After explaining about what is CoFesta Foreign Student Ambassador on my recent post (you can find it here : http://irzed.blogspot.jp/2012/10/cofesta-foreign-student-ambassador.html)
In this post, i want to tell about one of the step i need to take in order to be qualified and be choosen as the foreign student ambassador; the orientation.
The orientation was held on 18th of October 2012 (Thursday) at Nihon Seinenkan Hotel (日本青年館ホテル) which is located in the heart of Shinjuku, Tokyo. The orientation took place at the hotel's conference room. From the email i received from the CoFesta committee, he told me that the meeting place will be at the exit gate no.3 at the nearest train station which is gaienmae (外苑前) and there will be a person-in-charge waiting for us to lead the way to the hotel.
Unfortunately, when i arrived at the meeting placed mentioned, there was no one that look alike one of the CoFesta committee ; which is in my thinking should be wearing a nice formal black suit. In doubt of searching the person-in-charge, i caught a glimpse of a young lady leaning against a coffee shop wall waiting for someone. I can definitely said that she is a foreigner and she looks like a university student (can guessed that from the young look on her face). Immediately, i felt that she also one of the applicant for CoFesta Foreign Student Ambassador and for sure waiting for the person-in-charge mentioned. Without any hesitation, with the courage gathered, i greeted her and we started a conversation. As i guessed, she is also one of CoFesta applicants and she is from Philippines. Now 2nd year student studying in Takushoku University in Tokyo. As we talked, they were some others foreigner student that saw us and joined in the conversation. Luckily, one of us know the place & without any further a due, we move forward to the hotel mentioned.
As we arrived at the Nihon Seinenkan Hotel, we were given our own name-tag that was already filled in with our own name & country. We were divided into groups of 5 to 7 person. As we gathered in our respective group, we started our ice-breaking session (自己紹介). Well, everything have a start right. This was our start, a start of a friendship's bond was formed. We introduced a brief about ourself such as name, country, studying in what university, in what course, how long have been here in Japan & etc. Here's a little bit about my group :
As we arrived at the Nihon Seinenkan Hotel, we were given our own name-tag that was already filled in with our own name & country. We were divided into groups of 5 to 7 person. As we gathered in our respective group, we started our ice-breaking session (自己紹介). Well, everything have a start right. This was our start, a start of a friendship's bond was formed. We introduced a brief about ourself such as name, country, studying in what university, in what course, how long have been here in Japan & etc. Here's a little bit about my group :
1. me
2. a Philippine's lady studying in Takushoku University (the one i met before)
3. An indian (from New Delhi) guy studying in Tokyo University, phD final year.
Have been in Japan for about 8 years
4. A Chinese guy from the mainland of China studying in Tokyo University.
Master Degree 2nd year in biological science faculty. Been in Japan for about 6 years
5. A chinese Malaysian lady studying in Waseda University. 3rd year degree (same as me).
Been in Japan for 4 years
6. A Korean lady currently studying in Keio University. Same 3rd year degree student.
That's it for my group. I'm in a genius group! For those who know a little bit about Japan especially about education/university in Japan, you will know what i meant. 2 applicants from Tokyo University (known as Todai) : currently no.30 in the world university rankings & the best university in Asia. Source : http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-12/world-ranking
While the others : Waseda & Keio University are the top university in Japan. That only left me (which is currently studying in Tokai University) and the girl from Philippines. But still, i respect her because of her japanese language. To my shock, she just arrived here in Japan during June 2012 (if i'm not mistaken) but her japanese pronunciation is much better than me. Honestly speaking! I need to strive harder!
For the activities, most of it were a group-work. Meaning, they give a title & we need to discuss it in our group. For example, in our first task, we were given a chance to promote our country to our group members. So, the only thing we had to do was to think about the best and something that can be proud of about our country & describe it in our respective group. Starting with the Chinese guy and followed round till the Philippines lady, most of them talked about food ; special dish from their homeland. I was thinking that i gonna present something unique & special ; thus i presented about the multi-ethnic in Malaysia (多民族国家). But, the time limit given (only 6 minutes) made it hard for me to describe in detail & to make them fascinated about my presentation. Presentation that drew the most attention from all of us was given by the Chinese Malaysian. She presented about Sunway Pyramid. Yeah...just a simple topic right? But, the way she presented it....the uniqueness of the Sunway Pyramid building, the complete & high class facilities of the mall plus the water theme park just beside the mall. Never mind, still a Malaysian....well done!
The hardest activity for me was the acting. Since the main purpose of this CoFesta Foreign Student Ambassador is to promote Japanese Contents for them to enter global market. Thus, in the last activitiy, we need to act in a pair. The situation : A buyer coming to an event that promote Japanese Contents, so the event promoter or ourself : Student Ambassador need to approach the buyer and try to make a conversation. Asking their opinion about the event and at the same time, we need to learn the buyer's taste for him/her to bring the Japanese Contents to bring his/her respective country. We need to give idea from our own point of view too. So, the activity need one person act as a buyer & the other act as a event promoter. I acted as the event promoter. No need to elaborate here....as you can guessed. It was suck.
Well, that's the story for my CoFesta Orientation. The event finished at 9.30 in the night. I had soo much fun that night. Other than i can make a new friends globally, i can learn from them a lot. Especially regarding their idea and way of thinking. No wonder they are in a top university...the big difference gap of way of thinking proved it all. Still, i'm very lucky because i had the opportunity to join in such event. & i should say proudly : I LOVE IT! Thanks for the great experiences. Looking forward for the next event.
With that, I end this post with a bunch of gratitude, thanks for reading. See you again in next post.
Well, that's the story for my CoFesta Orientation. The event finished at 9.30 in the night. I had soo much fun that night. Other than i can make a new friends globally, i can learn from them a lot. Especially regarding their idea and way of thinking. No wonder they are in a top university...the big difference gap of way of thinking proved it all. Still, i'm very lucky because i had the opportunity to join in such event. & i should say proudly : I LOVE IT! Thanks for the great experiences. Looking forward for the next event.
With that, I end this post with a bunch of gratitude, thanks for reading. See you again in next post.
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