From one place to another
Todays journey has mostly consisted of traveling. But before we started off with that, we took one last goodbye to Tokyo and Japan. After visiting the Tokyo Sky tree and walking through multiple streets with all kinds of stores, we had to wave goodbye to Tokyo and Japan as we took off with the train towards Haneda Airport. We decided that us students could wander off in Tokyo while the teachers did teacher things, as long as we met at Terminal 3 at 6:00 pm (GMT + 9). To then proceed to the check in of our bags and the security check. We ran into a few issues at the check in with our bags due to Rahim brining a Wooden Katana with him for check-in. They did not like that so they sent police officers to inspect it. At the end of the check-in it went fine, just took a bit of time to get it through. From there we made plans to eat dinner at the airport, at a well known place called Mos & Cafe (see image below) where they have made burgers from traditional Japanese food such as rice buns. After dinner we went through the security and proceeded to the gate to take the roughly 13h flight from Tokyo to Helsinki. In Helsinki we had 4 hours to spare so we decided to sit down at a Café with hope that time will go faster. Fast forward in time and we land in Stockholm, check out our bags and so it ends.
Picture of the resturant we ate at in Haneda Airport
Summary and opinions about the trip
Amir: I personally found this trip very fun and educational. I learned a lot about the Japanese culture, about how their school operates, got to talk to students and get to know them and their views on certain things. So I honestly do not have any complains about this trip and I think it was a great success and it definitely changed my view on things.
Hugo: This trip was fun, educational and I feel like I developed a lot mentally from it. I'm very glad I had the opportunity to go on the trip.
Albin: It was an amazing journey, working with and hanging out with the Japanese students was such a unique thing to experience.
Robin: By far the best trip I've ever been on, I had the wonderful opportunity to both work and have fun with the Japanese students a Kosen Kagoshima. Hopefully we’ll meet again sometime soon.
Charlie: The most enlightening and fun trip I've ever had the pleasure of being apart of. Those are not the only words which come to mind of course but if I would write everything I enjoyed and cherished on and after this trip this post would be far to long to fit on the page. All in all, I loved being here and it was life changing. Definitely coming back!
Samuel: It was not only the best trip I've ever been on, but also a life changing experience. I've gotten to know some amazing people, seen amazing places and experienced some amazing things with the students from Kagoshima kosen. I have also spent some time during this trip rethinking my plans for the future, what I want to do and where. In short, one of if not the best experience I've ever had!
Mathias: Having traveled a fair bit abroad before, the main thing that set this trip apart from everywhere else I've been, has been the opportunity to get to know the people there. Kagoshima is a beautiful city, and the time there has been great, but hanging out with the students from Kagoshima Kosen is what made a truly unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Rahim: This trip has changed my view of life and how amazing Japanese people are, I would love to go back there in the future and meet the same amazing people.
Markus: This trip was a truly life changing experience. We got to learn about Japanese culture and history. We got to explore a lot of different historical places and see a lot of beautiful nature and meet a lot of students from Kagoshima Kosen. During this trip I took many beautiful photos wish ignited my interest in photography again. Hope to be back soon and be able to meet all the amazing people again and to explore the beautiful nature again.
Johan: Very interesting and positive experience, interesting to see the japanese kosen system and meet their students/teachers. I will probably go back for vacation.
Yoko: It was very interesting travel to Japan with TE4 students. Hopefully students had very nice experience and now they like Japanese culture more.
Sebastian: This was my first time in Japan and the trip exceeded my high expectations. Kagoshima Kosen is a very organised and diligent organisation and they gave us a warm welcome and full support. Working together with Japanese students and seeing the kind of life Japanese students lead at Kosen has been immensely valuable and I already know that there are things that I will bring with me into my own teaching. Kosen has a lot to offer and in a sense, I feel that NTI and NIT are "perfect partners" because we compliment each other in so many ways. Therefore, I very much look forward to a continuation of our partnership and hope that this journey -- as magnificant as it was -- is only the beginning of a much greater one to come.
So as you can see, all the participants had a positive view of this trip and had a life changing experience traveling to Japan and most of us will most likely visit here again in the near future. :)
A finishing group photo at Arlanda, Stockholm