LISA ARAI

Sponsored by Oakville North Rotary Club


Final Reports of GSE team from District 7080


1999.8.1.


The GSE exchange to Osaka Japan was an incredible experience! In four short weeks, our team had a strong impression of the Japanese culture, business practices, traditions, foods and general ways of life. The following is my final report.
My first impression of Rotary was when I was about 8 years old and my Japanese Dance group was asked to perform for a Rotary Meeting at The Jewish Community Centre in Toronto. My Mother told me that Rotary was an exclusive (and prestigious) club for businessmen. More recently, my very close friend was approached to join Rotary in her town. She has since shared her positive experiences with the weekly meetings and fundraising activities.
I first heard about the GSE experience through an ad in The Oakville Beaver, a local community newspaper. The ad described the GSE program and I was delighted that the destination was Japan. I quickly called my Rotarian friend who described the program in more detail. I also called Norma Gamble, GSE Chairperson, who gave me more insight into the program and outlined the application procedure. Once I found out that the program was all expenses paid, I was very excited, as I could never afford a four week trip to Japan out of my own pocket!
The selection day was an interested process and a very exhausting day. I enjoyed meeting and speaking with young professionals outside my industry -everyone had such unique and interesting backgrounds! When I left the selection day, I had ruled out my participation on the program as I thought there were so many qualified candidates. I was shocked to receive a call from Kathi Smith, the group leader, that evening saying that I was selected.

Preparation for the trip was time intensive. We met almost every Saturday for four to seven hours. The goals for the meeting included language lessons, developing a group presentation, designing a group brochure and group business card, gifting and deciding on uniforms. I realize that Rotary International had a limited budget for Japanese lessons but I was disappointed at the lack of content and lack of preparation on the part of the teacher. Also, I felt the group was not always goal oriented during the meetings and we sometimes drifted off on tangents resulting in wasted time (on a precious Saturday). On the positive side, our group spent lots of time together before the trip. This resulted in us knowing each other fairly well before spending four intensive weeks together.
The itinerary and travel arrangements were well organized throughout the trip. I was especially impressed with the itinerary - the perfect blend of Rotary meetings, company visits, vocational days and sightseeing. Although the itinerary was very intensive, we were able to experience many aspects of Japan in four short weeks. We were fortunate to stay in a hotel every Saturday evening for one night of rest. As the schedule was extremely busy, I looked forward to these evenings to recover from the intensive week and to prepare for the next week.
My favourite aspects of the GSE Exchange were the homestay visits, company visits and vocation days. We stayed with each family for one week each. I especially enjoyed being a part of a family to participate in their daily lives. It gave me a glimpse into the family unit and to observe the unique dynamics - so different from Canadian families.
Being a third generation Japanese Canadian, I have been exposed to Japanese language and culture throughout my life. I have also been fortunate enough to visit Japan twice before - as a fifteen year old exchange student for three weeks and as an Assistant English Teacher on the JET Program (Japanese English Teaching Program, sponsored by the Japanese Government) for one year. I believe these experiences helped me considerably to communicate and understand the language and culture. Unless a student was practicing his or her English, I always spoke Japanese with my homestay families. This helped me get beyond "polite" conversation to in-depth discussions on arranged marriages, role of the father in families, role of the mother in families, cooking lessons, understanding tea ceremony, parent expectations of their children, culture, society, what neighbours are like, unwritten social rules within Japan, etc.
The previous visits provided a solid foundation to understand and learn more about the complex Japanese society.
This GSE Exchange differs from my other two Japan visits by the educational and cultural aspects of the schedule. I was fascinated by various company visits - Osaka Waterfront Development Company,Matsushita Electric Technology Museum, Sanyo Electric Hirakata Laboratory, Daihatsu Motors, Akashi Kaikyo Ohashi (world's longest suspension bridge) and Osaka University Hospital, Takenaka Corporation.
At each visit, executives conducted a formal presentation about their company and we were able to ask questions from our own areas of interest. The marketing and advertising areas are quite different from Canadian practices.
I also enjoyed the vocational visits. I was thrilled to visit Osaka Dome as I work at SkyDome in Toronto. I spent the entire day with the General Manager. The visit was most informative and I had an excellent translator who was able to communicate all the information between us. I am currently in the process of writing a formal report for work on my visit. My other interesting vocational visits were equally interesting - Dentsu Advertising (Japan's largest advertising company), Takarazuka Girl's Opera, Miki House (retail clothing store similar to The Gap) and Universal Studios Head Office.
Our team also enjoyed sightseeing at some of the major tourist attractions.
These included Kaiyukan Aquarium, Den-Den Town (electronics area), Nara, Kyoto and Hiroshima. Each outing was hosted by a different Rotary club. We especially enjoyed meeting and spending the day with various Rotarians.
Everyone was so kind!
Our team also made many presentations to various Rotary Clubs in the Osaka District. It was great to meet so many Rotarians and many shared their experiences when they visited Canada. I was always proud of our presentation and to promote Canada and our Rotary district. Hopefully they were able to learn about our wonderful country, like we learnt about their wonderful country.
Overall, the GSE Exchange was an incredible experience, one that I will never forget. Our team bonded throughout the trip and I look forward to continuing our friendship in the coming years. In closing, I would like to thank Rotary International for this superb program. You have made my Rotary dream come true!