The second-year junior high school students went on a two-night, three-day overnight study trip to Oita from March 16th to 18th.

The trip had two main purposes:

1. To conduct preliminary learning in preparation for the study trip to Australia planned for the summer of third year.

2. To strengthen the bonds among students across class groups within the grade.

Since the upcoming study trip to Australia will involve air travel and homestays, the Oita trip also included air travel either on the way there or back. During the stay, students experienced rural homestays in Ajimu Town, Bungotakada City, Kunisaki City, and Kitsuki City.

Oita is known as the first place in Japan to introduce rural homestays. All the host families had extensive experience and know-how, and each family prepared unique programs and activities for the students. Thanks to their hospitality, we were able to spend two truly fulfilling days.

On the third day, the group visited Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU). There, university students gave presentations about their campus life, followed by a guided campus tour.

In February, as part of a career education program called “Career Approach,” the students had already heard from Ritsumeikan University students about university life. This prior experience made the visit to APU more meaningful and allowed the students to better envision their future university life.

According to a post-trip survey, the overall satisfaction with the training trip was 100%, with 89.3% selecting the highest rating (4 out of 4), and 10.7% selecting the second highest (3 out of 4).

By making the most of the valuable lessons learned during this trip and continuing preparations until summer, we hope to make the study trip to Australia even more meaningful.