Post date: Aug 29, 2017 11:48:29 AM
Moving to a new home, in a different country, with different languages and culture is never an easy process, but I am really glad to have such luck in moving to a welcoming school like UWC ISAK Japan. Obviously, as it is part of the rigorous but yet invaluable UWC movement, it is expected that ISAK would deliver high standards in the form of the quality of the education, and the wide variety of extra-curricular groups and activities. However, something that really shocked me and made me feel like a part of a big family was the orientation week at ISAK. I did not expect the faculty and students to be so honest and welcoming. One example that I could throw out is how three members of our irreplaceable staff woke up early in the morning upon receiving the news that I had arrived late at night, and was requiring assistance. Soon after that, I see a few students waking up just for the sole purpose of greeting me, just imagine this mentality! The old me would never wake up just to greet someone that they have never met, but now I realize and understand the importance of a secondary family in a boarding school such as UWC, and I am glad that I was greeted in such a respectful manner.
I have previously mentioned that there was a whole week dedicated just for orientation at ISAK, and I will now take a few moments just to draw out and mention the highlights of this week. Obviously there are many highlights and it is impossible to cover all, so I'll just talk about the two most important ones.
THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN PASSES BY OUR SCHOOL
Yes! You read that right. The Emperor of Japan actually passed by our school as it was on his way. I am still in disbelief that such an extraordinary thing happened, but then again, magical moments only happen in magical places such as our beloved school. It was just him passing by our school in his car, but I really do feel like I got the full experience in terms of having a look at the emperor. He seemed really happy that we organized ourselves to the highest possible standards, and I am also really happy to have met his security team, as they were really happy, and had a lot of laughs with us.
This is the first year for ISAK to have joined the UWC movement, and I am really glad that they started off the year with a bang!
THE BUNRAKU PERFORMANCE
For those of you that don't know what it is, Bunraku is a traditional Japanese puppet theater performance. Bunraku is practiced by many professionals from around Japan, and I am glad that we, the students of ISAK, have had the privilege of watching such thing. Also, this is my first real experience of traditional Japanese culture/traditions and I genuinely enjoyed it. Japanese culture such as the traditions of Samurai and the architecture of the temples have always amazed me, and Bunraku is no exception.
NOTE: The following link leads to a powerpoint that includes pictures and videos of the events mentioned above.
https://docs.google.com/a/takatufscholars.om/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vQBtz5mcHcfMhMgh8C26oS0I7_QSmjB4SRbZzdxnDK4ZL2ruGlN4dIwbLO-Lg6xcTjwPgLH6jJbXIpp/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=5000