Hospital day

Jikei-hospital-grp-photo

Day of the activity: June 18th, 2015

Today we went to the Jikei hospital where they have a so-called ‘baby hatch’, or more formally ‘the stork’s cradle’. It is a place where parents who are unable to care for their children can drop off the baby anonymously.

Before we went to the hospital itself, we had s meeting with a nurse whom had worked with the cradle for several years. She told us many emotional stories about women who couldn’t even tell their parents that they were pregnant, and had come to the stork’s cradle. I was quite surprised that the social stigma around pregnancy under the ‘wrong’ circumstances was still so powerful, and even more shocked and surprised when we were told that before the cradle was started, there had even been a problem with babies being abandoned and found dead.

When we came to the hospital, we were overwhelmed by all the cameras and journalists who were there for reporting on our visit. Apparently all the local TV stations, and at least one national newspaper, were there to cover our visit. We went to have a quick look at the hatch itself, and then we went inside to talk with one of the founders of the cradle.

It was very interesting to hear what he had to say about the effect that the cradle has had, but all the cameras made it somewhat uncomfortable. Afterwards, some of us went to take a closer look at the hatch, and even got to look inside. Inside was a letter with information for the child’s parents, and I was relieved to see that it is impossible to leave a baby without taking the letter.

Johannes Meyer (Norway)

Visit of a special education school in Omura

We visited a special education school in Omura and it was a really interesting visit. The kids were super excited to see us, and they had prepared a lot. First we talked to a teacher, who told us about the history of the school, how it is run, and the curriculum. It was really nice to learn about, to see the differences and similarities between Norway and Japan when it comes to special education schools.

Afterwards we talked to the teacher, and then we played ‘Alele’ with the students, which was really fun because the students were all super excited about it.

After that we were all divided into 3 groups, and my group left with the 2nd graders to go to another room. In this room all the students introduced themselves in English, and I was surprised at how good they all were, because most Japanese people I’ve met aren’t that good with English.

We then played a couple of games with the students, and after that, it was time to leave.

Line Haavik (Norway)

Arigato Event in Omura City (2015)

Arigato Event Omura

Day of activity: June 15th, 2015

The Arigato Event in Omura City was the first of 2015 and also the first Arigato Event for me personally. Given the build up we had had all along our stay in Omura, it was expected to be a stressful but (hopefully) rewarding night. We had rehearsed our program and written our thank you letters, but some of us weren’t too confident of themselves by the time we prepared for the main event. Every day in Omura had been very interesting but also very busy, and more time for practicing might have been more than welcome in some of our opinions. But, our schedule can’t cater to everyone’s personal preferences and therefore we had to make do with what we had. The final rehearsal managed to lift our spirit, although a certain someone (self insert \o/) still felt rather desperate with his part in a song we were to perform shortly.

Despite the author’s pessimism the event itself was a huge success. After the formal speeches by the city representative, World Campus International CEO Hiro Nishimura and the representative of the Local Organizing Committee we got to enjoy a delicious buffet with our host families and socialize with each other. There was also dancing to the rhythm of a local brass orchestra, an activity that remained hugely popular and excessively entertaining (for both the participants and those following from the sidelines) all throughout the night.

Then came the turn for our Arigato Event, which consisted of several parts. Firstly we thanked the LOC, which was followed by the Japanese Medley – a dance choreography containing several popular Japanese songs and their dance choreographies as performed (or at least attempted) by the World Campus Japan participants. Following the medley we sang the song Tomorrow – from the American musical Annie – arranged so that each country represented in the program got a part in their native language. And thank goodness it went all right. After the song we proceeded to read our thank you letters aloud and present thank you cards to our host families, with whom we stayed to watch a slide show of our stay in Omura (thank you Nicole!).

The Arigato Event proper was followed by a performance from our very own comedian duo Espen and Jurrien, the two funniest men in both Norway and the Netherlands. Their interpretation of the popular Japanese sketch “rassun gorerai” was enough to have the audience wipe tears from their eyes while laughing.

After our short minute in the spotlight was finally over, the brass orchestra took over again and we took over the dance floor with a wide array of samba, conga, trepak and many other dance styles twisted beyond recognition in our amateur hands (or feet?). The point is, we had the fun of our life with our host families, the local people and even the local staff. When the night was finally over we were exhausted, ready to fall asleep on command and as happy as a human being could ever be. What a way to end our stay in Omura City.

Juuso Myller (Finland)