Hey there!,

My name is Jurriën. Most people call me Jur. This year (2011) will be the first time that I’ll be participating in the World Campus Japan summer program. I’m from the Netherlands and am currenly living in the beautiful city, Leiden. I’m originally from the south of the Netherlands, but I moved to Leiden to study. I’m currently a 1st year student studying japanse culture and language. This is also the reason I’m participating in the project. It gives me a good opportunity to see Japan with a non-tourist perspective.

Other than japanese language and culture, I’m also really interested in other cultures and languages from all over the world. It would be great to meet a lot of people with different ways of thiking and get to know them. Sharing the experiences we had in our own countries and getting to know japan together.

Really looking forward to meeting everyone!,

Jur

Hi everybody!

My name is Joakim Gåsøy, and I will be one of the participants of World Campus Japan tour this year. I am 18 years old and I come from Norway. Currently I have only one more year at school before the university, where I want to study mathematics.

The first time I came in contact with japanese culture was when i found a manga book at a train about 8 years ago. Since then, my interest for Japan has just been growing, and it never ceased to surprise. WCI have given me the opportunity, not only to experience Japan from the inside, but also to meet people from all over the world. I am very pleased that I am given this opportunity, and I cant wait for it to start.

I believe that this experience will be importiant to me as a person, and hopefully for you too!

-Joakim

Jay Kinsel comes from Texas in the USA. This summer will mark his third year as World Campus International’s Production Manager. He has been a part of the last 15 WCI sessions.

Outside of World Campus International, Jay Kinsel still works hard theatrically. He is the Technical Director for The Studio School in Thornton, CO and spends a lot of time working on various projects. Most notably, he had his Off-Broadway, New York directorial debut in February with “The Ruin”.

He has a passion for travel and learning and honestly believes that the world can be changed.

Jay Kinsel is honored to be asked back to work with WCI at a time when we are so clearly needed.

Hello!

My name is Alvaro Martin-Mazorra, but you can call me Alf, Alfie, Albi or whatever you can come up with!

I am a 2^nd year Japanese language and culture student at Leiden University, the Netherlands. I am Spanish but I was born in the Netherlands and mostly raised here, safe a couple of years in Spain.

My interest with Japan began when I was around thirteen and since then it has expanded to an academical level. Learning Japanese at University (or by yourself, as well) might be fun, but the problem is that you still don’t get to experience Japan to it’s fullest, which is why I decided to join World Campus – Japan this summer!

I think it is a great opportunity to not only immerse oneself into the language and culture of Japan, but also into the people. Of course I am not only doing this for academical reasons, for I find that in doing this program I get the chance to go out of my comfort zone and meet new people, not only from Japan, but from other parts of the world. Also my love for food plays a little role here as well! Jokes aside, I hope to be able to make the best of this program and I can’t wait to meet everyone this summer!

Kind regards,
Alvaro

Hello everybody!

My name is Rianne de Rijke and I’m 24 years old. I live in Rotterdam in The Netherlands and I’m studying Japanese language and culture at Leiden University.

This year will be my second time travelling to Japan and also my second year with World Campus – Japan program. I will participate in the session 1, so I will be going to Omura in Nagasaki and Omuta in Fukuoka.

Last year I had loads of fun meeting new people from all over the world and staying with my host families. I also learned a lot about Japan and about other countries. What I enjoyed the most was doing the Thank You event with everyone and going to local schools to play with the children and learn about education in Japan.

For this year, I’m looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. I also hope to have as much fun as I did last year and to learn even more, especially about the education system, since I hope to be a teacher some day.

See you in Japan!

With love,

Rianne