Lianne - One City Together
  • Home
  • About
    • About Lianne
    • My Priorities
  • Speeches
  • Gallery
  • Contact

Christchurch College of English Ltd - Graduation Ceremony

19/10/2013

 
Thank you Rob McKay, Managing Director CCEL and Mr Hirama (Vice-President Yokohama Jogakuin Junior High School) for inviting me to be here.
 
 It's a pleasure as the Mayor elect of Christchurch to congratulate each of you on your graduation from the Study Abroad Programme.
 
You may wonder why I wanted to come to this graduation even before I have officially taken office. It is because I love Japan – one of my brothers lives in Tokyo and I have a Japanese niece and nephew – but that's personal.
My public reason for being here is because your graduation marks a special milestone in the relationship between the Christchurch College of Education (CCEL) and the Yokohama Jogakuin Junior High School and in that respect it marks the importance of the relationship between Christchurch and Japan and between New Zealand and Japan.
 
This year's programme marks the 20th anniversary of the visits by your school and over this period 2500 students have come here.
This is worth celebrating in its own right. But the reason I have come is to say thank you for keeping coming even through the earthquakes. Your country know what we have experienced very well.
 
It was only a couple of weeks after our devastating 22 Feb earthquake that your country was hit by an even bigger earthquake accompanied by a tsunami that devastated so much of the Tohuku region.
 
You have stood by us and we will always stand by you. That's what friends are for and your high school has proved to be a very good friend indeed.
Programmes such as Study Abroad have many advantages – not only do they offer English language lessons, there is also the opportunity to spend time with
New Zealand host families; visiting local schools, Rangi Ruru and Avonside Girls' High Schools and enjoying local activities, such as jet boating, a farm visit and a visit to the cardboard cathedral designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban.
 
All of these enrich the experience showing that learning the language is only one part of learning the culture. It is through this that we come to know each other and form relationships, which is the real point of these programmes. We create strong and enduring bonds between people, schools, cities and countries.
 
I hope you have enjoyed your time here and will take home good memories of Christchurch and that one day you will return and see what we have become.
 
 
 
 
 
 

    Speeches

    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013

    Categories

    All
    Speeches

    Social Media