Anna Ekmekci, Lilian Ivlev, David Szabo-Dery
Day 4 (1/30):
Today was the day of our research presentations! We woke up, quickly got ready, and headed straight to Kokutaiji. Before the event, we went to a homeroom meeting in our respective classrooms. This involved students greeting the teacher, listening to morning announcements, and having some time to socialize.
After homeroom, we went to the opening ceremony for the event and got to hear the principal and others introduce it, along with a presentation by some research students. Then, we were able to leave an hour before the first session to practice in the rooms we were assigned to and make any last-minute preparations.
Poster sessions #1 and #3 were the time slots for BCA students to present, and #2 and #4 were by the Kokutaiji students. Our presentations went well, and we received many questions and comments from students, teachers, and parents. It was also very interesting to watch the Japanese students’ presentations, and some of them were even in English! Some of these included a study of consumerism in schools and an exploration of the potential of generative AI, which was very eye-opening. For the presentations we could not understand, we made do with translating apps to communicate with the students. In between sessions #2 and #3, we were also able to eat Japanese box lunch with our buddy students, which was a fun way to debrief and relax halfway through the presentation day.
After we were done presenting, we met up at our gathering spot and watched the closing ceremonies virtually, while sharing stories with each other about our experiences. We then quickly took pictures in the audio-visual room and went to the farewell homeroom with our classes. This involved teachers addressing the classes, speaking about the day, and handing back tests and assignments. Some of us even took pictures with our classrooms (with one teacher taking a BeReal!) and got signed cards with personalized notes from the students.
After departing and saying our farewells to buddies we will not go to Miyajima with, and a musical chairs debacle, we left Kokutaiji for Negi-an, an Okonomiyaki dinner. Okonomiyaki originated from a thin pancake dish, and when food was scarce in Japan, it became common to eat these mixed with any available ingredients. It was incredibly delicious and a unique experience to be able to try this.
Following our filling dinner, we went on a shopping spree! First, we went to Animate, which was a very cute store that had many figurines, souvenirs, and rows upon rows of claw machines. Then, we went to a Daiso with four floors! We were able to get many items and gifts. With a quick stop at Gong Cha(!!!!), we then finally returned to the hotel with our hands full of goodies, drinks, and presents from our Kokutaiji buddies. Overall, it was a wonderful day and we are now going to get lots of rest for our exciting day over at Miyajima tomorrow!
