Date of activity: July 27th
Tormented by heat we started our first day of session four.
For me, this is the 3rd time to visit Tama city, Tokyo. The LOC welcomed me with love as they did previous time. This is one of the reasons why I consider this city to be the number 1 city of all cities we visit with World Campus International. I like Tama so much! This day I reunited with friends whom I met several years ago in World Campus Japan as well as people I met in session 2 and 3. We also welcomed our new friends and host families. It would soon be time for the matching ceremony with the host families. Everyone seemed very exited.
Each city has a different way to meet a host family. In Tama, each person got a sheet of paper, with their host families’ names written on it in Japanese characters on the front and their phonetic reading on the back. After a short self-introduction everyone called their host family’s name as written on the back of the paper. We were a bit nervous, but all host families welcomed us with a big smile! This always makes me feel very happy. We also enjoyed a shishimai performance accompanied by music, which is typical for Japanese summer festivals.
In Japan, we believe that this dance is a bringer of good luck because it purifies the devil. Therefore I believe that this dance was a great start for the week to come in Tama. The adventure, namely session 4, has just started today. I wonder what kind of wonderful things are yet to happen in Tama city, Tokyo, the city that I have come to love…
Rie – Japan