World Campus International Blog » Our participants

WCI in the University of Gent

Thomas Greve — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:57:09 +0000

WCI was invited to present the 2012 WC-J program to the students in the University of Gent in Belgium. Over 30 interested students gathered and were carefully listening to the presentation as well as the stories from an alumnus, Frank Floris. We would like to thank Prof. Dr. Andreas Niehaus, the Head of South and East Asian Languages and Cultures Department for inviting us to the university.

WC-J in Leiden, Day 2

Thomas Greve — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:27:42 +0000

A WC-J alumnus, Alvaro Mazorra(’11), joined in the Dutch alumni to present the World Campus – Japan program and shared his experience in Japan to the interested students in the University of Leiden. We look forward to having many Dutch students in the 2012 program.

WCI in Leiden, the Netherlands

Thomas Greve — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:31:50 +0000

WC-J Dutch alumni, Frank Floris(’10,) Xiaoxing Feng(’10,) Iris Spruit(’11,) Daniel van Delft(’11,) Jurrien Theunysz(’11) presented their World Campus – Japan experiences to the interested students at the World Campus – Japan 2012 presentations in the University of Leiden.

WC-J presentation at the University of Roskilde in Denmark

Thomas Greve — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:27:12 +0000

WC-J alumni, Christian Damgaard(’08) and Nina Moller(’11) joined the CEO, Hiro Nishimura to present the World Campus – Japan Program to the interested students in the University of Roskilde. The presentation was very interactive with many good questions.

World Campus in Copenhagen

Thomas Greve — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:42:59 +0000

World Campus – Japan presentation was held at the University of Copenhagen. Nina Moller, an alumna from 2011 summer program spoke about her WC-J experience to the interested students. A Copenhagen area alumni gathering was held after the presentation.

World Campus – Japan program presentation in Sundsvall, Sweden

Thomas Greve — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:04:11 +0000

World Campus – Japan program presentation was held at The Mid Sweden University in Sundsvall, Sweden and CEO, Hiro Nishimura explained the program in detail to the curious and motivated students. We would like to thank Leif Hemmingsson and Kristina Brink (Mid Sweden University) for inviting us to Sundsvall.

World Campus in Sarpsborg, Norway

Thomas Greve — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 05:00:03 +0000

World Campus – Japan program presentation was held at “St. Olav videregående skole” in Sarpsborg, Norway. And our alumnus, Joakim Gåsøy(’11) from Sarpsborg shared his experience from his time in Japan to his fellow students in the school.

Oslo area “World Campus – Japan” alumni promote the program

Thomas Greve — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:34:42 +0000

World Campus – Japan alumni, Henning Rodtwitt(’08 & ’09,) Amanda Roland(’09,) Torunn Olsen(’11,) Ola Johannessen(’11,) Alexandra Kristinnsdottir(’11,) and Vegard Ovland(’11) held presentations at the University of Oslo and the Oslo Handelsgym. They presented the upcoming program and shared their experiences to over 30 Norwegian students.

Presentation in Ringebu, Norway

Thomas Greve — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:59:32 +0000

World Campus – Japan alumni, Henning Rodtwitt(’08 & ’09) and Vegard Ovland(’11) and CEO, Hiro Nishimura visited Ringebu Folkehøyskole where Maria Sørlid(’11) currently studies, and facilitated a program presentation. Nearly 30 interested students attended the presentation.

Fall 2011 University Partners Visit & Program Presentations

Thomas Greve — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:27:57 +0000

Belgium
November 21, 2011 (Monday)
Location: University of Gent
Contact: Hiro Nishimura hnishimura@worldcampus.org

Denmark, Copenhagen
November 14, 2011 (Monday)
Location: Copenhagen University, U3 at snorresgade
Time: 14:00 – 15:00
Contact: Nina Cecilie Phaff Møller nmoller@worldcampus.org

Denmark, Roskilde
November 15, 2011 (Tuesday)
Location: University of Roskilde, The cinema, building 41.1.
Time: 10:00 – 11:30
Contact: Christian Damgaard cod@ruc.dk

