CCT Camp 2017

Feedbacks

By Jinsagee Prakij (GEE) from Thailand

First of all I would like to thank sensei(s) for creating this program and allowing me to participate as well as Vietnam team who had been working hard throughout the program.
Cross Culture Training Exercise was placed just right in the first two days. Getting to know one another is the very first step to create friendship and connection. The exercise played an important role as ice-breaking sessions; breaking the walls of one another. It took me out of my comfort zone to socialize with other participants and made friends with them whom later became parts of my comfort zone. I personally like the ‘who does…’ game where we were given the paper sheet that has random personal information and supposed to find the right persons who match with the information because I simply won the price… (I am kidding haha). Actually it was because I basically had to talk to everyone to find out who match the information and learned the facts about them at the same time. For example, I remember Ti as the boy who loves spider, Daisuke sensei as a person who was born in March, Sayaka chan whose house has no TV and Hiromi who can speak three languages. Moreover, I got impressed on how everyone helped one another and shared the information. Another game that I like was the ‘card’ game. It well demonstrated the differences of cultures in different societies as well as showed us how necessary it is to understand other’s cultures and blend in in order to survive just like the proverb ‘When in Rome do as the Romans do’, and more significantly like us who came from different countries to learn and share our cultures together. The Alpha-beta village game came with the same concept but harder to understand since it has more details and requires a lot of observations. Besides the ‘who does…’ game, I like the time that we waited for something and everyone came up with the games he/she knows from his/her country to kill the time. The bamboo game was my favorite among those games since we made it special for our program, changing the song to “Takoyaki Takoyaki ii…” that we later played randomly during the program. The highlight of Cross Culture Training Exercise, with no surprise, was Talent Show where each country presented their selected cultures that had been prepared before coming to Vietnam. Traditional dresses and shows always get my attention. To make this session better, I suggest putting more games into the session since there were a lot of time gaps that we had nothing to do. Furthermore, having the name tag would be an advantage in this session (not all the time during the program). It would help participants to remember the correct names with correct pronunciation of the others’. Last but not least, the activities that use much energy like learning Siva dance should be on the first day so that we would not be too tired for the next day that we needed to get up early in order to change hotel, after the talent show that we used a lot of energy and went to bed late.

CCT 2017 Tour in Vietnam is amazing and serves its purpose as to bring students from Asia to expand their understandings of other culture and to bring up the future leader personnel as well as its slogan YOU&ME SHARING THE WORLD. Due to the program’s purpose and practices there was neither serious hierarchy nor competition which makes it easier to get along with others. After Cross Culture Training Exercise, I got to travel Central Vietnam with new friends. Each day has different activities for us to enjoy. With luxury accommodations and meals, the trip was even more enjoyable. I honestly ate better than my usual routine life back home. The program fee we paid was so little compares to what we got. More importantly we got what money cannot buy, the thing called “friendship”. The period of the program was long enough to let everyone knows and to be known by others. From my experience joining programs aboard it is almost impossible to know or get to talk to every single one in the program whether because it has too many participants, the program does not encourage much about it or the time is too short. Therefore, I am extremely impressed how I got to know everyone in the program and can actually remember all of their names even though I am very bad at it. I personally like the changing roommate strategy. The participants will not have the same roommates or the roommates with the same nationality which adds more option to interact with others even when it is in free time. During the program, we went through bad and mostly good times together making memory for the lifetime. I am grateful to know that I have friends around the world whom I shared wonderful moments with. The memory and friendship I got from this program will always be cherished in my heart… until we meet again. I have three suggestions for future CCT programs. First, the time of promoting the program (at least in Thailand) was too short (about 2 weeks before departure) that could not reach as many people as it could have. Moreover, it provided very short time to decide whether to join the program. Many of the people who are interested in this program could not join because they already had something to do in the same time as the program held (in my university case was Chula Expo) and many more decided not to join because it was such a rush that they did not have time to prepare. Therefore, it would attract more various people to join the program if you can promote it earlier. Second, sometimes I felt like the place we went were too touristy such as the place where we played what the tour guide called ‘traditional games’ and the souvenir shops that cost twice a price of what it supposed to be. Moreover, sometimes the tour guide was taking the leader jobs that supposed to be Vietnamese fellows’, making it confusing on whom to listen to. If these things can be changed, it surely would be better. The final suggestion is that to make and send a clear detailed schedule before the program starts especially suggestions on what to wear for the activities of each day. It was such a pain to see friends wearing clothes or shoes that were not suitable for the activities and could not enjoy the activities to the fullest.

Chotirot Suksangvoravong (Dear)

