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＞ＴＯＰ ＞ＵＷＰ ≫ ２００５春NEWS JOURNAL
２００５春NEWS JOURNAL
Vol. 2, No. 6, 25 Apr 2005
Allison Myers, United States; Yoshimi Kanai, Japan,
and Rob Prytherch, United States in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Mike Quinn, United States, enjoys his first breakfast
in Japan
Helena Piehl, Sweden, with Buddhist monks in
Nagoya
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Follow the Tour
Asia
Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
21 Mar 2005 - 27 Mar
2005
Nagoya City, the capital of Aichi Prefecture, has a population of more than
2.19 million and is the primary metropolitan area in the central region of
Japan. Along with Nagakute, Seto City and Toyota City, Nagoya City is host to
2005 World Expo.
Nogoya has a mild climate and has a rich culture that has flourished since
the 7th and 8th centuries. Aichi has been the home of many brilliant figures who
have helped shape Japanese history and today have built Japan into a leading
industrial manufacturing center.
Aichi, whose prefecture symbols include the iris as the flower, red maple as
the tree, small owl as the bird and prawn as the sea product, is number one in
all of Japan for lumber and wood product shipments and industrial product
shipments.
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Entrance of the Expo
Pavilions by the north entrance
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2005 World Exposition,
Aichi, Japan
This mark has a symbolic meaning as the logo of the 2005 World Exposition in
Aichi, Japan. In short, it asks people, "How do we create a new World." The
answer is, we don't. We must take good care of the World that we have.
Thanks to rapid technological development, the 20th Century was characterized
by mass-production and mass-consumption, which, in turn, led to material
improvements in our daily lives. At the same time, these trends resulted in
various global issues such as desertification, global warming and a shortage of
natural resources. The message from Japan is that no single nation can resolve
the issues. The international community needs to unite to confront them.
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Crystal Sanderson, Canada, sees her country pavilion at the
2005 World Exposition
Tomi Otudeko, Nigeria/United Kingdom, and Florentine
Hafliger, Switzerland, pose with EXPO characters
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EXPO 2005 Gives Us Opportunity
To Visit 21 Countries in One
Day!
By Crystal Sanderson,
Canada
On Friday, March
25, EXPO 2005 opened in Aichi, Nagoya, Japan. EXPO is a fair for the countries
of the world to represent themselves to the rest of the world. On Saturday,
March 26, I was fortunate enough to attend.
Bright and early
on Saturday morning, Florentin Hafliger (Flo,) from Switzerland, and I
arrived at the EXPO site. We could feel the excitement in the air as thousands
of people flooded out of the train station and helicopters flew overhead. Our
first stop was to the Swiss Pavilion, as Flo, before joining Worldsmart, worked
on its development back in Switzerland. It was very interesting to see his hard
work in action and to see his excitement as he showed me about his country.
Throughout the
day we tried our best to visit as many country pavilions as possible. We made it
our goal to visit the 21 countries represented by our classmates, as this gave
us a glimpse into their cultures and a deeper understanding of where they come
from. I came to a realization that we, as a group, are in many ways like EXPO.
We travel around representing each of our countries to a variety of audiences,
sharing our knowledge and stories with others.
After a long day
of walking and enduring rain, we visited more than 20 countries and enjoyed
every minute of it! It's not everyday that I can attend EXPO, especially when
it's half way around the world from my home!
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Mehmet Baha, Cyprus, learns about the traditions of Buddhist
burials
Pets are buried in Buddhist pet cemetery
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Regional Learning
Student Notes Differences Between Japanese Buddhist Cemetery and Muslim
Cemeteries in Cyprus
By Mehmet Baha, Cyprus
In the WorldSmart Leadership Program, every day
I have many first-time experiences. Visiting a Buddhist Cemetery in Nagoya,
Japan was one of these once-in-a life-time opportunities for me.
Having being raised in the Muslim part of Cyprus, I had been exposed only to
Muslim cemeteries. Here in Japan, Buddhism is among the main religions, like
Shintoism and Christianity.
