World Campus International, Inc. facilitated the Cultural Emersion Program for the members of Cirque du Soleil’s “CORTEO” from October 14 thru 15. The professional performing artists spent two days in the beautiful mountain community, Uda City in Nara Prefecture, experiencing home stay, temple visits, and a session with a Japanese sward maker, etc. In these [...]]]>

World Campus International, Inc. facilitated the Cultural Emersion Program for the members of Cirque du Soleil’s “CORTEO” from October 14 thru 15. The professional performing artists spent two days in the beautiful mountain community, Uda City in Nara Prefecture, experiencing home stay, temple visits, and a session with a Japanese sward maker, etc. In these two days, the members deeply emerged into the Japanese community and culture.

http://medianetuda.jp/program/09aprc/09aprc.html

Although the program is in Japanese, please enjoy footage of [...]]]>

As a very international group, World Campus – Japan often has quite a bit of media attention. In Uda City many of our activities were captured on tape and broadcasted on local television. That broadcast is now available on the local media network’s website at:

http://medianetuda.jp/program/09aprc/09aprc.html

Although the program is in Japanese, please enjoy footage of the welcoming party, our visit to an elderly home, and the thank you event!

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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The end of the first session of the Spring ‘09 tour also means the end of the journey for a few participants. Before they return to their normal lives however, a graduation ceremony was held in their honor. A certificate signifying the successful completion of the World Campus – Japan program was presented along with [...]]]>

The end of the first session of the Spring ‘09 tour also means the end of the journey for a few participants. Before they return to their normal lives however, a graduation ceremony was held in their honor. A certificate signifying the successful completion of the World Campus – Japan program was presented along with a highly prized “Thank You” card.

“You are all part of the World Campus Japan family now. You are welcome back anytime.”

Shihoko (Japan), Shoko (Japan), Herbling (Kenya), Eric (Luxemburg), Nozomi (Japan), Kyle (South Korea), and Lily (Denmark) thank you all for your great contribution to our program! Employ the skills learned from World Campus – Japanand enjoy success in all your endeavors!

March 18th, 2009: It was difficult to say goodbye to Suita city, but the lush serenity of Uda city welcomed us with open hearts. The busy cityscape of Suita is now replaced with the peaceful and relaxing village of Uda.

On our first day in Uda, we took advantage of the beautiful scenery with a nature [...]]]>

March 18^th, 2009: It was difficult to say goodbye to Suita city, but the lush serenity of Uda city welcomed us with open hearts. The busy cityscape of Suita is now replaced with the peaceful and relaxing village of Uda.

On our first day in Uda, we took advantage of the beautiful scenery with a nature hike. Of course, no hike would be complete with competitive fun and games. Four groups of participants competed fiercely in six mini games including “kendama” and picking up peas with chopsticks. A relaxing hike, gorgeous scenery, interesting games, and pleasant weather… it was almost perfect except for the fact that the awesome team of “Happi Happi Pandas” somehow lost!

This is the Slideshow of our time in Uda City during our Feb. 2008 Tour!

On March 24th, the World Campus International participants had a lecture about Buddhism by a monk (who was also my host mother) and then took part in a series of presentations and discussions organized by the participants.

In the lecture given by Ms. Okazaki, she explained to us her view of Buddhism. Quite a few [...]]]>

On March 24^th, the World Campus International participants had a lecture about Buddhism by a monk (who was also my host mother) and then took part in a series of presentations and discussions organized by the participants.

In the lecture given by Ms. Okazaki, she explained to us her view of Buddhism. Quite a few of the participants from western cultures were surprised that Buddhism should be considered a religion because they had heard Buddhists say it’s more a way of life than an organized religion back at home.

We learned that there are a lot of different forms of Buddhism and the one she is practicing is called Nembutsu Buddism which is based on the teachings of High Monk Shinran (1173-1262).

Shinran spread the teaching of the Nembutsu. The preaching of the absolute power of the other, that one need only trust entirely in Amida Buddha. He focused on the forty-eight vows of Amida and if we have faith in Amida, we have already been saved.

Taking the Nembutsu as an invocation of gratitude to the Buddha, he categorically denied practices of one’s own power as superfluous. He preached absolute reliance on power of the other (= Amida), such that one is saved when one achieves correct faith.

Afterwards we had presentations and discussions on other World Religions. Groups of 4 to 5 World Campus — Japan participants presented a certain religion to the others so that everyone had a basic understanding of those religions in order for us to talk about them. Those religions were Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism as well as Buddhism.