THAILAND

11-20 March 21, 2017

Spending special moment for ten days in Cross Cultural training (CCT) program or Sing out Asia 2017(SOA) was considered my most valuable time I have ever had. I had a chance to become an effective bridge connecting my country and others. I believe that cultures can be shared by human, thus to give and to take is the first and foremost thing I received from the SOA cross culture training program. First of all, I admitted that it might have been without any fun if the first three days of cross cultural training did not involve these three professors -all my beloved Sensei.(Hatano, Daisuke and Hirakawa Sensei) I’ve realized that every activity and game in Sensei’s lesson remind us about various aspects of culture. For example, one game’s rule was we weren’t allowed to speak to or use verbal language to communicate with others. I believe this game was to urge us to communicate by using body languages and eyes contact which contributed a fruitful observation skill. Besides, this skill led us to find the ways to take care of each other without asking or speaking out any words. Consequently, in my opinion, speaking different languages is not an obstacle to communicate and take care of each other at all. One important reason is that we can express our kind hearts through actions and words as the famous saying that “Actions speak louder than words”. For example, I saw my Japanese friends and sensei suffering from sunburns, then I realized that they might haven’t been familiar with the hot weather in Vietnam. So, the following day I shared my sunblock lotion with them. I think this is the same idea I have learnt which is to have faith; as a friend and one of family members, we should notice and help each other as well as make other members feel warm and welcomed. We should notice the way they have changed, before and after. Another activity that I like was the activity card that we had to separate into five groups. Different groups received different rules which would be respected by all members to become the winner. The member who collected the most cards would win the game. Both winner and loser of the group needed to change to different group with different rule. We weren’t allowed to speak and explained the rule of the group we switched to by words. The new group had to help the new member using non-verbal languages and even, the new members had to rescue themselves through observation. This game reminded me the famous saying that “When in Rome do as romans do” which we should be adaptable to the changing environment to survive. Moreover, this game taught me to respect others’ cultures and learn to teach new coming person to understand our culture as well. I believe that the reason we follow others’ culture rules is not because their cultures are better than ours, but we respect locals’ belief and try to understand the meaning of each culture and how noteworthy each culture is to their people. Therefore, taking part in this cross culture training program provided by Sensei highlighted my belief that cultures are really like BLOOD, even they are different but they can be shared. Even though the cross cultural training ended, our family’s journey has just begun. We travelled to many places together while in Vietnam where we got to know each other more and more. We became to know ourselves better as well. Traveling is not only the time to relax, but also the time to learn and get closer with each other progressively more. I felt really appreciated for the contribution that sensei gave us. We had a really good time, worth connection seeing that the friendship never ends. Additionally, if people ask me how Asian community will be successful, I will strongly confirm them that it starts from the connection of a little tiny cog like what all sensei have been running this program for at least 10 years. These pieces of little tiny cog will grow up to be a wood and then a forest, when the time has passed. I will never forget things that this program gave me, if I have a chance I will do my best returning as much as I can to this program. This is the message to Sensei who is reading this reflection, if you have anything to ask me for a favor in Thailand or foreign countries, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I am more than welcome to help you. During the program we went crazy together. I think when people show who they really are, it means that they trust and consider that it is safe to show their identities. That was the reason why we had so much fun; we sang together, we said thank you and apologized when we did something wrong as well as we forgave each other easily. One thing that clearly stands out is that Vietnam may be just a normal place for me, unless I joined this program. Taking part in this program made me realize how important many places are as our Vietnamese friends were really awesome tour guide at that time providing us each place’s information with a good speech. That’s why Vietnam fulfills my happy memories and become a more special place for me. This program consists of 4 different lovely countries which are Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand. We absorbed each different culture from inside which I believe is the best way to understand cultures. Everyone opened their own minds destroying the wall in the hearts to exchange culture, even in the hardest topic, discussing a religion. For instance, Indonesian people tried their best making us understand correctly about Islam. Moreover it’s crystal clear that different cultures never ever be a problem for us becoming friends. Talking every morning, every day and night, every breakfast, every meal and dinner opened the door of our hearts. I became a person who respect the time more because of punctuality of Japanese friends. I have realized that three minutes late is considered not on time! Moreover, our Indonesian friends can’t eat pork according to Islamic religion rule and regulation. Therefore, we always helped check every diet on the table. All unforgettable experiences taught me that although we are different in the way we dress, the color of our hair or skin, we never distinguish each other by those appearances because we have one thing in common; our bonding heart. CCT program also increases potential of the youth who have a dream and want to show their talent. In short time, it is the perfect public sphere to augment our incredible skills. I had an incidentally chance becoming a master of ceremonies in the pop up night farewell for friends who had to leave before the project ended. I realized that people had fun because of my sound and enthusiasm. It was really unforgettable night for me and my friends. Furthermore, in the farewell party I received an honor to play piano in the song of “We are unity” which was composed by Laos student a long time ago. I was a little nervous because I never saw the piano’s score before, I realized that I couldn’t do it on my own. However I paired up with Tomoya, one of my lovely Japanese friends and it was really worthwhile moment I have ever had. Music is like a culture that can be shared. That was why even though we never practiced together and we studied piano from different countries, we ended up playing together beautifully. I believed that it was a great combination and the resulted came out to be awesome. A little suggestion for making our beloved CCT program better in the future is I think that we should have more time to practice the “we are unity” song because it’s important for everyone to be able to sing and remember every lyrics as much as possible. Everything else is already good because of the changeable atmosphere of the program which depends on the participants’ identities. That makes every CCT program unique in its own way. Lastly, even though the time forced us to be apart leading my heart to feel shaken, every of my teardrops were worth for every moment I have spent. It was a pleasure to know you and new friends. Thanks to everyone, Thanks to all my special Sensei.

MY INCREDIBLE CCT in Vietnam 2017

By Pop Apichaya : Thailand

"11-20 March 2017" all moments leave footprints in my heart. I wish this CCT would never end. I am proud that I became a little part of lovely SOA family. I got happiness overload, nice friends, tasty meals, and awesome experiences in Vietnam. I realized that there is nothing on this earth to be prized than true and crazy friends. I can't measure how much I appreciate you all for made our CCT happened. Thank you very much, Sensei and lovely Vietnamese friends for taking good care of us. Nonetheless, I am so sorry that we were so crazy and made you worked harder. We just wanted everybody laugh louder together. The first 2 day of CCT allowed us to realized how important of communication, observation, and punctuality. Most of activities did not allow us to talk, however we still understand each other. It means the language of friendship is not words, it’s all about meaning, feeling, and acting. Moreover, the numeric pointing game, the color magic game and pictures in the envelope game led me know that we could do lot of thing and appreciate own self power, we have more abilities more than we know. Keys are analysis and pay attention to surroundings in details. Besides, I got more understanding about diversity of people from the village studies activity and the rotatable cards game, that game drove me crazy because I lost twice and did not notice any changes, such a shame. I have learned that I should care and follow the rules of other society because sometimes trust in your ego doesn’t work. In addition, I decreased my language barrier and improved my communication skills as well. Everyone was so nice, funny, active and open-minded. Even I have strong Thai accent and my English skill is far from fluent, but they tried to understand and talk to me. At that time, there was no room for silence. I now feel comfortable approaching and form new friendships. Lastly, we shared experiences and life stories. My friends are eager to learn and teach me about their places. So, I have learned different cultures, languages and religious background. I knew about their countries more than what news told me. It was very interesting to know how they feel and think. Especially, Siva dance and talent shows, it was so great and memorable. CCT changed my perception of life, broke stereotypes and shaped part of my character (turn to be crazier). I will adapt all lessons to my daily life, my future goals, and share good vibes from CCT with surrounding people. Afterwards, the road trip began. It is the opportunity to do and see things I could never dreamed of. Oh my Goodness! I fell in love with Vietnam. I also love how Vietnamese friends introduced the information about the places during the trip. Càm ón! It was so much fun to become and learn how to be a local in another culture. I was really joy coconut forest where is ecological area and boundless space of water. Besides, I was impressed in Hoi An, the town is so unique and colorful. I would love to ride the soggy speed boat and play beach Volleyball on Cham Island with you all again as well. Furthermore, I had a blast staying in the hotels that this CCT provided. It was so excellent and convenient. Travelling has given me more wanderlust. It changed my goal, I am looking forward to be in a career that allows me to work anywhere in the world. Throughout CCT I have learnt more about the world around me and myself than I ever could have in a classroom. I would proudly recommend time abroad with SOA to absolutely everybody, as I gain lifelong friendships, precious memories, and knowledge to last a lifetime. All of experiences from CCT will be my personal charger. Whenever I feel down, I am sure that our memories flashback will cure and make me smile. Importantly, I have got reliable friends who can fix my broken smiles. We share a strong bond of friendship, even now we occasionally talk and don’t meet, but our love still remains the same. Thanks social networks to allow me stalk you guys. I hope that the universe will be kind enough to cross our paths once more. I can’t wait to make more amazing memories and sing out Asia together again. Last but not least, the suggestions for the future CCT program, I would love to suggest some activities, for instance, “Fun Punishments” set up some dance or something else for people who don’t be on time or don’t follow the rules. “Sugar Cubes” is the activities that allow participants to write down the messages about feeling towards somebody during the camp, then put the letter in the envelope of each person. We will take our own envelope at the end of the camp. It would be the great souvenir that full of memories and touching words. “Global Village” it is kind of talent show, but adding some academic presentation or speech from the native people. “Rally or Relay games” make some mission during the tour days, e.g. the best selfie/wefie award with the place, or asking some questions about each place. It might urge us to pay more attention to sightseeing places. “Buddy & Budder” It is kind of secret Santa. We will draw someone name from a hat, then each person will secretly taking care of the picked person along the trip. Then giving the answer and revealed at the end of the trip. The goal is just sharing and be more sympathetic to people. However, in my opinion the atmosphere of CCT 2017 was impressible, familiar and relaxed. It was informal activities that made us break the ice, also feel free to share our thoughts and feelings together. That is to say, I had a journey of self-discovery and visit remarkable places that filled with unforgettable memories.With all my heart, Pop Apichaya.

