Category Archives: Arao City

Arao City, City Life, City Theme Activities

Ichi go ichi e

Protector of the South

Ichi go ichi e – (Once in a life time)… That’s what it was for us, the opportunity that we had during our host family day in Arao. After having a great Soba Noodles Lunch and walking through a great garden with a river, we went to our final stop of the day. A recently built temple where we not only took the most amazing pictures you could imagine, which we’ll share at the end of the week, but we also had a once in a life time opportunity.

Inside the temple you can find four statues of gods, like the one on the picture above. They protect the west, east, north and south. This particular one is the God that protects the South. The best part of the visit started when a man approached us, introducing himself as the artist that makes the statues. I have to say, it was already a pretty nice experience to be able to see the statues, even nicer to be able to meet the artist, I was already happy with the visit at that point, then the unexpected happened… He invited us into his art studio where we had the chance to see the statue of the God protector of the West, being made. We counted the pieces, about 100 of them, we smelled the paint and saw the colors being mixed, to create an amazing piece of art. No one has this kind of opportunity, ever. The artist never opens his studio to anyone besides his team, young interns from the local university.

Host family day: Great food, great site seeing, once in a life time opportunities… Ichi go ichi e

Arao City, City Life, Our participants

First night down, many more to go!

Lu and Kyle

Lu and Kyle were part of a very excited group of people that had the opportunity to meet the night of June 5th at the Manda Mine Museum in Arao, Japan. Host families were nervous but excited to bring home a new daughter or son, and finally the work the LOC (Local Organizing Committee) has been doing for a long time, is paying off, as you can all see on the picture above.

Host families can be very diverse, sometimes we go from having just a single mom to having a young family with two babies and a pet. It makes us understand who they are and their very own family culture. Thanks for hosting us and making us feel part of the family.

Our first night was now done, many more are coming our way and the excitement keeps growing as the time passes by. We’ll keep sharing our experiences with all of you readers. Stay tuned!

Arao City, Our participants

Summer 2010 staff members are ready, are you ready?

Staff Training in Arao

After hours and hours of traveling from our home countries and cities, we finally made it to Arao, Japan. Tired? Yes. Jet lagged? Yes, Excited? Yes.
We spent a good amount of time getting ready and prepping everything for your amazing tour. All we need now is for all of you participants to get here so we can let the adventure begin.
Get excited, get packed… We are waiting for you. Are you ready?

Yui, Jake, Bertha, Hiro, Hideto and Celi,
Your staff members.

Arao City, City Life, WCTI

Welcome to World Campus Teachers Initiative

The first WCTI


The first WCTI


Our trip to Japan was truly a once in a life time experience. Not only did I get to observe and experience the culture, I also had the great fortune of attaining fist hand experience of their educational system through World Campus International Teacher Initiative. The entire trip was enlightening to me as an individual as well as a professional. Staying with host families really immerses you in their culture and daily routines. Having the opportunity to meet with principals and teachers, ask questions, share ideas and comments was very beneficial. Visiting castles and museums was fun and educational. I give my highest recommendation to any teacher who wants to broaden their cultural experiences and professional development. My trip with World Campus Teachers Initiative has had a profound and enriching effect on my life and career.

(Paulina Hanson – Elementary School Teacher)

World Campus Teachers Initiative is a new WCI program that brings international teachers to Japan for a week long professional development program. Our pilot program included 4 teachers from two North American Countries. Our fist city was Arao City, Kumamoto Prefecture. Stay tuned for more stories and info from World Campus Teachers Initiative!!!