On the night of Friday 17th June, eight students from our Year 10 Japanese classes went to compete in New Zealand secondary schools Japanese Trivia Championships. Two of our senior students of Japanese, Ansh Trivedi and Racey Ferris were there as MC at the Auckland venue. One Y10 student came as a spectator but she ended up in another school’s team as the team was short one person. The Japanese Trivia Tournament is an annual competition among junior students, where teams of four compete against other schools and their teams, across five rounds, to test their knowledge of Japan. Over 100 school teams nationwide at eight different venues across New Zealand competed at the same time to answer a variety of Japanese questions. Both MRGS teams practiced and studied prior to the Championship. All the team members and Kojima Sensei took this opportunity to dress up in yukata (summer kimono) to take pride in our study of Japan and its culture.
MRGS came 5th place overall in Auckland – Team 1 with 34 points placing 7th and Team 2 with 35 points placing 5th, although they only had 1 point apart.
This experience was a lot of fun and the students all had a wonderful time. We are very grateful for our wonderful Japanese teacher Ms Kojima, as this event would have never been possible without her as she was the national organiser of the event.
Melody Liang
