A Day Full of Learning

Date of Activity: August 18th


In the morning after we arrived at the Kinrin Center, we learned more about WCI, and I found out that there will be a lot of interesting things waiting for us. Since we’re in this city called Abiko, we ought to learn something about it. A teacher came to tell us about the city and its history. Although I cannot understand very well, I was grateful that the teacher has taught us many things. We had curry for lunch, and it was delicious! The host mothers can cook very well.


In the afternoon, we started to learn the songs and dances for the Arigatou Event. Everyone was trying very hard, but it was very complicated. Especially the dances. But Kyle was teaching very sincerely. I still can’t dance well, so sorry to Kyle. Paulina was in charge of the songs – she has a beautiful voice. In the end of the day, we did an activity called “take a stand”. It was really fun, and I learned a lot of different things about the other participants. However, I didn’t speak much because my English is not very good. Goedele from the Netherlands was a very active speaker. It must feel nice to be able to say anything that’s on your mind. In the evening, I went with the host family to see fireworks. It was so beautiful! In short, this has been a happy and fulfilling day.

(Yueqi Wang, China)

8月18日
这是来到日本的第二天,早上我们在Kinrin Center集合完毕之后,在教室里学习了有关 WCI的事情,包括一些活动和规则,才发现在这个地方,有很多很有趣的事情在等着我们.我们所在的地方是我孙子市,当然需要知道有关这个地区的故事,一个当地老师来给我们讲述了很多关于我孙子市的概况和历史,虽然我听不太懂,但是还是很谢谢那位老师教给我们很多东西.中午吃的是咖哩,妈妈们的厨艺都很好,午餐非常好吃.下午开始学习集体歌和集体舞,这些都是为了感谢会的表演,大家很努力的学习,不过还是太难了,尤其是集体舞Kyle教的很认真,可惜我实在是手脚不灵活,跳不好呢,对不起拉Kyle & Paulina负责集体歌的部分,她的嗓子很好,随便唱一唱就很好听.最后玩了一个算是是非游戏吧,很开心,了解了很多不一样的想法,不过因为我英语不好所以也没发表什么言论,Goedele很活跃呢,羡慕她可以畅所欲言呢,晚上和host family一起去了花火大会,在河边看烟花很漂亮啊.这一天过得很快乐很充实,非常有意思的体验哦.

Welcome to Abiko!

Date of Activity: August 17th

I’m happy that I finally got the chance to visit Abiko city in Chiba prefecture. At last, 5th session has started. Abiko city is rich with water and green, and is comfortable to live in. A common point with the neighbouring cities is that the average age of the citizens of Abiko has been going up. Apparently, the average age of the LOC (Local Organizing Committee) members is also high (says Head of LOC, Tanaka-san jokingly). This WCI 2012 program started in June, so now almost two and a half months has passed. For me it’s the first time to visit the two cities of the 5th session, Abiko and Toyota, not only as a WCI member, but in my entire life.

Welcome to Abiko


Today was the first day, so we met our new host families, and they will take care of us for ten days. During the welcome ceremony, we were called by our name and country by the super energetic lady Tanaka-san. After we matched with our host families, we took a group photo. Compared with session 3 and 4, it’s a much smaller group, but I believe that we can make better connections with people, and we will leave in only two weeks, so each day I want to try my best!

(Rie Hayase, Japan)

Kite Flying Day!

Date of Activity: August 8th

kiteflying


After a delicious potluck lunch, everyone seperated into groups to get ready to make their own kite! Host families were part of the activity too, which made it more fun! Our group’s theme was “anime characters”. I remember seeing Anpanman, Pokémon, One Piece, and a lot of Ghibli characters such as Totoro and Gigi the cat! Actually, I love to draw, so this activity really brought out the artist in me. I’m sure it did for everyone else as well because I had no idea how talented everyone was! Even my host mother who drew Urashima Taro!

kiteflying


It was really the perfect day for flying kites. The weather was cool, and it was just windy enough! Not to mention that Ryokuchi Kouen was beautiful! At the end, our group won first place. “Monsters” coming in second, and “Game Characters” coming in third. Though I think everyone did an amazing job on their kites! Creativity points!!

(Alexandra Goitia, USA)

Exploring the Old Established Stores of Toride

Date of activity: August 7th

Today we were divided into four groups, each one exploring a different old store located in Toride city. Afterwards we make promotional materials for the shops and presented it to local High school students. These are some of the things we learned about the shops of Toride:

The Doll Group: At the doll shop, we learnt a lot about traditional Japanese doll making and about other Japanese products such as fans and lanterns. The doll shop is 200 years old and is owned by Mr. Yamazaki.
(Natalia Hansen, Norway)

oldshops


The Blacksmith Group: Today was a very cool experience to find how a blacksmith workshop can evolve through the ages. Starting from knives, the work has adapted to make katanas and then finally shovels. It becomes amazing to think that these special shovels, that have sharpened edges, originated from the craftsmanship that creates a world famous sword.
(Alexander Daniel del Campo, The United States)

The Pickles Group: I went to the Shinroku Narazuke today. It was a Japanese traditional Pickles company. We tried the samples, and they were really different and delicious. We all enjoyed it.
(Ying Zhang, China)

oldshops


The Sake Group: Today we went to the sake brewery. The shop was a family run business. The sake was brewed in barrels for at least one year. Unlike wine though, the maximum a sake can age is five years before it turns bad. We had a tasting of it, and the taste had a hint of saffron on it, and the texture was mild. I bought two bottles of sake as well, so I’m definitely suggesting everyone to go.
(Alvaro Martin Mazorra, Spain)

Learning Japanese performing arts

Date of Activity: August 6th


We started the day with making our own Obentou – lunchbox. It became a small piece of art – some made rice balls with faces almost too cute to eat. Then we split up into five groups; two days in advance, we had written our names on one of five lists, choosing one traditional Japanese performing art that we wanted to learns more about. One group tried Chanbara: You fight with a fake sword while wearing a balloon on the head and one in a strap around one thigh. The goal was to pop either one of the opponent’s balloon. The group had a competition in which I believe Daniel emerged as the victor.


Two groups learned to play one song on Japanese instruments. One group on the Koto – a string instrument shaped to look similar to a dragon. The song they learned was “Sakura”, a widely know song in Japan. The other group played the Taiko – large Japanese drums. Both the stance of the drummer and the rhythm is important.The fourth group practiced Nankin tamasudare. In short, this is a sort of dance with a sushi rolling mat. During the performance, one person sings what the performers are about to make with their sushi rolling mats. The rhythm of the singing is very catchy, and the shapes the mats can make are impressive.


I was part of the last group, which danced Yasugibushi. Both this dance and the Soran Bushi that we do during the Arigatou event, are traditional fisherman dances. However, the purpose of Yasugibushi is to be funny for the audience to watch. We all wore a small bamboo basket tied around our hips, and we carried a larger, flat basket. Then we danced a story about going fishing, catching fish – which sometimes escaped our baskets so we had to run after them – and being bitten by mosquitoes. And we had to walk with our knees and backs bent and move our hips while we walked – which undeniably looked ridiculous (which after all was the purpose of the dance). And we all had a lot of fun learning the dance and watching each other. I can’t wait for Thursday to see the other groups show us what they’ve learned, and I hope they’ll enjoy our performance.

(Torunn Olsen, Norway)