The 2008 TCFL Study Trip

Christchruch: The Garden City

2008-04-03T07:32:11Z

The nickname for Christchurch, New Zealand, is "the garden city." It's easy to see why, as much of inner city space is filled with parks, trees, and lots of green areas. As you walk along the shores of the Avon River, hike along the trails within ...

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Inside Christchurch Cathedral

2008-04-03T01:23:30Z

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...

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Studying at King's Education

2008-04-01T05:55:37Z

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 s...

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Final good-byes and farewell lunch

2008-04-01T05:48:46Z

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 grea...

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Afternoon activity 7: Farm visit

2008-03-28T08:00:35Z

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 t...

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Day trip to Akaroa

2008-03-19T03:12:07Z

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 w...

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Afternoon activity 6: Punting on the Avon

2008-03-13T06:00:44Z

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 ...

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Afternoon activity 5: Horseback riding

2008-03-12T05:14:34Z

On the 2nd Wednesday of our trip, we drove out to the Waimak River Adventures horse ranch on the outskirts of Christchurch and spent a leisurely afternoon riding horses around the countryside. After getting outfitted with helmets, we watched a dem...

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Afternoon activity 4: Antarctic centre

2008-03-07T02:39:21Z

This activity was a bloody brilliant mix of hard education and theme-park thrill ride. It was an interactive, hands on experiential learning experience of what life in Antarctica is really like. The entire thing was very well produced and conducte...

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Afternoon activity 3: The Maori experience

2008-03-05T22:25:05Z

For our third afternoon activity, our Toyama group joined the entire student body of King's Education on a trip to the Willowbank Wildlife Center on the outskirts of Christchurch. This center is quite a unique place- not only can you see local fl...

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