Finland
November 03, 2011 (Thursday)
Location: University of Eastern Finland
Contact: terttu.rajala@uef.fi

the Netherlands, Leiden
November 16, 2011 (Wednesday)
Location: University of Leiden, Eykhof 4, 004
Time: 13:00-15:00

November 16, 2011 (Wednesday)
Location: University of Leiden, Lipsius 227
Time: 15:00-17:00

November 17, 2011 (Thursday)
Location: University of Leiden, Lipsius 028
Time: 11:15-13:00

Contact: Frank Floris frank_floris@hotmail.com

Norway, Oslo
November 08, 2011 (Tuesday)
Location: Høyskolen i Oslo og Akershus. building P48 room p476
Time: 14:00 – 15:00

November 08, 2011 (Tuesday)
Location: University of Oslo, building P.A Munchs hus, room 454
Time: 16:00 – 17:00

November 08, 2011 (Tuesday)
Location: Oslo Handelsgym, Auditorium 3
Time: 18:00 – 19:00

Contact: Henning Rodtwitt hrodtwitt@worldcampus.org

Norway, Ringebu
November 07, 2011 (Monday)
Location: Ringebu Folkehøyskole
Time: circa 16:00
Contact: Henning Rodtwitt hrodtwitt@worldcampus.org

Norway, Sarpsborg
November 09, 2011 (Wednesday)
Location: St. Olav videregående skole
Time: 14:45 – 15:45
Contact: Henning Rodtwitt hrodtwitt@worldcampus.org

Sweden, Sundsvall
November 10, 2011 (Thursday)
Location: Mid Sweden University (Mittuniversitetet) at Campus Sundsvall, meeting room L111
Time: 16:15 – 18:15 (see also Campus-Sundsvall-karta_map.pdf)
Contact: hemmingsson.sweden@gmail.com

The first fall 2011 WCJ presentation in Finland

Thomas Greve — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:59:41 +0000

World Campus – Japan 2012 Program presentation was held at the University of Eastern Finland in Joensuu, Finland on November 3. We thank Professor Terttu Rajala, the lecturer of Japanese language and culture for inviting us to the university.

Cooking Japanese food

Thomas Greve — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 05:09:41 +0000

The day before we had to leave our host families in Suita, Oosaka, we were invited to cook some of the greatest dishes from Japan in the city hall of Yameda. We made Takoyaki (small flour balls of octopus with a coat of read ginger and vegetables), Yaki Soba (fried vegetables and lovely noodles), Ichigo daifuku (delicious small strawberries with a coat of sweet beans, and on top of that yet another layer of some kind of gummish rice-thing). We also made this international edition of maki rolls, a kind of rolled sushi (maki-Makeru means to roll in Japanese). The inside contains fresh fish and vegetables rolled in rice and seaweed.

The funny thing about making these dishes was that they all were a lot different to us in a lot of ways. I had never seen a Japanese person make maki rolls with boiled vegetables and tuna. It gave me new inspiration because it is very different from the way I learned to make sushi in Denmark.

It was also really great to get the opportunity to make Takoyaki, because it famous in the Kansai area, and a lot of the group members where crazy about them. In my case, it was fun because my host family owned two popular Takoyaki shops, and after this course, I was able to help them in the shop.

My favourite dish was probably the Ichigo daifuku, because it had such a fun texture (it was softer than wine gum, and still tougher) and because it contained my favourite fruit, a yummy red strawberry. The inside red strawberry even measured up with the strawberries from Denmark, which Danes are very proud of.

After my trip home from Japan, I began to make Japanese food the way I was taught by my host families and the course, and everyone really loves it in Denmark. I would never have discovered these dishes without the World Campus Programs, and I will always appreciate that I had the opportunity to learn it in Japan.

