Wow, finally… I joined the World Campus – Japan program. It was difficult to wait three long months for the Spring program to start as I couldn’t wait to experience this global community. But now I am finally in Japan! This exciting moment in my life started from April 26th, 2009, when I arrived at Narita International Airport.
My first city in Session II was Abiko city, a small yet beautiful city surrounded by wonderful nature, including the impressive Lake Teganuma. As activities involving nature is still in my top five hobbies :-), the walking rally around the lake was such a wonderful experience. We did many other things in Abiko also, including making chopsticks, potluck party with foods from around the world (yummy…yummy), paper making, a nature walk at the “yatsu” area, and the list goes on.
As Abiko is near Tokyo, I was able to experience one of the main metropolitan cities in the whole world! Experiencing that city is such a big event for me. Seeing the city lights of Tokyo at night from Tokyo Tower, where all the skyscrapers seemed like they were soaring, walking around the famous districts of Akihabara, Shibuya, Shinjuku, and the wonderful Meiji Jingu Shrine was just amazing.
And of course, the most valuable thing I had in Abiko was my nice host family. Many thanks to the Nakamura family, Junji, Kazuko, and their cute little son, Kotaro. They all made my time in Abiko very precious, as they really showed me the real hospitality of Japanese people. They were really eager to learn about different cultures, so when we shared stories with each other it was a very nice time and most importantly, very memorable for each of us.
(Yohanes Siem, Indonesia)
