March 7th, 2009: The road staff had a personal day to relax and take a break from work. Usually there is one personal day scheduled in each city. This allows everyone to recharge and do something fun outside of World Campus – Japan.
Today, the road staff went as a group and saw whale sharks and penguins at the Osaka Aquarium.
“Did you know whale sharks are the biggest fish in the world?” – Henning
The WCJ staff works closely with the local community to coordinate program activities and events in each city. Today the staff and students from Kansai University are discussing our role in an upcoming festival and finalizing plans for a discussion with college students.
People in the picture from left to right: Nicolina, Tomo (Kansai University), Rie, Henning, Guang, Hiro. Rioko is hidden by Guang.
With nutritious snacks, the team is back at work! Rie, a WCJ alumna from Suita, graciously allowed us to use her house for this staff training / preparation day. We are definitely not playing any games or surfing the internet 😉 Jay (America) and Henning (Norway) are busy planning the awesome “Thank-you Event”, while Nicolina (Cyprus) is preparing a rewarding educational curriculum. Rie and Lily (Denmark) are also kindly supporting the road staff! Of course, Hiro and Hideto are providing the training and support we need to be successful. Guang (America) is off thinking happy thoughts and blogs!
The staff just arrived in Suita, Osaka and received spiffy jackets. Looking sharp is part of the job!
Konnichiwa from Japan!
My name is Atsushi Nashimoto from Japan. I am very happy to be a member of the spring 2009 team with you all.
I come from Ibaraki prefecture, two hours away from Tokyo. Studying in the international communication at college as well as postgraduate school at Tokyo, I joined in Up with People as a road staff and traveled around the world. Then, as a member of the Japan Overseas Corporation Volunteers, a Japanese version of Peace Corps, I worked in Papua New Guinea where people call “the land of unexpected” for two years as a community development officer. I have just returned from PNG in this January and am going to jump into the spring 2009 team. I am very excited to see you all next month.
See you there!
If you are interested in my life in Papua New Guinea, please visit the following website. You may download monthly PNG news letter both in Japanese and English with amazing pictures. Just go to the bottom of the webpage and you will find icons “PNG NEWS”. Please enjoy reading!
http://www.ia-ibaraki.or.jp/kokusai/member/index.html
(Atsushi Nashimoto – External Relations Coordinator/Interpreter in the March – April 09 Road Team)
