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What is it like to be a YCU student? - SAS students' arrival at YCU
Semester at Sea (SAS) is a program which can best be described as "a floating university" where students aboard get high quality academic experiences as well as building on leadership, service and success in shaping the interdependent world. The University of Virginia has been the academic sponsor since 2006, though it has a long history of 100 years in shipboard education.
13 students who are interested in international communication and planning events joined in a committee to draw up programs of both SAS and YCU students interacting to experience different cultures.
4 programs were carried out on 20 and 21 Novemebr. ; YCU 1 Day experience, Karaoke, Home-stay, and Tokyo Day Tour. In the program "YCU 1 Day experience", the students joined in a lecture of "Tabunka-shakaino shorai (Future of multicultural societies)". They watched a film on racial prejudice and openly discussed the matter in the context of their own experiences. YCU students who participated in the program said, "Despite the language barriers between us, they were kind enough to try to understand me and to tell us about their culture" "It gave me an opportunity to interact with students from different counties. I did not only enjoy getting to know about other cultures but also faced with some difficulties in understanding them." Participation in the lecture was just a part of this program. The students were welcomed by two circles, Comic book and Theater circles and saw their activities. They also enjoyed a taste of our cafeteria to experience other sides of YCU. Another group of students got together and went for a Karaoke night. They enjoyed the Karaoke night so much that 2.5 hours seemed to pass so quickly and they wanted to sing more. YCU participants found that Karaoke is an easy way for cross-cultural communication.
In the program of Tokyo Day Tour, participants went on a day trip in Tokyo and enjoyed both modern and historical Japanese culture, such as taking Purikura photos, shopping in Harajuku street, visiting Meiji shrine etc.
There were 12 SAS students who joined in the home-stay program from 20 - 21 November. They were introduced to their host students in a reception at Icho-no-Yakata. An introduction game was organized by a member of committee and it relieved tension in nervous students and made a friendly atmosphere among them.
It was not only a great experience for both SAS and YCU students who spent the days together but also for the students in committee. "Imagination was required during the stages of planning", "There are some improvements required to make this program even more successful, such as more accurate information exchanged between participants and cost setting", the two students commented.
