the most out of your overseas experience, more volunteering and internship opportunities, more information on the New Zealand lifestyle and culture and more and more ways on how to lead an Active life in Wellington.

We also want to take this opportunity to renew our commitment to fostering understanding and communication between people of different cultures and countries through international exchanges in order to contribute to a more open and peaceful world.

May 2016 be a year filled with the riches that only a happy, peaceful and fulfilled life can bring, and don't forget to be Active!

Active Wellington is very proud to announce that since September 2015 we are now an official Representative for Victoria University of Wellington.

During our recent trip to Japan alongside the Hutt City Mayoral Delegation, we had the opportunity to go and represent Victoria University at an Study Abroad fair organised by Kansai University.

Founded in 1897, Victoria University of Wellington has got more than 115 years of commitment to academic excellence. Situated in the capital city of New Zealand, the geography of Wellington's CBD; the proximity to government agencies, the New Zealand Parliament and the simple fact of being based in the political centre of the country, provide students at the university with unique learning opportunities and experience which they would not have in other cities. With 9 faculties and various research centres, the university provides a wide range of specialisation to suit students from any horizon.

The Pipitea Campus, which host Victoria Business School, is situated opposite the New Zealand Parliament. Victoria Business School holds accreditation from: European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS), Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in business and accounting and Association of MBAs (AMBA), making it one of the 72 Business Schools worldwide to hold the "Triple Crown" accreditation.

With its new library and the Hub, the Kelburn Campus hosts most of the faculties and lecture theatre and offers a unique student experience, situated on one of the hills over the CBD, it offers a breathtaking view of the city. In May 2015, the university Hub and Library won the "Emerging Chapter Award" in the CEFPI Regional Awards (CEFPI is the Council of Educational Facility Planners International).

Ideally situated in the creative heart of Wellington, near Cuba Street, the Te Aro Campus is the home of the Faculty of Architecture and Design. There students just need to look around them to see real life examples of what they study, and absorb and get inspired by the amazing creative and artistic energy of the city.

For information about studying at Victoria University of Wellington contact us: info@activewellington.co.nz

WSA(ウェリントン堺協会）主催、日本酒利き酒会に参加してきました。

この日は特別に取り寄せた日本酒と、酢の物、昆布締め、煮物、細巻寿司などお酒に合う一品を頂きながら参加者の方々と会話を楽しむことが出来ました。参加者の半数以上は日本人以外の地元の方で、次々に出される日本酒を飲みお開きの頃には皆さんほろ酔い加減で良い笑顔となっていました。

また、料理を出していたシェフは以前、私たちが生徒としてお世話をした方で、思わぬ再会に話が弾みました。

会には、今年新たに着任された日本国大使も参加されました。

WSAのメンバー登録をすると毎月行われる様々なイベントの情報が受け取れると言う事です。

ワールドカップで見事世界のトップに輝いた我等がAll Blacks！本日ウェリントンで優勝パレードが行われました。昨日までの真冬日のような天候から打って変わって優勝トロフィーと共に夏を連れて帰ってきてくれたようです。国会議事堂を出発した一行は沿道を埋め尽くしたファンらのサインにも快く答えながらシビックスクエアまでの道のりをゆっくり進みました。

Active Wellintonでは来年度、ラグビー留学、ラグビーレフリー留学、又、英語を勉強しながらオールブラックスの試合を観戦するプログラムなどもご用意しております。

With the rise of social media and smart phone, it often seems nowadays as if our lives' value is measured by the number of likes or comments we get. When we look around us, in restaurants, in public transports or in the comfort of our own homes, people seem more engrossed by what is happening on the screen of their smart phone and in their feed than in the person standing right in front of them.

However things are not as grim as they appear and there is still reasons to believe in the good of the human heart. In their communities and overseas, more and more people are taking positive action and getting involved as volunteers, following the famous quote by Gandhi, to "Be the change that [they] wish to see in the world".

Volunteering is a great way for an individual to make a positive contribution towards creating a better society, and give back to others. However, if you think that there is nothing to be gained by volunteering and that it is just a waste of your time and energy, you are misguided and here is 4 reasons why.

1. Helping others makes you feel good

Let's face it, when we look at the media and what is happening in the world around us, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and hopeless. There are various reasons why people decide to volunteer for a cause, maybe they have lost a loved one to a disease, maybe they have a lot of time on their hands, there are as many reasons as there are people volunteering. The one common thing, though, between all these volunteers is the sense of empowerment that volunteering gives them. Knowing that this time that they are giving, "for free", is actually helping others and it makes a difference in other people's lives. Of course, one person's engagement won't solve all the problems of the world, but it's the sum of all of our efforts and actions that creates the world we live in.

