The day before we had to leave our host families in Suita, Oosaka, we were invited to cook some of the greatest dishes from Japan in the city hall of Yameda. We made Takoyaki (small flour balls of octopus with a coat of read ginger and vegetables), Yaki Soba (fried vegetables and lovely noodles), Ichigo daifuku (delicious small strawberries with a coat of sweet beans, and on top of that yet another layer of some kind of gummish rice-thing). We also made this international edition of maki rolls, a kind of rolled sushi (maki-Makeru means to roll in Japanese). The inside contains fresh fish and vegetables rolled in rice and seaweed.
The funny thing about making these dishes was that they all were a lot different to us in a lot of ways. I had never seen a Japanese person make maki rolls with boiled vegetables and tuna. It gave me new inspiration because it is very different from the way I learned to make sushi in Denmark.
It was also really great to get the opportunity to make Takoyaki, because it famous in the Kansai area, and a lot of the group members where crazy about them. In my case, it was fun because my host family owned two popular Takoyaki shops, and after this course, I was able to help them in the shop.
My favourite dish was probably the Ichigo daifuku, because it had such a fun texture (it was softer than wine gum, and still tougher) and because it contained my favourite fruit, a yummy red strawberry. The inside red strawberry even measured up with the strawberries from Denmark, which Danes are very proud of.
After my trip home from Japan, I began to make Japanese food the way I was taught by my host families and the course, and everyone really loves it in Denmark. I would never have discovered these dishes without the World Campus Programs, and I will always appreciate that I had the opportunity to learn it in Japan.
(Nina Møller, Denmark)
2011 August, 6th – 12th: In Toyota, I was hosted by an awesome family, and that was the Michiyamas family. On the first day, my host mother and sister took me to a ‘’KAMISHIBAI” exhibition place. There were a lot of kamishibai’s tools and instructions to let you know how to play “KAMISHIBAI”. “KAMISHIBAI” is a device to tell stories. You use a square box which has doors you can open to insert paper illustrations and pull it out when you are telling the story. I was very lucky to have this experience. I played kamishibai before kids, and they really enjoyed my performance. I felt very happy about that. Because my host mother is a professional teacher of kamishibai, so she taught me a lot of techniques. It makes me know more about kamishibai.
After we experienced kamishibai, we went to the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art. There they had an exhibition of a famous painter from Holland, named Johannes Vermeer. His paintings are very elegant and realistic. We had a wonderful afternoon enjoying and appreciating every painting there.
On 8th August, my host sister took me to Nagashima Spa Land, an amusement park that has the longest roller coaster in Japan. And my host sister and I are both crazy-loving ride on roller coaster! So, we rode every roller coaster as much as possible. There are totally seven roller coasters, we rode not only once but also twice for a tallest roller coaster. It was very exciting for me to have such a great experience in Japan. In Taiwan, we don’t have these kinds of roller coasters. It was really impressive and a lot of fun. We really had a wonderful time there.
(“Umi” Yi-Ting Cheng from Taiwan)
Sometimes communicating with elderly people can be challenging, but communicating with elderly people that don’t speak your language…now that be a little tougher. Well in the end it turned out much better than I thought. In Uda we were invited to spend the morning at a Japanese nursing home were we had the chance to interact and learn from elderly community members at a nursing home. After we introduced ourselves we found out for some of them we were the first people they ever met from different country which was a great opportunity to represent our countries.
We started off by writing calligraphy kanji characters, mostly positive characters like; Love, Dream, Hope ect. It was a great chance to learn calligraphy but also to help the members. Because some of them were in wheelchairs or slightly disabled we helped them write the calligraphy by placing our hands over theirs and writing with them. It was a very powerful moment for the group of us.
I think we originally planned on visiting the home and giving, serving, and impacting the community members but didn’t realize how much they would teach and impact us. When we said our goodbyes and it was very difficult for us, one of the women in a wheelchair probably in her mind 90’s took my hands and started to speak Japanese she then soon begin to cry at that moment language was no longer needed and I felt her embrace and energy and I know what she was saying was from the heart and she cared very much about the words she was saying even though she probably knew I didn’t understand. Luckily when she was speaking there was someone behind me that translated what she said. One of the things she mentioned was “Thank you so much for visiting us and spending you time with us all and I’m happy to have lived this long so I could meet you on this day.” It was a wonderful experience and its great to think that at age 90 people are still able to inspire and impact in this world!
(Brandon Serna – External Relations Manager for Summer ‘11 Road Team)
Last week when we heard we were going golfing for the day we didn’t really know what to expect and had some questions to our selves; when was the last time I golfed? Can I golf? What is Golf? But when we arrived we soon realized it was a Japanese’s style of ground golf and our teammates where mostly elderly people. So we were quite relieved that we had a chance to be good at the game. Then another surprise hit us when we saw how good the Japanese golfers were! We divided into 7 teams and played 18 holes of Japanese ground golf and it was just a blast and fun time with some really friendly people! 2 of us also got hole in ones and won some prizes!
Thanks for the fun time!
(Brandon Serna – External Relations Manager for Summer ‘11 Road Team)
“While making the Katana for the Samurais we put all our heart and focus into it because we know the Samurai is putting his life on the line for his country and people.” This said by one of the sword makers while teaching us the art of making a katana.
Its always great to have the opportunity to see how anything is made, just so we can understand the work and effort that goes into them. I guess in this case I can say a little more work and effort go into making a Samurai sword, (Katana). I would say this because it roughly takes 3 months from start to finish to make and 5 years of training to learn the art of making them. In Arao we had the chance to visit a Dojo where lived craftsmen that make and train with Katana’s full time. It was very interesting to see their unique way of training and making the Katana’s.
Of course hearing about the swords history, purpose, and art was very interesting and exciting but we all couldn’t way to have the chance to hold the lite power of some of the world’s sharpest swords, and even get to use them! I think the expression on our faces said it all once they would hand us the sword and we realized just how lite they were! Overall the experience was full of history and interesting facts and being able to slice a blade and cut bamboo in half like it was butter was the perfect end! Thank you very much for welcoming us to your Dojo and teaching us the art of the Samurai sword!
(Brandon Serna – External Relations Manager for Summer ‘11 Road Team)
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World Campus International, Inc.
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Japan
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Japan
To Contact Us in Japanese:
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Email: hyasui@worldcampus.org
To Contact Us in English:
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