How much we enjoy the English class for the youth at Meguro

Participants: 33 students and adults from 7 nations (Japan, Yemen, Korea, Taiwan, China, Nepal, and Czech), 6 advisors and UNESCO School instructors, and 6 UNESCO School students for a total of 45 participants

First Day:　Leaving Meguro at 7:30 in the morning, the bus ride to Nagano was smooth, arriving at our destination at noon, pretty much according to our plan.　After having lunch, the opening ceremony, including national flag presentation and self-introduction took place.　As ice-breaking activities, sporting events such as finding a person matching the description written on a piece of paper, 4-legged race of threesome, soccer, badminton, etc. were held.　

Second Day:　At 6:30am, a little over 10 people participated in the radio exercise and some people took morning walks in the woods.　After breakfast, Takayuki Hashinaga gave a presentation on UNESCO.　His illustrations were well received.　From 9:00am, we broke into 6 groups for debate sessions.　We took time off for lunch and continued until 3:00pm.　At 3:30pm, Mr. Hirata, the vice president of our organization, gave a lecture on globalization.　 He included simple explanations to induce interest in the subject matter.

At night, we enjoyed a campfire and fireworks.　As in previous years, a lighting ceremony was conducted by the "God of Fire", Mr. Tajima, our advisor.　Each group presented a program and we ended the evening with the campfire dance.　6 middle school students from UNESCO School, ex-superintendent's grandson, Hiroki Kobayashi, and his friends joined in for a wonderful evening of fun and laughter.

Third Day:　In the morning participants gave talks about their country, wrote messages on the flags for exchange, took group photos, had lunch and departed at 1:30pm.　We returned to Nakameguro at 7:00pm and disbanded.

Perhaps due to a small number of participants this year, overall the activities were well organized.　The leader and staff deserve a big applause for their efforts.　(It had been the first time for some of the staff)　The debate session, organized for the first time was a good program involving everyone.　We were fortunate with the weather during the retreat (although we could not see any stars), and with no major problems, it was a successful retreat.

This summer, for my first summer vacation trip after I came to Japan, I joined the 14th International Friendship Youth Retreat held on the theme, "Let's make another best friend in the world".

With a trip, it is important where to go, but much of the fun of trip depends on who you go with. So I joined, with hope, this Retreat which enabled me to go on a trip with friends about the same age from many countries. On the first day, we gathered at a meeting place and got on a bus. At the beginning, we didn't know each other well, and I was too nervous to talk because my Japanese was not good. So I worried how on earth to spend 3 days with 2 nights stay. But while I was on the bus, the load was taken off. As we spent time together on

the bus and playing sports, the ice began to break and we came to talk a lot, as if we were long-time friends.

On the debate of the second day, though I tried to talk about what I wanted to say in a foreign language, it was hard for me to do it well. But I could finish it successfully (?) because everybody gently helped me out. After that, at a campfire, I had plenty of fun and a sense of achievement in having accomplished many things with them.

On the last of the third day, we answered a questionnaire on this Retreat. And there was a question on it as follows; "Is there anyone who is likely to be your friend over here?" A friend will be made as a result of sharing and accumulating memories for a long time. So I couldn't say they had already been my friends. But if they say "likely-to-be-friends", of course, everybody is. So I wrote "yes". I will make an effort to realize the theme, "Let's make another best friend in the world” with friends I’ve met during this Retreat.

next Page