Melissa

This is Melissa. She is 24 years old. There are four people in her family. She comes from Taiwan and was born in Kaohsiung in Taiwan.

In her country, she was a printing designer. This is an interesting job where you decide about layout, place orders with the printing company and more.

She has been in Christchurch for a week and a few days. She feels a little nervous. She wants to learn about the differences between Taiwan and Christchurch.

She doesn't have any plans for after CCEL because she isn’t studying English for a job or an exam. It's her hobby!

By Yuta

Tomomi

Tomomi was born and grew up in Nagoya, Japan. She is 20 years old and she comes from a large family. There are seven of them, four women and three men. She was living with her grandparents, her parents, her older brother and her older sister.

She has been in Christchurch for 12 days. She was studying at Nagoya university before she came here. She decided to come to New Zealand because the cost of living in New Zealand is cheaper than in Japan. Another reason why she chose New Zealand is that she wants to improve her English.
Her ambition is to become an English teacher or to work for a travel company. She'll go back to Japan to continue her studies at university after she finishes her English course at CCEL.

Tomomi is living with a Malaysian family. They are very kind and they also cook well. At the weekend, she goes shopping or goes out with her host family.

Overall, she feels this is a good environment for studying English.

By Duong

Miki

Miki is from Japan. She is 19 years. She was born in Hyogo. Her city is next to Osaka. She has one older brother.

She went to university in Japan before she came to New Zealand. Her major is English. She wants to learn more English. She arrived one month ago. Right now she is studying English at CCEL.

She has never been to popular places in NZ. However, she thinks that Lyttelton Harbour is the most interesting place near Christchurch.

Her father told her that she has to work for a company after she graduates from university.

She loves watching TV when she isn't studying, and at the weekend. But she often misses her comfortable house in Japan.

by Kyeong

Duong

Duong is from Hanoi, Vietnam. He's 22 years old and his birthday is November 13th.

There are six people in his family, two grandmothers, his parents, his a younger sister and him. He graduated from university in Hanoi before he came to New Zealand. He studied finance. He is here to improve English and is very diligent. He came here one month ago, on 21st August.

His life in New Zealand is ok. He rarely eats New Zealand food , usually he eats Vietnamese food. He lives near Riccarton Mall.

His future plan is to go to university to do a Master’s program. He'll get a job in finance after he graduates.

He visited Mt.Hutt to go skiing. He plays football, tennis, and console games in his free time. He meets friends, eats out, plays sports on the weekend.

By Natsuka

Natsuka

Natsuka is from Hyogo in Japan. She is twenty. Her birthday is on July 22nd. She was born in Hyogo.
There are four people in her family, her parents, her younger brother and herself. Her father works for a transportation company, and her mother cares for older people. Her younger brother is sixteen years old. She was at Kobe university before she came here.

She's here to study English and make lots of friends around the world. She's been here for a month and is going back to Japan next March.

She thinks there is lots of nature in NZ , but the weather is cold. The food is good for her, but she misses Japanese food. She's been to Canterbury museum and it was
very nice. She wants to work for airlines or for a trading company.

She goes shopping and sightseeing when she's not studying.
In Japan she was working part-time in a cafe. She earns about forty thousand yen a month. Kobe is a very fashionable place, so if you travel in Japan, you should go there!!

by Tomomi

Jun

Jun is from Korea. He is 21 years old. But his Korean age is 23. His hometown is Suwon. He seems to love it there.

There are three other people in his family, his parents and his younger brother, who has already finished studying at CCEL and is working in NZ.

Jun came in Christchurch as soon as he finished his military service. He wants to get good English skills, go to Polytech and get a job in NZ.

He has lived in a Korean flat near Riccarton Rd for two months. He thinks there aren't any interesting things to do in Christchurch.

His favourite place in NZ is Lake Tekapo. His next plan is to pass IELTS and to go to Polytech. And after that he is going back to Korea to teach children in school. When he has free time, he often plays sports e.g. basketball, football etc.

At the weekend, he usually goes to church and meets up with his Korean friends.

By Luke

Yuka

Yuka comes from Japan. Her city is Hyogo. She is nineteen years old, her birthday is the 17th of November 1991. There are 5 people in her family, her parents, her two younger sisters, and herself. Her hobby is shopping and walking around her home.

She came to New Zealand one month ago. Before she came to New Zealand, she was studying at Konan women’s university. It is located in Kobe city and her major is English. At first, she wanted to go to America, but she said there aren’t any language schools which have long courses. So she decided to come to New Zealand.

By Jun

Yuta

 Yuta is from Japan. He was born in Hukwi and he’s just 16 years old. There are five people in his family. He has one younger brother and one younger sister.

