Mission Accomplished.

Sanmon wo dareba nihon zo chatsumi-uta Coming out of the temple gate, the song the tea pickers, It is Japan!

March 9th, the new day I arrived in Suita city, first time I breathed in Nihon’s air, fresh and brand new. The spring fragrance smelled so smooth and even though it was a bit [...]]]>

Mission Accomplished.

Sanmon wo dareba nihon zo chatsumi-uta
Coming out of the temple gate, the song the tea pickers, It is Japan!

March 9^th, the new day I arrived in Suita city, first time I breathed in Nihon’s air, fresh and brand new. The spring fragrance smelled so smooth and even though it was a bit chilly, I could feel something great would happen soon. Yeah, that day was our arrival day for WCJ Spring Tour 2009. I was looking forward to meeting with the other participants, the staff, Hiro and Hideto! Yeah, can’t believe I am back again after the last summer.

Suita city was the first city of this tour. Suita is a modern city with most of its citizen commuting to other big cities for work. Teenagers, the young generation have become the city’s symbol. The Local organizing committee (LOC) and Kansai University DUCKS were big components of this city’s success. They helped us a lot, gave us support, as well as shared nice moments, and great friendships. Everything always starts with Thank-you event (Arigato Evento) prep, because the show is a crucial part of the WCI program. Even at the beginning, we faced some obstacles and difficulties with singing and dancing Japanese songs and dances, but we overcame all of that. We had such a great time in Suita city. We had a great show at the ABC festival, visited the famous Banpakuen Park, experienced traditional Japanese culture including Naginata, Sumo, and Shamisen. We also interacted with university students and got know more about Suita city. And Universal Studios Japan was unforgettable to explore!

Uda city, our second city was quite different from the former city. Uda city, as a part of Nara prefecture has a lot of natural resources, great environment, and nice food! Yeah, Uda is imprinted on our minds as a city with bunches of ‘oishii‘ (delicious) food. Arrival day was awesome; they greeted us with a wonderful party, starting with traditional Japanese dances, a game for matching us with host families, and fantastic food! We explored about how the people live in balance with the beautiful nature, beginning with a walk rally. Then we toured the famous Muro and Todaiji temples which gave us a lot of insight about Japanese religion. We also dwelled deeper into Japanese culture by taking part in a tea ceremony & experiencing the majesty of Japanese swords. Our stay was made the more perfect with an emotional visit with senior citizens and a phenomenal Buddhist temple party!

March 22^nd, Sunday morning, it was a bit rainy, as if the realm knew we would be separated soon. Yeah, that day was our good bye time with the local people and also with the participants who were going back to their home countries ( Eric, Lily, Shoko, Shihoko, and Herbling ). Every piece of our hearts cried and we couldn’t stop hugging each others. Even though we stayed together only for two weeks, we felt we are engaged as one big family, one circle, and one great group! For rest of us who were still continuing to the second tour, we got three days off, where we had our freedom to explore more of Japan.

March 26^th, Abiko city was our next city. Located near Tokyo, it is known for all the people who commute to Tokyo for study, work, or other reasons. Even though this city is next to a huge metropolitan city, there is a big difference between the two. Abiko keeps its natural resources properly. They, recycle, take care of the water, and are aware of many environmental issues. New people, new city, new session, new environment, that’s WCI. We can learn how to make adjustment in every single place we are. It’s the most basic and important thing we need to have to become a global citizen. Yep, we started again. The head of the LOC was so hilarious, the “Boss” as we called her ! The kappa dance, potluck party, o-hanami, and even the Hawaiian dance were so unforgettable!

