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Follow the TourAsia
Toyotomi Hideyoshi laid the foundation of the city that today is known as Osaka. Toyotomi, "the great unifier," loved viewing cherry blossoms and began the tradition of planting plum and cherry trees for their beauty. Today, Osaka has 2.6 million people and thousands of tourists annually, who come to enjoy the lush beauty. Osaka has a number of sister cities, including San Francisco and Chicago, the United States; San Paulo, Brazil; Shanghai, China; Melbourne, Australia; St. Petersburg, Russia; Milan, Italy; and Hamburg, Germany. |
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 WorldSmart crew members participate in the event to be the largest group of people to put together the largest number of flags to break a record in the Guinness World Book of Records
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Setting the Record StraightWorldSmart Crew Enters the Guinness World Book of Records!By Adriana Mesquita,
Brazil This very curious event took place in Suita, Osaka, Japan at the Expo park. The idea was to put together several world flags by placing people on the field, and making each person hold a card with a piece of a flag. At some point two planes would fly over the park to take pictures of the formation. The goal was to be in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest group of people putting together the largest number of flags. It sounds confusing, and it is, but so are most things on the book of records anyway. A group of three WorldSmart participants was assigned to be in change of a row of flags, and a lot of people. It was very challenging to guide about 300 participants to stand neatly in a rectangle, especially when my knowledge of Japanese is limited. We had translators ready to help us; nevertheless it still was not so easy to keep things going. But always are the most challenging things are the most worthwhile. Being a part of this event was terrific. Trying to communicate to people when the translator wasn't around was a great creativity exercise, with very funny moments. For example, I started jumping and pointing at the spot I wanted a guy to move to. I am pretty sure he thought I was crazy, but eventually he moved there. Also, the fact that we were working on it gives you a different perspective of how such events are planned. All in all, it was a lot of fun. Running around in the rain, talking to people, getting the flags ready for the picture, everything was amazing. It was probably one the most unique experiences I'll ever have in my life; I can't think of when I am going to be a part of a similar event again. And to top everything, all the crew is going to be on the Guinness Book of Records-how cool is that? |
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Host Family LivingLiving with Host Families in JapanBy Amelia R. Brown, United
States More importantly, I, along with 46 other people's memories, hearts, minds, and bodies are transported from one home to the next. It is usually quite uncomfortable, sometimes even dreadful to meet a new host family. However, there is always anticipation and excitement for what lies ahead. The same can be said for saying good-bye to a host family. It's so hard to express to a family how much they have impacted my life. It is so hard to explain to anyone who hasn't shared this experience how much can happen in one week, how much you can learn, how amazing it is that someone lets a stranger into their home and how that stranger is willing to become a part of the family and how much an unknown family soon becomes a part of your life. Mutual Trust I am blessed to have had amazing host families throughout the Up with People WorldSmart? Leadership Program. Coming from the U.S. to Japan, I was a little nervous about what was in store for my first Japanese host family or what was in store for Japan. Ah, Japan. The mystical, crazy, amazing, beautiful, strange place I never imagined living in for six weeks. The place that forced me to examine my own culture, take on a new perspective, and go far beyond any limits I thought I once had. Questions How Has Host Family Living Impacted My Life? To My First Japanese Host Family in Nagoya: Our group works on projects, interacts with people, lives in communities, and becomes a part of a number of outstanding events around the world. Often, we do not immediately see the results of our work, interactions or community impact. Sometimes they are not clear. Sometimes we have to dig for them. Sometimes we may never see them. The fact remains, we may never truly measure or know the impact that our program, these people, and my friends have on communities. Just as Tsuzumi touched my life unknowingly, the same may happen within our group and the people and places we visit every week. We just have to trust that what we are doing is right and worthwhile. To My Host Family in Arao: It can be difficult in our group of people from around the world to communicate in a variety of situations. We work on internships together, travel together, live together, experience a city together, work on projects together, do community service together...miss our families together, try new things together, feel shocked together, laugh together…share the same irritations, feel pride in one another…To accomplish our goals, individual or within the group, we need to communicate effectively. I have learned first hand about so many new communication styles. Some that would once drive me crazy I have learned to understand and even appreciate. I have learned more about the way I interact with others and the effectiveness of various communication styles in various situations. Because people in the group were willing to share there experiences with me, open their minds and hearts, and I with them, we learn from each other. This is beneficial in personal and professional areas and this is valuable for life. It is quite easy to disregard someone because of their differences. It is much more rewarding to work through, understand, and put some effort towards resolving those differences. I may have missed out on getting to know some unique, interesting, and amazing people because of miscommunication; those people are now my friends. Just like my host family in Arao, patience, understanding, creativity and persistence have made this experience all the more fulfilling. To My Host Family in Omura: Being in the moment is often difficult on this trip because the moment is always changing and your mind is always reeling. I have yet to conquer this completely, but I accomplished more in personal growth in one week with your family than I have in years of contemplation. Actually being in a situation such as this forced me to challenge myself in ways I never dreamed, push my "comfort zone", do things I never imagined, and surprise myself everyday. Thank you for giving me these opportunities. This program is one big surprise after another. A friend I never thought I would have from the U.K, singing a song in front of an auditorium of Japanese students, teaching a skill I haven't mastered myself. Time after time doing things I swore I would never do or never even thought about doing. This program really puts a number of talents to work and challenges at face. Most of all, I have been faced with myself. The requirement of being flexible in this program is an EXTREME understatement. I have had to learn to let go and go with many constant changes in order to stay sane in the program. One way of doing this is by making myself stop spending so much time being frustrated with other people's actions. Try to understand or let it go. The only person I have full control over is myself. Now this, along with other lessons, I may have known, but now I know to a great degree or in a different light. I have always known that I can't fully control others actions, but that doesn't mean I haven't tried. Here, I was forced to reckon with this idea in a way I have never experienced before. I can't possibly reflect on the impact my experience in Japan has had on me…I am still moving and the impact will be consistently there underneath it all. It is sometimes resurfacing or sometimes changing, but will always be there. However, I can say, I am grateful for the wonderful moments of joy and even more grateful for those of difficulty. I have seen how I, along with my friends, have dealt with these difficulties, learned from them, and even put those lessons into action. I have gone from spitting out sushi into a napkin and stuffing it in my pocket to eating a chicken heart and Basashi (raw horse meat). Now for me, that says a lot! |
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Personal DevelopmentGerman Company Introduces Laser Technology into Japan
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ＪＡＣ -UpwithPeople JapanAlumniClub-           |
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