Members of the English Club met in the home economics kitchen after school today to test their English for a "noble cause": making pudding! They split into three groups and, using an English-language recipe (and perhaps trying not to salivate too much!), they worked together to make what looked like some rather nice puddings.

As to what exactly happened to said puddings, this writer has no idea, but he was left in doubt as to the ability of the students' English, and that's all that matters, isn't it?!

Twenty one students applied for and took part in the Asahikawa 2nd and 3rd year retreat over the weekend. The retreat was held at Xavera Seminar House, and the theme was “Searching for the spirit of Sr. Xavera”.

At Kamui Church in Asahikawa, the students listened to Father Watanabe talk about Sr. Xavera, whom he worked with when he was a teacher of R.E. at the Asahikawa Fuji school. Father talked about the personality of Sr. Xavera and the impression she left on the girls who graduated from the school. This provided a wealth of material for the afternoon research session. The students then went on to visit the Ayako Miura museum of literature as well as the Church on fifth street, and they had a great end to a great retreat.

All of the students went to the auditorium after lunch today to listen to a talk given by Michiko Kondo. Ms. Kondo, who is a postgraduate student at Kyorin University, is a member of the Japan Disaster Relief Team and gave the students a talk on her experience as part of a emergency medical team working in Haiti immediately after January's deadly earthquake.

Ms. Kondo explained in detail what the local situation was in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake and told the students what kind of lifestyle a team member on deployment can expect to have, as well as how they interact with teams from other countries.

With many of the students on the cusp of entering adulthood, and perhaps thinking about what they would like to do with their lives in the next few years, this was indeed a very valuable afternoon, as was shown by the number of students who asked questions afterwards.

This year's sports day was held under a beautiful blue autumn sky at the "Tsu-Dome", which is located at Sapporo's Okadama airport. Last year's event was sadly cancelled due to the swine influenza outbreak, but the organising committee and many other students went into overdrive to ensure that today would be a day to enjoy to the full.

The students had a great time running, shouting for their friends, and generally working up a good sweat as they enjoyed all the day had to offer. One of the highlights was the relay where different years competed against one another, and where the teachers fielded their own group of "elite" runners!

It was a day in which students and teachers came together and enjoyed a variety of sports and excitement.

The first of two open school days was held today, with over three hundred visitors coming to experience Fuji from within. After a general talk about the various aspects which make up a Fuji education which was given in the auditorium, the visitors were then able to take chance of the many events and programmes on offer to give a better understanding of what kind of school Fuji is.

The second open day will be held on October 30th (Sat). Interested parties are more than welcome.

The first years' retreat for this year was held over two days. 1-1 and 1-2 went yesterday, while 1-3 and 1-4 headed off to the Hanakawa campus today for their day of reflection.

After offering prayers at the garden of Lourdes in Hanakawa, students split into pairs and took part in a special learning session. The setting was one student not being able to see and the other not being able to either speak or hear. These two students then had to negotiate a variety of obstacles together using hitherto undicovered forms of communication.

In addition, the students listened to a talk on a passage from the Bible, played games, made posters, and finished the day with prayers and a hymn in the Chapel.

Students came together to take part in an outing today where they visited the local railway museum, a beautiful brick building which is a registered as a protected example of industry modernisation in Hokkaido. The girls were able to enjoy sitting in the driver's seat of a locamotive and enjoy looking at the arious exhibits which included old train name panels and a miniature steam locomotive "D51".

The students were very taken with the old rail system of Hokkaido were very interested in the "old world" of people and locomotives long before the present.

Freiburg Cathedral Boys' Choir, as part of their Japan Tour to celebrate their fortieth year, visited Fuji today. Usinig the 3rd and 4th period, all of the students assembled in the auditorium for a special concert. Listening to the exquisite harmony of the choir and the various beautiful melodies, it would not be an overstatement to say that the students were bowled over with the performance.

The choir will be performing in Hokkaido until Saturday, after which they will then travel to the Osaka and Hiroshima areas and bring further joy through their wonderful singing voices!

The three day summer study camps for 4th and 5th year students were held from August 1st to August 5th over the summer holidays. With only a very small window of free time available, the girls spent each day totally immersed in study and applied themselves both positively and diligently.

The students were more than able to cope with this workload and, based on this, one would have good reason to hope that their efforts will continue in the same vein after the summer holiday.

This year thirty-three third year students took part in the study trip to Australia from July 24th until August 4th. The students were split into two groups, one of which was based on the coast of the city of Adelaide while the other was in Gawler, a small town just outside of the city. The students had a delightful experience both at their main school, and especially with the host families who opened their hearts and their homes to the students.

As well as enjoying a home stay and interacting with the Australian students at school, Fuji students experienced Australian culture at different schools, nursing homes, a wildlife park, and other local places. Not only have the students improved their English levels, they also gained wonderful memories and a more international outlook.

The Mt. Taisetsu expedition was held from July 29th to August 1st. The first two days of this year’s trip saw the party trekking through the rain, all the while enjoying the welcoming sight of blooming flowers such as Aconitum and buttercups. On the third day, the weather changed for the better and the group navigated its way along Mt. Hokkai, Mt. Matsuda, and Mt. Mamiya (all over 2000 metres) to eventually arrive at the highest point in the Taisetsu mountain range, and indeed on the island of Hokkaido: the summit of Mt. Asahi (2291 metres).

From the summit of this mountain, Meiji-era poet Keigetsu Omachi famously remarked, “Climb Mt. Fuji to know a mountain’s height, climb the Taisetsu mountain range to know a mountain’s size.” This is something the 31 climbers were able to envisage as they safely made their way down the mountain while enjoying the views offered by the clear, cloudless skies.