All posts by Thomas Greve

City Life, Omura City

Martial arts and dancing

Maki Charlotte and Sabine sweeping by
Maki Charlotte and Sabine sweeping by

This Saturday started with a morning meeting. Our 4th counsellor was finally able to join us starting today, because he first had some exams to finish. After the introductions and meeting finished, we once again started our practice for the Arigatou Event under the guidance of Maki-chan, well-loved by the returning participants.

Because World Campus International / World Campus – Japan celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, we have a lot of dances, more than usual. One of the songs we’ll be singing in in Japanese as well, so we need a lot of practice, so we can show our host families a great Arigatou Event! After having gone over the Arigatou Event for this week, we left for another destination, the local Shorinji Kenpo dojo.

At this dojo, we would get to experience Shorinji Kenpo, but not before we had some lunch: curry made for us by the parents of the children who train there. During lunch, we had a chance to chat with the children a bit. Once everyone finished eating we cleaned up and got to hear a presentation about Shorinji Kenpo and its history. The founder of this martial art wanted to create a way of living in which you improve both yourself and those around you, and together with his knowledge of martial arts he created Shorinji Kenpo. After the presentation, we also got a demonstration from both the children and the teachers. Even some of the very young kids were really good. Finally, we could also practice some of the moves, with the children who train at the dojo.

All in all, it was a great day and although we ended quite early, we moved around a lot, so everyone was a bit tired.

Sabine Boom (The Netherlands)

City Life, Omura City

A very important lesson and takoyaki in Nagasaki

In Japan cranes are believed to symbolize peace
In Japan cranes are believed to symbolize peace

Today, we all went to go see Nagasaki. We took a train ride there (probably the first experience on a Japanese train for some of us!) and ended up at the Nagasaki Peace Museum. This museum is dedicated to the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. By displaying a lot of information, pictures and items from the place the bomb fell it gives a very clear overview of what happened that day and what the effects of the bomb were.

Even more impressive was the speech from an atomic bomb survivor (hibakusha in Japanese). He was twelve at the time it happened and he lost his mother and three of his siblings to the bomb. It was a very educational and emotional talk as he could describe everything that he saw back then in detail, giving an even clearer image of what happened there than the museum itself. Personally, I had been to the Nagasaki Peace Museum as well as the one in Hiroshima before, and I think having the chance to talk to an atomic bomb survivor added a lot to understanding what the people who experienced the atomic bomb went through.

After our time in the museum we split up for lunch and some free time in Nagasaki. I, Charlotte, Whitney, Sabine and Sami went to a temporary exhibition about Studio Ghibli in the Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture. It was a lot of fun, there were a lot of cute and pretty items on display from the movies, for example a life size Totoro and Cat Bus. We are all very fond of Ghibli movies and it was super fun to see a whole exhibition dedicated to them.

I think the most interesting part was an explanation on how the animations are created. There were original sketches, notes and paintings that showed the process of animating. Even though all information was in Japanese it was easy to see how it all worked by looking at those. It was a really unique chance to see something like that!

Upon getting back home, my host family had a really nice surprise for me: as I had told them my favorite food is takoyaki (little dough balls with octopus inside) they treated me to a takoyaki party. Using a hot plate on the dinner table, we all made a whole lot of takoyaki together. It tasted just as good as in the restaurants I ate it at, if not better.

Jana de Bondt (The Netherlands)

Our participants

Meet Simen Solum, Program Counselor for World Campus – Japan Program 2017!

Simen Solum
Simen Solum

Hello!

My name is Simen, and I will be among the councelors in the 2017 World Campus – Japan program! I am a 22 year old Norwegian guy, and while I speak hardly any Japanese, I will do my best to guide you safely through your journey, and ensure that you get as good of an experience as possible!

To tell you about myself, I am currently studying to become a teacher in the Norwegian school, and as of the start of the program, I will be fully educated to start working. I genuinely like working as an assistant towards learning and experiencing, which is probably why I was chosen as one of your counselors. I am also not very afraid of trying new things, and I hope that I get to do just that with many of you this coming summer! Hobby wise, I tend to use my spare time either for work, volleyball, or games. I am currently working in a grocery store in Norway, which will probably change soon enough.

I was a participant of the programs second session in 2015, and I really enjoyed that experience. I do hope that I can help you feel a similar extacy over getting to experience the Japanese way of life in such a fashion, and I’ll see you in Japan!

Simen Solum (Norway)

Our participants

Meet Shoko Mizuno, Program Counselor for World Campus – Japan Program 2017!

Shoko Mizuno
Shoko Mizuno

Hi everyone!

My name is Shoko Mizuno and I’m from Aichi in Japan. I’ll be one of the program counselors this summer and I’m so excited to meet you all and spend memorable time together in World Campus – Japan program!

I joined this program when I was in my first year in university (about 9 years ago!?) and this was the first one that I joined to meet and do something with foreign people before I decided to go study abroad.

I met lots of people from all over the world and we shared lots of experiences. I remember that the more days we spent together the more we understood diversity by
sharing opinions about culture, lifestyle and so on. By the end of the program we were like a team!

Each country has their own culture, so during your stay in Japan you will experience many things and maybe have some culture-shock but please explain your feelings and share them with us because that’s the time when we, Japanese people, also find something that we have never realized or thought about!

I’ll help you as much as I can during the program so please come talk to me when you have questions or need help!

This is my first time to join the program as a counselor, so I’m little bit nervous but I am more excited and can’t wait to have new experiences with you all!

Welcome to Japan!

Shoko Mizuno (Japan)

Our participants

Meet Espen Auseth Nielsen, Program Counselor for World Campus – Japan Program 2017!

Espen Auseth Nielsen
Espen Auseth Nielsen

Hi everyone!

My name is Espen. I’m a 26 year-old Norwegian guy. I currently live in Copenhagen, Denmark where I study mathematics.

I became interested in Japan in my high school days when I started learning the language as a hobby. I especially like Japanese stand-up comedy. My other hobbies include reading, watching movies and playing the game of Go.

I have travelled to Japan six times, four of which has been with the World Campus – Japan Program. For me, travelling is not as much about where I go or what I see, as it is about who I meet and what I experience with those people. Travelling with World Campus International has given me a unique opportunity to meet people from all over the world and form lasting friendships. It has also taught me more about myself than I thought possible. I hope that as your counselor I can bring you out of your comfort zone so that you can do the same.

I’m looking forward to meeting you in Japan this summer and getting to know you! See you in Japan!

Espen Auseth Nielsen (Norway)