World Campus International Blog » Omura City

Never thought I’d do this

Thomas Greve — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 13:47:15 +0000

The first day after meeting my host family in Omura even before the program week began I got a rare opportunity from my host family. My host mother, who is a elementary school teacher, decided to introduce me to Japanese elementary school life. It sounded nice so of course I took this chance but little did I know I would end up going into the rice fields and planting rice! Something I had never expected doing in my life. Also the way they plant the rice was different from what I imagined or seen. I thought they would just randomly plant the rice siblings on places that looked well for planting. But no, they span a line across the rice field and plant the rice siblings just in front of it, then the line moves and every one moves with it. It’s a very interesting and effective strategy. Seems like I learn something new every day!

This was also a good opportunity to meet new people, older and younger. During the planting of the rice I talked to the kids, teachers and other people of whom I have no idea what they were doing there. I taught them about my country and they taught me about Japan. They learned that we don’t have any rice paddies at all and that instead of rice we mainly plant potatoes in The Netherlands. At one point a frog hopped on the girl and she was so frighten she fell into the mud, so they then taught me the Japanese word for frog (while laughing at the girl) which is: ‘kaeru” and I taught them it in Dutch: “kikker”. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the activity that day. I know I did. Except the mothers on the other hand, maybe because they probably have to wash the clothes afterwards…muwhahaha! All and all is was a great day and fun experience and I hope to be able to do it again while in Japan.

(Juir from The Netherlands)

A Peaceful man with not such a peaceful past

Thomas Greve — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:32:56 +0000

The more I come to Japan, the more I understand the importance Japanese people give to PEACE. After going through events as hard and powerful as the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic bomb, I think any country would take the word “Peace” very seriously.

This time we had the opportunity to listen the story of a Nagasaki A-Bomb Survivor. As a 15 year old at the time of the bombing, his point of view of the event was surely very innocent but very realistic. With 81 years old today, he feels very lucky to have lived through this unfortunate event in 1945 and is now one of the many people committed to spreading the word of peace.

After he retired from his job as a teacher in 1998, he decided to start sharing his experience as a survivor from the A-Bomb and have been doing it for 13 years. With more than 70 speeches every year, he believes, this is his way of informing people about the facts of the bombing but most important, this is the way he is teaching everyone who meets him that hate is not the answer.

He shared his experience with all of us in World Campus Japan for about an hour. The final words of his speech were very calm and simple but the positive energy he was giving to all of us was more powerful than any words… “Since I retired my job as a teacher, my job has been to spread the word of peace and I will continue to do it until the day I die”

I was seating there, as I did last year, and again I was reminded of the importance of the work we do in World Campus Japan, learning about other cultures, knowing the whys of every person and every country, to be able to respect each other.

After finishing his speech he gave us time for pictures with him and questions, he hugged all of us and said I love you to many of us. What a great feeling to have met someone that has gone through so much and has such a great outlook in life.

I believe this is the beginning of a new moment for the world and for young people that take the risk to step out of their comfort zone, putting themselves in other people’s shoes to truly understand each other. It is everyone’s personal effort what will make this world a better place. It is not easy but we have to start now to have the peace we all want for ourselves and for our communities around the world.

(Celiana Dolovitz – Education Manager in the Summer ‘11 Road Team)

Making Origami Cranes…with a purpose

Thomas Greve — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 05:00:34 +0000

Last week we had the chance to learn from our host families the tradition of Japanese origami. Because we were visiting Nagasaki to meet a survivor for the WWII bombing our goal was to collectively make 1,000 cranes in his name. This tradition symbolizes a hope for peace through a lady named Sadako Sasaki and her unforgettable story of perseverance. She was diagnosed with leukemia after being exposed to the radiation after the bombing of Hiroshima she then became determined to fold 1,000 cranes in hopes of recovering to good health, happiness, and a world of peace. Although she completed 644 cranes before she died, her classmates folded the remaining 356 to honor her. There is a statue in honor of her at the Hiroshima Peace Park.

For a lot of us this was our first time making cranes and after making the first one the thought of making 999 more did not sit so well in our heads. Luckily we had great host families and little siblings to help us along and be patient for when we made a mistake, I now know I will never forget how to make paper cranes. It is also a tradition to make cranes when someone is suffering from illness, as a prayer for their recovery, as a wish for happiness, and as an expression of sympathy and peace. You are supposed to focus on why you are making them while folding. All and all it was a great connection to make them with our host families and talk about the rich history of this story and be making them for someone that was about to share his story.

