World Campus International Blog » Tama City

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 — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:07:35 +0000

It’s simple

Thomas Greve — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:10:59 +0000

Arigato Event. Many of us start to tremble just to hear the sound of it. Doing a “show” in Japan?! That might not be the greatest idea for those who are stage fright or simply think that they don’t have any special talent. So, why is the Arigato Event something so important for World Campus International?

It’s simple. You don’t have to be talented. You don’t have to feel comfortable on stage. You just need to put your heart into it.

We spent a wonderful week in Tama. We met fantastic people from the local community, college students and many others that were so, so kind to share with us their cultures and their lives. But, on the top of it all: we met and lived with the most marvellous host families that welcomed us into their houses and treated us as if we were their own children. How do we repay such kind of kindness?

Arigato Event is the key of it. The people from Tama, who made our week unforgettable, came to see us. Yes, we were nervous as hell – after all, we wanted to make something beautiful, something that our families and new friends could enjoy. We didn’t want to mess up! But no one was worried about talent. We just wanted to say, from the bottom of our hearts, “Arigato” – or “Thank You”, in English.

It worked. Arigato Event in Tama was very emotional – after all, it was our last day in the city. We had to say goodbye to many people who we considered friends already. Arigato Event made even more tight the bonds we created all week.

And yes, there were a lot of mistakes. Some people forgot their lines. Some other forgot their lyrics. Some even forgot the moves. But, honestly?

We all had the time of our lives. And we are certain that the Tama community had a great time too.

(Ana Margarida – Portugal)

Thomas Greve — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 22:07:26 +0000

Tokyo Tour

Thomas Greve — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 22:07:27 +0000

Tama is a city located very close to Tokyo, so, World Campus – Japan could not go to a city close to one of the most populated cities in the world and not visit it. The university students we met on the fist day in Tama, very nicely accepted to take us on a really cool tour of Tokyo. They took us everywhere from shopping at Shibuya Station, one of the biggest train stations in Japan to Tsukiji, the biggest fish market in the world.

Nothing like getting a tour from the locals, they know those places where as a tourist you never get to see. That’s how we do tourism in World Campus – Japan. Pretty unique!

Thomas Greve — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:07:46 +0000

Potluck of Cultures

Thomas Greve — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:07:07 +0000

After a super nice morning at the University of Kokushikan we went back to our usual meeting place in Central Tama. When we entered the room, it was filled with local people, all different kinds of food and flags. It was so nice and we felt so welcomed.

The minute we entered the room, people started talking to us in english, pretty good english in fact, trying to know more about us and our specific countries.

Some of them, had already been to my country, Canada, so we could talk about it and the connection was immediate. After the conversation started we began to eat all the amazing food there was around on different tables. There were a bunch of very traditional sweets and other japanese dishes like Dango (Sweet Rice Cake) sushi rolls and fried tofu. Everything was so delicious, I wish I had more space in my belly

After the eating part ended, the local community members had prepared some traditional japanese games and cultural activities for us. We could try on the summer kimonos (Yukatas) and take pictures with our friends from World Campus – Japan.

The funniest activity of all was the Ninin Baori, where a person had to feed another person but without seeing anything, actually seating behind them. It was messy, delicious and crazy funny.

We also experienced a Tea Ceremony where we drank japanese tea, and ate japanese sweets. Played Japanese card and chess games and also Go (Chinese Game) all this with very skilled people, so no much hope for winning the games. It was so much fun and so different than the games we play in my country.

The afternoon finished with everyone dancing a traditional festival dance around the room. We learned so much in a very short time but it was so nice… I should never forget.

(Eve Marmen – Canada)

Thomas Greve — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:07:54 +0000

Saving lives

Thomas Greve — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 22:07:26 +0000

The paramedic program at the university of Kokushikan, university well known for its sports activities, is a very intense program with many great teachers and very committed students. We visited the university and met with about 20 paramedic students from different levels of their education.

That morning we learned about how to give CPR to a person which was a lot of fun, we got to see inside an ambulance and even play a little bit with the equipment. It was a good morning to start with but the best part came after the CPR training when we had time to discuss about their reason to become paramedic, also their interest and daily life routine. This last one includes very much work and studying and very little sleep, not much exercise and lots of junk food. No wonder why the life expectancy for paramedics in Japan is the shortest of all careers.

To continue with the conversation, we did an activity where we asked questions and the people there had to place themselves around the room according to their answer. Some of the questions were, would you move to another country? do you like the place where you live? would you marry someone from another culture or religion? do you believe in marriage? and the last question was, do you believe the world will be a better place in ten years?

It definitely helped us understand the values of the Japanese young generation and the differences & similarities we have as people.

Thomas Greve — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:07:19 +0000

Preserving the future

Thomas Greve — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 22:07:31 +0000

First official day of session four… we started with a very different kind of tour. The tour of the Eco Nico Center. A fascinating garbage facility that serves the City of Tama and two more cities in the area. 80 staff members work at this facility; 60 directly in charge of the disposal of the garbage and 20 in the administration area.

You might think that Eco Nico Center is just a garbage facility but it is more than just that. At Eco Nico Center they are committed to preserving the environment by using different systems to reuse and recycle as much as possible.

They run the facility following three main principals: To reduce the burning garbage by reusing and recycling, to burn the garbage with higher temperatures so they reduce the germs that come out of it and to take as many resources out of the garbage as possible.

Japan, as we all know is a very small country if we consider the amount of people that live here and they don’t have too much space available to dump the left over ashes, so, Eco Nico Center besides all the efforts i mentioned before, they also make what they called eco sand made from the combination of cement and the ashes that are left after burning all the garbage. They use the Eco Sand for construction works and also for blocking Tsunamis.

The City of Tama is determined to recycle and reuse as much as possible, not only because they understand the importance of the subject but also because it is very encouraged by the local government to reuse, recycle and educate about the subject.

Interesting fact we learned on our visit to Eco Nico Center… Did you know the Brazilian Soccer team uses uniforms made out of plastic bottles?

Thomas Greve — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 22:07:54 +0000

Shishi Mai

Thomas Greve — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:07:54 +0000

Shishi Mai or Lion Dance. Awesome way to start session four of World Campus – Japan in Tama City. A welcome from the LOC (Local Organizing Committee) with a Shishi Mai Dance. Tama City is located very close to Tokyo as well as Toride but on the west side of it.

The Lion Dance involves a person dressed as a lion with a lion head and all, accompanied by music played live. The group of performers jump around, do a few steps but the best thing of all… the lion pretends to eat your head at times. He walks through the audience and “Eats” people’s heads as he pleases. It is actually a sign of good luck or a wish for good luck if the lion “eats” your head which it happened to many of us.

That night we also met some of the amazing university students that were going to spend part of the week with us. Not only to hang out but to take us on a really cool Metropolitan tour of Tokyo. (Next post)

Great beginning for Tama!

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!!!

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.”