At Hakata, we found an udon stall that would sell us steaming bowls of udon on the cold platform -- we bought tickets from the vending machine next to the stand, handed the tickets to the women working in it, and they handed us a bowl of udon noodles in hot soup. Since there were no seats, we ate next to the Japanese salarymen, standing at the counter around the stall.
After another long train ride from Hakata to Nagasaki, we arrived around 2:00 PM. At the station was Sergio Mazzarelli, an English instructor at Kwassui University. Hurley Sensei and Dr. Mazzarelli had run an online video and messaging exchange program, in which these Wilcox students and the Kwassui University students described aspects of their hometown or Santa Clara culture. You can see Dr. Mazzarelli's webpage for this project here. After this exchange, we were excited to meet our online foreign exchange friends in person.
By this time rain was falling through the cold Nagasaki air, so we brought out our umbrellas and sprinted from the train station to the Kwassui University bus waiting a block or so away.
The trip up to Kwassui University showed Nagasaki to be another Japanese modern, vibrant city. Kwassui was founded 130 years ago by an American Protestant woman who wanted to provide Japanese women with an opportunity to receive an education. Thus, the school looks similar to a university that might be on the east coast of the United States -- lovely, decorated cream-colored exterior walls with lots of old trees around it. The students were all fashionable young Japanese women, who turned to look at this big group of American kids as we hung out in their common room.
Dr. Mazzarelli took us on a tour around the Kwassui University campus, a beautiful place with the highlight a lovely wooden chapel with an organ from Europe and an elegant, dark-wood lecturn carved by students a hundred years ago.
Our tour ended in Dr. Mazzarelli's classroom, where his college-level English students had set out some hospitable refreshments and were playing soft, lively pop music from a small stereo.
We spent some time speaking with these students, whose English was quite good, talking about the Nagasaki area and getting recommendations for restaurants and site-seeing locations.
You can view Kwassui University's news page about our meeting here. Around 6:00, we said goodbye to our new friends and headed across town to Kwassui High School, where we would meet our homestay families. When we arrived, Hirao Sensei, the Kwassui High School teacher managing the homestays on the Japanese side, called out lists of paired names. With some squeals of delight, the students excitedly introduced themselves to their homestay families, and headed off for the evening.
The trip up to Kwassui University showed Nagasaki to be another Japanese modern, vibrant city. Kwassui was founded 130 years ago by an American Protestant woman who wanted to provide Japanese women with an opportunity to receive an education. Thus, the school looks similar to a university that might be on the east coast of the United States -- lovely, decorated cream-colored exterior walls with lots of old trees around it. The students were all fashionable young Japanese women, who turned to look at this big group of American kids as we hung out in their common room.
Dr. Mazzarelli took us on a tour around the Kwassui University campus, a beautiful place with the highlight a lovely wooden chapel with an organ from Europe and an elegant, dark-wood lecturn carved by students a hundred years ago.
Our tour ended in Dr. Mazzarelli's classroom, where his college-level English students had set out some hospitable refreshments and were playing soft, lively pop music from a small stereo.
We spent some time speaking with these students, whose English was quite good, talking about the Nagasaki area and getting recommendations for restaurants and site-seeing locations.
You can view Kwassui University's news page about our meeting here. Around 6:00, we said goodbye to our new friends and headed across town to Kwassui High School, where we would meet our homestay families. When we arrived, Hirao Sensei, the Kwassui High School teacher managing the homestays on the Japanese side, called out lists of paired names. With some squeals of delight, the students excitedly introduced themselves to their homestay families, and headed off for the evening.
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