We got to the temple and there was a Monk waiting for us to teach us Zen, as soon as we got there, [...]]]>

This day we had a pretty good idea of what we were going to do, we didn’t know it was going to be as challenging and difficult as it was.

We got to the temple and there was a Monk waiting for us to teach us Zen, as soon as we got there, we went to the tatami room where the altar was with the statue of Buddha. Everything was prepared for us to be there. The Monk then started with his explanation about the Meditation Technique.

Some of us knew what to expect but the majority of us were just nervous to do something wrong in such a perfect environment, you could hear a needle drop.

There we were at the temple with a Monk with a wooden stick on his hand standing in front of us waiting for one of us to move so he could punish ourselves hitting us with the stick on our back. The sound of the “punishment” was very loud and truly scary. My jaw dropped when i saw him do it to the person next to me.

Zen… meditation technique that taught us to listen to our hearts and thoughts through concentration.

Two sessions of 15 minutes of immobility for us was a life time and a nightmare for a few nor for the 28 year old monk who was teaching us about Zen, his longest period of meditation is 8 days and a few hours.

To end our day we had a pretty big dinner party with [...]]]>

After a long day of activities from rainy visit to temples to Big Buddha, from seeing a sword maker to listening to a banjo player, it was a day full of new experiences for the participants of World Campus – Japan.

To end our day we had a pretty big dinner party with all the host families, LOC members and World Campus – Japan Participants at a temple which was also one of our host families’ house, there was so much food, from things we never tasted to things we were already used to eating. Everything from eggs to beef, from sushi to nato (fermented beans), from sashimi to fruits, from beer to sake, from green tea to juice and water, from chicken to guacamole (Mexican avocado deep)… all on one long table.

Once again we had the opportunity to use our senses in Japan, a country with unlimited choices when it comes to food. WCJ enjoyed trying new things and seeing familiar things on the table.

After dinner we danced to the rhythm of the banjo played by one of our host dads, a true sign of cultural globalization!

In the morning we had the chance to go on a scavenger hunt. We [...]]]>

Uda City is a beautiful place with truly amazing nature around it, around us. Rice fields, rivers, mountains, etc. Green everywhere you look, soft sounds at night, refreshing air in the morning and wonderful, super fresh smell of nature.

In the morning we had the chance to go on a scavenger hunt. We got to not only see all the trees around us but also we got to breath pure air and smell fresh wood. More than 1000 trees through our nature walk / scavenger hunt, a very refreshing experience. On the same day (I have to say that Uda was a City with a full schedule) we had the opportunity to experience three different ways to make art. We worked with bamboo to make little crabs, we also learned about tie die and about kirigami (The art of cutting paper), this last one by a very important artist in the area, who was also a host dad. He has been practicing this art for the last 30 years receiving awards in places like France.

Pretty nice to be able to learn from the best of the best!

From the start we understood very quickly [...]]]>

Our visit in Uda City, was as always full of surprises. We arrived about an hour before the scheduled time which it was nice after such a log travel day. Perfect time to rest, get refreshed and get ready to meet our new host families.

From the start we understood very quickly that using our senses was something we were going to do a lot in this city, touch, smell, sight, taste and hearing. Uda City was the City of the senses and if you keep reading the next four articles you will also understand why we decided to give this City a theme like that.

Our next post will be about smell… very interesting.

Back to the first night in Uda City… the host pick up was not the exception of the week, in fact, thats when we realized the LOC (Local Organizing Committee), had a lot of fun and interesting plans for our stay.

To start with the theme of the City, Senses, that night we had to Touch, to be able to find our host families… The host families had a box with objects inside, we had to put our hand in, without being able to see, to be able to match ourselves with the right host family. It was intersting, funny, scary, slimy and sometimes even furry.

Uda City, a great small Japanese Town with amazing places, people, food and very rich culture. World Campus – Japan experienced ALL in just one week and we were force to use our senses very consciously, something we, as people, normally don’t do.

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 [...]]]>

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, [...]]]>

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 [...]]]>

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 [...]]]>

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!