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Summer School Program 2015:Visiting Gujo City

Twenty-two summer school students visited Gujo City to participate in Gujo Program organized by Gujo Hachiman International Friendship Association (GIFA) from July 10 to 13. They were escorted by Dr. Toyohide Takeuchi, Director of International Student Center, Professor Koichi Morita and Associate Professor Momoko Tsuchiya of the Center.

The Gujo Program is an annual event and has been implemented for the past 19 years through kind cooperation and assistance from the members of GIFA. This year marks the 20th anniversary since the start of the Program.
On the first day of the Program, the students experienced a tea ceremony and later attended an exchange meeting with the pupils of Hachiman Elementary School. The students were also given an opportunity to join the sessions of Japanese towel dyeing and Gujo Odori dancing practice.
On the second day, many experience-oriented activities were offered to the students including a Japanese penmanship and a Kendo practice. All the students were thrilled to take part in these unique activities and fully enjoyed every moment of the Program. Among others, those who joined the Japanese penmanship had a chance to decide their favorite Chinese characters beforehand. They practiced harder for about an hour under the guidance of an instructor.

In Kendo practice, members of Kendo Club at Gujo Senior High School were kind enough to teach the students how to wear a set of protections for the face, the wrists and the body. The students worked so hard that they were soaked with sweat at the end of the session.
In the evening of the first day, a welcome party was held for the first face-to-face interaction between the summer school students and their host families. While lively conversations are going on, the students sang songs and introduced the cultures of their home countries. The party was filled with fun and joy from the beginning to the end.

The summer school students stayed at their host family's houses from the afternoon of July 11 to the morning of July 13. For every student, an encounter and an exchange with their host family are one of the most memorable events in the Program.


At a tea ceremony
With the pupils of Hachiman Elementary School
Gujo Odori Dancing practice
Japanese towel dying practice
Welcome Party - greeted by Shinto dance and music
Japanese penmanship
Wearing Kendo protections