Haru tatsu ya shizuka ni tsuru no ippo yori
Spring begins, Quietly, From the stork’s one pace

What comes to mind when you hear Toyota? Yep, Toyota is the biggest automotive company, not only in Japan but throughout the world. Toyota city is the city where Toyota company has its headquarters and we were lucky to be part of this vibrant city. Toyota city: a great community, huge plants, nice people, and high tech facilities. Even though it’s a modern city, that didn’t mean we couldn’t get our culture experience. Our arrival coincided with the cherry blossoms that were blooming perfectly. O Hanami with kimonos, what a wonderful moment! It was the first and last time for us to enjoy sakura dressed up in kimonos. Yuhuuuu

Hito koishi hitomoshi goro wo sakura chiru
My heart is full of yearning, The candles being lit, Cherry blossoms falling

Second session wrapped up. A time for saying GOOD BYE again. Every meeting has a consequence… GOOD BYE in the end. How can we express our feelings? It is hard to say goodbye to everyone who got along with you for those weeks. But it’s the reality, we can’t make any bargains or fight it. Good Bye Toyota , Good Bye Daniel, Kaho, Birgit, Jaime, Selly, Elitha, Mustafa, Nao & Amar. We then faced the next and the last session in Spring Tour 2009 in Kyushu. Kyushu Island is famous for the beautiful nature, nice weather, authentic food, and great people.

Omura was our first city in the last spring program. Yohanes and I arrived before the others and were picked up by the extravagant Up With Omura CEO, Mr. Okuma. He is a unique and great local person who supported our tour. Our theme in this city was peace and conflict as we focused on what happened in Nagasaki city 63 years ago. It gave us an overwhelming feeling when the survivor told us his real experience struggling against death. Tremendous emotions mixed in my heart; sadness, yearning, loathing, and bewilderment, everything came in at the same time. From that precious experience we could reflect about what happened and keep sharing love amongst our families, friends, lovers, and everyone. Stop violence and respect others, keep living in peace with each other. That is one of worthy lessons we learned. Besides that, we trained ourselves in Kyudo, the traditional archery sport from ancient times, and Shorinji Kempo, a martial art. We ate champon, a traditional noodle dish of the area. We were also part of the Fureai event, which was a big event where many handicapped people came together and had fun with each other. The best moment was when we interacted with them. We didn’t feel like we had any differences. All of us are same, we are human being with some minus and plus things.

Finally, we encountered the last city of this tour. Kumamoto city with its many budding resources; farming, stockbreeding, plantations, and so on. As we learned before, a disease attacked Minamata city more than 50 years ago, but they rebuilt and there is almost no more scars left. One more special thing is the Cradle of Stork of Jikei hospital. It is a unique operation of hospital which is helping unwanted babies. Yep, that was my first time to hear of this kind of hospital. Many emotions erupted in my mind, how glorious their aim is. Moving from the heartfelt topic, we had a lot of fun in that great city. Yuhuuuuu we had the PURPLE PEOPLE! They were volunteer workers from the local community. We had Mrs. Maeda, the nicest LOC CEO. We explored Kumamoto castle in unique way , relished the beautiful Mt. Aso, tried “basashi“, the unusual savory horse meat, and even had a party in a Izakaya restaurant!

Everything always can’t be perfect. Every meeting has a consequence; separation. It can’t be avoided. While my heart wants to keep all of them alongside with me, that is impossible. Good Bye is final challenge before we go. Time for the real Good Bye is coming; everyone has goes back to reality, their original lives and activities. Yep, GOOD BYE DON’T PANIC, but I am PANICking now. I miss everyone already; every single thing always reminds me of our efforts, our togetherness, our laughs, our smiles, our sadness, our team building, and even our hard times. Thank you for everything, all of you will be in my heart forever. I will keep you as my treasure of my life. I’m sure we will meet again someday, somehow

Ganbarre Nippon, Ganbarre Gaijin!!

Amanda Soeprobo (Indonesia)

Time flies by like the shinkansen. It is difficult to put into words the journey we just completed. We laughed, we cried, we shared, we learned, we argued, we loved, and we became a family during these incredible six weeks.

It was very much like living in a dream. Dressing up as sumo wrestlers. Examining [...]]]>

Time flies by like the shinkansen. It is difficult to put into words the journey we just completed. We laughed, we cried, we shared, we learned, we argued, we loved, and we became a family during these incredible six weeks.

