World Campus – Japan Trailer from 2016!

World Campus International’s Japan Program offers young adults the chance to view Japan’s culture, people, and language from within, giving you a unique access to Japan.

As a participant of the of the World Campus – Japan (WCJ) Program you will be part of an international group that travels around Japan. During the day there are various activities in which you interact with the local community and learn about Japan and the world. In the evening and at night you will be with your host-family to get the chance to experience Japan from an inside perspective.

Become a global citizen in Japan!

For More Information And To Apply, Visit WWW.WORLDCAMPUS.ORG

Video was made from fotages from the World Campus – Japan 2016

Credit:
Photo: Maki Honda, Jørgen Steen and Juuso Myller.
Editor: Jørgen Steen.

Thanks to all the people who stared in video and a special thanks to the musicians.

This is the end

World Campus participants and counselors for Session 3 in 2016
World Campus participants and counselors for Session 3 in 2016

Here it is, the final day of World Campus Japan 2016. It has been quite a ride. When I first came here on the 4th of June I didn’t expect it to have been so much fun, or the goodbyes to be so hard. As one of the counselors I stayed for all three sessions of the program, meaning that I had had my share of teary goodbyes and promises to meet again in the future. Now, doing it for the third time I consider myself lucky. I’ve met tons of amazing people, stayed in many great host-families and made lots of new friends.

Admittedly, a part of me is wondering; why do all the good things have to come to an end? But another part of me, the optimistic one, looks back to this summer as an experience that I will remember ‘till the day I die. That part of me also sees ahead. It sees the bright future I, and I’m sure every last one of us, is heading for. And we won’t be going there alone, no, we are on our way together. As Hiro said, once a World Campus member, always a World Campus member. I have more friends from more diverse places around the world than I’ve ever had before. I have ten families now. And although the distances are great, our homestays are over and we won’t be having scheduled activities with the entire group any longer, I hope that I can see everyone again someday.

And so, we prepare for the final Arigato Event of the year. We dance and sing. We dine with our host families, cramped in a small room enjoying the delicious pot luck goodness. And we cry and hug and say our goodbyes. This is not the end. This is just the beginning.

I love you guys 🙂

Juuso Myller, Finland

Karate kids in Ryusenji temple

Origami spinning tops made together with the children of the Kindergarten

Today we spent the day at Ryusenji temple, a temple with a 1500-year history. The temple also runs a kindergarten inside the grounds, and we spent the morning making origami with the children.

In the afternoon, we had two cultural experiences. First we did shakyo, a variant of Zen meditation based on copying Buddhist sutra. The idea is that by focusing only on writing, one can eliminate unnecessary thoughts. Also, it is common to offer the finished copy at the temple altar. Afterwards we got an introduction to the basics of karate and learned a simple form.

World Campus – Japan has been coming to this temple for a few years now, and the children were looking forward to seeing us. Personally, I always find interactions with children rewarding. If we can give them a good impression, they might want to go out into the world themselves when they get older. I think this is the best contribution we can give to the communities we visit.

Espen Nielsen, Norway