REPORT OF MY TRIP CROSS-CULTURE TRAINING 2017 IN VIETNAM by SING OUT ASIA

By Ayu Puspa Maharani

It was my first time I joined a cultural exchange program. And the first time I also know the program of Sing Out Asia from my friend who got me interested to join. The first thing on my mind related to this cultural exchange is that we really are given a science culture in the area. And right! CCT in vietnam in 2017 by Sing Out Asia I got a lot of science and a changes my self. Especially for the new family. They gave a good impact for me and the future, where I found a variety of diverse cultures, characters, language from each other. CCT In Vietnam in 2017, I met a new friends which from Thailand, Vietnam and Japan. We has around 28 people. In CCT 2017 Sing Out Asia, i learned a lot how about people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavour to communicate across cultures to me. They were teached me everything even my english isn't good well but they were always understand what i mean. What can be difficult, however is understanding how to communicate effectively with individuals who speak another language, or who rely on different means to reach a common goal. I was hesitant to join the program because I know I'm not as limitations speak more friends. But they always understand what I said, they always give a suport to me when i was there until now. When the first day I arrived in Danang, Vietnam I and other Indonesian friends immediately warmly greeted by friends from Vietnam and Thailand. At the time, friends from Japan are still on the way to Danang. We converse-talk and introduce ourselves to one another. Initially I still can not talk a lot but because all of them friends who are so nice and friendly they finally start a conversation that maybe I will always remember until now. On the first day they've been able to made me feel comfortable close to them and can made me laugh. On the morning of first day, I met with other Japanese friends. They also have a good personality and friendly, and they are the ones who always give funny jokes and other crazy ideas. During the 2017 CCT activities in Vietnam, I get a lot of new knowledge and related sciences team buliding, manage time well and most importantly made me understand how precious time is wasted if we do not come on time. And taught me many things. During the activity, I began to be able to communicate with them to start talking first. On day three, I and other friends had the opportunity to learned Siva Dance which is a local dance in Vietnam. It is not easy to be able to dance well, but now I understood what is the meaning of Siva dance. And on the third day too, I really could find out the names of them all, although there are one or two people that I always forget to mention his name. On the fourth day, we visited one temple named Sanctuaire de My son. It is one of the hills there are many temple could be found there. It is located between the city of Danang and Hoi Anh. There I got a lot of knowledge about the temple. And again, I did my best to captured images there. Although the location of his temple is located far from the entrance, but we enjoyed every hike we've been through. And the air so quite hot there, that's why we always bring mineral water for our inventory over there. After we enjoyed the beauty of the temple at the Sanctuaire de My son, it was a lunch time and we had to lunch at a restaurant that is located above the lake, they called Floating Restaurant and I really enjoyed the meal there. In the fifth and sixth day, we spend the time in the town of Hoi Anh. I went to learn how to fish with the fishermen there. As well as see the attraction of the fishermen using a unique lifeboat in Coconut Forest. Hoi Anh is a great town, lots of interesting stories while was there, we visited town contained a historic temple. When night comes, the city was getting crowded there are a lot of tourists who arrived there. We surrounded and searched the food street in Hoi Anh. On the seventh day, we went to one of the beautiful island named Pulau Champ. The island was really like a private island just for our SOA 2017. Many stories and memories that we've been through there. It was like do not want to leave the island. Having a clean white sand, clear waters and beautiful hill views. And our seafood serve really delicious on the beach. It was an amazing day. And the next day, we went to a temple in the city of Danang. The temple was an icon of the city of Danang named Daon Son Tra Danang. The shaped is like a goddess who was praying. There, the Budhist can pray and give a homage to their God.For ten days goes CCT 2017 activity in Danang, I visited many places that have a lot of history in Vietnam. There's a lot of lessons, I became aware culture in Vietnam. And especially, to places so beautiful I captured and keep the best photos I spend there. Many new people that I met when i was there, talking to new people is the one thing that made me more confident in expressing my english speaking ability. During the trip, we talked about each other. Made me more comfortable with them. We came to know one another during the trip. Here I am too, I can tell which is actually a friend when we need. And I am very proud to have friends from different cultures with me, but they have a heart of wisdom. And here I realized that it was true meaning of friendship. I also meet the poeples who guided us very well. They have a kind heart, always thinking of our situation at that time. Hatano sensei, Yahiro sensei, and Daisuke sensei are the one who made me more comfortable with this trip. I talked a lot with them, I was always happy where at meal time I could be in one table with them for some reason I just love it. Other friends who also give their personal experiences, shared stories as well as stories in their respective countries. Moreover, I can give a positive view of the country related to Indonesia where I live. Because my goal was to follow this program I want to share the culture that we have and also I would like to know more about another culture from other countries because it is a rare thing for me to be able to follow this program.I am very grateful to be able to met with people who have a positive outlook, a good impact for me. I can't say anything that how happy i am that i've decide to join this program for my life. So proud to had a chance to be representative from Indonesia to join this Cross Culture Training 2017 by Sing Out Asia in Vietnam. Every moments that we spend, every conversation that we shared it makes me more believe that all people who i met in CCT 2017 are the niciest person that i ever met. I would say thank you, Arigatto for sensei for establishing us in SOA. I met new great peoples, i sang a song together with them, i ate a lot, i laughed louder, i cried so hard when the time forces us to be apart. I have my best experience here, it's really my best experience in my life no matrer what. I thank to my God that he gave me a chance to meet all of you who caring me so tight. I will always keep all the memories that we spend inside my heart. I hope my report can make me always remind of all you. Thank you Best Regards,-Ayu Puspa Maharani-