It was very much like living in a dream. Dressing up as sumo wrestlers. Examining genuine katanas. Trying traditional Japanese archery. Being moved by the story of an atomic bomb survivor. Taking part in tea ceremonies. Having a picnic under a soft pink sea of cherry blossoms whilst dressed in kimonos. Asking difficult questions at Toyota Company. Visiting mayors and dignitaries. Performing Japanese songs in front of over 600 people. Relaxing in a cat café. Savoring Kobe beef and raw horse. Building relationships with Japanese families in different cities. Making new international friends. Becoming a family. All those experiences seem so surreal right now, but we did all that and so much more.

Now the tour is over but the incredible experiences and deep relationships remain. We all went our separate ways but don’t panic. Goodbyes are difficult and the physical distance between everyone is far but we all have facebook and email! It is very easy to slip back into your old lives and routines, so please make an effort and stay in touch with your World Campus – Japan family. Thank you everyone for a great tour!

一期一会 (ichigo, ichie), One moment, one meeting. All of us meeting and traveling in Japan during those two months was a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was serendipitous and as is it was perfect. Goodbye, thanks for all the fish! Don’t panic!

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Japan is awesome! Last week we were in Abiko, a friendly city just outside of Tokyo. Abiko is a great city composed of green parks, open spaces, and friendly people. Everyone was very welcoming and eager to share their culture as we shared ours. Kudos to Tanaka [...]]]>

Japan is awesome! Last week we were in Abiko, a friendly city just outside of Tokyo. Abiko is a great city composed of green parks, open spaces, and friendly people. Everyone was very welcoming and eager to share their culture as we shared ours. Kudos to Tanaka San (a.k.a. Boss) for organizing super-fun activities! A warm thank you to the volunteers and families who made our stay in Abiko most memorable. And a shout out to the Suzuki family, my host family!

Everyday in Abiko was so much fun! We played soccer with local teams, explored nature with caring citizens, and danced with traditional performers. The latter is one of my favorite Abiko memories. I got to wear a really cool mask and costume just like the three other performers. The rhythmic beat of the drum and soulful sound of the flute guided my steps; the melodic fusion energized my body to dance. As corny as it sounds, I felt ‘one with the music.’ It was so much fun!

Another treasured memory was dancing Abiko’s traditional dance (Kappa) with everyone after a successful Arigato Evento! Among us were different generations, different stories … yet the same hands, the same smiles. In a circle we were one as we danced our last dance, the dance of generations past.

Grace Cornejo (Canada)

This was my third time as a host family for World Campus – Japan. Their visit here in Abiko was 10 days and the time spent with them passed by very quickly.

I learned lots of things throughout this program even though it was my third time. What the members of WCI left for us [...]]]>

This was my third time as a host family for World Campus – Japan. Their visit here in Abiko was 10 days and the time spent with them passed by very quickly.

I learned lots of things throughout this program even though it was my third time. What the members of WCI left for us was “Kizuna”, or a meaningful bond. It is also an original song written for WCI, which is sang by all the members.

After seeing off the bus which members were on, the host families in Abiko were still there, not wanting to leave. Later on, many host families started to say to each other “let’s meet again!”, “let’s set a time to discuss our feedback of this program”, “please come and visit my house!” and so on. We had a great time with the WCI members but we also had a chance to get to know other host families. And this was a valuable as well as meaningful opportunity for me.

Because of this program, I would like to reconsider my perception of my city again. I believe I can find something new in this city, and I am so excited now.

Takeshi Tsubata (Abiko host family)

World Campus – Japan receives quite a few unexpected visitors. Most of the time it is very random but very rewarding. An interesting pack of foreigners definitely attracts attention.

During our stay in Abiko, serendipity struck again as we met Michelle from Australia. She was actually visiting her brother, who works in Japan. A Japanese [...]]]>

World Campus – Japan receives quite a few unexpected visitors. Most of the time it is very random but very rewarding. An interesting pack of foreigners definitely attracts attention.

During our stay in Abiko, serendipity struck again as we met Michelle from Australia. She was actually visiting her brother, who works in Japan. A Japanese friend saw a flyer and told Michelle about a group of foreigners were taking a nature walk.

