Japan Study Abroad Program | Day 4 | May 13

Today was another full of exploration, learning about sakana (fish), good food, and lots of ame (rain)! 

This morning, we traveled to Karato Shimonoseki Fish Market in Yamaguchi prefecture, which is only 5 minutes ferry ride from Moji Port in Kitakyushu. As we entered the fish market, we were amazed with all the new sights, sounds, and smells. After walking around the market, we were delighted to experience many new and interesting tastes while discussing some ecology of fishing, environmental issues and so on.  

After the fish market, we went to Ganryuu-Jima (island) in the middle of Kanmon Strait (in the poring rain!).  The island is known for a famous battle that is believed to have taken place in the 17th century and we felt history.  

After the ride back to Moji Port, we met with two former TCC/UKK international students, Hayata and Shimpei. They guided us to the Kyu Dairenkoro Uwaya first, which is a museum. We got to learn about Moji's history as a port city. There was information about Tacoma as a sister city and we were very proud and excited to see the very first agreement signed by both city mayors almost 60 years ago.  We also visited the Old Moji Mitusi Club, a national important cultural property where even Einstein stayed for several days during his visit to Japan.

Dinner was another interesting cultural experience; we tried horse meat, which is a delicacy in Japan. Late at night, we came back to the hostel and we joined an event, English Cafe, as cultural ambassadors and interacted with community members.  It was a great event. Thank you, Tanga Table, for the fun night! 

Here are some messages from Shimpei & Hayata to the TCC community:

"Hi, TCC! We are doing well and enjoying life in Japan. We miss our EAP instructors, Ashley & Emily, and other professors and friends we met in the U.S..  We'd like to come visit TCC someday in the near future!  We still cherish our memories and we were glad to meet with the 3 students from TCC today. Let us know if any of you will visit Kitakyushu!"

Lively finish market!

Discussion about sustainability of seafood

... and this!

Display about sister city relationship between Tacoma & Kitakyushu

English Cafe time with community members

Vocabulary : 
Sakana - Fish
Ame - Rain
Jima (or Shima) - Island

By Blake, Jason & Jonathan

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 14, 2018 at 11:55 AM

    Looks like an awesome weekend. The pictures are really great. Wish I could be there
    for the meals, the food looks incredible.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Japan Study Abroad Program | Day 6 | May 15 Today was all about geothermal energy during the fun one day excursion to Oita: We woke up really early and set off for Oita prefecture. During the 90 minutes ride, Professor Henderson gave us a lecture on geothermal energy.    When we arrived in Oita, we first went to visit the Hatchobaru Geothermal Power Plant, the largest geothermal plant in the country. The first thing you notice is the smell of sulfur! We started the tour with a short film with English subtitles which gave us comprehensive information about the geothermal power in Kyushu and other parts of the country. Afterwards, we walked with the tour group while Professor Henderson explained additional information about the plant. It was fascinating to see the facility and learn more about different type of energy that Kyushu area is providing to the communities. After the geothermal plant tour, we went to the Beppu “Hells,” where we saw a few types of boiling water an
Read more
Image
Japan Study Abroad Program | Day 2 | May 11 Ohayo, Konnichiwa, Konbanwa (depends on when you are reading this)!   Our second day started off with a meeting with the Mayor of Kitakyushu, Mr. Kitahashi, and Deputy Mayor, Mr. Umemoto, and International Policy Department staff. It was amazing; and we discussed the activities we plan on doing, including why we joined this program and future goals. We exchanged gifts, and we may be in the local news. We are so thankful for the great welcome by the city staff.  Next, we went to the University of Kitakyushu (UKK) Kitakata Campus, and met the University President, Dr. Matsuo and Vice President, Dr. Ninomiya. We were guests at a green tea ceremony (a first for most of us) in the class where international students at UKK attend to learn Japanese culture. We enjoyed meeting with students from various countries and learning about tea ceremony manners. We would like to thank Ms. Katsura who is the manager of the International Exchange
Read more
Image
Japan Study Abroad Program Blog | May 9 & 10 Hey guys! Our group is composed of two professors and three students. The professors are Shaun Henderson and Namiko Bagirimvano; and the students are Jonathan Bautista, Blake Messmer, and Jason Hindman.  For the next 12 days, we will learn about different aspects of environmental science, and we will also learn about and experience the unique culture of Kitakyushu, Japan. We have cultural and educational events and activities planned for every one of the next 12 days. May 9th, we left SeaTac at 1:50 AM and had an 11.5 hour flight to Taipei, Taiwan. We arrived in Taipei at around 4:20 AM for our three-hour layover and got to work writing this blog. We are all fairly restless and a bit light on sleep (besides Nami).  We are really excited to fly into Kitakyushu later today and to begin our adventures, including trying some new foods! By Blake, Jason & Jonathan
Read more