The striking difference between this Buddhist cemetery and the Muslim
cemeteries in North Cyprus is the first one has several steps before the grave,
meaning the grave is little bit upstairs. Secondly, the area of each Buddhist
tomb is surrounded by small stones; the Muslim tombs in my country are
surrounded by grass and soil. While walking through this cemetery in Nagoya, I
did not notice any tomb stone with the photo of that person carved on it. It is
pretty normal to see the carved photo on the tomb stone in a Muslim cemetery in
North Cyprus. In this Buddhist cemetery, a lot of Buddhist-related statues drew
my attention. Kozue Suzuki, my host mother in Nagoya, told me that the smaller
the size of the statue, the younger the age of the person who passed away.
Interestingly, these statues have a piece of cloth on them.
Undoubtedly, the most interesting part of the cemetery was the pets section.
Yes! It has a section devoted only to animals, from cats to hamsters. On the
tomb stone, I even saw pet food in cans. As my host mother stated, it is
believed that souls of animals are there, that is why there is the food. A
similar approach is done for the dead Buddhist people, too. For instance, if
that person liked drinking beer, you can pour beer on the tomb stone.
Wearing black clothes as an indicator of mourning is not as common for Muslim
Cypriots as it is for Greek Orthodox Cypriots; nonetheless, I saw a lot of
black-clothed Buddhists in the cemetery, especially in front of the burning
place.
As regards to burying the dead, the main difference between Islam and
Buddhism is that Buddhists burn the whole body and bury only the bones.
According to the information given to me by my host mom, first the corpses are
taken to the burning room which is in the cemetery area. While they are burned
as part of the cemetery service, a bus takes the family of the dead to the
waiting room, which is a different building in the same area. After the
completion of burning, the family puts bones in a bag by using chopsticks, and
stores the bag at home for several days. Then, the bones are buried, for which a
different ceremony is held.
Shockingly, I saw the tomb stone of a live person. The tomb stone with the
name written and everything completed. Some people in that person's family had
already passed away and been buried, and their names were carved on the stone.
But the name of this live person was carved and additionally painted red, which
was very obvious. The red color on the tomb shows that the person is still
living.
Being a Muslim, this is very interesting to me to compare different
traditions. I got some of this information from my host mother in Nagoya and her
friends. I am grateful about that.
We have five more weeks in Japan, and I desire to go deep inside Buddhism and
other religions in Japan.
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Scott Hunter, United States, plays board games with
the Ishigure family
Scott Hunter visits the Nagoya castle with his host
family
Nagoya Castle
in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
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Host Family Experience
Ishigure Family Makes Me Feel Comfortable, Happy, Warm and
Rested
By Scott Hunter, United States
Spanish. Only ten minutes after meeting my host
mother in Nagoya, Japan, we were speaking Spanish to each other. She was
Japanese and I was American, but the Spanish language is where we made our first
connection.
My mother was a member of the Hippo Family Club, an organization that teaches
its members 19 languages simultaneously. Languages they learn include Italian,
Korean, English, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish. After ten minutes I had
exhausted my Japanese vocabulary three times over, and although her English was
very good, we were still not quite on the same page. Luckily we both spoke
minimal Spanish (probably incomprehensible to the average Spanish speaker) at
the same level of fluency. Little was actually communicated beyond "How are
you?" and "Good, and you", but the ever-present term "Intercultural
Communication" took on meaning far outside of the parameters of our WorldSmart
mission statement.
Later that night I would meet my host brothers, Taichi and Youshi. Taichi
lived in the U.S. for one year as part of a student exchange program. Through
this experience he developed a great command of the English language. It should
be noted that I owe him a great debt for translating for me time and time again.
Unfortunately, I wouldn't meet my host father until Wednesday morning because
our schedules conflicted, but we would get to eat okonomyaki together later in
the week. This is a kind of cabbage pancake that is sometimes called Japanese
pizza.
Saturday and Sunday were reserved for time with my host family, which was
perfect because I couldn't spend as much time with them during the week as I
would have liked. Saturday was deemed "Japan Day" by my host mom because she
wanted me to experience many traditional Japanese things.
Another student with the program, Tony Sheehan from Canada, came over
with his host family, along with some other friends of both families, to put us
through the ringer. We began by donning kimonos. Funny thing about this: these
kimonos were made for Japanese men, not some North Americans who were over six
feet tall! They would work wonderfully, expect they were a bit small for us.