And this sense of empowerment and of being part of the solution, chases the helpessness away. Volunteer and the sense of achievement it brings makes us feel better about ourselves, it elevates our sense of self-esteem and self-worth, which in turns makes us happier. And

2. Helping others makes you a better person

The experience of volunteering, makes us look at some of life's harsh reality in the eyes. When you are raising money for a cause such as a disease killing millions of people, a war somewhere on the other side of the world, a natural disaster in another country, it helps put your day to day problems in perspective. Of course the problems that we face in our daily life matter and are important to us, and why wouldn't they? After all, our life is the only reality we know and these problems can have huge impact on this reality, no matter how trivial they can seem to outside parties. However when we volunteer and get in contact with some of the issues of the world, it helps us rationalize things. We realise that our problems are actually not that bad in comparison, and it gives us the energy to face and overcome them. Volunteering and helping others, make us more compassionate individuals, it broaden our mind and understanding of the world and allows us seeing further than outside appearances. We stop looking at others from the perspective of how much money they earn, what clothes they wear, which job they have but in terms of their life story and the challenges they have faced or are currently facing. It makes us less judgmental and more understanding of others, and in terms of our humanity it gives us a wealth which no amount of money can provide.

3. Helping others give you the opportunity to connect with others

When you volunteer, you often get to meet other people who have decided to give their time for the same cause as you, but very often these people come from backgrounds completely different than yours. There is not a template in terms of what type of person volunteers for a type of cause. People usually decide to support a cause because they believe in and want to support it for their own reasons. That cause is what brings people from different social, ethnic, gender and age background together. When given the choice, we usually choose our friends or acquaintances based on our very own personal criteria and although it might not be conscious we do have a tendency to discriminate when we decide who we spend our time with. But when you are volunteering it's different, because what matters is what brings you all together, that cause and by working together for it, you start talking to people you probably would never have talked to otherwise (because of their age, gender, origins...).

Volunteering gives us that opportunity to meet and connect with a wide range of people, and expand our social circle beyond the opportunities of our daily life. And by meeting and and interacting with all these people, it helps you feel connected to a wider community and less isolated, which helps fight depression. Talking and working together with people from different background will also help you work on your communication and problem solving skills

4. Helping others can help your future career

If after all of the above reasons, you are still not convinced that volunteering is beneficial for you, consider that last reason. The connections, experience and skills you will get through your experience as a volunteer, are all part of you preparing yourself for entering the workforce. When you volunteer you have to work with other people, putting your differences aside to achieve the same goal, if you help for fundraising you have the opportunity to develop and improve your communication skills, and the list goes on. All this time that you spend working to help a cause as a volunteer, is experience that you can add to your CV. Employers like to see that you have done some volunteering because it tells them that you are the type of person who is ready to give some of their time for something they believe in. Volunteering can be hard sometimes, especially if you make a long term commitment and are busy with life and work or study, and potential employers know that. Your volunteering experience will demonstrate to them that you are a committed, reliable and hard working person. And when you have been volunteering for a while with an association, they are usually quite happy to act as a referee for you, and good references can be hard to come by, especially for young university graduates.

If you are interested in knowing more about the volunteering opportunity we have on offer at Active Wellington, contact us through: info@activewellington.co.nz

Active Wellingtonは関西大学内で行われた留学エキスポにおいて、New Zealandの大学ヴィクトリア大学のRepresentativeとして留学説明会を行いました。今後日本各地の大学でヴィクトリア大学への留学生獲得の為の活動を行っていきます。

関西大学からActive Wellingtonのインターンシップに参加したNatsumiさん。

インターンシップの体験などを競うコンテストで見事、学長賞と賞金を獲得しました。NatsumiさんはNZでのインターンシップの後、大阪箕面市と姉妹都市のWellington Lower Hutt市訪問団の通訳として市民交流イベント、留学プレゼンテーション等で両市の交流事業発展の為に貢献しています。

You have seen her face on our Facebook page a few times, it is now time to introduce Natsumi Toya to you.

Natsumi is a student at Kansai University, who heard about Active Wellington through a workshop we did in Japan this year. Quite interested in our programmes she decided to come for 2 weeks during her summer holiday break to do an Internship in New Zealand.

Natsumi worked as a teacher's aid in a local primary school for 2 weeks and had a great time helping teachers in class and learnt a lot in terms of the differences between the Japanese and the New Zealand education systems.

Before doing her internship, Natsumi was hesitating about a carreer, she was interested both in education and in interpreting, which is why she decided to do an internship and get a taste of what the reality of a teacher's daily life is.

She went back to Japan in August, filled with ideas and hopes for her future however, this was not the last opportunity that she would have to get a taste of what one of her dream job looks like. While in New Zealand, she had the opportunity to be introduced to some members of the Hutt City Council and was invited to be a volunteer interpreter for some of the members of the Hutt City Mayoral Delegation trip to Minoh city.

