The International Center Newsletter

TAKING OFF

Vol. 28 Fall, 2016

1. Hello from All Corners of the World!

Takahiro Aoki (Graduated in 2011,Foreign Languages Major)

I

Fun days at the I-Chat Lounge(Top: the second from right in theback row, Bottom: Right)

Contents
Hello from All Cornersof the World!

1-2

Let’s see the world
through volunteer
activities

2-3

My favorite in Prague～
Uyuki Tanaka

4currently design automobile parts. I started
this job not so long ago, so my seniors still
help me design them on PC.
I majored in foreign languages at OGU. I still
remember my teachers who taught us enthusiastically. Speaking of my university life, I took
many different subjects that looked interesting
to me: classes offered by the Hospitality Industry Center and classes to be a clinical psychotherapist. Among all my classes, an economics class taught by a professor from Cambridge University in the U.K. was one of themost interesting classes I took at OGU. WhenI did not have any classes, I always went tothe I-Chat Lounge and had fun talking withnative speakers of English.
Outside the campus, I had a very busy andfun life. I worked at a clothing shop part time,cycled around Lake Biwa with my friends,
enjoyed Karaoke near the campus, enjoyeddriving around Awaji Island, had a BBQ party
near my apartment, participated in a jazz festival in Takatsuki, did bouldering and surfing,
and much more. I energetically did everything I
was interested in and liked. This also means
that, at the time, I could not imagine what myfuture would be like and I just did whatever myheart desired without thinking too much.
Along the way, I became interested in theairline business. Airline business requires you
to have language skills, so I decided to study
abroad and chose the United States to study
English. I mainly took ESL classes at DowlingCollege, but also psychology, social studies,and personnel relations classes. At my host
university, my classes started at a different
time every day. All of my classes ended at
9:30 am two days a week, so after that, I

With a teacher at Dowling College in NY

jogged at the school field and studied and readbooks at the library. I had more free time than I
had in Japan. On the weekends, I went downtown, surfed, and went to parties, and so on. I
studied hard and played hard at the sametime.
It was already the first semester in the senioryear when I came back to Japan, so I wasplanning to apply for airline companies. Guess
what? Something no one could have imagined
happened: the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. Because of that, no airline companies
hired new workers that year. I did not knowwhat to do. Just before my graduation fromOGU, someone told me about a new local
soccer club. I got involved in establishing thisclub and stayed there for about six months. It
was not a long time, but I learned the enjoyment of managing and operating soccer clubs.
After I left the club, I went back to myhometown in Tochigi Prefecture. I almost ran
out of money by then, so I quickly tried to finda job. My favorite coffee shop, Starbucks waslooking for staff and I was hired soon by thecompany. Through this job, I met so many
people and learned customer service, person-Vol. 28

nel development, shop management, andso on. I had so much fun working there.
After four years of working at Starbucks, Istill could not give up on being involved insoccer, so I quit Starbucks in March, 2015. I
started looking for a job that required me towork only on weekdays in order to keep
weekends free for soccer. However, thestaff at Hello Work recommended me to thecompany that I now work for. I was surprised that the company actually hired mewithout any working experience in the field. Iwas always interested in cars, so I took theposition and started working there in September, 2015. I decided to change my jobbecause of soccer, but I am now more intodeveloping and designing automobile parts.

Page 2

I put soccer aside for a while.
When I got engrossed in this job, I received an opportunity to go on a onemonth business trip to the States in February of this year. I was chosen to go because of my study abroad experience. Iwas nervous to go to the States for the
first time in several years, but strangely mygratitude to all the people I met deepenedeven more. In the States, everything I didup to then was useful and my job there
went smoothly. I also met many importantpeople.
I am now back in Tochigi Prefecture, andstill work on developing and designing
automobile parts. My future plan is to workin the States again and to find a workplace
where my knowledge and experiences will
be used to the fullest. In order to make thisdream come true, I would like to deal withdiversified jobs and accumulate more experiences here in Japan.
Finally, I have two things I would like toconvey to all present OGU students. The
first one is that if you have a dream orgoal, just follow your heart and do whatyou need to do now. The second one is toask yourself if you really want do it. If you
do, just do it. These are the things that I
wanted to tell you and they are also mymottoes in my life. I hope this will be helpful and useful for you in some way. Thankyou for reading.

2. Let’s see the world through volunteer activities!
Students have become more and more interested in overseas volunteer activities in recent years. OGU students also participate in a two-weekvolunteer program conducted with students at Khon Kaen University in Thailand every spring. One of the OGU students, Ms. Riina Tsukamoto,joined a volunteer program at an orphanage in Cambodia during the spring vacation of this year. She experienced true richness of life through her
volunteer work with orphans.
*Immediately after participating in this program, Ms. Tsukamoto went to Korea to study Korean language and culture for a semester at Baekseok
University as an exchange student.

TeaSta: “Bright smiling faces I encountered in Cambodia”

Orphans (Right in the second row)My friend and I participated in aCambodian orphanage volunteer
tour from February 13 to 19 of thisyear through an NGO called TeaSta*.
In Cambodia, we stayed with an orphanage owner, Mr. Sonton who could speak
Japanese. Each room at his house was
equipped with a shower and toilet, so ourstay was comfortable, although there were a
lot of flies and mosquitoes. During these fivedays, we played with the orphans, taught
them Japanese and had lunch with them inthe morning. In the afternoon, we went to aspa, visited Angkor Wat, a Night Market, AkiRa Land Mine Museum, and so on. We
planned a lot of fun things ourselves.