FUN FACT: The word Origami in Japanese means (ori- to fold) and (kami – paper)

(Brandon Serna – External Relations Manager for Summer ‘11 Road Team)

Metting Omura Mayor Matsumoto

Thomas Greve — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 04:19:45 +0000

Meeting Mayor Matsumoto in Omura was such a great chance to learn about the inside view of what is going on in Omura and what are some of the future plans for the city.

We had a great conversation with Mr. Matsumoto and talked about how much we were enjoying Omura and letting him know he is the Mayor of a great city! He said they are currently working on partnering with sister cities around the world and because we represent 8 different countries we had some great ideas to help make that happen in our home towns.

We thank Mr. Matsumoto very much for spending the morning with us and we hope the best for Omura!

(Brandon Serna – External Relations Manager for Summer ‘11 Road Team)

Kicking and Screaming in Omura, Nagasaki

Thomas Greve — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:23:58 +0000

This week we had the opportunity to visit the Shorinji Kempo dojo here in Omura and learn the world practiced martial art Shorinji Kempo. We first had the chance to learn the history, culture, and reason for the martial art. The Sensei’s (teacher) that was speaking is now a 8th degree black belt in Shorinji Kempo. It was great to hear the story of why Shorinji Kempo was created because it’s a great way to feel more connected to why we were learning the moves. Shorinji Kempo is a young Japanese martial art compared to some of the others. In 1947 Doshin So founded Shorinji Kempo in the town of Tadotsu, Kagawa prefecture.

Doshin’s motivation for creating Shorinji Kempo was to bring the spirit of Japan back up after World War II. During that time in Japan the rules of society, the economy, and people’s hearts were in turmoil. Doshin So’s then awakened to the knowledge that “all things depend on the quality of the people who stand in the positions of influence.” He considered that to build a peaceful world “there is no other way than to cultivate, in as many people as possible, deeply rooted compassion, great courage, and a strong sense of justice.” This is just a small portion of Doshin So’s Philosophy to the martial art and Shorinji Kempo is now taught in over 34 countries worldwide and is growing fast.

So after the verbal briefing now was the time to learn first hand some Shorinji Kempo technics (all are self defense based). At first seeing the groups of kids anywhere from 6 to 13 years olds that we’ll be sparing with I thought this shouldn’t hurt too much, about 10 seconds later I was on the group quite in pain and might have lost my confidence. Luckily I looked around and almost all of us from World Campus Japan were in the same position. It was great to learn the technic from the kids because of their great spirits and patience with teaching us. Not to mention getting thrown around by a boy half my size was very enlightening. It was a day filled with fun, learning, and much soreness afterwards.

(Brandon Serna – External Relations Manager for Summer ‘11 Road Team)

Everybody is waiting for you this summer in Japan!

Thomas Greve — Mon, 02 May 2011 11:54:52 +0000

Session 1

Nishimura family from Omura city, Nagasaki:
“3 years ago, we first hosted a girl from Germany on WCI program.
Since then, we’ve been looking forward to hosting a guest of WCI every year!
They always make us happy and bring us big energy!
I love this program from bottom of my heart.”

Matsuda family from Omuta city, Fukuoka:
“To unknown my family
Thank you for your support to Japan.
Our city has not been damaged by disaster.
We are looking forward to seeing you!!”

Session 2

Kinoshita family from Arao city, Kumamoto:
“It has been a hard time for Japan this year.
We are thinking what we can do in our everyday life for Tohoku which is the stricken area. Fortunately my hometown is more than 1,000 km away from Tohoku and there is no influence of the earthquake, tidal wave and damage of the nuclear power plant at all. And thankfully we are working, studying, hanging around with friends and living our normal life.
I am looking forward to seeing everyone from WCI and listening to the diverse stories from different countries this year again. I believe that small city like Arao will give you an opportunity to feel familiar and understand the depth of our culture.”

Ensatsu family from Uda city, Nara:
“Hello friends!!
This message is from Uda city in Nara.
You know the big earthquake occurred in eastern Japan.
But Nara is in western Japan, so it’s safe here.
We had many great time with WCI every year.
Come to join us !!
We are really looking forward to being your family !!”