“I wanted to meet this international group and actually see some nature instead of shopping.”

Although it was her first day with us, Michelle seemed right at home as a member of World Campus – Japan during our walk around Lake Teganuma. Everyone enjoyed her company and we really appreciate her for joining us! Our time together was limited but the experience will never be forgotten.

“It was a very peaceful walk with a very fun group of people! The walk was relaxing and I met a lot of people, it was good.”

Wow, finally… I joined the World Campus – Japan program. It was difficult to wait three long months for the Spring program to start as I couldn’t wait to experience this global community. But now I am finally in Japan! This exciting moment in my life started from April 26th, 2009, when I arrived at [...]]]>

Wow, finally… I joined the World Campus – Japan program. It was difficult to wait three long months for the Spring program to start as I couldn’t wait to experience this global community. But now I am finally in Japan! This exciting moment in my life started from April 26^th, 2009, when I arrived at Narita International Airport.

My first city in Session II was Abiko city, a small yet beautiful city surrounded by wonderful nature, including the impressive Lake Teganuma. As activities involving nature is still in my top five hobbies , the walking rally around the lake was such a wonderful experience. We did many other things in Abiko also, including making chopsticks, potluck party with foods from around the world (yummy…yummy), paper making, a nature walk at the “yatsu” area, and the list goes on.

As Abiko is near Tokyo, I was able to experience one of the main metropolitan cities in the whole world! Experiencing that city is such a big event for me. Seeing the city lights of Tokyo at night from Tokyo Tower, where all the skyscrapers seemed like they were soaring, walking around the famous districts of Akihabara, Shibuya, Shinjuku, and the wonderful Meiji Jingu Shrine was just amazing.

And of course, the most valuable thing I had in Abiko was my nice host family. Many thanks to the Nakamura family, Junji, Kazuko, and their cute little son, Kotaro. They all made my time in Abiko very precious, as they really showed me the real hospitality of Japanese people. They were really eager to learn about different cultures, so when we shared stories with each other it was a very nice time and most importantly, very memorable for each of us.

(Yohanes Siem, Indonesia)

Chopsticks. It is the essential eating utensil for Japanese people. They use it to eat everything including salad, pasta, and even jello! There would be complete chaos if the two slender pieces of wood are missing.

It was then a very special treat for World Campus – Japan participants when we had the opportunity to make [...]]]>

Chopsticks. It is the essential eating utensil for Japanese people. They use it to eat everything including salad, pasta, and even jello! There would be complete chaos if the two slender pieces of wood are missing.

It was then a very special treat for World Campus – Japan participants when we had the opportunity to make our own bamboo chopsticks! Smoothing the edges of two matching pieces of bamboo was actually much more difficult than it sounds. The actual process of sanding had to be fairly precise in order to craft a matching pair. As with anything handmade, imperfections are great as they show a more personal touch!

These handcrafted chopsticks are a great memento, even for those of us who are still learning to use them

Abiko – This is our third city in the World Campus – Japan spring tour 2009 for those who have been traveling starting from the first session, but for the new participants, this is their first city. Some of us are still struggling with culture shock, with our new host families, and with our new [...]]]>

Abiko – This is our third city in the World Campus – Japan spring tour 2009 for those who have been traveling starting from the first session, but for the new participants, this is their first city. Some of us are still struggling with culture shock, with our new host families, and with our new community. But I believe we are all enjoying this moment deeply in our hearts.

March 28^th was our host family day in Abiko! Host family day is when we spend a lot of time with our host families, starting from when we wake up until we go to bed. Yay!! It is such a nice day for everyone.

In Abiko, a few of the host families planned to have a picnic together. Kaho, Atsushi, Philip, Naoko, Nicolina, Guang, Daniel, Amanda, Jaime, Mustafa, Selly, and I had a wonderful picnic outside of a small kindergarten! Our host families called it an o-hanami party which means enjoying and cherishing cherry blossoms and of course bunches of oishii (delicious) food.

