Events and Activities:
There were a whole bunch of out of class activities. Some were quite enjoyable and others were painfully boring. Check out some of them below. Also remember to take a look at the 2005 Schedule to get an idea of the timing.
Extracurricular Activities
- Overnight Study tour at Yachiyo Campus - This weekend trip was one of our favorite parts of the program. You get to spend a weekend with a bunch of the Japanese volunteer students at a sub-campus (camp ground) owned by HIT.
- Kendo, Judo, & Karate - We had an opportunity to practice with each of these clubs. They taught us the basics, and we all had fun. (Of course, not speaking the language made it somewhat difficult to figure out exactly what you were doing wrong.)
Cultural Programs
- Day trip to Hiroshima city (Gembaku Domu, Gardens, Hiroshima Castle) - This was the first Saturday after our arrival. First we went to see the site where the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. After spending the morning going through the museum, we were taken to a small garden in the middle of downtown Hiroshima. It was beautiful. After that we went to Hiroshima Castle. The castle has an impressive collection of samurai artifacts.
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Baseball game - We went to a Carps game one Friday. I have to say, baseball in Japan is nothing like in the U.S. The spectator involvement level was amazing. You'll definitely enjoy this activity.
- Hatsukaichi Community Center (A Bomb Survivor) - We got to hear the story of a woman who had been in the womb when the A-bomb went off. She really impressed me; not the least because she had memorized her entire speech in English. (She didn't actually speak English.)
- Tea Ceremony - Interesting, though I really recommend practicing seiza (formal style of sitting) first. The pain in our knees somewhat detracted from an otherwise interesting experience. (Just as a note: This event will break whatever assumptions you had about tea ceremony, as practiced today.)
- Ikebana (Flower arrangement) - We were basically just given some flowers and told to go at it. I didn't learn too much, but hey it was reasonably fun.
- Kimono - Only the girls got a chance to wear them unfortunately.
- Ninja - Honestly, we all slept through this. It sounded interesting, but the presentation style was anything but.
Company Visits
The company visits were quite interesting. These were probably the most useful (from an engineering perspective) events we attended. It was interesting getting a chance to see the inside of a Japanese manufacturing plant.
- Otafuku Sauce
- Mazda
Visits to Research Labs
Honestly, this was the low-light of the program. I latter learned that this was demanded by IPENG, but I think every one of us wished they hadn't.
- Professor Hashizume's Lab - Hashizume-sensei lectured on some topic that I don't even remember. People who were MEs found this lecture somewhat interesting, but it was so far over my head, I quickly lost track.
- Associate Professor Horibe - Horibe-sensei talked to us about the difficultly of teaching English in Japan. His talk was actually quite interesting. This was the one talk that was actually worthwhile.
- Professor Ozaki's Lab - Ozaki-sensei showed us the inner working of a lighter. I suppose I learned a fair amount, but it was not the most interesting hour I have ever spent.
Research Program
Supposedly, the research program gave each of us a chance to conduct a small amount of real research with a Japanese professor. In reality though, it was no where near that useful. I think we were all somewhat torn on what to think of the research program. I don't think we got much out of it from the research side of things, but it was nice to get away from the group and have a chance to immerse ourselves in Japanese culture.
The real issue with the research, for me at least, was that only the professor spoke enough English for me to understand. I could make myself understood with one of graduate students, but only with much effort. As a result, the project I was working on had to be something entirely separate from their regular work. I was assigned a worthless project which was made up just for me. Overall, it just a waste of time, although having a chance to interact with native speakers without the fall back of being able to speak English was quite educational.