World Campus International Blog » Arao City

Good Bye Session 1 2010

Thomas Greve — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 09:54:27 +0000

Before I start, I would like to say that for World Campus – Japan, starting on June 5^th was something knew we want to implement from now on, that way our participants can go back home to summer jobs after having a few weeks in Japan. With that said, since it was the first time we were starting early this summer, only a few people got the opportunity to come. 5 People, 5 of the most different personalities and backgrounds I’ve ever seen.

Lu, from New Jersey with Chinese background; Yoli, Mexican-American; Kyle, tall, white, blue eyed American guy; Daniel from Luxemburg who was born in Switzerland and Ming, American with Chinese, African-American and Native American background. In Session One of World Campus – Japan 2010, we shared a lot of experiences and built up a lot of memories together like, ringing the biggest bell in the World in the City of Arao, Visiting Jikei Hospital and Kumamoto Castle in the City of Kumamoto and talking to a survivor from the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb in the City of Hiroshima.

Thanks to everyone who made Session #1 possible. For you, readers out there, please keep visiting the blog to read the stories of Session #2 in Nagasaki with the visit to the peace museum and the talk with a survivor from the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb and Uda (Nara Prefecture) with the visit to Big Budda in the City of Nara.

Upside Down in Greenland

Thomas Greve — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 05:55:19 +0000

In World Campus – Japan is not all about host families, cultures and Japan, is also about how fun you can have with six hours at an amusement park. Believe me, it doesn’t matter where you come from, we are all the same when it comes to riding a roller coaster, everyone goes through the same process.

We had six hours to explore and enjoy Greenland, the park with most rides in Japan. First we thought six hours was too long, at the end we didn’t have enough time for all the rides. Great times!!! We went from water rides, to shooting balls to win prices. From kids rides to scary rides. From slow and simple rides to upside down rides, like you see in the picture above.

At the end, we were tired, happy and sun burned but had a great bonding time with the crew and got to know each other on a much personal level, for sure.

Now, the 5 steps to go on a ride… from the participants of World Campus – Japan!

1. Watch what you are about to get yourself into.
2. Get in line. – Which for Greenland…there were no people there cause it was Friday morning. ( Perrrrrfect)
3. Get on, wrap and secure yourself
4. Hands up!
5. SCREEEEEEEAM.

Great ending, new beginning.

Thomas Greve — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 04:26:02 +0000

The families from the Arao area hosted all of us on World Campus Japan first session and the week was full of amazing activities… the host family day, visiting really beautiful gardens and temples and internal work for all of us World Campus Participants, but the best part of all it has to be our Arigato Event. Time for the families to get to know each other, for the participants to express their gratitude and for everyone to become a big BIG family. The World Campus Family.

We all worked really hard to pull the Arigato Event off, learning songs and dances and creating the environment for an amazing performance at the “Blanca Hotel”, right next to Greenland. (Amusement park we will talk about on the next post, you can’t miss it)

Arigato Event (Thank you event) is not only a performance or a time to get to know each other, is a time when the Japanese Culture and our very personal culture mix together like one, we all laughed together, sang together and played together.

It is the end of a city for us but the beginning of amazing relationships we will develop with time with the host families and community members we interacted with during our visit.

Thank you ARAO…
Next post: Greenland!

Ichi go ichi e

Thomas Greve — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:22:22 +0000

Ichi go ichi e – (Once in a life time)… That’s what it was for us, the opportunity that we had during our host family day in Arao. After having a great Soba Noodles Lunch and walking through a great garden with a river, we went to our final stop of the day. A recently built temple where we not only took the most amazing pictures you could imagine, which we’ll share at the end of the week, but we also had a once in a life time opportunity.

Inside the temple you can find four statues of gods, like the one on the picture above. They protect the west, east, north and south. This particular one is the God that protects the South. The best part of the visit started when a man approached us, introducing himself as the artist that makes the statues. I have to say, it was already a pretty nice experience to be able to see the statues, even nicer to be able to meet the artist, I was already happy with the visit at that point, then the unexpected happened… He invited us into his art studio where we had the chance to see the statue of the God protector of the West, being made. We counted the pieces, about 100 of them, we smelled the paint and saw the colors being mixed, to create an amazing piece of art. No one has this kind of opportunity, ever. The artist never opens his studio to anyone besides his team, young interns from the local university.

Host family day: Great food, great site seeing, once in a life time opportunities… Ichi go ichi e

First night down, many more to go!