Next, we took part in a Japanese tea ceremony, the like of which neither of us
had ever taken part in. Finally, we got the chance to listen to one of my host
mom's friends play the Koto, a very long, 13-stringed instrument that rests on
the floor when you play it. Once she was finished, she taught us how to play the
first few lines of Sakura-translated it means Japanese cherry blossoms.
After getting out of our kimonos, we joined some other students from
Worldsmart to attend a Hippo Family Club meeting. This was a pot-luck dinner
where we would get the chance to sing a little, dance a little, give a short
presentation on our country, and meet people from several different countries. I
had the chance to sing "Up With People," YMCA, and Sakura. My family was great
through all of this. They were so proud to have me there and share what I knew
about my home country. This was the first time since getting to Japan that I
would stop trying to learn about other cultures so much and spend some time
sharing about mine. We capped the night by going home and playing the Japanese
version of the board game "Life." I needed some help with translation of the
squares that I landed on, but I really felt like a part of the family instead of
guest in a host family. The entire day culminated in this. I was made to feel
Japanese, I was being shown off as someone to be proud of, and I was included in
an activity that can be considered to be strictly family-oriented.
I slept in on Sunday morning, then cooked okonomyaki with my host dad for a
family brunch. We took it slow for a few hours, just lounging around, then went
to Nagoya castle in the afternoon. This was particularly special because they
had taken down two golden dolphins that normally adorn the top of the castle, in
honor of the World Expo being held in Aichi. We waited in line for about 30
minutes and were allowed to touch the dolphins, which was considered to be a
great honor and something that hasn't happened since the dolphins were recast in
1945 following World War II. The entire castle had to be rebuilt in the late
40's because it was destroyed in bombings during the war. This was also great
for pictures, as the building was created using architecture from the 17th
century.
We went home for a while after this, then went to a public bath in Nagoya.
This is a building that has several kinds of hot and cold bathing areas, as well
as a sauna and showers. This was one of the most relaxing experiences I've had
in years. You go from a bath that has medicinal grasses at 42'C to a cold bath
at 16'C, then a sauna at 90`C, a bath that you stand in, one you lay down in,
then a combination of all of them. By the end you've been cooked in more water
than a Japanese noodle and are about as loose. We ate at the bathhouse, then
went home to relax and sleep.
I was dropped off for travel day the next morning, ending the week with
bittersweet emotions. I know that the nature of the beast is to constantly be on
the move, but this host family has touched my life. They made me feel welcomed,
full, rested, open, comfortable, happy, and most of all, like a member of the
Ishigure family. This was the first time I have ever stayed outside of the U.S.
for any period of time and it was tough in the beginning, but it did not take
long for the warmth and generosity of this family to make me feel not only at
home, but as if this was my home. Thank you Ishigure family. I hope that someday
I can repay the favor with the same amount of giving, happiness, fun,
generosity, and love that you have shown me.
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Tom Coreynan, Belgium, poses with his host family
Breakfast in Nagoya, Japan features food that are both
different and delicious for Tom Coreynan, Belgium
Host grandmother prepares the evening meal
Tom's host grandmother sets out an array of food for
dinner
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Host Family Living
Traditional Japanese Culture Greets Student
At Host Family Home in
Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
By Tom Coreynen,
Belgium
After an
overnight stay in the mist-covered mountains of Nara, we headed for the city of
Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, home to the World Expo 2005. A while after entering the
city, the corner of my eye detected an excited crowd of Japanese families
screaming and waving. They were our new host families welcoming us.
A few moments later I found myself with my new host mother and brother in
their car. A first experience, in Japan the driver's seat is at the right side
of the car. In contrary to our American host families, communication is not that
verbal in Japan because most of them only have a basic knowledge of English. My
host mother was a member of the Hippo Club, a global organization for people who
are willing to learn new languages. After dropping my suitcase at their house,
we drove over and attended a meeting.
My new home was so different from all the others I had lived in until then.
First of all, most of the house was covered with tatami, the Japanese mats. For
this, you have to take off your slippers every time, something I forgot a few
times, but my host family was more than happy to remind me of that. Even in the
bathroom, I had to take off my slippers and put on new ones.
