This day we, World Campus -Japan Participants were going to cook the meals for the Potluck! We splited [...]]]> [inspic=1721,right,fullscreen,400]It was Arigato Event Day and even when this day is usually very packed, the LOC (Local Organizing Committee) members from Ueda planned a potluck for after the event which normally doesn’t affect our schedule.

This day we, World Campus -Japan Participants were going to cook the meals for the Potluck! We splited up into 5 teams and cooked something from our countries and cultures, we had everything from Caseroles from USA to Guacamole (Avocado Dip) from Mexico. From filled Red Peppers and Tomatoes from Greece to Mash Potatoes and Beef from Canada. It was defenitely very Oishii (delicious in Japanese).

Everyone cooked what they could with the ingredients they could find in Japan. The families enjoyed the food and so did we, but most important, We learned from each other and from ourselves, about team work, recipes, flavors and cultures and we had a great time doing it.

Sometimes things that you have known all your life from someone or in this case about a country might not be real or sometimes the person from the country doesn’t even [...]]]> [inspic=1725,right,fullscreen,400]During the morning of this day we started by getting to know each other on a different way. We talked about Stereotypes.

Sometimes things that you have known all your life from someone or in this case about a country might not be real or sometimes the person from the country doesn’t even know the stereotype exist. Stereotypes are things that we think about a country, a place or a person without knowing deeply about it. Things that people talk about or things that people assume about that place, that person or that country.

Look at stereotypes as the tip of the iceberg… it is what you see but you don’t know what’s under the water, you see only a little piece of the whole iceberg, maybe is not as big as you think, maybe is bigger than you think, but you can only know if you ask questions and if you put yourself in a situation where you can talk about that “iceberg” (place, country, person, etc).

Today we talked about all those things we think about the countries represented in our group (World Campus – Japan), we learned many new things and had the chance to clarify our stereotypes about many countries.

Of course we started by making the dough for it and adding all the ingredients. After the dough was ready it was time to stretch [...]]]> [inspic=1717,right,fullscreen,400]Some members of the community of Ueda got together to teach us how to cook Soba Noodles (Buckwheat very thin noodles that you can eat cold or hot)

Of course we started by making the dough for it and adding all the ingredients. After the dough was ready it was time to stretch it and cut it as thin as we could. We made the dough, cut the noodles, cooked them and ate them. They looked more like Udon noodles (thick noodles) but the taste was great, to give ourselves some credit.

After this awesome time we the community, we went to Kita Middle School for an hour of interaction. This time we really took advantage of those 60 Minutes we were given to get to know each other.

We introduced ourselves, danced sang and had an amazing time together. The students, usually very quiet and shy when it comes to interaction, specially with foreigners, really opened up and enjoyed the activities we planned for them.

They were dancing and signing with us like one big group of friends. Results like the one we had that afternoon with the middle school students are the reason we do our best to interact and to make it fun, not only for the students at the school but also for ourselves in World Campus – Japan.

As soon as we got off the bus, they gave us a very warm welcome, they were ready to [...]]]> [inspic=1722,right,fullscreen,400]From the bus we could see the faces of the residents of Tombo House (House for handicap people) who were already excited to have us there, even when we were still inside the bus.

As soon as we got off the bus, they gave us a very warm welcome, they were ready to start the interaction and so were we.

World Campus – Japan members played a few traditional japanese games, the one on the picture was the most competitive, fun and hard one. Some of us were successful, some other just enjoyed watching others try.

The bottom line was not the actual games, it was about the happiness we were bringing to the Tombo House residents by just spending a good hour playing and interacting with them.

Sometimes we forget how important the little things in life are but in days like this i remind myself to enjoy those little actions because they could lead to amazing results like the one we had that day at Tombo House.

I am talking about the school lunch facility of the city of Ueda, where they even have a special room to cook the food of kids with allergies… Pretty well organized I must say, and [...]]]> [inspic=1716,right,fullscreen,400]Six Schools and 2200 Kids are being benefited by this eight million dollar facility ran by 22 employees.

I am talking about the school lunch facility of the city of Ueda, where they even have a special room to cook the food of kids with allergies… Pretty well organized I must say, and the best of all, most of the energy they use to cook comes from the solar panels located on top of the building.

In Japanese Schools, the lunch hour is an actual class, it’s called Food Education. The kids learn from early age, how to eat healthy, they also learn about manners and even about portions and how to make sure everyone gets something to eat. Kids are assigned to serve the food and after the meal they check how well their classmates eat as a whole group.

As we all know, every country has their own system an after our tour at the facility we had time to share the different systems.

We thought the United Kingdom system is the most fun, interactive and fare system of all. Totally Harry Potter Style.

The schools are divided into groups or “houses” just like in Harry Potter. Each group competes to get points for eating healthy food, a teacher is assigned to eat with individual students, rotating everyday, that way they can evaluate how the student is eating, what they eat and how healthy the food is, the student’s eating habits basically.

Another very interesting thing about the system in the UK and that it might have nothing to do with Harry Potter is the fact that the school lunch is cooked taking in consideration the religion of the majority of the students there. If the school population is mainly Muslim, they will not cook anything with pork or if the majority of the students are from India you won’t find any beef in the menu at that school.

Interesting eh? the beauty of diversity and accepting differences.

How to say thank you in a language you don’t speak.

At the end of every city, the participants alongside the staff put together a show to thank the community we are staying in for taking such good care of us. It consists of some cultural pieces from some of the included countries [...]]]> [inspic=394,,gal,0]

How to say thank you in a language you don’t speak.

At the end of every city, the participants alongside the staff put together a show to thank the community we are staying in for taking such good care of us. It consists of some cultural pieces from some of the included countries on the tour, as well as a few Japanese popular songs. The entire event is designed to be something for the host families to enjoy as a whole, from grandchild to grandparent. What the host families see are happy faces, good feelings, and hopefully a humongous sense of gratitude.

But to tell the truth; most of us are not on this tour so we can sing and dance at the end of each week. It’s easy to question why we have to perform in a thank you event at all. I mean; we’re all saving up money for quite some time, so we can travel through Japan and experience as much of its cultural life as possible. So when we are asked to learn a song in a language we don’t all speak, we’re not too excited. The first week is especially difficult as it is a lot of work.

We can endure a few hours, but when we practice that Japanese song that we really can’t pronounce the name of for the 12th time that day, it’s just plain old tiresome work.

But then, when the first event day finally arrives, what happens?

We get up on stage, and try our best, even though we have an extremely busy schedule and are tired already. People who would normally never touch a microphone go up front, have fun and sing in Japanese complete with sign language movement! Is it because a bearded Norwegian staff member asks so nicely? Or because Hiro, the CEO, gave a clever speech about how important the event is for the communities?

Personally, I’m sure we do it for the people who pick us up every day, and let us relax for the rest of the evening when we come home tired. The same people who invited us into their families and make us delicious meals. It’s those faces we see smiling back at us when we look out from the stage during a performance. It’s the voices we hear cheering when we do our parts in the event.

If the host families and the wonderful local community did not enjoy the performance, the participants would definitely not be trying as hard. It all comes down to this being a way for us to express our gratitude for all that the community shares when we are visiting for a week or so.

Suddenly, all that effort that we put into it has a whole different value. And it becomes a lot of fun! So I sincerely hope that the host families will keep on enjoying the show for many World Campus — Japan tours to come, because I know the participants and staff will be there to put our hearts in it and make it grand.

(Henning K.W Rodtwitt, Production Assistant Summer tour 2008, also known as the Bearded Norwegian Staff Member )