(Nina Møller, Denmark)

An Experience that I never forget

Thomas Greve — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:53:44 +0000

2011 August, 6^th – 12^th: In Toyota, I was hosted by an awesome family, and that was the Michiyamas family. On the first day, my host mother and sister took me to a ‘’KAMISHIBAI” exhibition place. There were a lot of kamishibai’s tools and instructions to let you know how to play “KAMISHIBAI”. “KAMISHIBAI” is a device to tell stories. You use a square box which has doors you can open to insert paper illustrations and pull it out when you are telling the story. I was very lucky to have this experience. I played kamishibai before kids, and they really enjoyed my performance. I felt very happy about that. Because my host mother is a professional teacher of kamishibai, so she taught me a lot of techniques. It makes me know more about kamishibai.

After we experienced kamishibai, we went to the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art. There they had an exhibition of a famous painter from Holland, named Johannes Vermeer. His paintings are very elegant and realistic. We had a wonderful afternoon enjoying and appreciating every painting there.

On 8^th August, my host sister took me to Nagashima Spa Land, an amusement park that has the longest roller coaster in Japan. And my host sister and I are both crazy-loving ride on roller coaster! So, we rode every roller coaster as much as possible. There are totally seven roller coasters, we rode not only once but also twice for a tallest roller coaster. It was very exciting for me to have such a great experience in Japan. In Taiwan, we don’t have these kinds of roller coasters. It was really impressive and a lot of fun. We really had a wonderful time there.

(“Umi” Yi-Ting Cheng from Taiwan)

Asian Party!

Thomas Greve — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:03:16 +0000

Here in Leiden (the Netherlands) we had an introducion week for the upcoming first year students. This included visiting the student clubs around town. One of the clubs called Duivelsei, of which Frank (Another Worldwide Rep of WCI) is a member, threw an Asian style party on one of the nights. Jurrien (a participants I traveled with during WCI 2011 summer programs) and I, as students majoring in Japanese, just had to go there! There was sushi, sake, karaoke, DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) and even a sumo-wrestling-suit game to enjoy. This attracted a fair amount of people, including some upcoming first year Japanese major students. After we had a couple of beers, we decided to just talk to them and get to know them a little bit.

We ended up having some long conversations about our interests, our studies and, of course, our holidays. This was where Jurrien and I were able to tell them about our experiences with World Campus International and the staff and members. Our stories about getting dirty in rice fields, meeting an insane amount of people, the food, getting good friends from all over the world, experiencing the culture from the inside due to staying in host families, being able learning a lot (more than just the Japanese language) and about Japan’s advanced toilet technology made a really good impression.

For most of these students visiting Japan is a dream and I could see that our stories made them even more excited.

We had a lot of fun and I think some might consider joining World Campus Japan next year!

(Daniel Van Delft – The Netherlands)

International Fair, 9 Cultures (Norway’s Table)

Thomas Greve — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:17:01 +0000

This last weekend we had a great opportunity to host an international fair at the Arao City Mall. Right now our World Campus Japan group represents 9 different cultures and countries and the 4 of us Norwegians were excited to represent Norway. I wasn’t too sure on how I could show Japanese people our Norwegian culture but it the challenge was great and it turned out to be quite fun and new for me. Alexandra, Joakim, Torunn and I (Ola) were the 4 Norwegians in the group and we had the idea to serve traditional Norwegian porridge, which surprisingly many of the Japanese people seemed to enjoy. Hiro the president of World Campus International, Inc. luckily has a Norwegian wife Kristinn and she had been kind enough to make it for us (because none of our host families had the right ingredients), it takes about two hours to make it from scratch so we were really thankful for her help and knowledge for knowing the ingredients!

Lots and lots of people from the community showed up for the fair anywhere from older couples to somewhat over 100 kids! By the end of the fair almost all of the porridge was gone. We were also letting people taste the Norwegian liquorice, which not too many seemed to enjoy as much as the porridge. We all really enjoyed sharing our cultures, traditions and taste buds with the Japanese community here in Arao, we thank them very much for welcoming us and we learned a lot from their culture so it was great to be able to give back and it would be great to do it again sometime!

(Ola Johanness from Norway)