A UoA student participated in "The Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program 2006"
Mr. Kimura at the interview
Mr. Kenichi Kimura, a first-year student in the Master's Program at the Graduate School of the University of Aizu, participated in "The Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program 2006", the 43 day-long program from Monday, October 23 to Monday, December 4, last year.
This program is organized for the purpose of fostering the mutual understanding and friendship of the youths among Japan and the ASEAN member countries and nurturing the youths who are able to exercise their leadership in various fields. Mr. Kimura visited 10 countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.
He was interviewed to give his impressions of the program.
- Q:
- "How did you come to participate in the program?"
- A:
- "A friend of mine had an experience on board the ship, and this attracted my interest in the program. I have always been interested in foreign countries and have been to Australia for language study. I was eager to visit other countries to come in contact with people and their cultures."
- Q:
- "Please give your impressions of the program."
- A:
- "Participants from each country were full of vitality, with no hesitation in self-expression. That surprised me a lot. Although it was a little hard for me to speak to them at first, I felt that the participants had formed a great bond of friendship by the time the trip was completed."
- "After getting off the ship, I feel much closer to Asian countries than ever. It pained me to hear the news that typhoon Durian caused terrible damages to the Philippines and other countries from late November through early December."
- Q:
- "Did you have any other impressions?"
- A:
- "A lot of Japanese products, such as cars and home electrical appliances, are used in those countries."
- Q:
- "What do you expect for the future?"
- A:
- "I will make the best use of this experience in my future and also I would like to tell people about the values I learned through the program."
- "Many of the volunteers helped me in every country I visited. I have already joined my local International Association as a volunteer; however, I hope to be involved with some volunteer work for the rest of my life."
 Nippon Maru which Mr. Kimura boarded |
 Members of Mr. Kimura's group |
 Scene of a debate by the participants |
 Inspection tour on a broadcasting station (Indonesia) |
 Folk dances by the participants |
 |
 At a gift shop in Singapore |
 With his Malaysian host family (Mr. Kimura is the second person from the left) |