Thomas Greve — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 04:26:53 +0000

Lu and Kyle were part of a very excited group of people that had the opportunity to meet the night of June 5^th at the Manda Mine Museum in Arao, Japan. Host families were nervous but excited to bring home a new daughter or son, and finally the work the LOC (Local Organizing Committee) has been doing for a long time, is paying off, as you can all see on the picture above.

Host families can be very diverse, sometimes we go from having just a single mom to having a young family with two babies and a pet. It makes us understand who they are and their very own family culture. Thanks for hosting us and making us feel part of the family.

Our first night was now done, many more are coming our way and the excitement keeps growing as the time passes by. We’ll keep sharing our experiences with all of you readers. Stay tuned!

Summer 2010 staff members are ready, are you ready?

Thomas Greve — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:18:52 +0000

After hours and hours of traveling from our home countries and cities, we finally made it to Arao, Japan. Tired? Yes. Jet lagged? Yes, Excited? Yes.
We spent a good amount of time getting ready and prepping everything for your amazing tour. All we need now is for all of you participants to get here so we can let the adventure begin.
Get excited, get packed… We are waiting for you. Are you ready?

Yui, Jake, Bertha, Hiro, Hideto and Celi,
Your staff members.

Welcome to World Campus Teachers Initiative

Thomas Greve — Sun, 02 May 2010 07:01:14 +0000

Our trip to Japan was truly a once in a life time experience. Not only did I get to observe and experience the culture, I also had the great fortune of attaining fist hand experience of their educational system through World Campus International Teacher Initiative. The entire trip was enlightening to me as an individual as well as a professional. Staying with host families really immerses you in their culture and daily routines. Having the opportunity to meet with principals and teachers, ask questions, share ideas and comments was very beneficial. Visiting castles and museums was fun and educational. I give my highest recommendation to any teacher who wants to broaden their cultural experiences and professional development. My trip with World Campus Teachers Initiative has had a profound and enriching effect on my life and career.

(Paulina Hanson – Elementary School Teacher)

World Campus Teachers Initiative is a new WCI program that brings international teachers to Japan for a week long professional development program. Our pilot program included 4 teachers from two North American Countries. Our fist city was Arao City, Kumamoto Prefecture. Stay tuned for more stories and info from World Campus Teachers Initiative!!!

Spring & Summer ’09 Slide Shows published

Thomas Greve — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:05:26 +0000

The Spring & Summer Slide Shows of most of our partner cities are now available on the “Konichiwa from Japan”-section of our Website. Please take a look!!!

Japanese Medley

Thomas Greve — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:00:56 +0000

Video: Medley Arao

Our “Arigato Event” had a few interesting elements. One of the most challenging parts of our event was a section intended to entertain the audience with some of Japan’s most famous songs and dances. When our summer program began, the participants had no idea what they were in for. In a 9 hour block of time they had to learn all the songs and movements for the entire event. This video clip is from our event in Arao. Everyone involved in the summer tour worked as hard as they could to ensure that each event was at the highest possible quality. Most of the movements came from music videos of the songs as performed by the original artists. Enjoy!!!

Our World Campus – Japan Summer 2009 version of Love Me Tender

Thomas Greve — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:50:34 +0000

Video: Love Me Tender

Videolink

If you have been following our program or our blog, you have no doubt heard about our “Arigato Event.” Performed near the end of each of our stays, the event is a way for us to say Thank You to the communities and host families who have worked so hard to bring us into their world. These communities do most of the work needed to make World Campus International a success. In each of our events, there is a section that highlights the talents and creativity of our participants. This summer we had some members who decided that their talents went better together than on their own. Having never met before the program, these participants put a little Elvis, some Sax, a vocal rhythm track, a traditional Japanese instrument, and a world class voice together to create this amazing rendition of the classic, “Love Me Tender.”

Looking Back – Summer 2009 Program 3

Thomas Greve — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:02:09 +0000

WCI summer 2009 program 3 video

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Even looking back on program 3 from more than a month away, I still can’t believe some of what we experienced. Each program we had to say good bye to some of the people who defined the World Campus – Japan Personality. Through our time together in each program we build bonds that are so difficult to articulate. When we loose some of the people who have become leaders within the group, we are left with a hole. AND… at the beginning of program 3 we found ourselves, once again, looking to fill the voids left by those who could not stay. Then the program began. We welcomed the new participants and amazingly, within 48 hours, the personality of our group evolved. Though the void left by the old group could not be filled, our program 3 group was as complete a team as there could be. The new puzzle fit together to make a unique and extraordinary picture of how cross culturalal cooperation can really make an impact. Program 3 participants saw the Nagasaki Peace Museum, Storks Cradle, Kumamoto Castle, Manda Mine, and an Okonomiaki Sauce factory. Take a look for yourself and see World Campus – Japan as we see it.

