UNews - Japan Study Tour

Japan Study Tour holds special significance

trevor.kenney — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:04:34 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has been sending students on Japanese study tours for more than 20 years, but you would be hard-pressed to find two students more appreciative of the opportunity to visit Japan than cousins Aaron and Taryn Tamayose.

The duo will accompany education professor Dr. Lance Grigg as part of the 15-student group selected to participate in the Hokkai-Gakuen ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ exchange program. Fourth-generation Japanese, or Yonsei, the two will finally realize a lifelong dream of visiting their ancestral homeland.

"This trip is an opportunity of a lifetime, and there's no words to explain how excited I am to be a part of this with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and my cousin," says Aaron, a psychology major.

"I feel very strongly about my heritage, I like to express it, and what better way to learn a little bit more about the culture?"

Their grandfather's family moved to Canada shortly before the Second World War and was born and raised in Hardieville, just north of Lethbridge. Their grandmother, who had visited Canada as a small child but returned to her native Okinawa, was eventually forced out of Japan after the Battle of Okinawa. Her family eventually wound up in Hardieville and the Tamayose legacy was born.

Over the years, both Aaron and Taryn have experienced the Japanese culture through their grandparents and are eager to see it firsthand.

"We have a really strong family relationship. Growing up, we kept a lot of traditions but I know a lot of them have been westernized as well," says Aaron.

"One advantage we have is our Japanese background but at the same time, that background is a more westernized or assimilated view. A lot of our traditions are related to traditions in Japan, but I expect they are nothing like what it is there."

Taryn, a new media major, says her grandmother would often relate stories of the war years and how her family was forced to live in caves during the 82-day long Battle of Okinawa. She won't get to visit Okinawa on this trip but feels it will lay a foundation for future visits.

"This is a life experience for me and an opportunity to really get immersed in the Japanese culture," she says. "It's already a part of me and this has been a lifelong dream to go there, so I expect to take a lot away from it."

The Tamayose's say they were aware that travel opportunities existed for students at the U of L but never expected to participate. Once the Japan trip became a possibility, they made it a priority.

"I felt that this was worth the sacrifice to delay my convocation because the rewards would be greater to go to Japan and experience something I might never get the chance to do again," says Aaron, who will now convocate in the fall.

"I understood there were a lot of applied opportunities for U of L, students but I never really thought I'd be a part of it. In the last few years, I've really engaged myself with the applied learning process. It's one of those things that enriches the educational experience the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ offers."

That they will live this dream and get to share it with one another only enhances the experience.

"I've never been away for a month so it's comforting to go with someone who's grown up in the same family and has learned many of the same things about our culture," says Taryn.

Japan Study Tour holds special significance

trevor.kenney — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:50:29 +0000

The duo will accompany education professor Dr. Lance Grigg as part of the 15-student group selected to participate in the Hokkai-Gakuen ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ exchange program later this month. Fourth-generation Japanese, or Yonsei, the two will finally realize a lifelong dream of visiting their ancestral homeland.

"I feel very strongly about my heritage, I like to express it, and what better way to learn a little bit more about the culture?"

Over the years, both Aaron and Taryn have experienced the Japanese culture through their grandparents and are eager to see it firsthand.

"We have a really strong family relationship. Growing up, we kept a lot of traditions but I know a lot of them have been westernized as well," says Aaron.

The Tamayose's say they were aware that travel opportunities existed for students at the
U of L but never expected to participate. Once the Japan trip became a possibility, they made it a priority.

"I understood there were a lot of applied opportunities for U of L, students but I never really thought I'd be a part of it. In the last few years, I've really engaged myself with the applied learning process. It's one of those things that enriches the
educational experience the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ offers."

That they will live this dream and get to share it with one another only enhances the experience.

"I've never been away for a month so it's comforting to go with someone who's grown up in the same family and has learned many of the same things about our culture," says Taryn.

Japan Study Tour offers students a cultural opportunity

trevor.kenney — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:49:31 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge education professor Dr. Lance Grigg doesn't mind admitting he had a number of lost in translation moments when he first visited Japan. It was out of these instances his appreciation for diversity really took root.

Grigg will lead a contingent of 15 students to Japan in the 2009 spring session as the latest chapter in the Hokkai-Gakuen ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ exchange program. The Japanese study tour is currently seeking applications, having held an information session earlier this month through the International Centre for Students. A respect for diversity and a willingness to listen and learn are hallmarks Grigg will be looking for when he interviews candidates.

"I think the major quality I'm looking for in someone going on this exchange is a respectful person," he says. "We want people who respect diversity and who have the maturity to engage that in action."

Grigg knows of what he speaks, having done a four-month tour as part of a professorial exchange in 2002. He says going to Japan with an open mind and a willingness to challenge his own ideals on learning allowed him to gain a deep appreciation for Japanese culture.

"That's one thing students can take away from an experience abroad, about any culture. To unlearn how you learn, in order to learn in a different culture," he says. "Be attentive to how that culture operates, what the values are underpinning that culture and how a culture goes about doing things."

Students seeking to be involved in the program must
remember the core value of the tour is that it is an exchange. Dr. Grigg says there is no room for arrogance, or an attitude that students are going abroad to spread the Canadian way.

"You don't go to another culture thinking that you are going to enlighten them, or bring knowledge to them that is not there," he says. "That's not the kind of attitude we want in a student going on the exchange. We're looking for students who are attentive to every part of another culture."

Grigg found Japanese society to be fascinating and quickly understood he could get the most out of his tour by abandoning preconceived notions and opening himself to a different way of teaching. By first accepting new approaches and then assessing them in the context of his experience, it gave Grigg a much broader perspective in his own teaching.

"Students going over there first have to be attentive to everything around them; culture, laws, practices," he says. "Then try and understand what they mean and reasonably accommodate those beliefs within one's own cultural framework. Within such an ambassadorial perspective, a conversation can ensue which respects the similarities and differences among cultures."

Students willing to work hard within the program are promised to reap immeasurable rewards. Those interested can contact Grigg at 403-329-2449 or Laura Ferguson in the International Centre for Students at 403-329-2053.

UNews - Japan Study Tour

Japan Study Tour holds special significance

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Japan Study Tour holds special significance

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Japan Study Tour offers students a cultural opportunity

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