On top of that, she helped Active Wellington with various workshops that were run in Kansai during the trip, sharing her insight into New Zealand and answering the question of prospecting interns and students.

Last but not least, Natsumi had entered a competition at her university, Kansai University about internship experiences and she won the President Award, which included a money prize.

Active Wellington would like to extend its warmes congratulations to Natsumi and thank her for her help in promoting and developing the relationship between the two sister cities of Minoh City and Lower Hutt.

Active Wellingtonは、大阪箕面市と姉妹都市ウェリントン　ロアーハット市との国際交流、留学事業貢献が称えられ箕面市市長より感謝状を頂きました。

日本からロアーハット及びウェリントン周辺の留学生獲得の為、Hutt Councilと共に教育事業を推進しています。

During our trip with the Hutt City Mayoral Delegation to Minoh City, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Lower Hutt and Minoh City, Active Wellington received a letter of appreciation from the mayor of Minoh City.

This letter acknowledges Active Wellington's efforts and dedication to helping develop and promote international exchanges between both cities, especially in the area of education.

We, at Active Wellington, are very honoured and proud of this distinction and would like to thank the people of Minoh City for their warm welcome and care during our trip with the mayoral delegation. We look forward to working hand in hand with both the Hutt City Council, local education providers and the Minoh City Council as the two sister cities further develop their relationship and more international students come from Minoh to the Hutt area.

On Sunday 27th September, the Hutt Minoh House Friendship Trust organised its annual Japan Spring Festival.

Luckily Wellington's weather had decided to be on its best behaviour and it was a lovely sunny day, where Festival goers could enjoy a great and varied line up of Japanese Cultural performances and admire the beautiful garden in bloom.

The programme included some Kyudo (Japanese Archery) demonstration, traditionnal singing and dancing, a giant calligraphy performance, tea ceremony demonstration as well as a "Japanese Class" organised by Active Wellington's volunteer.

Our two volunteers, Shizuka and Junya wrote a play around the theme of a foreigner travelling to Japan to introduce dos and donts as well as some useful basic vocabulary, such as "where are the toilets". They were also helped by Mana for props and Celine as an extra for acting.

Both the volunteers and the audience had a great time and there was a lot of laughter in the room, as our two main characters from different cultural background and not speaking a common language were trying to communicate and interact together.

At 4.00 pm, after a long and fulfilling afternoon, the Spring Festival finished and all attendees and volunteers went back home with a smile on their face and a head full of happy memories.

The Active Wellington team had a great time working with the Committee and our volunteers in the weeks leading to this event and are looking forward to collaborate with the Hutt Minoh House Friendship Trust in the future as the Japan Spring Festival keeps growing, going from strength to strength.

The Mayoral Delegation's trip to Japan is getting closer and Active Wellington has been taking its role of member of the delegation quite serioulsy and we have been driving around the Hutt City area to interview New Zealand students to bring a message from them to the people who will attend the various workshops hosted by the Hutt City Council and Active Wellington during the Mayoral Delegation's trip to Japan.

Today we would like to introduce Ms. Chitose Izuno and her students from Heretaunga College who kindly agreed to be interviewed. Ms. Izuno is a Japanese teacher and her students had a lot of fun speaking in Japanese and talking about what,their life is like New Zealand. Students shared very interesting views and experiences with us and there was a lot of laughing going on, as these behind the scenes pictures can attest.

We would like to thank Ms. Izuno and her class for their joyful participation in this project and look forward to sharing the product of this interview with our audience in Japan !

Active Wellington's director is about to go to Japan next week as part of the Hutt City Mayoral delegation and will be working with representatives of the city council as the main facilitator and agent to help further develop relationships between the two sister cities, especially in the areas of education and cultural exchanges.For that purpose

We have been working very hard over the past fortnight, driving around local schools to meet students, interview them and carry messages from them to Japan.

Yesterday we went to visit Hutt International Boys' School, to interview some of Dean Sensei's students and bring a message from them to the people of Japan who will be attending the worshops organised and run by the Hutt City Council and Active Wellington.

There we had the opportunity to meet with Ms. Shizuka Y., an international student from Japan, who was finishing an internship as a Teacher's Aid and who ran the interview, both in Japanese and English, with some of her students.

Although Shizuka took her role of interviewer quite seriously and looked like she had been doing that for year, everyone had a lot of fun doing the interviews as these behind the scenes pictures show.

When asked how she felt about it being her last day, Ms. Y said: "I wish it could have lasted longer".

Active Wellington would like to thank Dean Sensei, his students as well as Ms. Shizuka Y. for their participation in this project.