Activity day at Yuipia

Kids activity day

Day of activity: July 4th 2015

Today World Campus Japan took us to Yuipia, where we got to share world views with local volunteers and students, including some pretty cool ‘daigakusei’ (university students). I’m glad I had an opportunity to meet so many peers from this culture. As a sixth form student who hasn’t travelled that much, I learnt about a vastly different, and awe inspiring, world of studying and work ethic in education to that of my home country, England.

I was impressed by the quality of lunch while we spent our time in Yuipia. It was all made by students we talked with, who had prepared three types of miso soup, various fried treats, and a multitude of different onigiri for us, all by 11:45. I can say this is no mean feat, considering the amount of food needed to keep our group of twenty or so’s considerable appetites satisfied!

The games we played today included jump rope with elementary school students (the most painful activity, but the most fun), a Belgian game that involved a lot of slapping your hands on the table (hard for me, due to poor hand eye coordination), Nintendo games like smash bros (with the elite in the world- Japanese children tend to be technologically savvy as possible) as well as making adorable origami.

I made acquaintance with some very sweet, sincere girls from a local Ossakan elementary school today, who were forthcoming in compliments and giggling grins all afternoon. I made sure to ask for a group photo before we left, which seemed to delight them, and was even a bit sad to wave goodbye so soon after having met them all, come four o’clock. I’m sure that many people we met today learnt that cultures can have a great laugh together even without a common language- just being friendly and open to new experiences can bridge the biggest of gaps. This was certainly how I and the others felt by the time we left anyway!

Isobel Crookston (England)

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