Whenever possible in our discussions we did give people in our group who belonged to one of the discussed religions also a platform to explain their views of their own faith.

We also asked people about the stereotypes of different religions and discussed that some religions had bad media representation and can be misrepresented.

In this process we learned a lot about religions and how people from different ones can work together on a topic like religion with out having negative outcomes as seen so often in the world.
In the end we also gave people who are Atheist time to speak so they could share their views too.

After the discussions, everyone agreed that no one should have a bad view of someone because they have different faiths and that we should live together and respect other people’s values and belief systems.

It was a great day to be able to discuss a topic which is not easy in such a kind and friendly manner with people from all around the world including the local Japanese and we all learned much and did get a step closer to understanding global citizenship.

I wish that all religious leaders in the world could experience that what we did here in Uda City in Japan in our discussion about World Religions as it would really change their world as well.

(Daniel Gallion, Luxembourg )

March 29th was a day filled with song and dance. It began on a wonderful note with a “Share your skills” session among World Campus — Japan participants, which included a beautiful Ugandan song by Stephen. As with all music, knowledge of the language is not necessary to be able to understand the passion [...]]]>

March 29^th was a day filled with song and dance. It began on a wonderful note with a “Share your skills” session among World Campus — Japan participants, which included a beautiful Ugandan song by Stephen. As with all music, knowledge of the language is not necessary to be able to understand the passion and beauty of the piece. Thank you Stephen!

In the afternoon we had the privilege of participating in a concert in Uda city. The concert itself was headlined by Mr. Tomoya Takaishi. Truthfully, none of the participants had ever heard of Mr. Takaishi before, but he was once a popular protest song singers in the 60’s. Although he had retired from mass music business a few decades earlier to lead a quiet life, the cozy gymnasium was still packed to the brim with his adoring fans.

Mr. Takaishi was quite the entertainer, often encouraging the audience to sing and clap along to certain portions of his well-known classics. This tactic was rather useful in keeping World Campus — Japan participants alert.

The best part of the concert was certainly when the children’s choir from the local Music Village were on stage. Their performance was indescribably adorable, especially when they swayed in unison as they sang. かわいいですね！ (How cute!)

Although it was his concert, Mr. Takaishi was kind enough to invite us up on stage to accompany him for a couple of songs, as he thought World Campus — Japan is the “Wind” to bring positive energy to the local community, while the community being the “Soil” for the changes to take place in.

A few verses of the always cheerful, “You are my sunshine” rejuvenated us. And our international group’s singing of the chorus of “Hana”, a traditional Japanese folk song, amazed the elderly crowd. Our contribution to the community event was rather small but enjoyable nevertheless. I was even able to fight through legions of rabid fans to snag an autograph!

(Guang Yeung, United States of America, Colorado)

Our trip from Uda to Nara started with a 1.5 hour train ride in which we changed trains twice and luckily didn’t loose anyone in the group. We were guided by members of the Local Organizing Committee of Uda along with two volunteer tour guides who were happy to share information and stories along [...]]]>

Our trip from Uda to Nara started with a 1.5 hour train ride in which we changed trains twice and luckily didn’t loose anyone in the group. We were guided by members of the Local Organizing Committee of Uda along with two volunteer tour guides who were happy to share information and stories along the way.

In Nara, we were welcomed by the unusual sight of tame deers who were quite friendly and were waiting to be fed in exchange for a Japanese style bow! Afterwards we saw a variety of Buddhist temples that are registered on the UNESCO world heritage list. The highlight for me was the Todaiji temple, which is one of the oldest wooden buildings in the world, containing an antique sitting Buddha statue – which raised the question – How did people constructed this piece of art back in 752 AD?

Our guides helped us to understand the basics of Buddhism and the way people integrate this religion into their daily life. I found it difficult to really understand – especially in comparison to other religions – but everything I heard made me curious to learn more.

Afterwards we had the chance to visit a Shinto-shrine surrounded by thousands of stone lanterns and hear about and see the rituals and rules of Japanese people practicing this belief. What really impressed me was that in the shrine area you would never cut a tree as every living being is worshiped in its own way – that’s why you could see an old tree integrated into buildings instead of being removed for the construction of man-made structures.

Sitting in the train on the way back, I was still impressed and curious to find out more about these two religions, coexisting and so well integrated into the every day lives of most of my Japanese host families.

(Ute Weber, Germany)

This is a slideshow that was shown in our Arigato Evento (Thank-you Event) during our stay in Uda City in the Nara Prefecture.