About CCT 2017 Tour in Vietnam

My report is divided into three main sections:Firstly, I will talk about my impressions of Cross Cultural Training Exercise.There are a lot of interesting activities on these days such as games, interviewing, singing, dancing and so on. About games, I like playing pokers; silent walking; open or close; circle game. They are so exciting, but I still don’t know how to play some games such as society game; being a couple and finding the way to join a traditional festival; the broom game. I also love sitting in circle, closing eyes and exchanging the most important things or talking together. I feel warm and understand everybody more. The interviews on papers have many questions. I must find many people to finish them. They’re really interesting. I remember the test which has many requests inside. I read and tried to finish those requests. But when I looked around, I saw many people finished it already. I said “What!!!” in my head. I wondered why everybody could finish it quickly. And I looked at Daichan (I call Daisuke like that) and Mẫn. They only smiled. After that, Mẫn pointed at the last request “If you finish the request 2 and 3, no need to do the rest”. “Oh my goodness!!!”, I just screamed out, ran fast and gave sensei my test. This was so funny!The Siva dance class is the memory that I can’t forget in this CCT Tour. It’s the first time I’ve done this. The teacher is pretty and cute. It’s really so hard to remember all acts, make the face shade and dance correctly. I see many boys dance funnily. I can’t stop laughing because of this. Actually, I can remember Siva dance a little until now.About the talent show, it makes me broaden my knowledge. I see traditional clothes and traditional dance from different countries. All the participants of CCT 2017 Tour looked so nice on that night. The performances were so amazing and wonderful. I do love them. I love the moment that everybody sang “WE ARE UNITY” and danced together on the stage. The song really touches my heart. “We are one but we are different. We’re from all around the world. We share the same sun. We are the same ocean. We’re every boy and girl. Come together and share our dreams to be among the stars. And we know that it’s destiny. And we are unity. We are unity”.Secondly, I will talk about my impression of our trip in general.These ten days are the happiest time in my life and I can’t forget. The time that I’ve been with all you guys, seems neither long nor short, but they’re really precious to me and make us get closer. We played, we sang, we danced and we did many crazy things in this trip. I completely changed after this trip. I feel very happy, free and crazy. I can do many things that I have never done before. And the most important thing, I have a lot of cute friends. I think Ti is my elder brother; Hiền and Jenna is my elder sister. They always care of us. Vy is my best friend in the university. She is pretty quite but she is really cool, kind and mellow. So her nickname is Vy Mellow. She will kill me if I get drunk again, so cute. And she is a cat-holic. Châu, Mẫn and I study in the same university, but we never talk together before. After this trip, I can understand them more and we’re good friends. They’re really so cute. Oishii and Liên are friendly. About Thai friends, Dear, Pop, Gee and Rei, they’re pretty, lovely, kind and friendly. I got Dear and Pop in my life. Dear has a cute voice, especially when she speaks Japanese. Pop always makes everyone happy and smiles everyday. Gee is really cute. I love her face when she smiles. Rei is friendly and cute. I want to talk to her more. About Indonesian friends, Ayu, Nad, Cher, Inda, Shyntia, they are very cute and friendly. Ayu is really funny. She is my Mama and Tomoya is my Papa. We are family: Papa, Mama and Baby. Nad gave me Indonesian instant noodles. Cher sings very well. I love her voice. Inda is cute. Shyntia is very kind and friendly. About Japanese friends, Tomoya, Daichan, Ko, Jota, Hiromi, Narumi, Saya, Nobue, Sayuki, they are very cute, friendly and kind. Tomoya kun has a cute face. When I ask him: “Tomoya Tomoya Tomyakun”, he replies “Nan ni. Nan ni”. And he always smiles. Daichan has cute actions. Ko is pretty quite but he is friendly. Jota always says “See, see, see, see” and his voice is cute. I miss Hiromi’s begging voice “Can I?”. Narumi is my roommate. She always looks pretty in every picture. Saya is cute. She gave me Japanese noodles. It’s good. I love Nobue’s smile and style. Sayuki has a cute face. Her smile lights up the world. I just want to say: “Nice to meet you guys. Thanks for coming to my life”. And I want to send special thank you to Sensei Hatano, Sensei Daisuke and Sensei Yahiro for all good things you do for us.Thirdly, I will talk about my suggestions for future CCT programs.I hope this program can last forever. It’s really the meaningful trip that everyone should try once in their life. There will be more interesting games and activities next season. We can go to many different places and experience different cultures. Sensei! Could we join next CCT program together? I want to see all you guys again!Every face, every action, every smile, every memories we made together are always in my mind. This is the most meaningful trip of my life. Thank you everybody a lot!I remember all of you guys!Cross Cutural Training 2017 – Đà Nẵng, Việt Nam

Our friendship will last forever

Nobue Ikeda

CCT 2017 tour had held at Da Nang, Viet Nam for 10 days. We had learned many things from CCT programs. The most important purpose was to find out the essence of communication. I had studied that language is not enough to express our feelings. However, at the same time, I had realized that it is essential for sophisticated and smooth communication. This learning was very beneficial for me. Actually, it was my first time to go abroad. At the first time, I was a little bit nervous, but I really enjoyed everything in these days because of you guys. Before this trip, there were many tough things in my life and I was disappointed in my future. I never thought I could laugh with all my heart. I never thought I could meet many foreign friends. However, my life has completely changed because I could get wonderful friendship. I had learned that life can be better if I changed the way of thinking and that everything happens for a reason. Now, I feel my life has started to move again and it is full of hope for a bright future. My biggest dream is to see you all again. Someday soon I will visit your countries. I promise you I never forget every moment that we spent together. I really wish further development of SOA and our friendship will last forever. Finally I want to send many thanks and love to everyone involved in this precious friendship. Thank you.

