All posts by Thomas Greve

City Life, Omura City, Tama City, Video

Looking Back – Summer 2009 Program 1

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WCI summer 2009 program 1 video



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Now that the 2009 summer tour is over and the blog posts are at an end, it is time to take one more look at each of our programs. We start with program 1, July 5 – July 22 in Omura and Tama. It was an intense and emotional program. We spent some time with a survivor of the atomic attack on Nagasaki, we took a day in each city to explore Japan’s education system, we were able to get to know some Japanese college students, and we saw, first hand some of the martial arts secrets of Sorinji. While everyone who was involved with World Campus International will have their own favorite moment, mine came when we visited a school for physically and mentally handicapped students. I was inspired and amazed at the strength of the students and faculty members. Take a look for yourself. This highlight video of summer 2009 program 1 will give everyone a taste of what World Campus – Japan does during our tours.

(Jay Kinsel, Production Manager)

Announcements

WCI PowerPoint-Presentation available

A PowerPoint-Presentation about our World Campus – Japan Program you can download under http://worldcampus.org/WCI_Presentation_2009.pps

You can also download the World Campus – Japan brochure. Below you will find two links, one is if you would like to email the brochure and the other is a larger file that can be used to print copies of it.

WCJ brochure for email

WCJ brochure for print

Thank you for telling people about the World Campus – Japan program!

City Life, City Theme Activities, Hiroshima City

“Oishikuna-re moe moe tiri tiri tiri tiri!”

[inspic=1251,right,fullscreen,400]This is a word we learned that roughly means “Please be (so) delicious!” in English. The chant was very popular among World Campus International members, so we often said it to our food before eating. In Hiroshima, we learned how to cook the special ‘Hiroshima Okonomiyaki’. The ingredients included cabbage, eggs and meat. The chef told us there is no way we can make a mistake during cooking. For example, if the base of the Okonomiyaki dough tore, it can be easily fixed by adding more batter. After having fun cooking, we enjoyed our tasty masterpiece for lunch.

Next, we went to Miyajima, a World Heritage Site. It is famous because of the Itsukushima Shrine and the humungous orange gate in the sea. People say that a god protects the island of Miyajima. We hung around there, browsing the many interesting shops and taking many beautiful pictures. It was so much fun!

(Nozomi Mizukami, Japan)

City Life, City Theme Activities, Hiroshima City

Visit to Trash Treatment Facility in Hiroshima!

[inspic=1206,right,fullscreen,400]Walking through the Trash Treatment Center in Hiroshima, I felt like I was in an amusement park.

There were moving claws, shaped like spiders, used to grab tons of trash to be incinerated. I found this so amazing! I was also fascinated that the facility’s operation room had many computer screens to monitor different movements within the center. The staff who introduced the systems to us was very kind to answer all of my small questions. From my learning that day, it was a great chance for me to reconsider environmental problems.

(Tetsutaro Soma, Japan)

City Life, City Theme Activities, Guest Speakers, Hiroshima City

A Touching Experience at the Hiroshima Peace Museum

[inspic=1207,right,fullscreen,400]One month ago, World Campus International went to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and listened to a speech from one of the survivors, Mr. Katsuji Yoshida. For all of us, that experience was very emotional and meaningful. When we were in the Hiroshima Peace Museum, Mr. Kasufumi Shintaku, who is a survivor of the A-bomb on August 6th, also shared his personal memories with us.

More than 60 years has passed since the end of the second World War. When I stood at the hypocenter in Hiroshima, in the very place where the bomb dropped, I felt that history was so close, yet so far away. Looking around the area, Hiroshima existed under the bright summer sunshine and I could not imagine that this was the place that an A-bomb nearly destroyed… The colorful tiny paper cranes surrounding the monument were a sign telling us that people have never forgotten the horrible tragedy.

When Mr. Shintaku shared his memories with us, we saw the cruel picture after the bomb dropped. We heard about a little child who cried for her parents, we felt the helplessness of the citizens and we all cried. I remember the sentence Mr. Yoshida wrote to us in the Nagasaki Museum, “The basis of peace is for people to understand the pain of others”. I believe that anyone who has the same chance to hear such a personal painful recollection will realize how important peace is and will put forth their best effort to never let that same tragedy happen again.

(Zuxin Hou, China)