(Jay Kinsel, Production Manager)

Through Meghan’s Eyes

Thomas Greve — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:01:12 +0000

Video: Through Meghan’s Eyes

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Over the past few weeks, we have given everyone a glimpse into the World Campus — Japan program. You have heard a lot about what we do and how we felt as we did it. We now want to let you hear one of our participant’s thoughts after she returned to the “real” world. Meghan Kuts participated in program 1 and 2 of the WCI Summer 09 tour. She made this video a little more than a month after she returned home. Take a look!!!

A Reflection on World Campus International Summer 2009 Tour!

Thomas Greve — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:00:31 +0000

Okay, wow. First of all, traveling with World Campus International this summer was my first trip outside of Europe and my first trip alone for more than 2 weeks. At first I was a little bit scared. Who will I meet and what will the program be like? Of course I read a lot about the program on the website, but still I could only create an image, which might be different from the real thing… and it was different. All the people I met there were so friendly and open! I am now back in my country called Holland and only now I realize what kind of people I met there and how they changed my whole lifestyle and way of thinking.

I completed all three programs of World Campus International this summer. I visited 6 different cities, lived with 7 different host families and each stay was an experience on its own. I met friends in Japan with the same interests as me, friends with the same passion, friends with a different way of thinking and friends with other customs. I never thought I would meet such a variety of people! Even when I met more than one person from one country, none of them had the same personality or interests. That was the beautiful part of the diversity I encountered. For me, I did not just meet people from Taiwan, Norway, China or Japan; no, I met people who became good friends. I never ever thought that I would get so close to the people I met in the World Campus – Japan program.

The life in Japan I lived was so different from the life I lead in Holland. Not only because it took place in Japan, but also because I was immersed in the World Campus – Japan life. At times we had a busy schedule and I was tired from the program, but it was all worth it. The things I have seen and experienced, shaped my imagination and helped me form opinions on matters like education, international relations and the role of media within the society. Also, my thoughts on different food, customs and languages. Personally, it was weird to speak English every day, but the more I talked with my friends, the more I became accustomed to it. Not only did I learn English, I picked up a little Japanese, Chinese, some Korean and even some New Jersey slang.

I have gained so much. Now, I am sitting in my chair in my house in Holland looking at pictures and videos from the program, reliving the moments. I am trying to reflect on the whole program, but I am still in Japan with my thoughts. I cannot reflect on my experiences if I am still there, can I? When I look at all the pictures and videos, I have come to realize that the time in Japan, which I enjoyed to the fullest, is over.

It might seem sad that the end of the program came. But, it is not the end of World Campus (cliché, but true). I am staying in contact with my new friends on Facebook and mail (people who are reading this and have no Facebook; get Faaaaaaaaaaacebooooooooook!) and I talk to them about everything and nothing as if we were never separated from each other. I think making connections with new people is the focus of World Campus International. Because, truthfully, the program would never have turned out the way it did without the people who were participated.

Thank you for this wonderful time and experience. See you soon!

(Ashwin Ramjiawan, Holland)

Outing to Kikuchi Valley and Mount Aso!

Thomas Greve — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:48:31 +0000

For me, although I have been studying in Kyusyu for a while, this was my first time to go to Kikuchi Valley to see the waterfall in Kumamoto Prefecture. It was amazing! There are many waterfalls in my country, but Kikuchi Valley was really special. I felt that especially in the summer, it was very cool and it was a peaceful environment. After Kikuchi, the World Campus International group went to Aso Mountain, which provided us with spectacular 360 degree views! On our way up Mount Aso on a gondola, I was able to see a long line of mountains, almost resembling the Great Wall of China. It was a fantastic day!!!

(Cherilyn Than Than, Myanmar)

Visit to Manda Mine in Arao

Thomas Greve — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:02:54 +0000

During 124 years, Manda Mine contributed to a modernization of Japan, so this mine has a historic value. According to Mr. Horiuchi, who used to work in Manda Mine, this mine was accepting of all people. In other words, everyone who had a strong body could work for this mine no matter what your background was. Mr. Horiuchi was full of passion while talking about the Manda mine. I was impressed with his speech and thought about its potential registration as a World Heritage Site. When we discussed a registration to the World Heritage Site, someone pointed out a negative viewpoint about the Manda Mine, such as its lack of popularity in Arao city. It is important for us to think about both the positive and negative viewpoints of the mine. I got a wonderful opportunity to think about some history of Japan, which is my own country.

(Risa Taniwaki, Japan)