Category Archives: Kumamoto City

City Life, City Theme Activities, Kumamoto City

Arigato “pop my balloon” event!

Balloons Kumamoto

In Kumamoto, we had our World Campus – Japan – Arigato Event at the beginning of the week’s stay, which is not very usual. The energy was a little low because it was the first time we had to perform our Arigato Event at 2pm. We usually do it around 6pm or 7pm. Even so, we made it happen pulling together as a team like always. The energy started to grow and we got really excited to see our host families and some friends we met the day before, like our Noodle Making Sensei. She was so excited to have the opportunity to hang out with us in a different environment and so were we.

The Kumamoto Arigato Event ended up being one of the best arigato events EVER!!! and i am about to explain why. We decided to play a few games with the host families that attended the arigato event and not only we layed, we laughed so hard that it was almost painful 🙂 For the game, we had the host families find a partner to pop balloons with, we had about 60 to 75 balloons ready to get popped. We had one rule: “No Hands”. They took the instructions perfectly and balloons were popping up and down, soooo funny!. The positions, the screaming, the laughs of everyone… We just had a great time that afternoon.

The second part of the Arigato Event was even more powerful, the participants share all their energy and great vibe with their audience. That’s what the Arigato Event is all about: people coming together to prove the peace can be found among people from different cultures, backgrounds, countries and languages.

City Life, City Theme Activities, Kumamoto City, Our participants

Feeling the history around us

Kyle Kumamoto Castle

Kumamoto Castle was one of our first “authentic” Japanese experiences. It was our first chance to see a history much older than the opportunities available in America. We were standing, exploring and talking in a building older than anything in my home country. Although it sounds Cliché, I couldn’t help but feel that if walls could talk, this castle would teach me things I couldn’t even imagine or comprehend. The experience went past the artifacts we looked at, or the history we read. From the moment you entered the castle, you could FEEL the history around you. It was so much more than the feeling you got from a field trip, or a sightseeing trip. It was an opportunity to feel history.

After the castle a group of us decided to continue our tradition seeking adventure with…KARAOKE!!!!! Although they have Karaoke in the United States, it is nothing like the Japanese experience. Although we only had an hour (30 min. which of was spent on Lady Gaga?…) we sang, we laughed, and we had a few drinks. A true Karaoke experience in my opinion!

Karaoke experience was a perfect warm-up for dinner. LOC Members, World Campus – Japan Members, and even our Udon Sensei joined us for the evening. We found a nice dinner location in the center of town. I began the dinner with confidence, but was quickly impressed by Miki, who ‘Kanpai-ed’ me under the table! There was lots of laughter, and too much fun, but the best part was the ease in which people who from different countries, and backgrounds communicated.

The personal day in Kumamoto, was anything but. It quickly became about the group, and learning about one another. Instead of worrying about your own good time, it focused on enjoying the company of others. This night in Kumamoto, I will never forget.

(Kyle McElroy from USA)

City Life, City Theme Activities, Kumamoto City

Hands on, udon making

Udon making

Left Arao City after a fun experience at Greenland and took a train to the City of Kumamoto, Capital of Kumamoto Prefecture and home of the beautiful Kumamoto Castle which we will talk about on the next post.

To start our Kumamoto visit, of course we met our wonderful host families and for the first Activity Day we went to a restaurant where we had the chance to learn how to make “Udon” (Wheat Noodle) – So, hands on…

Not only we made the noodles but after we finished, we had lunch. Our own, home-hand made Udon noodles! It was definitely not better than buying them but at least we could say we made them.

The owner of this very spanish restaurant was happy to have us there, a bunch of foreigns trying to make a very japanese dish. I am sure it was more fun for them.

Abiko City, City Life, Kumamoto City, Omura City, Our participants, Suita City, Toyota City, Uda City

Looking back at the Spring 2009 Tour

enjoying cherry blossoms in kimonos


Mission Accomplished.

Sanmon wo dareba nihon zo chatsumi-uta
Coming out of the temple gate, the song the tea pickers, It is Japan!

March 9th, the new day I arrived in Suita city, first time I breathed in Nihon’s air, fresh and brand new. The spring fragrance smelled so smooth and even though it was a bit chilly, I could feel something great would happen soon. Yeah, that day was our arrival day for WCJ Spring Tour 2009. I was looking forward to meeting with the other participants, the staff, Hiro and Hideto! Yeah, can’t believe I am back again after the last summer.

Amanda Soeprobo and the another WCJ participants

Suita city was the first city of this tour. Suita is a modern city with most of its citizen commuting to other big cities for work. Teenagers, the young generation have become the city’s symbol. The Local organizing committee (LOC) and Kansai University DUCKS were big components of this city’s success. They helped us a lot, gave us support, as well as shared nice moments, and great friendships. Everything always starts with Thank-you event (Arigato Evento) prep, because the show is a crucial part of the WCI program. Even at the beginning, we faced some obstacles and difficulties with singing and dancing Japanese songs and dances, but we overcame all of that. We had such a great time in Suita city. We had a great show at the ABC festival, visited the famous Banpakuen Park, experienced traditional Japanese culture including Naginata, Sumo, and Shamisen. We also interacted with university students and got know more about Suita city. And Universal Studios Japan was unforgettable to explore!

