Category Archives: City Life

City Life, Ueda City

The Third World Campus – Japan Program Begins! And Starts with a Courtesy Visit to the Mayor of Ueda City, Nagano:


The mission of World Campus International is in many aspects to interact with Japanese communities in order to obtain a better understanding of Japanese culture, norms and values. And my first interaction with a Japanese community really made it clear to me about how excited the people are in sharing their traditions, working methods, and ways of thinking with us. They were also really eager to hear about our preconceptions of Japan.

On our first courtesy visit, we went to visit the mayor of Ueda City. Yuki, a staff member, acted as the translator, as Japanese was the spoken language during the visit. The tone was friendly and polite but also formal. The mayor and his staff had prepared a nice PowerPoint introduction, telling us some facts about Ueda City; geographic placement, attractions, and number of inhabitants. With 160.000 residents, Ueda City is the third largest city in Nagano and it is known for combining industry, academics, and technology in a harmonious matter. Furthermore, this city has many sister towns around the world including Broomfield, Colorado and Davos Town in Switzerland.

I really noticed how the entire city takes pride in their nature; especially their minerals and fireflies. Regarding the fireflies, the locals actually have a yearly festival, showing their attraction to the rest of the country. In fact, the mayor invited us to partake in the upcoming ceremony.

Finally, we received memorial gifts from the mayor, which included an elegant cloth towel. We also gave the mayor letters written by politicians and businessmen from our home countries.

(Christian Damgaard, Denmark)

City Life, Our participants, Ueda City

Super Happy Sunshine Fun Training Time

Training Time

One of the most neglected parts of training for any group project might the most important. The ability to work and cooperate as a team is fundamental for success. In as much, the first couple of days of staff training focused on building internal team bonds. Of course, trust and camaraderie takes time but all of the staff is eager to learn and work with each other.

Currently, we are staying in a house in the city of Ueda, Nagano. Living in such close quarters is a little cramped sometimes but it also promotes if not forces intimacy. Nothing speaks of closeness quite like being awakened in the middle of the night by the snores of your fellow staff members. Trust must also be high before you should ask someone completely inept to cut your hair. Although I do not like to brag, I must say, I did an excellent job on Henning’s hair (Production Team Assistant). His hair is mostly even and he can still go outside, albeit wearing a baseball cap.

Naturally all teams have certain items that symbolize their membership and for this World Campus — Japan squad it is our matching cups and chopsticks. I am certain we will all treasure these as they represent our shared learning experience in this pleasant house. Plus they are happy, fun, and colorful which I believe indicative of the upcoming tour!

(Guang Yeung)

Abiko City, City Life

The finale of the second World Campus – Japan Program

On April 13th, the World Campus — Japan Spring of 2008 class celebrated a successful completion of the program during a graduation ceremony which was held in Komorebi (sunlight through the trees) Hall in Abiko city, Chiba prefecture.

The 16 participants of the third session came to the hall accompanied by their host families who acted on behalf of their real families. The host families and Abiko local organizing committee kindly brought home made dishes, some of them cooked in cooperation with our participants – such as Norwegian rice pudding and American rhubarb cake to name a few.

After we all enjoyed the hearty meal, each participant went on stage to receive their certificate of completion. Every single one of them was cheered by passionate families and fellow classmates. The ceremony was followed by an educational session to prepare them to go back to their own culture as well as by an evening of fun Karaoke too!

On the next day, the second World Campus – Japan tour officially came to an end. The wonderfully talented participants from 14 countries said “see you soon” to each other at the New Tokyo International airport rather than saying “good-bye”.

The World Campus International CEO, Hiro Nishimura, said “I’m glad our second program was finished with such success. We’re still learning a lot but I believe we are on the right track. Thank you all – host families, local organizing committees and participants – for being the part of the World Campus International family and for all your contributions. We’ll keep on expanding the network around the world in the future!”


If anyone would like to be part of this kind of unforgettable journey in Japan, feel free to apply for an upcoming position including the next program for one or two sessions:
June 23 – July 16, 2008 – Session 1
July 17 – August 11, 2008 – Session 2

Hope to see you there!

The World Campus International Team