Vietnam and Us

Shintya Cahya Adhan

Hello……….My name is Shintya Cahya Adhani, my friends and my family called me Shintya. I come from Jakarta, Indonesia. Here the story about my trip with Sing Out Asia. SOA? CCT? First time I heard that, I thought it was a singing program and the members are from around Asia, so I thought it’s not suit with me because I can’t sing hihihi. But after one of my friend who joined this program last year explained me about that, I had an interest to joined SOA and its program. This year Cross Culture Training program was held in Danang, Vietnam. I am one of five Indonesian students who joined this program. I joined this program is the first time and I’m very greatful for this opportunity. I really had a great time because I met wonderful friends from Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia. Danang was such a great and wonderful place because I can enjoy the sea, the mountain, the people, and of course the culture. Me and other participant from Indonesia, take off from Indonesia on 10th March 2017 and transit in Kuala Lumpur for one night. The next day, we continued our flight heading to Danang, Vietnam. As soon as we arrived, there is Hien and Alex who have been waiting for us and will lead us to the Hotel. When we arrived at the hotel, there are already many participant from Vietnam and Thailand who arrived in first and happily welcoming us. We were immediately acquainted with each participant and the situation is awkward. After that Ti, who one of the participant and committee to this program share the key hotel room and told us who will be our roommate. I was very nervous to find out who’s will be my roommate and I was anxious thinking she’s will like me or not. But thankfully, I met Lien the tallest, nice, and the curious girl to be my first roommate. Next morning, me and other participant ate breakfast together before CCT Training started. The training started at 9 AM and I was so nervous and curious to think what kind of training we were going to have. But it turned out to be very fun and exciting activities. I learned a lot of things from this training, like they train us to be disciplined and caring towards each and then we learn how to communicate with each other with body language. With this training too, made me think about myself better and I can get to know each other more by the games we play. On day three, we have talent show at night and every participant from each country performing their own culture. Me and another participant from Indonesia, we performing Ratuh Jahroe dance from Aceh and Piring dance from Sumatera Barat.On day four until nine, we went to visit cultural and historical place in Danang, like My son, Hoi Ahn accient town, Cu Lao Cham island, Ngu Hanh son mountain, and Coconut forest. I was enjoyed ang having so much fun with every place we visited, moreover when we did rafting at the river.On the night of farewell party, many participant cried out because we are already close with each other and we are so sad because we should get back to each country. The participant from Indonesia extend one day in Danang, due to our flight This CCT 2017 in Danang, Vietnam was memorable moment I have. Because I can met new friends, I can learn about myself and I opened my mind wider, broke out from my comfort zone and learn how to live with another new people. For the suggestion of future CCT Program, I think that current CCT program is good. But maybe there will be good if many more participant from other country in Asia could joined this program and there could be more activity that could help us to know each other more. But after all, I really enjoyed this trip so much and because this program I have new experience and new family. Last, I would like to say thank you to three respectable sensei for gave me this opportunity to joining this program and all CCT 2017 participants from Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam because you guys really kind with me. I love you all.Thank you so much……..

Stay awake and realize

Thanh Ngo

Hanoi, 8/4/2017.1a.m. I’m sitting in the dark at my house, thinking about the Cross Culture Training (CCT) program in Danang on March 2017. Tonight I will stay up late.My name is Thanh Ngo but you can call me Jenna. I’m the senior student at University of Economics and Business – Vietnam National University. I love traveling and meeting real friends instead of chatting online, so although still need money for my future plans, I decided to join in CCT program to LIVE and to ENJOIN, not to just exist in my life.CCT program is a memorable trip. My first impression when I heard about this program is it was so interesting. However, at that time I felt nervous a little bit because I have never been away from my family more than 3 days before, but coming back from the program, I felt so great that I can stay strong without my family beside me. I was so surprise to see how connective we are. We are students from four different countries, using four different languages and having really strange cultures. But like the lyrics in the song “We are unity”, I saw how opened we are to share our world, our dreams as well as our youngth together, then after all, we learnt many things from each other and improve ourself, our wonderful world.I still remember the activities we joint in the first three days. I had had chances to join some training sessions before, but nothing like this. We were in the training sessions, but we didn’t feel boring or tired. I had chances to play with international friends which is the best way to connect, understand and realize the meaning of Cross Culture. I love the activity where we were separated in Alpha and Beta community that I realized strongly about the meaning of exchange: The culture between communities can be very different from each other. Once we go exchange, it may takes time to understand but we have to respect their culture. There is no perfect culture also. Every community has the good side and the bad side and the reason we should go exchange is to learn the good side from different areas, come back and improve the area we are living in. I very appreciate the three sensei and organizers that help preparing for those sessions cause it really make good impacts to us.The trips to some places in Danang are also very exciting. Firstly, I am Vietnamese, so although I haven’t been in those places before, I learnt about those places and felt responsible to understand and explain our culture to international friends. Secondly, thanks to the organizers, we could visit many beautiful and meaningful places of Vietnam, which is very good for international friends to know more about our country. Beside, we had fun during the trips. We ate, played, sang, talked together and nearly stayed away from the social media. We enjoyed every single days outside the door and sharing about everything like languages, foods, dreams, daily routine… For me, I had chances to have a little bit break from my working - studying life, have time to relax and love this life more.After all, the most important thing that need to be mentioned here is the people I met. It’s my pleasure to meet three Japanese sensei who have the desire to connect a strong Asia starting with the young students. Talking with them, I can see how patient and intelligent they are in the way they teach students. They also shared Japanese cuture and life lessons to us, too. Equally important, I met 26 new friends and more. We came as strangers but stayed as family. Appearing with big smiles, all of them were very opened from the very first day. Through the program, we stayed, helped and cared about each other. I had to come back to Hanoi early because of my stuff, but somehow I feel lucky because I didn’t have to see my friends crying and saying goodbye. I still remember every single moment we share together, in my mind and my photoghraphs, they all look so happy.If there is one thing I want to change in this program, I want to have more training sessions. It can be not only about the cross culture training, it can be anything like self awareness, the future mindset or even how to treat people well… because I love to learn from people around me without any pressure.Last but not least, thank you all sensei and organisers for establishing Sing Out Asia, you gave us more than a Cross Culture Program. I will definitely use what I learnt during the program in my reall life and pass it for my friends, brothers and sisters.I wish you all the best!Your student.Thanh Ngo.

