After a long day of activities from rainy visit to temples to Big Buddha, from seeing a sword maker to listening to a banjo player, it was a day full of new experiences for the participants of World Campus – Japan.

To end our day we had a pretty big dinner party with all the host families, LOC members and World Campus – Japan Participants at a temple which was also one of our host families’ house, there was so much food, from things we never tasted to things we were already used to eating. Everything from eggs to beef, from sushi to nato (fermented beans), from sashimi to fruits, from beer to sake, from green tea to juice and water, from chicken to guacamole (Mexican avocado deep)… all on one long table.

Once again we had the opportunity to use our senses in Japan, a country with unlimited choices when it comes to food. WCJ enjoyed trying new things and seeing familiar things on the table.

After dinner we danced to the rhythm of the banjo played by one of our host dads, a true sign of cultural globalization!

We went to Nara on a cloudy day to learn more about this city. They were celebrating a big festival because of the 1300 years of the change of the Capital of Japan, for that reason, they were rebuilding the Heijo Palace. The rain really set the mood this day. It was really nice to see the audience hall almost floating in the fog on the far end of an enormous courtyard when we passed the big red wooden gate.

Already in the building, we could see the throne of the emperor protected by a golden phoenix located above it. The ceiling was covered with lotus flowers. Lotus flowers are well known and are very symbolic in Japan because even though they can grow in the mud, they are very beautiful.

After that we went to Todaiji temple where you can see deer everywhere, they are very comfortable with people and they will follow you everywhere so they can get food from you 🙂 It was very interesting to see people feeding the deer and laughing having a great time doing it. Once we got through the big crowd we could see Todajiji temple.

Seriously, Todaiji Temple is huge. One of the biggest I’ve seen, it has beautiful garden around it and you could see people wearing Yukatas (Summer Kimonos) everywhere. It feel like we were in a different dimension and time. Inside the temple, the biggest bronze Buddha on earth, it is 15 meters high but it doesn’t seem to big until you tried to go through his nasal. Yes… they opened up a hole on a pillar with the same size as his Nasal hole. People believe that you can get good luck if you make it through.

Once we got back to Uda, we had a lecture from a sword maker, we learn about this beautiful art, the design, the shapes and the history.

(Eve Marmen – Canada)

Uda City is a beautiful place with truly amazing nature around it, around us. Rice fields, rivers, mountains, etc. Green everywhere you look, soft sounds at night, refreshing air in the morning and wonderful, super fresh smell of nature.

In the morning we had the chance to go on a scavenger hunt. We got to not only see all the trees around us but also we got to breath pure air and smell fresh wood. More than 1000 trees through our nature walk / scavenger hunt, a very refreshing experience. On the same day (I have to say that Uda was a City with a full schedule) we had the opportunity to experience three different ways to make art. We worked with bamboo to make little crabs, we also learned about tie die and about kirigami (The art of cutting paper), this last one by a very important artist in the area, who was also a host dad. He has been practicing this art for the last 30 years receiving awards in places like France.

Pretty nice to be able to learn from the best of the best!