This trip was definitely an eye-opening experience and a refreshing approach to travel for me. Whenever anyone asks me about travel plans, it’s always just to the islands; however, this has truly sparked my interest in a world outside my own. The program was indeed full on, and although I was told before that there would be a lot of walking, my feet were still in shock after the first few days. Expectations were definitely met if not more. The activities that were set out for us really got me engaged and interested for example, the Soju culture in Korea was a shock to me of how normal it is although I myself have watched a ton of Kdrama that shows this, it still shocked me that this was a cultural means for social gatherings and more; another was the investment of Korea in the field of performing arts in terms of Hikr Ground and other forms of creatives such as 6 years of training in kpop before debuting is mind-blowing to me but was also amazed that they were considerate of other talents.
In Japan, I was in awe of the infrastructure and the high-tech advancements that they had in their buildings and quite funny is the fact that they all have bidets everywhere, which was just an absolute luxury here in NZ, in my opinion. Our accommodations was fantastic, and I truly felt hospitality from reception to the servers at breakfast. I do, however, feel that the breakfast in Tokyo was a bit sad, but it got us out of our beds to go look and wander the streets for some good snacks.
My advice for anyone who wants to embark on such an amazing trip, is to make use of the time and free time you have, I highly recommend this trip and to wear the best walking shoes you have because you will walk but love every bit of it.
I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity. Thank you to everyone who made it possible for me.
Were you satisfied with the cross-cultural experiences that this programme provided?
I was most certainly satisfied. I loved that I got to meet friends from the group that was taken over, and I did enjoy the layout and program scheduling of the activity – this is more so for Korea. With Japan however I do believe that perhaps this needed to be looked into if this program continues, the activies would have been more meaningful if they weren’t rushed or even if there was 2 or 1 on one day that would have been fine and could have gained more out of instead of being rushed. Also, we spent more time commuting to and fro from activities than being at the activity itself.
What skills do you think this experience helped you gain, and how so? How might this differ from the experience you could otherwise gain in New Zealand?
Social Experience being a minority – this was different because, as a Pacific Islander in an arguably “multicultural” society, it was quite different having the perception that I was indeed an outsider and minority, so socializing was quite different compared to here. It took a lot of understanding and warnings from the staff lead and learning rules like standing on one side of the escalator etc. to be considered in some way accepted.
You rated this programme as one you would Highly Recommend to a friend. What makes you say so?
Korea did an amazing job in showcasing a balance of their history and modern-day life in Korea, which had me in awe every time. Japan’s culture and beautiful shrines kept me at a certain kind of peace and gratitude for the resilience that their people have in terms of their culture despite being highly advanced in modern technology.