All You Can Eat in SOA!!!

Indaha Sakinah(Indah)

My name is Indaha Sakinah but everybody calls me Indah, I would tell my story when I joint in SOA. Ten days was meaningful trip I tought. Sing Out Asia was brought me to the bright world and open my mind. Actually I always getting nervous when I started talk to stranger. I know about SOA from my friend who joint SOA last year her is Fira. Even my friend told about SOA, I thought that SOA was very formal agenda such as conference, but I was wrong. Being a part of SOA is the one best experience that I treasure.It was my first time as foreigner. I have many foreigner friends, but I never stay with foreigner friend before. I was amazed cause Sing Out Asia and never regret to join it. Learning by fun, communication training and also got a lot of friends from many countries. I got much lessons in every games and trip, especially connected about culture. SOA has taught me how to communicate well, cause communication is the important thing that we have to do in daily. First day training is about communication building, I learnt how to communicate in many ways it’s so interested me. I knew that my english not well, but we can talk and share something with another way such as we talk about something by gesture. So, SOA teaches us to communicate, to speak up and to share anything.We did any games on first day and second day, I really interested with one of games in SOA for second day, that was about how style country was. We called the game “Bafa Bafa Country”, so we have devided in two groups, the first group is Alpha Country and the second group is Beta Country. Each country has the different culture, for Alpha Country it was looked like friendly, enjoyful, full of laugh, fun, and the leader in Alpha Country is men. The women have to follow the men in every moments, like the rules of card game in Alpha Country is who has the same card with the man it will be the winner. How different culture if we look into Beta Country, it was seriously, ambition, without talking, we just have special language if we want to get something. Beta Country ambition is getting full set of the card. Every member give and take the card with another member for getting full set of the card. The game was told me about culture life in every zone is different but we have to appreciate it. So the second day at night we have talent show party, every country presented their talent. The Thai performed dance which was very fun, the Vietnamese sang, the Japanese teach us for making origami swan also demonstrated a Japanese calligraphy and they did PPAP (Pen Pinapple Apple Pan) dance, it was so funny. Indonesian performed traditional dance “Saman Dance”. Oh no, sorry if the performance didn’t entertain you guys. The talent show closed by “We are Unity” song, we sang together and I got the feeling and sure its family, our Big Family.Another day for third day we have to trip to My Son and Wood Village. My Son was the historic place, many temples and house of king there. Many kind of mountains there, there were museum, it was similar like forest. Having fun even the weather was so hot. We got any historical lessons there. After we walked around at My Son, we go to Wood Village by the boat. It was like an Island that many tourism visited it and I found many unique things such as bag, wallet, and many kind of accessories.Almost of time we had spent in island, because of Vietnam has a lot of island. The best moment for me, when we go to the Cù lao Chàm island and just us who stayed there, its such a private island. We did snorkeling, and I saw beautiful fish and coral. One of us took the beautiful blue starfish, its nice snorkeling. So much we did in this island, played volley ball, made any video, and we ate a lot of seafood for lunch, so great and the taste very delicious. By the way, I got a lot of language when we ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Cause everybody always share the name of food in their countries. Sharing any greetings, food’s name, and many others.I would to thank every body, I learnt many thing with you, especially to Hatano sensei, Yahiro sensei and Daisuke sensei. Thank you for sharing anything, I got a lot of knowledge that I have not had before. Thank you very much for unforgettable memories, crazy thing and a lot of fun. I still remembered when we did first farewell party for Hien, Jenna, and Rei they go ahead for some reasons, of course we sad, that’s one unforgettable moment. We did little party and swam together until midnight. Thank you very much for this amazing experience all of you guys Vy, Oishi, Nobue, Sayaka, Sayuki, Narumi, Hiromi, Panpan, Màn, Jotaro, Jenna, Pop, Dear, Ti, Nadya, Daisuke, Shintya, Ayu, Cherlinda, Gee, Chau, Ko, Lien, and Tomoya. SOA means a lot for me, I have something new and new family. SOA is the best place ever. I remembered how I felt sadness and happiness at the same time when farewell party and it was the last night for us. SOA united us and made us love each other. Hope SOA more success.Many thing that you will get. You will get a lot of friends from different countries, new story, much fun, you will be more bold to speak up, make you more confidence, do crazy thing and you will get what you have not been able previously, ALL YOU CAN EAT IN SOA. Thank you for everything we did.

I enjoyed of everything so much

Cherlinda Hestiane Cahyani (Cher)