Honesty, that day was so awesome, a sunny day with tremendous love! It started with a lot of fun games. We played many traditional Japanese kids games, such as Jankenpong (rock, paper, scissor), hide and seek, dodge ball, and many others. After some of the energetic games, our host families already prepared tons of delicious food for us, it was super oishii! And for sure, we are falling in love with Japanese food!

Although the cherry blossoms weren’t in full bloom yet, and a couple of host families including mine and Kaho’s couldn’t join us, we enjoyed our time together. It was such a wonderful moment in my life. Their laughs, smiles, love, and caring will always be in my heart, and I believe all of us feel the same way!

(Amanda Soeprobo, Indonesia)

Abiko is one of the many satellite cities of the mega metropolis that is Tokyo. Although it is much smaller and more relaxed than its gigantic neighbor, Abiko is still very much an urban setting with its own share of environmental issues.

Like many other cities throughout the world, Abiko is struggling to preserve some semblance [...]]]>

Abiko is one of the many satellite cities of the mega metropolis that is Tokyo. Although it is much smaller and more relaxed than its gigantic neighbor, Abiko is still very much an urban setting with its own share of environmental issues.

Like many other cities throughout the world, Abiko is struggling to preserve some semblance of nature in the face of urban development. Choosing to preserve nature is never easy and often times makes little economic sense. A mall, golf course, or apartment complex will most definitely generate more revenue than an undeveloped piece of natural scenery. It is then quite remarkable that a few concern citizens of Abiko chose to stand up and protect the little nature that is left in the city. In the past few years, even a planned kindergarten was blocked from being built in the “yatsu”, the wild area of city. Not to worry though, the kindergarten was built on a different site!

The effort to preserve nature in an urban setting is admirable. During our walk in the “yatsu”, we saw many different plants and a variety of animals including frogs, insects, and birds. Although the “yatsu” does not compare with a more traditional countryside setting such as Uda city in terms of nature or even aesthetic beauty, it is still amazing considering its status as a bedroom community of Tokyo.

Here, Yohanes (Indonesia), a piano teacher, is attempting to share his incredible skills with Jaime (Mexico). Sadly, Jaime’s goal of [...]]]>

World Campus – Japan participants share everything. We share our foods, drinks, feelings, cultures, talents and even the occasional cold with each other. Bonds are quickly built in this program and sharing is caring.

Here, Yohanes (Indonesia), a piano teacher, is attempting to share his incredible skills with Jaime (Mexico). Sadly, Jaime’s goal of going from “zero to hero” on the piano was not achieved yet.

March 26th, 2009: A heavy dose of jet-lag, a strange country, and an even stranger guide. None of that could damper the excitement of the new participants to Session two of World Campus – Japan!

As the train rumbled toward Abiko, the looks of wonder and amazement never did fade from their faces. They were [...]]]>

March 26^th, 2009: A heavy dose of jet-lag, a strange country, and an even stranger guide. None of that could damper the excitement of the new participants to Session two of World Campus – Japan!

As the train rumbled toward Abiko, the looks of wonder and amazement never did fade from their faces. They were about to embark on a unique adventure in the land of the rising sun. The only concern they had related only to the navigation skills of their guide.

“Guang, are we going back to the airport!? Are you sure this is the right train?”

The risks they took were great. Trusting and following a stranger just because he is in a beautiful shiny World Campus – Japan jacket took tremendous courage! But such risk taking will be rewarded in the following weeks as they have the experience of a lifetime!

On April 13th, the World Campus — Japan Spring of 2008 class celebrated a successful completion of the program during a graduation ceremony which was held in Komorebi (sunlight through the trees) Hall in Abiko city, Chiba prefecture.

The 16 participants of the third session came to the hall accompanied by their host families who [...]]]>

On April 13^th, the World Campus — Japan Spring of 2008 class celebrated a successful completion of the program during a graduation ceremony which was held in Komorebi (sunlight through the trees) Hall in Abiko city, Chiba prefecture.

The 16 participants of the third session came to the hall accompanied by their host families who acted on behalf of their real families. The host families and Abiko local organizing committee kindly brought home made dishes, some of them cooked in cooperation with our participants – such as Norwegian rice pudding and American rhubarb cake to name a few.