He has been in Christchurch for one and half months, and has relatives here. After studying at CCEL, he wants to go to High School.

By Melissa

Kai

Kai is from China. He is 23 years old. He was born in Shan Dong. He studied economics in his university before he came to New Zealand.

There are four people in his family. He has an older sister who lives in Christchurch. After he graduated from university in China, his sister asked him to come to New Zealand. He decided to come to Christchurch to study English. He has been here for three months.

He likes listening to music in the Internet charts. At the weekend, he plays basketball and he goes shopping.

By Miki

Kyeong

Kyeong is from Korea. She was born in Eun Sung in Korea. She was working in Korea before she came here to study English. After she graduated she worked as a youth counsellor, but now she is studying English in Christchurch. When she finishes her studies, she will go back to Korea and keep working.

Now there are three people in her family, her two children and herself. One is the boy, who is 16 years old, and the other one is the girl, who is 13 years old. They are both students. The boy is studying in high school and the girl is studying in an intermediate class. Her husband lives in Korea. So the last time they met was five months ago. They miss each other very much.

When she is not studying she needs to take care of her children, help them study, cook food and clean the house. She doesn’t have too much time to relax. She likes to go to church, golf club and play tennis at the weekend. She is a good person.

By Kai

Luke

Luke is from Korea. He was born in Seoul and grew up there. He is 26 years old, but that is his Korean age. His international age is 23 years!

There are 5 people in his family, his father, his mother, his older brother, his brotherʼs wife, and him. But his nephew will be born in November, so it will be a new addition to his family.
He has lived here for only two months, but he has been to many interesting places, for example Ragitoto island, Mt. Eden, and so on.

When he has free time, he plays games, drinks, talks with friends, or learns golf. His New Zealand life is peaceful and quiet. Many activities appeal to him.

Before he came here, he was at university. He studied electronic engineering. After he graduates from CCEL, he wants to work for an electronics company, and then heʼll get married.

By Yuka

Agatha Christie

Dame Agatha Christie was born in Torquay, Devon, England on 15th September, 1890 . She was a British crime writer of novels, short story and plays . She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections ( especially those featuring Hercule Poirot or Miss Jane Marple ) , and her successful West End plays .

Personally I love her detective stories because it’s so real and hard to solve the mysteries. They keep you thinking all the time to find the murderer and the motive for the murder . Her most popular stories are "Murder On The Orient Express", "Death On The Nile" and "4.50 From Paddington".

Agatha had a daughter named Rosalind Hicks who died on 2004. Agatha herself died in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England on 12th January 1976, aged 85 years old.

Raed

Hiroshi Mori (Japanese mystery novelist)

Hiroshi Mori was born in Aichi prefecture on December 7,1957. At first, he was a researcher in Architecture and became an associate professor at Nagoya university in 1989. In April 1996, he made his debut as a novelist and won the first Mephist Award for his first novel "The Perfect Insider". He resigned from the associate professorship to concentrate on his writing in March 2005.
Overall, he has produced over thirty mystery novels. He has written in various genres, including romance, poetry, essays, photo books and children's picture books.

Ryoko

Yoshito Usui

Yoshito Usui was born in Shizuoka on April 21, 1958. In 1077, he graduated from Saitama highschool. After graduating he attended the designed-related college but he dropped out. In 1979, he joined an advertising company called POP Advertising. He made his debut as a manga author in 1987 and gained popularity in the 1990s with “Crayon Shin-chan” featuring the daily life of Shinnosuke, a mischievous five-year-old boy. He likes hiking. He left his home for a day-trip to mountains in nearby Gunma on September 11, 2009. He went missing during this trip. He fell off the mountain because he was taking pictures from the cliff. His body was found on September 19, 2009. His manga has sold 50 million copies in Japan. It has been translated in 14 countries, while the anime has been aired in 30 countries.

Miki

Paulo Coelho

In 1986, Coelho walked the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, a turning point in his life.On the path, Coelho had a spiritual awakening, which he described autobiographically in The Pilgrimage.In an interview, Coelho stated "[In 1986], I was very happy in the things I was doing. I was doing something that gave me food and water – to use the metaphor in "The Alchemist", I was working, I had a person who I loved, I had money, but I was not fulfilling my dream. My dream was, and still is, to be a writer."Coelho would leave his lucrative career as a songwriter and pursue writing full-time.

Coelho has published 29 books. Two of them – The Pilgrimage and The Valkyries – are autobiographical, while the majority of the rest are fictional, although rooted in his life experiences. Others, like Maktub and The Manual of the Warrior of Light, are collections of essays, newspaper columns, or selected teachings. In total, Coelho has sold more than 100 million books in over 150 countries worldwide, and his works have been translated into 67 languages. He is the all-time bestselling Portuguese language author.

Renato