Hello my name is Cherlinda Hestiane Cahyani. I am the second year student in Jakarta State Islamic University . from Indonesia ,you can call me Cher. Several weeks ago I followed the Cross Culture Training Program is an annual program organized by the Non-Profit Organization (NPO) Sing Out Asia based in Da-Nang Vietnam. This program was attended by delegations from countries in Southeast Asia such as Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam as the host. This program was conducted for 10 days. This program is packaged in the form of training is intended to provide the training, knowledge, and understanding of the culture to the youth, especially students in Southeast Asia. The program is focused on "Cross-culture; learn how to understand people of diverse cultural backgrounds ", learn the culture, as well as strengthen ties between countries in Southeast Asia and Japan. It teaches you how to communicate, to speak up, to sing about yourself to be the voice of Asia. I’m so excited to join this program because this is my first time to go to other country. I was took off on Jakarta with Indah, Nadia, and Shintya. And we transit for one day in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Because Ayu have trouble with something ,so she can’t go with us together. But next day we meet Ayu In KLIA airport and go to Vietnam Together. As soon as we arrived we instantly get picked up by Hein and David and after that go to hotel. I have gain a lot of experience and met a lot new friends from another country in SOA. First day, we introduce our self to each other. And until now I still remember all of you guys my lovely friends from all around the world. From Vietnam Chou, Hien, Pan Pan, V, Man, Lien, Ti, Oishi, and Jenna. From Thailand is our beautifull girls there is Gee, Pop, Dear and Rei. And From Japan Ko, Hiromi, Sayuki, Sayaka, Nobue, Narumi, Daisuke, Tomoya , Jota also Our beloved sensei Yahiro, Hatano, and daisuke. I was very nervous to find out who’s gonna be my roommate and I was anxious thinking she’s gonna like me or not. And the first hotel my roommate is Chou, Kindness girl and my best friends she’s always protect and helping me everything. She’s helping me shopping to communicate with salesman, and if confuse about something, I’am always ask Chou about any topic. For training I’m so wondering what is exactly what we do, and then I’m so surprise the training is so fun, make us smile and laugh . The training teach us something, A lot of exciting games , and were not allow to speak but we have a sign, and the game have a purpose, for doing interaction we also can do anything even without language, and the other group playing different games. So what I can learn for that games is if you go to other place there have their own rules and tradition so we should to observe and tolerance with it. Many lessons we can take from the games or training. And in the schedule we have talent show, delegation from Indonesia perform two traditional dance and I have solo part, I dance a traditional dancing from Padang, Indonesia we call Tari Piring. And after that we dance Ratoeh Jaroe together. We doesn’t have many time to practice so we do a lot of mistake L huhuhu but I’m so happy because everyone look so impressed and wondering how to dance Ratoeh Jaroe. So us (delegate from Indonesia) teach everybody about simple dance movement.Thailand Girls dancing with nice dress, they are so power full, funny and cute, and Vietnam singing together with traditional dress. After that Japan teach us to made something from paper, and then Japanese dance PPAP that is so cute because all of Japanese wear yellow shirt and wear glasses hahhahaa. all of us is very pretty and handsome in that night hahahha. There were a lot of unforgettable moments I can’t mention one by one. At day 4 we go to My Son, My Son is a cluster of abandoned and partially ruined Hindu temples. and the temples is so beautiful and we also can see perform traditional dancing from Vietnam. when we go there the weather is so hot, so we always buy ice cream hahaha. After that we go to Hoi An market there have a lot of cute things like handbag, shirt, bracelet, necklace, lanterns, wallet and many more. At the second hotel my roommate is Hein. The hotel is so beautiful,because the hotel is 4 star, they have a nice swimming pool and that’s make hiromi swim at 12.p.m. he’s so crazy.Day 5 we go to coconut forest and have experience travelling by small round boat my partner is Chou and we learn how to fishing. The woman who drive our boat give us a fake flower made from coconut leaves. At night we go to see water puppet show the lighting is so good and the story is great. And we go back to the hotel. Day 6 we go to Cham Island we playing volley ball even I don’t know how to play, we running and swim in the beach and do any activity like take a photo for every moment. Next day we do exciting activity that is playing Waterfall boating, and go to mountain ngu hanh Son- son tra peninsula, the place have two part, heaven and hell. I want to say thank you to three senseis and all friends from Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand you guys give me a lot of beautiful memory. 9 days fell so fast but I always remember you guys don’t forget to communicate with me, I hope we can meet again . Every second in this program was really wonderful. I enjoyed of everything so much. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!! I am very touched Because they feel guarded. Really really miss you guys!! keep solid!

Report On Cross Culture Training 2017 Tour In Vietnam

Nadya Zakiyah

The first day of training in Cross Culture Training program is really fun , we learnt how important communicate to others and get to know each others by games. Even, we don’t used mouth to explain or introduce ourselves, i understand that we can communicate to others people without speaking, we can use our body language or we can explain and draw in a paper. There is a games that we have to know our partnes by touch our partner and after that, we have to found our partner , but the challenge is we can’t see is mean we are blind , but in the end I found my partner because my partner is Chau and she have something in her hand and I remember the fabric of her clothes , so i can found her.In this program I remember that we are selected participants and I learn about how to manage my self , we have to discipline always on time and if i came late , I felt the punishment for myself I felt guilty for my others participants and sensei that have to wait for me , so after that I didn’t want to late anymore.In the second day of training is busy day we have so many schedule that we have to do. In the second day I remember we have some discussion about how to ask honest or lie village. Me , Rei and Shyntia talk about what the question is and we didn’t find the right answer and Daisuke explain about the solution of this case and it is really interesting, just one question can lead to the right answer. After that,we played card games that have different rule of each group. At first I thought this games about lose or win the games, but it’s not like that I learnt if you come to new place or country that have a different rule from your country, you have to try understand the rule and adapt in that country. You can’t change the rule and if you want to survive in new country just live and follow the rule. I like this games because we are not allow to speak and it’s really funny.In the afternoon we have divide two groups, the first one is Alfa country and the second is Beta country. I am in Beta country and Yahiro Sensei and Hien told about the rule that we have to allow in this country , we have to use beta country and we have to collect the card with same colour. After that we have to observe and analyze about Alfa country and give a report. We have to presentation about our country. In Beta country is really competitive , people in there made a transaction and they just talk about bussines , but the people in there really nice to strangers. But in Alfa country they have fun , singing and take a picture , but man in that country is like a king it means the most powerful in Alfa country is man and that country didn’t open to other people usually stranger from others country, but I think every country has different rule and advantages and diadvantages.After that, we learnt Siva dance. Siva dance is traditional dance from Vietnam , the dance is explain about praise to the goddess. The Siva dance is little bit difficult at first but after we practice more is get better. After that we have performance talents, i thought we are really nervous , I mean we practice in the short time so i hope everyone that watched our performance will enjoy it. Indonesia participants perform traditional dance which are Tari Piring from West Sumatra and Ratoe Jaro dance from Aceh. I amazed by others performance from Thailand, Japan, and Vietnam they really did a great performance. Japanese participants teach us about how to made origami and they made calligraphy with my name in Hiragana. After we have performance, we sang a sing out asia song and we dance all night.In the next day we moved from Danang to Hoi An, Hoi An is really beautiful city , we visited poetry village and watched a water puppet show in the night and we moved to the next hotel and changed our roommates. I like Muong Thanh Holiday Hotel is really beautiful and has a balcony so we can see view Hoi An. I remembered me and Lien is shock because the bathroom is so transparent and not cover so we can see if someone is take a bath but after that Shyntia teach about we can cover with curtains , so me and Lien finally can relax about it.In the fourth day we riding a boats and it is really fun, I amazed by fisherman did dance oppa gangnam style on boat for us and after that we visited Hoi An Ancient Town , we learnt about history of the temple in there and we bought some souvenirs in there. Hoi An is beautiful in night there many lights. When we visited a store suddenly blackout or lights off so we just talked and back to our meeting point.In the next day we visited Cham Island, we played volley ball and take a many pictures and having lunch in there. The Cham Island felt like private island in that day and we are so happy and after that we back to Danang. In sixth day we visited Ngu Hanh Son Mountain, I am so tired because we have to hiking but in the same time it was awesome place, I thought it is worth it , I saw people pray and there is temple inside the Hell Cave and we want go to the top of the mouintan which they call it heaven because the way to heaven is not easy is same a way to hike the mountain. In that day I felt so sorry for my roommates which is Dear, I felt sorry because I have a really deep sleep and I take a medicine because I was sick and I din’t hear Dear ring a bell and she have to wait. In the night I am so sad because Jenna, Rei, and Hien go back early to their countries. So we made a farewell party for them is really crazy party ever, I will never forget it. At first is normal party because we just drink, sing and dance after that it turn to pool party but it was really fun and I miss that moment because I remembered all the participants and sensei so happy and laugh together.In the next morning I lost my voice but it still fine I keep continue to our schedule, this day is really fun we played rafting in the river and my partner is Mang. I want to thankyou because Mang is super patience because our boat is stuck in many stone. I thought we are a good teamwork because we can still have fun and arrive untill the finish. After that we have lunch and the food is really delicious. After that we played zip line and back to the Hotel.In the eighth day we have a spare time so me and my friend went to market to buy something. In the evening we visited Asia park. When we visited Asia Park everyone is so crazy to ride roller coaster, we never take a break after riding many attractions because we have a short time in there. Everyone is screaming all the time and laugh, in the last we ride ferris wheel and we can saw view in Danang at night.In the ninth day we take a picture in Dragon Bridge and hang out around Danang. In the evening we have farewell party, This is so hard to say goodbye to all the participants, especially to Thailand participant that have to back at early, I remember the lift incident so funny. In the night we sang a lot of song, we were crying, dancing and taking so many pictures and give a gift to others participants.I am so grateful for joined this program, I learnt so many things like new culture, new language, try to understand people that have a different habit from me, I met a new friends that now I call my family too. After I joined this program now I knew language is not barrier for us to communicate we can still understand and communicate with others ways we can use our body language. I remember all the moments and all the days we spent together. Just like our song we are crazy boys and girls we are from all around the world and we share the same foods and share our dreams too, event there so many diversity we are unity. Thankyou Hatano sensei, Yahiro sensei and Daisuki Sensei for always taking care of us and teach us in this program, your just like my father and for all the participants you made my day more colourful and beautiful , I felt so lucky and I already miss you guys , I hope we can still keep in touch and meet again next time in the future.My suggestion for this program is maybe when we have training activity it is more better if the comitte tell us to write some important note about this program because it will be more easier to write a report about this program and remember all the activity.

