Every summer our school welcomes a short-term study group from Hong Kong. This year’s group includes students from junior high school all the way up to university, but their unifying feature is that they all study Japanese back home.
They will only be here for a short three weeks, but we have a lot planned for them: a trip to Disneyland, a firework festival, field trips into Tokyo, and an exchange with local university students. The format will follow last year’s schedule of language classes in the morning and extracurricular activities in the afternoon. For example, a few days ago they were able to try on yukata (summer kimono). Some were shy at first, but when everyone was finished dressing they were all comfortable enough to try their hand at bon odori (a traditional dance).
This annual study program all came about thanks to one student who was enrolled in one of our long-term courses. Therefore this is personally gratifying for all of our staff, who feel as though they are successful if they help even one student fall in love with Japan.
Please enjoy your last week here. Study while you can, but be sure to go out and make the most of your time in Japan!