VJEP(Vietnam-Japan Exchange Project Aug. 2016) THROWBACK (7) - FAREWELL

VJEP(Vietnam-Japan Exchange Project Aug. 2016) THROWBACK (7) - FAREWELL
"Thinking about wake up tomorrow and come back to my daily routine, I guess i'll miss you guys and our memories a lot. As strangers from the beginning, we went through many things together and now it's very hard to say goodbye" - One participant shared.

We had a small farewell party before the Japanese participants went back to their country. It was such an emotional night not only because it was the last night we spent together, but also because of some surprise that we have never expected. None of the Japanese students knew that they had had a buddy - a person who has secretly taken care of them ever since the journey began. And now they would have to guess who theirs buddy was ;)

The were laughter, there were tears, but most of all, it was indeed a great night. While watching video clips about the whole journey, we realized how far we have gone and how much we have changed in 2 weeks. Not only the relationship and the atmosphere between us changed day by day, but the changes also came within ourselves.

"I feel like there is no border, no gender differences, no gap between developing and developed countries, just one group of young people become friends. This program told me such a thing so strongly. And I appreciate this experience from the bottom of my heart." - One participant shared

The saddest part must be when we got to the airport and even though all of us knew that it was time to be apart, but we really don't want to let go of each other hands. We all wished that this moment could stay forever. Every journey has to come to an end, but as long as the memories lives in the heart, true friend will never part. 

<3

DAILY REPORT OF VJYE2016 (Vietnam-Japan Youth Exchange) ［Day 1］September 4, 2016

DAILY REPORT OF VJYE2016 (Vietnam-Japan Youth Exchange)

-VJYE is an annual student exchange program which started in 2013.

［Day 1］September 4, 2016
*DISCOVERING HOCHIMINH CITY and FIRST VIETNAMESE CUISINE*
We started making unforgettable memories. At Trung Nguyen coffee shop, first we introduced ourselves and talked each other for a while. After that, we made our buddies who will be the parter during this program.
The next activity was taking a walk for discovering Ho Chi Minh City. Exploring the history of the city, the ancient Notre Dame Cathedral, the oldest post office, and we visited the war museum. Also, we went to the book street as well and took many pictures together. We had a lots of fun!
Thanks to the friendliness of both Vietnamese and Japanese members we became friends so fast. We talked about our hobbies, life styles, cultures and the countries. We were talkative like friends who haven’t met each other for a long time. The atmosphere was like we are a large family.
At 12p.m, we went to Viet Heritage restaurant – the restaurant of Vietnamese traditional cuisine – to have big lunch. The first surprise for us was the most popular dish in Vietnam, ‘Pho’. It was really delicious. Besides, we also had “banh beo” – steamed rice cakes and “banh xeo” – Vietnamese pancakes – having with salads and fish sauce. We could not forget the taste of chicken with warm rice and those were the dishes you must try in Saigon. Surprise to surprise, the secret birthday cake was for one of the Japanese members was held with many blessing wishes big birthday cake.
Although it was difficult to understand each other sometimes (because of the language) but we overcame it and having fruitful time making last-long memories together. After the trip, we came back to the hotel and prepared for the next day. We are sure that exciting things await us to the new discovery.

Reflection of NJEP (Nepal-Japan Exchange Project 2016) (7)

Reflection of NJEP (Nepal-Japan Exchange Project 2016) (7)
<Memories of the last day>

Upon coming back to Kathmandu, all of us were a bit sad as we knew our time of togetherness was about to end. For the last day of program, we went to Botanical Garden. Lost between the natural beauty, greenery and peace we were enjoying our dry picnic. We talked about several topics, took lots and lots of selfies. Oh Yes! The surprise Japanese dance that Nepalese participants performed gave a really big smile on the faces of everyone. After spending a beautiful day at Botanical Garden we came back to hotel and got busy for respective shopping.

The last dinner together was filled with joy. That night we weren’t in mood for emotional and sad conversation so we were simply living the moment and laughing till our stomach hurts. By the time we were back to hotel it was already near to 10:00pm but no one was really in mood for sleeping. Till very late we were having conversations and also we were writing messages to each other on the message card.

Nobody was willing to think about the following day where we would return to our regular lives. We were living by the lines “Save best for the last” at that moment.

VJEP(Vietnam-Japan Exchange Project Aug. 2016) THROWBACK (5) TEAMBUILDING IN CU LAN VILLAGE

VJEP(Vietnam-Japan Exchange Project Aug. 2016) THROWBACK (5) TEAMBUILDING IN CU LAN VILLAGE

Leaving Thai Phien, we were once again surrounded with the magnificent nature in Cu Lan Village. The highlight of the day was the teambuilding game when we were divided into 5 teams: Dai Mon, Sun stars, Mero Sathi, Survivors and Pretty Girls. With the slogan: “Who will be the last one standing?”, everyone was very excited and aiming at the first prize ( first prize came with a surprise award! ;) )

At the end of the day, everyone was tired and covered in dirt because of the game, but there was a big smile on their faces because whether winning or losing, each team had had an amazing time together :)

“The most interesting challenge was climbing the combination of traps in the “12 warriors” game, but the most tiring one must be climbing the “Oh my god” hill. The coordinators, who called themselves angels were so evil, they made us to go through all these things :P. But together, we won! Now we are going to enjoy our first prize!” – One team shared.

