On the evening of the 12^th of February, a welcome party was prepared for the members of the World Campus International (WCI) spring session and the host families. We were treated with a sparkling performance of Taiko (Japanese drums), and then “Big Country Jazz Orchestra”, which consist entirely of amateur musicians. The great performance lifted everybody’s spirits. Participants of WCI and the host families danced along to the fantastic music.

My host father, Mr. Okuma, is the president of Up with Omura. He remarked that the welcome party was exceedingly pleasant and his heart was sobbing happily. He was extremely pleased with the enthusiasm shown by all the participants. He likes World Campus a lot because it is a program through which he can share his own philosophy and learn the culture of others. He really enjoys organizing the activities for us and mentioned he gets so much back in return. Therefore, he offers thanks to the participants for “being such wonderful people”. At the party everyone contributed and gained much in return.

I really enjoyed the evening and I am certain that all the host families, WCI participants, and Up with Omura members also did. Writing about a perfect evening isn’t easy, so I’ll summarize with a quote from my host father, “Meni Meni happi taimu!”

(Jotter Verhaeghe, Belgium)