Session 3

Dave family from Suita city, Osaka:
“Greeting from Suita city, Osaka! We are looking forward to meeting you and share our culture!!! There are so many things you can discover and experience here in Osaka! See you very soon!”

Kinoshita family from Toyota city, Aichi:
“We are looking forward to seeing you in Toyota!”

Regarding March 11, 2011 Japanese Earthquake

Thomas Greve — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 13:40:08 +0000

March 12, 2011

Dear Friends of World Campus International,

The shocking earthquake hitting the north-east part of Japan has caused massive destruction to the region. Currently, the Japanese national and local governments are working to assess the degree of damage.

Though there are areas of Japan that have been severely affected, all of our partner communities seem to have avoided tragedy. Currently, we do plan to facilitate the World Campus – Japan program from June 23 thru August 30.

Because the damages are reported in the northern region of Japan, and our community partners are located in central to western Japan, we are confident that our summer program will not be affected by the earthquake.

We have already contacted several community partners who are hosting our summer program and confirmed that they are OK and not severely or at all affected by these tragic events. We will continue to reach out to the rest of our community partners and communicate to you via this website any updated information.

Thank you for your understanding.

Hiro Nishimura
Chairman and CEO
World Campus International, Inc.

Update: Message from CEO, Hiro Nishimura on March 17, 2011

Update 2: Message from CEO, Hiro Nishimura on April 06, 2011 – Regarding New 2011 World Campus – Japan Program plan

Thomas Greve — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:07:33 +0000

In WCJ travel means traaavel

Thomas Greve — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:07:18 +0000

10 hours, 23 minutes and a few seconds, oh yes! when we say travel, we mean it. We said goodbye to our wonderful host families in Omura, got in the bus and started our long trip to the city of Uda in Nara prefecture and about an hour away from Nara City, home of Todaiji Temple where Big Budda is located (We will talk about our visit there in the next posts).

More than 10 hours to get there, 10 hours to sleep, sing, get to know each other, eat, sleep, watch movies, sleep some more and most of all, spend quality time with each other.

Uda City, here we come!

Thomas Greve — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 22:07:01 +0000

What you see is what you get

Thomas Greve — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 22:07:45 +0000

Fureai Event was celebrating 10 years. It was the year 2000 when they started with this amazing celebration for physically and mentally handicap people.

When World Campus – Japan Participants crossed those doors we could already feel the positive energy in the air, around 400 handicap people and about 200 volunteers helping to make that afternoon, the best one ever for them, at the end ended up not being the best only for them but also for all of us volunteering.

Age or language were not important, just giving yourself like they do to everyone. What you see is what you get, nothing less, nothing more, they give themselves exactly as they are, honest and free. That day we learned
from handicap people how to be truly genuine, best lesson ever.

Thomas Greve — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:07:19 +0000

Interacting with Japan’s Future

Thomas Greve — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:07:13 +0000

Takematsu Elementary was the school World Campus – Japan has the opportunity to share a complete day interacting with the kids that someday will become the leaders of Japan, or at least the leaders of the community of Omura, Nagasaki.

Our time in the school was very well scheduled by the principal of the school and the head teachers, who were very happy to have us there, not only because they knew their kids would love it but also because they know that learning about other cultures is something very important for the complete development of the kids, as kids, as people and as future part of a great community.

For us was a great learning experience. We learn about discipline, respect and most important: the culture of support and understanding the kids develop in Japanese Schools.

Commitment to Peace

Thomas Greve — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:07:59 +0000

The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb dropped only 3 days after the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb and all the after effects of the bombs were not only negative. Even when it sounds really weird to say that a bomb can bring anything positive; in Japan, the A Bombs brought a really interesting peace culture for the country of Japan where people not only know about Nuclear weapons but they also know about the importance of Peace, promoting peace and understanding peace.

The country itself has 3 principles of peace: to not own, fabricate or permit the introduction of nuclear weapons. This principles not only contribute to the peace of the country of Japan, but it contributes to the promotion of World Peace.

The picture above is of a survivor we had the opportunity to speak with before we visited the museum, he is also someone very committed to the promotion of peace not only in Japan but around the world.

Session 2 of World Campus – Japan and World Campus International is also committed to peace. We offered 1000 cranes we made with our host families to be part of the effort they are making in Nagasaki to promote peace.

Thomas Greve — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:07:05 +0000