Volunteer tours at TeaSta can be created by participants. We didn't visit otherorphanages. Instead, we did volunteer
activities at one specific orphanage andplanned what we wanted to teach the orphans. My friend and I decided to teachthem how to introduce themselves in Japanese and ask them to write their dreams.
We also did jumping rope and danced
together.
Orphans have different backgrounds andhave been living at the orphanage since
they were little. Therefore, before going toCambodia, I thought Japanese children
were happier than them. However, thereality was totally different. Orphans always smiled and laughed innocently, studied hard, and spoke English without any
difficulty. They also have clear future
dreams. Since they are still small kids,
they were mischievous and we chased
them around all the time.
In addition to our volunteer activities, we
had the chance to attend the wedding
ceremony of Mr. Sonton’s distant relative.
We are majoring in hospitality businessadministration, so we were unexpectedly
invited to the ceremony. To tell the truth, Ihad culture shock there. I was surprised tosee people throwing trash under the table
and staff acting casually. However, thisturned out to be a precious experience forme.
Five days in Cambodia passed by soquickly. When we said goodbye to theorphans, we could not stop crying. At thesame time, we felt bad for the kids whoalways experience farewell with foreigners
coming to the orphanage. I hope theirexperience with us will be a step for them

At Angkor Wat (Left)

Vol. 28

Page 3to learn Japanese and motivate them tomove forward in pursuing their dreams. This
tour was a rare opportunity for us to see adifferent world, so I am truly glad I decided
to participate in it.

*TeaSta gives a learning opportunity(language learning and overseas experiences) to participants through teaching
children in developing countries something
new. (Excerpt from the website) http://teasta.jp/

OGU X Philippines started from an idea to give outbound exchange students a chance to see other parts of the world. An OGU graduate, Mr.
Yo Okawa introduced me to Ruby, an elementary school teacher in the Philippines. The exchange students thought of what we can do for children from poor families and how we can make them happy through our communication with Ruby. The original plan unfortunately did not work
well, but several students had success with the activity starting from the International Fair held in spring of this year. Now, we finally can send apackage of goods to children in August. Ms. Hinano Murayama is one of the active members of OGU X Philippines and she wrote about theactivity here. The latest activities are also posted on the Facebook page. Please check it out also.

OGU X Philippines: “Our power is small, but not useless!”
Hinano Murayama (Junior, International Studies Major)

F

irst of all, do you know the country
called the Philippines? Its size isabout 80% of Japan, and it consistsof 7,109 islands. The population is about 11
million, and the capital is Manila. The timedifference between the Philippines and Japan is only an hour. We are an hour aheadof them. The official languages are Tagalog
and English, so you can communicate withpeople in English at most places.
When I was a freshman, I studied Englishthere for a month during spring vacation. I
really wanted to improve my English skills,
so I chose a school where I studied English
from 8 am to 10 pm on weekdays. Before
going to the Philippines, my senior at university introduced me to Ms. Rubilyn Cabardo
Pastrano (Ruby), an elementary school
teacher who also helped kids in a slum onweekends. She took me to the slum and I
helped her ration meals and drinks to thekids, and observed the English class Rubytaught. I only knew about slums through TV
programs, which somehow gave me an
impression of people having a difficult time,
but what I saw there was children wearing
worn clothes who really enjoyed learning
English. It was an impressive scene for me.
Children told me, “My parents’ income is notstable, so I don’t have enough food to eat
and cannot go to school.” And “I don’t havea safe place to sleep.” If someone told you
this, how would you feel? Feelings that I had
never experienced before and could not
really explain welled up in my heart. Furthermore, when I left the slum that day, children
said to me ARIGATO while waving theirhands. I often use this word in my everyday
life. Until that day, I thought I would be happy if someone said that word to me. However, ARIGATO on that day did not make me
happy at all because I knew I could not doanything for them to appreciate. Because ofthis experience, after I came back to Japan,
I wanted to get involved with these children
in some way, and I decided to join OGU X
Philippines.
Currently, there are five members in OGU
X Philippines. After the International Fair inApril, we started calling for goods donation,
placed a donation box on campus, and periodically published a newsletter. We plan tosend a package of donated goods to Ruby
in August and ask her to deliver them tochildren in the slum.
Our power is small, but not useless. I
really believe this, so I would like to continue
dealing with children through OGU X Philippines. I also will not end this activity here,
but will continue with small world contribution. Through this, I would like to find a way
to live and to contribute to the world myself.
If you have stationaries or goods for elementary students at home, please donate
them in the box placed at the lounge on thefirst floor of Building #1. Your cooperationand help is greatly appreciated.
OGU X Philippines
Facebook Page

Top: With Ruby
Bottom: Children waiving their hands
at Hinano

It took a long time, but we finally sent a
package to the elementary school
where Ruby works in early October. We
thank you all for your help.

Page 4M

My Favorite in Prague～Uyuki Tanaka

y favorite thing in Prague, Czech Republic is strolling through the city.
Prague has a long history and castles and museums dot the city. If
you walk around, you can feel the history. The most famous sightseeing spot, Prague Castle is a must see. This castle is known as the oldestand largest castle in the world. Diverse architectural styles are used, so thiscastle is one of a kind. The castle overlooks the city with houses and buildings
with orange brick roofs that look like a postcard. Major sightseeing spots arelocated in a small area, so you can basically visit them on foot. A romantic andbeautiful city, Prague makes you think you are in a fairy tale. If you have achance to come to Prague, please walk around the city!
(Sophomore, Foreign Languages Major, currently studying at Metropolitan University, Prague)

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2016.10.25発行