Best memories in Vietnam by Sing Out Asia 2017

By Rei,Thailand

As a beginning of this year 2017, SOA was the best gift for me before my graduation. I have known this program from my friend last year and I was very looking forward to join this program. I have been applying a lot of program of my university but I failed many many time... so SOA was my first chance for me to be a representative of Thailand. Thank you all of Sensei(s) to allow me to be a participant. This trip changed a lot of my attitude toward human and culture. I really feel appreciated and I want to keep forward this program for the next generation for their future to make SOA to be prestige in the world. First of all, the most important thing of this program is to be understanding, accepting and changing my attitude about Japanese and Asian. Because I have been visited Japan for 3 times but it was an unimpressive trip about Japanese people, so it made me have an negative thinking to Japanese people. For example, when I had a trouble in Japan and I asked Japanese people to help me but no one cares me and they were unwilling to talk to me at all. In that time I couldn't speak Japanese and I was speaking English. I really feel upset to Japan because I don't understand why they didn't want to help others people. This thing was totally different from Thai culture because in Thai people natural , we are willing to help a strangers including foreigner too. But after I joint SOA and I had a chance to talk and had a good time with Japanese friends. It totally changed my attitude toward Japanese people. My Japanese friends explained me many thing about Japan and it made me love Japan more and more! To tell you the truth, I had many chanced to be a host for Japanese student who come to my university but I can’t feel close to them as SOA friends. If I didn't join SOA trip, I won't understand Japan more like this. It’s not only Japan but also Asian countries too. Before I came to Vietnam, I heard an negative thing about this country from my friends and internet about tricky driver or else. But you know everything is different from what I heard ! I was being helped by Vietnamese friends and Vietnamese people many time. I was very surprise who kind they are!!! I love them so much and I won’t forget it. Moreover, I could learn language from Vietnamese friends and Indonesian friends too. About Indonesian, I could understand Muslim people more. Something what I heard and the real people do it is not the same. Furthermore, in the first 2 days, we had an ice breaking activities from Sensei. I will choose 3 best activities which it pull my thinking and impressive. One, I love the activity which Sensei let us to separate 2 groups by words. In this game I could know everyone thinking easily and know how to get along with them. And it taught me that there are differentiate things around the world. Two, Sensei gave us a paper to answer 4 questions and share to the friends in the group. I think the question is very made me realize myself for the future so much. And I could listen to others opinions. I could adapt it to myself as well. Last one, I love the card game and there were 4 groups. Each group has their own rule. I think this game told us that there are many groups and society in the world. If we know the group rule, we can win! I also love talented show. It was amazing by seeing individual countries show which I never see anywhere in the world. I love the moment we sang the song together. I wish we will have a chance to show it again. In the trip, we had been to many place in Danang and Hoian and we could know Vietnamese more about their life style how they eat how they live. It’s very related to my studies about Vietnamese people who live in Thailand. As a small sociologist, It was a deeply way to know Vietnamese culture. I could compare Vietnamese culture in Thailand and in their own country. I really want to come to Danang and Hoian again. It is fun and interesting place to visit again. By traveling with friends, I could know and get along well with them so much. I was in a trouble many time and everyone pleased to help me. For example, we went to claim the mountain but I couldn’t do it well but my Japanese friends and Sensei took care me so well. I felt so pretty of myself but I want to say Thank you again. I think we all 4 countries could get along well from this trip so much. I think it’s our destiny to meet and had a good time together. I very hope SOA will continue forever. It is very nice to our world peace if every country could understand oneself as what we got. And I have some suggestions. I wish there are more countries next time. We may start from Asian and Asia first and spread to the world. According to being an exchange student (by own expense to study language) in China, I had known 10 countries friends around the world. And I found that there are some thing which we are the same and different. Something it is about country, something it is about human habit. I know that they are some problem between Japan, China and Korea. I never been to Korea but I have Korean friends. To stop world war III we should start from young generation and I know that SOA can do it!!! I will be SOA team eternally and I will support SOA as soon as I get a job. I promise.