Category Archives: City Life

Announcements, Arao City, City Life, Kumamoto City, Masuda City

2012 WCJ Session 2 experience

In Arao, our participants will be greeted by the city mayor and visit some of the unique cultural sites, such as a Japanese sword smith and “Iai” demonstration. They will also have an interaction in a local elementary school.

In Kumamoto, our participants will visit the Japan’s only hospital which accepts “abandoned babies” with various reasons and listened to the doctor who started this baby drop off concept. They will also have an opportunity to explore the Kumamoto city with a group of local university students.

Masuda information coming soon!

Announcements, City Theme Activities, Omura City, Omuta City

2012 WCJ Session 1 experience

In Omura, our participants will have a chance to experience “Japanese elementary school and Jr. high school life” by visiting their schools and participating in their school activities. They will also have a day in the city of Nagasaki to visit the peace museum, listen to the A-bomb survivor speech, and visit the Dutch/Chinese districts.

In Omuta, our participants will have “in depth” and unique interactions with two of their elementary schools and high school and discussions regarding the education systems in Japan and various countries.

City Life, Our participants, Toride City, Ueda City

Pedro’s Testimony

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I took part in WCI 2010’s 3rd Session in Ueda and Toride.

Being part of this program brought many amazing changes and opportunities. At first, I could have not imagined how this whole experience would be: the multicultural staff and participants, being in a foreign country with such a unique culture and customs and the thing that turned out to be my favorite, being inside the life of a regular Japanese host family.

Through WCI, not only we could have access to facilities and do things a regular visitor wouldn’t be able to do, but we can interact and live with locals. Additionally, even though it takes place in Japan, the program is not all about Japan; it’s about learning to see the world with a more internationalist point of view, knowing other cultures and losing biased prior views which we build throughout our lives.
During the program I stayed with two host families, both were really nice and open minded to the “flaws” that we foreigners commit in Japan, such as using the toilet slippers inside the house! But with one of the host families, the relationship I built with them was so intense and strong that our relation got stronger with time. We exchanged mails and I was able to visit them one more time after the program. I such a great time during New Year’s holidays with them and they made me feel as a member of the family!

In a nutshell, the program made me open my mind to the differences, correct my pre conceptions about Japan and other countries, and most importantly, made me leave a part of my heart with each of the good friends I made there.

Pedro Aguilar
Brazil

City Life, Our participants, Suita City

Cooking Japanese food

[inspic=1887,right,fullscreen,150]The day before we had to leave our host families in Suita, Oosaka, we were invited to cook some of the greatest dishes from Japan in the city hall of Yameda. We made Takoyaki (small flour balls of octopus with a coat of read ginger and vegetables), Yaki Soba (fried vegetables and lovely noodles), Ichigo daifuku (delicious small strawberries with a coat of sweet beans, and on top of that yet another layer of some kind of gummish rice-thing). We also made this international edition of maki rolls, a kind of rolled sushi (maki-Makeru means to roll in Japanese). The inside contains fresh fish and vegetables rolled in rice and seaweed.

The funny thing about making these dishes was that they all were a lot different to us in a lot of ways. I had never seen a Japanese person make maki rolls with boiled vegetables and tuna. It gave me new inspiration because it is very different from the way I learned to make sushi in Denmark.

It was also really great to get the opportunity to make Takoyaki, because it famous in the Kansai area, and a lot of the group members where crazy about them. In my case, it was fun because my host family owned two popular Takoyaki shops, and after this course, I was able to help them in the shop.

My favourite dish was probably the Ichigo daifuku, because it had such a fun texture (it was softer than wine gum, and still tougher) and because it contained my favourite fruit, a yummy red strawberry. The inside red strawberry even measured up with the strawberries from Denmark, which Danes are very proud of.

After my trip home from Japan, I began to make Japanese food the way I was taught by my host families and the course, and everyone really loves it in Denmark. I would never have discovered these dishes without the World Campus Programs, and I will always appreciate that I had the opportunity to learn it in Japan.

(Nina Møller, Denmark)

City Life, Host Families, Our participants, Toyota City

An Experience that I never forget

2011 August, 6th – 12th: In Toyota, I was hosted by an awesome family, and that was the Michiyamas family. On the first day, my host mother and sister took me to a ‘’KAMISHIBAI” exhibition place. There were a lot of kamishibai’s tools and instructions to let you know how to play “KAMISHIBAI”. “KAMISHIBAI” is a device to tell stories. You use a square box which has doors you can open to insert paper illustrations and pull it out when you are telling the story. I was very lucky to have this experience. I played kamishibai before kids, and they really enjoyed my performance. I felt very happy about that. Because my host mother is a professional teacher of kamishibai, so she taught me a lot of techniques. It makes me know more about kamishibai.

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After we experienced kamishibai, we went to the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art. There they had an exhibition of a famous painter from Holland, named Johannes Vermeer. His paintings are very elegant and realistic. We had a wonderful afternoon enjoying and appreciating every painting there.

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On 8th August, my host sister took me to Nagashima Spa Land, an amusement park that has the longest roller coaster in Japan. And my host sister and I are both crazy-loving ride on roller coaster! So, we rode every roller coaster as much as possible. There are totally seven roller coasters, we rode not only once but also twice for a tallest roller coaster. It was very exciting for me to have such a great experience in Japan. In Taiwan, we don’t have these kinds of roller coasters. It was really impressive and a lot of fun. We really had a wonderful time there.

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(“Umi” Yi-Ting Cheng from Taiwan)