Uda city, our second city was quite different from the former city. Uda city, as a part of Nara prefecture has a lot of natural resources, great environment, and nice food! Yeah, Uda is imprinted on our minds as a city with bunches of ‘oishii‘ (delicious) food. Arrival day was awesome; they greeted us with a wonderful party, starting with traditional Japanese dances, a game for matching us with host families, and fantastic food! We explored about how the people live in balance with the beautiful nature, beginning with a walk rally. Then we toured the famous Muro and Todaiji temples which gave us a lot of insight about Japanese religion. We also dwelled deeper into Japanese culture by taking part in a tea ceremony & experiencing the majesty of Japanese swords. Our stay was made the more perfect with an emotional visit with senior citizens and a phenomenal Buddhist temple party!

beautiful people beautiful setting

March 22nd, Sunday morning, it was a bit rainy, as if the realm knew we would be separated soon. Yeah, that day was our good bye time with the local people and also with the participants who were going back to their home countries ( Eric, Lily, Shoko, Shihoko, and Herbling ). Every piece of our hearts cried and we couldn’t stop hugging each others. Even though we stayed together only for two weeks, we felt we are engaged as one big family, one circle, and one great group! For rest of us who were still continuing to the second tour, we got three days off, where we had our freedom to explore more of Japan.

March 26th, Abiko city was our next city. Located near Tokyo, it is known for all the people who commute to Tokyo for study, work, or other reasons. Even though this city is next to a huge metropolitan city, there is a big difference between the two. Abiko keeps its natural resources properly. They, recycle, take care of the water, and are aware of many environmental issues. New people, new city, new session, new environment, that’s WCI. We can learn how to make adjustment in every single place we are. It’s the most basic and important thing we need to have to become a global citizen. Yep, we started again. The head of the LOC was so hilarious, the “Boss” as we called her 🙂 ! The kappa dance, potluck party, o-hanami, and even the Hawaiian dance were so unforgettable!

Haru tatsu ya shizuka ni tsuru no ippo yori
Spring begins, Quietly, From the stork’s one pace

What comes to mind when you hear Toyota? Yep, Toyota is the biggest automotive company, not only in Japan but throughout the world. Toyota city is the city where Toyota company has its headquarters and we were lucky to be part of this vibrant city. Toyota city: a great community, huge plants, nice people, and high tech facilities. Even though it’s a modern city, that didn’t mean we couldn’t get our culture experience. Our arrival coincided with the cherry blossoms that were blooming perfectly. O Hanami with kimonos, what a wonderful moment! It was the first and last time for us to enjoy sakura dressed up in kimonos. Yuhuuuu 🙂

Hito koishi hitomoshi goro wo sakura chiru
My heart is full of yearning, The candles being lit, Cherry blossoms falling

Second session wrapped up. A time for saying GOOD BYE again. Every meeting has a consequence… GOOD BYE in the end. How can we express our feelings? It is hard to say goodbye to everyone who got along with you for those weeks. But it’s the reality, we can’t make any bargains or fight it. Good Bye Toyota , Good Bye Daniel, Kaho, Birgit, Jaime, Selly, Elitha, Mustafa, Nao & Amar. We then faced the next and the last session in Spring Tour 2009 in Kyushu. Kyushu Island is famous for the beautiful nature, nice weather, authentic food, and great people.

Omura was our first city in the last spring program. Yohanes and I arrived before the others and were picked up by the extravagant Up With Omura CEO, Mr. Okuma. He is a unique and great local person who supported our tour. Our theme in this city was peace and conflict as we focused on what happened in Nagasaki city 63 years ago. It gave us an overwhelming feeling when the survivor told us his real experience struggling against death. Tremendous emotions mixed in my heart; sadness, yearning, loathing, and bewilderment, everything came in at the same time. From that precious experience we could reflect about what happened and keep sharing love amongst our families, friends, lovers, and everyone. Stop violence and respect others, keep living in peace with each other. That is one of worthy lessons we learned. Besides that, we trained ourselves in Kyudo, the traditional archery sport from ancient times, and Shorinji Kempo, a martial art. We ate champon, a traditional noodle dish of the area. We were also part of the Fureai event, which was a big event where many handicapped people came together and had fun with each other. The best moment was when we interacted with them. We didn’t feel like we had any differences. All of us are same, we are human being with some minus and plus things.

Amanda Soeprobo

Finally, we encountered the last city of this tour. Kumamoto city with its many budding resources; farming, stockbreeding, plantations, and so on. As we learned before, a disease attacked Minamata city more than 50 years ago, but they rebuilt and there is almost no more scars left. One more special thing is the Cradle of Stork of Jikei hospital. It is a unique operation of hospital which is helping unwanted babies. Yep, that was my first time to hear of this kind of hospital. Many emotions erupted in my mind, how glorious their aim is. Moving from the heartfelt topic, we had a lot of fun in that great city. Yuhuuuuu we had the PURPLE PEOPLE! They were volunteer workers from the local community. We had Mrs. Maeda, the nicest LOC CEO. We explored Kumamoto castle in unique way 🙂 , relished the beautiful Mt. Aso, tried “basashi“, the unusual savory horse meat, and even had a party in a Izakaya restaurant!

Everything always can’t be perfect. Every meeting has a consequence; separation. It can’t be avoided. While my heart wants to keep all of them alongside with me, that is impossible. Good Bye is final challenge before we go. Time for the real Good Bye is coming; everyone has goes back to reality, their original lives and activities. Yep, GOOD BYE DON’T PANIC, but I am PANICking now. I miss everyone already; every single thing always reminds me of our efforts, our togetherness, our laughs, our smiles, our sadness, our team building, and even our hard times. Thank you for everything, all of you will be in my heart forever. I will keep you as my treasure of my life. I’m sure we will meet again someday, somehow 🙂

Ganbarre Nippon, Ganbarre Gaijin!!

🙂 Amanda Soeprobo (Indonesia) 🙂