Bathing is the ideal traditional custom to relax at the end of the day. After
dinner, the bathtub is filled with steaming hot water. First of all, you take a
shower and wash yourself. Then you can relax in the bath. Everybody bathes in
the same water, something which is not usual in the cultures of me and most of
my fellow Worldsmart students.
My family consisted of the mother and father, three sons and the parents of
the father. The house culture was traditional Japanese. Breakfast was served by
the grandmother and included miso soup (a soybean paste-based broth with
assorted vegetables and tofu), jeko (small fishes), rice and some other things I
haven't identified yet. I loved it. Also the other dishes were delicious. One of
my favorites is sukiyaki. You grill meat, vegetables and fish and dunk it in a
raw egg. First I thought this was kind of strange because we're not used to that
and think it's rather unhealthy. Anyways, this was nothing compared to my
experience in the Korean restaurant at the end of the week where I ate parts of
an animal I would normally never eat. Grilled manually on a fire and served with
spices and vegetables, it was delicious.
During the weekend I went bowling with my family, had a traditional party at
our house, and visited the World Expo 2005. My first Japanese family and
experience was a great one and I'm sure the next ones will be great too.
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Naina Goulart, Brazil, finds a little bit of home
with her host sister, host mom and Brazilians that work at the Brazilian
restaurant in Nagoya |
A Little Bit of Home
Brazilian Nagoya
By Naina Goulart,
Brazil
My first week in
Japan was surreal. There is just not other word for it. After hours and hours of
flight, and an overnight stay in a facility in Osaka, Japan, we finally got to
Nagoya and met our host families. As soon as I met my host sister, she started
speaking Portuguese to me. By that time I started wondering how much the trip
had affected me, but it was a fact--my host sister really speaks Portuguese!
In fact, my host sister, named Rie Watanabe, who is 32 loves Brazilian
culture. Because of that, she provided me the incredible chance of going to a
Brazilian Restaurant in downtown Nagoya. It was unbelievable to be eating
Brazilian food and speaking Portuguese in the middle of Japan. Still at the
restaurant, soon I noticed that most of the people that worked there are
actually Brazilians and I became friends with the bartenders, the musicians in
the band, and everybody who could speak Portuguese. It is priceless finding a
little bit of home being so far away.
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The crew performs at the first outdoor WorldSmart
Celebration in Japan |
WorldSmart Celebration
Words Are Not the Only Language
By Adriana Mesquita,
Brazil
The first
WorldSmart Celebration in Japan was held at a very special place: the Satellite
site for the Expo 2005 that is taking place in Nagoya, Aichi, our first Japanese
city.
The location was unique, but also very challenging. It would be our first
outdoor presentation, and we were right next to the Pokemon Park-now try to be
louder than that! Add this to the language barrier, and one could easily think
we could have some problems drawing attention to WorldSmart.
However, our expectations were easily met and overcome. The Celebration was
much appreciated by the community. The Japanese audience got really involved in
the event, even if sometimes they didn't understand the language. Whether it was
clapping along with the "Rhythm of the World," learning sign language from "One
to One," learning a little bit about all the crew members, or dancing both
typical Chinese and Brazilian dances, everyone was having a great time.
Hiroko Ochi, from Japan, did an amazing job as the evening's emcee in
presenting the program to the public. We also had a break dance by Keiske
Shibata, an alumnus from last semester, and a piano performance by Mehmet
Baha, from Cyprus.
Definitely, words are not the only language to send across the message of
WorldSmart-developing leaders to help create a more peaceful world.
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Hiroshima, Hiroshima
Kumamoto Castle, Kumamoto CIty, Kumamoto
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Follow the Tour
Asia
Hiroshima,
Hiroshima
28 Mar 2005 - 2 Apr 2005
Arao, Kumamoto
3 Apr 2005 - 9 Apr 2005
Omura, Nagasaki
10 Apr 2005 - 16 Apr 2005
Kumamoto , Kumamoto
17 Apr 2005 - 23 Apr 2005
Suita , Osaka
24 Apr 2005 - 30 Apr 2005
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