Today we have typical late June rain in Tokyo, and the streets are full of umbrellas, with the clear vinyl type most often seen on the streets. Rainy season is a normal experience for Seattleites, so there is no suffering with the rain. Perhaps Tokyo rain brings a bit of homeyness for our students as they make the trek from the airport to their Tokyo home base, the National Olympics Memorial Youth Center, which we call “NYC” for short.
NYC is very popular for its convenient and inexpensive high-quality lodging. The individual rooms are cozy, with a small refrigerator, a small safe, a small TV, a perfectly sized single bed, a small tea cup and hot water kettle, and, a bonus private bathroom with a deep tub, Japanese style (and Japanese luxury toilet!). Also, each room has a window with the green Yoyogi Park as backdrop. We had to make the reservations to secure these accommodations about a year and a half in advance, so we're very happy that everything worked out!
Kristi, Miki, and Julie were happy to greet each other again in Japan. Two years ago, during the late summer of 2017, they piloted the first University of Washington Honors Japan Program. It takes good team work to create and produce such a multilayered interdisciplinary program, and, our diverse skills, experiences, and personalities, combined with a focus on facilitating meaningful learning for students, is a winning combination. We have a lot of laughs together too!
Together with the students, we will spend the next four weeks exploring the complex topic of national identity as we consider Japan’s historical, political, and cultural narratives. Students’ research topics range from cuisine, design, films of Kurosawa, work culture, race and ethnicity, gender, reproductive rights, work culture, environmental management, and economics. We look forward to the process of learning together, doing the creative work of exploring a new culture, keeping aware and humble, and learning how to push ourselves to reflect on both the differences and similarities of the East and the West during this dynamic and unpredictable period in history.
A few intrepid students arrived earlier in the week, but most landed in Japan today. They all trickled into NYC over the course of the day to begin checking in at 3 pm. By 8 pm, the final group had completed their long journey from Narita Airport to receive their keys and a few quick announcements from Miki:
Tomorrow we meet downstairs at 10 am sharp (a few minutes early, per Japanese custom) to start the program with a special tour of the National Diet (国会, Kokkai).
NYC is very popular for its convenient and inexpensive high-quality lodging. The individual rooms are cozy, with a small refrigerator, a small safe, a small TV, a perfectly sized single bed, a small tea cup and hot water kettle, and, a bonus private bathroom with a deep tub, Japanese style (and Japanese luxury toilet!). Also, each room has a window with the green Yoyogi Park as backdrop. We had to make the reservations to secure these accommodations about a year and a half in advance, so we're very happy that everything worked out!
Kristi, Miki, and Julie were happy to greet each other again in Japan. Two years ago, during the late summer of 2017, they piloted the first University of Washington Honors Japan Program. It takes good team work to create and produce such a multilayered interdisciplinary program, and, our diverse skills, experiences, and personalities, combined with a focus on facilitating meaningful learning for students, is a winning combination. We have a lot of laughs together too!
Together with the students, we will spend the next four weeks exploring the complex topic of national identity as we consider Japan’s historical, political, and cultural narratives. Students’ research topics range from cuisine, design, films of Kurosawa, work culture, race and ethnicity, gender, reproductive rights, work culture, environmental management, and economics. We look forward to the process of learning together, doing the creative work of exploring a new culture, keeping aware and humble, and learning how to push ourselves to reflect on both the differences and similarities of the East and the West during this dynamic and unpredictable period in history.
A few intrepid students arrived earlier in the week, but most landed in Japan today. They all trickled into NYC over the course of the day to begin checking in at 3 pm. By 8 pm, the final group had completed their long journey from Narita Airport to receive their keys and a few quick announcements from Miki:
Tomorrow we meet downstairs at 10 am sharp (a few minutes early, per Japanese custom) to start the program with a special tour of the National Diet (国会, Kokkai).
“First Day Japan Haiku”
Prep to the Green Line
More caffeine, rain on wet streets
More caffeine, rain on wet streets
We are all here now
- Julie and Kristi
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