On the 10th of June we visited the superintendent of the board of education in Omura. Juuso Eemeli Myller shared his experience with us.
Meeting a Survivor of the Atomic Bomb
Day of activity: June, 11th, 2015
Today we got to meet an atomic bomb survivor.
Almost everyone (I hope) will, at some point, learn about the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki through school/books/articles. At school you learn when it happened, what made the bomb so deadly, and what the death toll was, but today we got a small glimpse into what the bomb meant for the actual victims.
In the morning, into a classroom of sorts, in came a nice looking old man wearing a smile on his face. He introduced himself and then he turned on the projector and showed us pictures that he had painted based on what he remembers about the bomb.
He just stated facts, he didn’t need to resort to theatrics to pull at our heartstrings. His story of loss and hardship made me and several others cry during the presentation.
Eventhough his story was sad, it was a really valuable piece of history that not many get to hear. How his life changed instantly and how it still affects the survivors. I will be forever grateful to him for sharing his story with us.
Later on the same day, we visited the Nagasaki atomic bomb memorial museum. There were many actual artefacts that had been affected by the bomb such as glass bottles that had melted into clumps due to the sheer heat of the blast. The museum itself had also many interactive components which made exploring even more interesting.
I think that this all left an ever-lasting impression on me.
Helmiina Suuronen (Finland)
Visit of Omura City’s superintendent of the board of education
Omura City, 10th of June, 2015
Today we visited Omura City’s superintendent of the board of education. The courtesy visit was the first “real” activity in our program, given that the previous day’s schedule was all orientation and preparing for the Arigato Event. Furthermore, the occasion was advertised as being quite formal, which made us quite nervous during the morning of our visit.
Despite our nerves, the courtesy visit was a success. After brief introductions we talked a lot about education in Omura, Japan and Japanese culture in general. The superintendent was very helpful and supportive when we talked about how we wanted to learn more, and more intimately, about Japanese culture. With his encouraging words we felt ready for the 12th of June and our first visit to a local elementary school.
After our conversation I gave the superintendent a present – a photo book – from Finland, where I’m from, as a token of our gratitude for how they had given us such a change to get to know more about the everyday life and culture in Japan. It was great to know how much people appreciated our desire to learn more about their culture and maybe share something from our own countries as well. As an added bonus, we also got cute Omuran-Chan stickers for each of us 🙂
Juuso Eemeli Myller
Meet Jurrien Theunisz, Program Counselor for World Campus – Japan 2015 Program!
Hey there,
The name is Jurrien Theunisz, from the Netherlands. 24 years old, this year. I started getting interest in Japan about 5 years ago. Since then I have studying Japanese culture and the language by myself at first and then started Japanstudies in University. While doing so I have joined World Campus – Japan Program as a participant and also worked 2 years as a counselor for the program. This summer, I will be in a part of the program, especially the session 1.
Currently I’m finishing up bachelor in the University of Tohoku, Sendai Japan. While doing researching for my bachelor thesis here I am mainly focusing on…. The Japanese student life. A part of this is taking classes that I like in Japanese, such as Chinese, Astronomy, Sports, Environmental Earth Science and of course Japanese language and literature classes. This may seem like a random series of classes, but the goal is improving my Japanese on various fields, as well as learning something that interests me. I must, however point out that taking Chinese classes in Japanese is rather confusing at times… Another part of studying here consists of joining circles; circles are Japanese clubs made up of students with the same interests. An example of such clubs are the Manga club, Japanese archery club, the airplane club, English conversation club, Darts (= drinking) club etc. Me, myself am currently involved with the badminton circle and an English conversation circle. Another important part of studying in an abroad country is socializing; making connections. When you come to a new place the one thing you don’t have and will definitely need is new connections. Getting to know new people. This is where joining events in the Neighborhood, circles, bars etc. come in handy. Living the daily life, meaning eating Japanese food, going to the Japanese supermarket etc. are all part of the Japanese culture. Everything is different, but this makes it all the more interesting!
Doesn’t this life sound interesting to you? Or does it sound rather scary at first? Or is it so that you don’t have the money or time to spend a several months or more abroad in Japan?
Well let’s try to find out what this life is like at 5x its’ normal speed and more variation! By joining World Campus – Japan you have this chance. Being in a host family exposes you to the culture and customs of daily life in Japan. You most likely don’t know all that many people and are forced to make new friends and family on a daily basis! Random knowledge… Welcome to World Campus – Japan! By doing the daily activities WCI offers, I learned the most detailed information about the Japanese school systems, sewing machines, Maple trees, children songs and loads more. Cooking Japanese food and doing sports are also regular activities in the program. And Japanese pop culture, I am sure you will experience a thing or 2…
Oh sorry… I was planning to keep the story short, but… Well, just join the program and we’ll get to know each other, Laters!
Meet Megan Benson, Program Counselor for World Campus – Japan 2015 Program!
Hello fellow members of World Campus – Japan!
My name is Megan Benson. I was born in Twin Falls, Idaho in the United States and have lived in the area ever since. Growing up, I was always shy and afraid of new things. As I grew older, I realized I needed to try to venture out of my comfort zone, and when I heard of World Campus – Japan I jumped on the opportunity to join in. Japan is one of the most beautiful places in the world—definitely the most beautiful I have ever seen! I am excited to return this year and hope to help everyone have the best experience possible!
When I arrived in Japan for Session 1 last summer, I spoke only a few words of Japanese. Although you might expect one to have a hard time understanding their surroundings when they don’t speak the language, it is extremely easy to immerse yourself into the culture. Japan is filled with the some of the kindest, most genuine people I have ever met, and learning some of the language was quick and easy with the help of my host families and fellow participants.
This program helped me learn to break down cultural barriers to not only get to know the people around me, but to also discover and understand who I am as a person. World Campus – Japan can help you branch out to people from countries all around the world. Although you may get home sick, you aren’t far from lifelong friends and an experience that could change your life. The World Campus – Japan family is one that you never forget!
Megan Benson
