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2014 JET-MIP REPORT: KONOU XIONGAPRIL, 2015: BREEZE ISSUE #90
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OF
JAPANESEKONOU XIONG
Pleasant Valley High School
Chico, CA
Coming into this program I honestly didn't
know what to expect out of the trip except
meeting new people, using my Japanese anddoing some work. Some of my worries andnervousness before coming into this program
was that I wasn't confident with my Japaneseskills and if I would be able to get along andmake friends on this trip.
At the very beginning of this trip, my flight had gotten canceled and had to be rescheduled.
The rescheduled flight time made me late to the first day of orientation in Los Angeles which
made me even more nervous than before. I was sure that the other Mippers would have gotten
along already from spending the day together while I had just gotten there. However, I soon
found out that everyone was super friendly and just wanted to get to know everyone. The flightfrom Los Angeles to Haneda Airport to Kansai airport was probably the longest and mostexhausting day but I had a lot of fun interacting with the other participants. At the Kansai
institute, where we stayed at most of the time, we attended Japanese classes that helped
supplement our speaking skills and prepare us for the school visits. The original plan for
touring in the Tohoku Region was to go to Sendai, Ishinomaki, Rikuzentakata, and Kensennuma
but unfortunately we heard that a typhoon was approaching on the day we were traveling toRikuzentakata. This information made big changes to our plans for the Tohoku Study Tour. The
trip to Rikuzentakata and Kensennuma got canceled which made everyone sad since we were
all looking forward to meeting and talking with the people there. This gave us a few more days
to adjust to the time difference and (such). The Japan Foundation then planned a day to go toNara because of the cancellation to Rikuzentakata. I wasn't quite sure of what to expect inPrivacy
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since I'd just recently heard of it. We saw temples, shrines, and wild deer in Nara which wasamazing because I'd never been so close to a deer before. The day in Nara definitely lifted
our moods from staying at the institute for a few days. It was also our first take on Japaneseculture and made us see new places. The time spent in each location was short but was usedevery last second we were given. My group and I was almost late to the meeting spot because
the okonomiyaki restaurant had taken a bit longer but the wait was worth it. The mostmemorable part of that day was running back to the meeting spot while we were holding ourfood in one hand and going up a set of steep stairs to make it back in time. After Nara, it wastime to begin our trip to the Tohoku Region.
For the trip, we went to Sendai and Ishinomaki. The first school visit was to Watanoha
Elementary School in Ishinomaki with fourth graders. I was a bit nervous to finally visit theschool, but after an ice breaking game called Split Splat, my nervousness went away and I justenjoyed myself. Some of the fourth graders helped us write our tanabata wishes which wasreally sweet of them. They were definitely the most adorable kids I've met. They arranged tosing us a song called Niji no Uta which was both sad and beautiful. Their voices were likeangels and the song made some of us cry because of their strength and hope. We also saw theTaylor Anderson bookshelf 's built by Mr. Endo who's three children were taught by Taylor
Anderson. We later visited Rainbow bridge, which was also built by Mr. Endo at the site ofwhere his house used to be. Even though he had lost all three of his children due to thetsunami, he still had the strength to look upwards and to keep going. This was one thing I reallyadmired about the people of Ishinomaki. The next school visit was to Ishinomaki Kobunkan
High School, where we toured Mt. Hiyori and NEWSee together. I was impressed by the way
Mr.Takeuchi had taken command and created the handwritten newspapers to inform the people
in his city. We also met up with a few of the Kiwi Club members who were taught English byTaylor Anderson. During this time, we all had a really great time talking to the members andinteracting more with the Kobunkan high school students. The last high school we visited in theTohoku Region was East Sendai High School where we participated in Tea Ceremony andKendo. I was amazed at how good the students were at making tea after only learning it for twoyears. When I was making tea during Tea Ceremony, I felt proper and sophisticated, but when I
participated in Kendo, all I felt was strength and control. Despite the hot weather, wearing theKendo clothing was fun, but learning the steps of Kendo was hard. However, the saddest partabout the Tohoku Study Tour was departing from the students after having an amazing
afternoon together making us all friends.
Before meeting our host families, we were taught the Kansai dialect to help us understand thembetter. The homestay weekend was definitely the best part about this trip. It showed us real
Japanese homes, meals, and lifestyles. At the beginning, we were all really nervous to leaveand stay with the families for the weekend without the help of others. By the end of homestay I
had fallen in love with my host family and I didn't want to leave them yet. There was definitely achange in feelings which I really didn't expect from the homestay weekend. After the homestay,
I was faced with the fact that we only had about three more days in Japan. In these three days
we visited Kyoto, Tokyo, and met up with our host families for the last time during theCompletion Ceremony. During the last couple days, we got closer than before and we even
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started sleeping in each other's rooms. On the last night in Japan, many of us decided to sleepin the lounge together. These sleep overs showed how close we all got together and how deep
our friendships became. Even though we may never see all 32 of us in the same room again,
the experiences we experienced together lies deeply in our hearts and minds. Thinking back to
the first few days of the program, I never really thought that I would make 31 friends so fast insuch a short amount of time. I became closer and more comfortable with these people morethan I will ever be compared to the people in my school or town.
This program definitely gave me a clearer view and understanding of Japan and its people
instead of learning only through books and photos. This experience made me want to keep
studying Japanese so that once I return, I would be better than before. It also improved myJapanese speaking skills and I learned many new Japanese words. Coming back home, I've
told my experiences to my family , friends, and whoever I could talk to. My friends weredefinitely surprised at how nice the Japanese people were and how you could find an oldstyled house next to a more modern house. My experiences made my siblings want to also visit
Japan in the future. Since they already studied a bit of Japanese, it made them want to go evenmore.
In my personal message to Taylor Anderson and Montgomery Dickson, I want to thank them foradding on to this bridge of connections between the US and Japan. This opportunity changed
my views and gave me a push towards building more networks. These new friendships that I
made, the people that I met, and all the things I learned was all because of how dedicated andinterested you were in Japanese. This definitely planted the seed for new and better
relationships. This experience is an unforgettable one and will always remain with us.

NIPPON THROUGH MY EYES PHOTOSUBMISSION“Life in Japan”
This photo was taken in Rinku Town on the way
to the supermarket near the Kansai Institute. I
chose this photo because I love how the olderstyle houses are right next to the modernhouses. It just shows how the Japanese people
are able to keep their culture alive and it's out
there for people to see.

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Japanese Langauge Education Update 172014 JET-MIP Report: Angela Zhu

2014 JET-MIP Report: Jayson Wood2014 JET-MIP Report: Joshua Warnick

2014 JET-MIP Report: Konou Xiong

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