| Well, we have this school excursion planned, but when exactly is it? |
| Is it this Tuesday or Wednesday? |
| Well it can't be Tuesday, with the English tests taking place. |
| Ah, right. Not Tuesday, but Wednesday. |
| That's right - all day Wednesday - taking a bus outside the city. |
| And where are we going? |
| Ah, last month we went to Arthur Island, |
| so this time we're going to the... Animal Park |
| Arthur Island was okay, but it was too cold. |
| Let's hope the weather for this week's excursion is better. |
| I don't suppose animals care about bad weather, but I certainly do. |
| Have you heard the forecast? |
| Yes, and it's not too bad. |
| Basically, they're saying Monday will be sunny. |
| Good... |
| But then the weather will change. |
| Not so good. |
| Yes, Tuesday we'll have some showers, |
| but by Wednesday, the day of our excursion, it will be... |
| well, their words are "cold and cloudy". |
| Cold and cloudy. Well, as long as it isn't 'wet and rainy', I'm happy enough. |
| We won't need umbrellas, just warm clothing. |
| And what time will we get there? |
| Let's see. The bus picks us up at 8:30 am, |
| and then it's an hour and a half on the road, so we arrive at 10 a.m... |
| sorry, with the 15-minute break, that will actually be 10:15 a.m. |
| That's early enough. |
| Then all our students can see the animals, have their fun, and do whatever they want to do. |
| Well, one fun event planned that day is 'Birds of Prey'. |
| What's that? |
| That's when they bring out several birds of prey: |
| eagles, falcons, kites, those sorts of birds, |
| and throw pieces of meat into the air, |
| and the birds swoop down and eat them. |
| It's quite impressive. |
| Sounds great. 'Birds of Prey'. |
| Are there any other activities? |
| There's a catered lunch, at the park restaurant. |
| We've already paid for that, and in the afternoon there's... |
| well, I had a choice between the 'Reptile Display' and the 'Koala Handling'. |
| In the reptile display, the students can handle live pythons and various other snakes. |
| Surely they'd rather hold koalas? |
| I'm sure, but the koalas can't be handled unless the weather's sunny, and given the forecast, |
| I thought it better to choose the reptile display. |
| Ummm, that's a shame. |
| These Asian students would love the 'Koala Handling'. |
| Yes, I know, but we can't control the weather. |
| And, then we get back. What time will that be? |
| We leave the park at 4:30, but then we face traffic, |
| so we won't get back until well after 6 pm. |
| It will most likely be 6:30. |
| But that's better than the last trip: we didn't get home until 8:30 that time. |
| Yes, that was a bit too late, wasn't it? |
| Andrew, I understand you've been doing some research regarding the breakdown, by nationality of our student body. |
| That must've produced some interesting results. |
| You're right. I got some statistics from head office. |
| I would imagine that most of our students are either Japanese or Chinese. |
| You imagine right. |
| But it's the Chinese who constitute the majority, but only just. |
| I had thought Koreans might be second, |
| but it's actually the Japanese, quite close behind. |
| It's somewhat surprising, but obviously all those Study Tours that our university markets in Japan are bringing in students. |
| What's the breakdown exactly? |
| Japanese are a quarter of the whole, which is considerable. |
| Last year they were only 16%, so that market has grown nicely. |
| Ah, the only other proportions of some weight are the Indonesians and Koreans - about the same. |
| Indonesians at 15%, and... |
| the Koreans are a little higher - |
| not like last year when they were less than 10%. |
| I thought we'd have more Indonesians than Koreans? |
| Well, as I said, they're about the same |
| just like the Saudi and Thai student numbers, almost the same also - |
| both just under 10. |
| Which one is bigger? |
| Thai students number just a fraction more. |
| As for the other nationalities, collectively they're only 3%, |
| so it wasn't worth giving each of them a separate category. |
| I just grouped them under 'other' |
| that's Vietnamese, South American, a couple of Russians, and so on. |