After we all enjoyed the hearty meal, each participant went on stage to receive their certificate of completion. Every single one of them was cheered by passionate families and fellow classmates. The ceremony was followed by an educational session to prepare them to go back to their own culture as well as by an evening of fun Karaoke too!

On the next day, the second World Campus – Japan tour officially came to an end. The wonderfully talented participants from 14 countries said “see you soon” to each other at the New Tokyo International airport rather than saying “good-bye”.

The World Campus International CEO, Hiro Nishimura, said “I’m glad our second program was finished with such success. We’re still learning a lot but I believe we are on the right track. Thank you all – host families, local organizing committees and participants – for being the part of the World Campus International family and for all your contributions. We’ll keep on expanding the network around the world in the future!”

If anyone would like to be part of this kind of unforgettable journey in Japan, feel free to apply for an upcoming position including the next program for one or two sessions:
June 23 – July 16, 2008 – Session 1
July 17 – August 11, 2008 – Session 2

Hope to see you there!

The World Campus International Team

This is the City Slideshow we made in Abiko City!

As you know, in every city on the World Campus — Japan tour, we have a city theme. The theme for Abiko city was the environment. This is an issue that I feel very strong about but the topic is also quite broad.

When thinking about the environment you can talk about nature itself, but [...]]]>

As you know, in every city on the World Campus — Japan tour, we have a city theme. The theme for Abiko city was the environment. This is an issue that I feel very strong about but the topic is also quite broad.

When thinking about the environment you can talk about nature itself, but also the animals in nature on a more local level. But the environment can also be discussed on a more global level too; which today more or less means the discussion about global warming and the future that lies ahead of us. A discussion involving the life we want to leave for future generations and the ethics and morals around it.

With all these levels in this theme in mind, Abiko City and World Campus — Japan chose to focus on a few of them.

It all started in Uda City, with the group watching the movie “An Inconvenient Truth”. A film portraying the problems of global warming and why global warming is an important issue. The creator of the film, Al Gore, discusses his personal story connected to the environment and global warming and why he became interested. The movie also shows important facts about global warming and proves that it is an important issue that should be dealt with. The movie has been criticised for better and for worse all over the world and there are some facts that are not scientifically proven. But the message is agreed upon in the scientific world and a discussion has started on higher levels, around the world.

Our stay in Abiko contained visiting a bird and water museum but we also explored nature around Teganuma lake. We even had a speaker at the community music event talk about global warming and the responsibilities of the richer countries in the world to take actions. An interesting point he made is the definition of a developed country. Is a developed country definition only based on economy or can the environment have a bigger say here? If we take the environment in consideration then very few countries are really developed.

By visiting the bird and water museum we had the opportunity to visit the nature around us and how human activity affects the environment we share and love.

Also in the water museum we learned how they cleaned the water from pollution as this lake that was the dirtiest in Japan for 27 years. Though they suddenly changed their mindset and began a cleaning process making the lake cleaner and more beautiful.

I also had the opportunity to present my passion to the group as a follow up on the movie we saw the week before. As a continuation on “An Inconvenient Truth” which portrays the problems more than the solutions, I therefore decided to make a PowerPoint on what you can actually do and the difference it makes.

I tried to focus on the solutions giving the most impact. Of course recycling, less waste and less consuming and energy use was at the top. But also things like eating less meat and changing your way of transportation makes a bigger impact using little tools.

The most important thing in my opinion is to see the connections for example that what you do has an influence on your surrounding. Chemicals as an example will never be reduced if we do not start to use less of them and reducing their quantity in the environment. But also informing others and creating awareness about the problem is 50 % of the job since alone we are limited but together we can change, as cliché it may sound it is still true.

But if you want to make changes then make changes you are comfortable with in order to make a long-time commitment and change.

A great week with many sources of information and activities, it was a wonderful conclusion on our amazing stay in Japan with a great foundation in becoming World Citizens.

(Jonathan Cygnaeus, Sweden)