Because it rained that night, so we just sat in circles and shared our emotions and then got some sleep in Vietnamese Traditional Houses. The weather was cold, but we felt warm when we slept together and knew we would always have each other’s backs.

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Here is an album that all the participants have joined hands to create. You can have a look at it here: http://tinyurl.com/vjep2016

VJEP(Vietnam-Japan Exchange Project Aug. 2016) THROWBACK (4)-HOMESTAYING

VJEP(Vietnam-Japan Exchange Project Aug. 2016) THROWBACK (4)-HOMESTAYING

“Homestaying was a quite peaceful and interesting experience for me. The people there were very friendly and hospitable. Although we had some problems with the language barrier, we still have fun and meaningful moments that night. We sang songs about our hometowns and shared our life stories.” – One participant shared

We stayed at Thai Phien Flowers Village, one of the biggest flower village in Da Lat, and experienced something we had never did before! The village is not only colorful of flower in the daytime but also sparkling of yellow lights at night, the scene was so breathtaking that we had to take a moment to admire it. This was the first time we had ever been so close to nature like this.

The local people were also very nice to invite us to have dinner and join the campfire with them. The dinner was delicious, that was the first time the Japanese participants experience Vietnamese traditional meals when they sat in a big circle on the mats .The people in Thai Phien also even prepared tents and sleeping bags for us to sleep. No doubt that they had taken very good care of us.

“At night, everyone seemed to be a part of a family. The feeling of this moment would stayed in my heart forever.”
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Here is an album that all the participants have joined hands to create. You can have a look at it here: http://tinyurl.com/vjep2016

Reflection of NJEP 2016 (Nepal-Japan Exchange Project) (3)

Reflection of NJEP 2016 (Nepal-Japan Exchange Project) (3)
<Days full of enjoyment>

Leaving Maidan and travelling to Pokhara with lots of memories was more like 'See you again' than goodbye forever. Everybody got little emotional while leaving their host family. Thank you speech and farewell ceremony from the side of villagers was really special.

After travelling for few hours we finally reached Pokhara. The vibration of the city was welcoming as always. That evening we had Japanese food for dinner. Perfect sitting arrangements, beautiful candle light, delicious taste of Japanese food and our never ending conversations made the evening very relaxing and prepared us for the upcoming day's program activities.

Next morning we visited Sarangkot. Beautiful view of sunrise, Himalayas and lake made everyone happy. Everyone got busy taking pictures of the sceneries and enjoying the view of Pokhara. Next activity took place at shamrock school. Students of the school and our team members played different sports together. It was a fun time with the school students. Another highlight of the day after sports activity at shamrock is the press conference where information about AAEE and the activities it has done was highlighted. It was a very new experience for most of us.

Next morning's main activity was farewell program at Shamrock school. Thank you speech and gifts was exchanged between both our team members and the school students. After that we left for Kathmandu.

NJEP, days full of new experiences in Palpa.

<Days full of new experiences >
Long Journey to Palpa became interesting with beautiful sceneries and never ending conversations. Twinkling lights from the houses at hills in Palpa made it worth it to travel up to there. The beautiful view and the freshness of wind at night made everyone more energetic and lively. Secrets shared and conversations done after that is memories and lesson learnt for life. Other few days at the village is something very special for everyone. That unforgettable interaction with local people, taste of authentic Nepali food, living typical village life, bonding with children there and satisfying star watching at night is something that has affected everyone one way or another. One of the main highlight of the days in Palpa was the Japanese 'koinobori' painting that children did. Every student seemed to be highly interested in the painting while teachers seemed to be proud of the opportunities their students got. Another interesting event that took place was putting 'henna' to Japanese members. It took them close to Nepali culture that is trending these days.
There was a perfect balance of give and take of surprises and experiences between our team and the villagers. Cultural differences among one another were easy to adjust with as the days went by. The Kindness of the villagers and homely environment was that main thing that made everyone happy.

Reflection of NJEP 2016 ( Nepal-Japan Exchange Project 2016) (1)

Reflection of NJEP 2016 ( Nepal-Japan Exchange Project 2016) (1)

<First day of Heal>
Definitely excited for the day we all were having lots of fun in ice-breaking sections. With two lies about me and one truth I was also enjoying the guessing game. Big cheerful smile was constant in everyones’ face yet in the heart we all knew we needed to know each other better. Moreover we wanted to know each other better so that these 10 days of journey of togetherness would be a lifetime treasure.

We reached to the hall in Baneshwor at 11a.m. where we would be having our Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) session. I had been hearing about it a lot from different people but actually being a part of it was something I was looking forward to and I was particularly excited about it because I had heard about the way it can heal and let one’s emotion flow through the medium of dance. Anyway with the real quick introduction with our instructor session begun.

Step by step, more after each session like newspaper
segment, balloon segment, ribbon segment things were getting more interesting and fun. We could feel that the music and dance along with the song was making us feel lighter, free and in some way happier. Due to all the group activities together suddenly, we all both Japanese and Nepalese participants became closer to each other.

The activities that we did made all of us feel that to be happy to be free at the moment you don’t need technology, tools rather happiness can come from within. The props we used were something we would play when we were a child like newspapers, balloons, ribbons but playing them again somehow raised the happiness within ourselves. At the end of 2 hours of session we were tired yet with big smile on our faces and feeling close to not just each other but close to oneself more than ever.