2024
Fort Bragg-Otsuchi
Exchange
This exchange was a one of a kind gift to all of us, going to another country for 10 days was the best experience we could ever ask for.
This presentation will go over our entire trip with broad details, also, we’ll talk about the people, the culture, Otsuchi, the festival, Tokyo, and our general takeaways.
Obviously, such a trip can't be perfectly summarized into a single slides presentation, but we'll do our best.
Introduction
Homestay Life
Staying in another family's home was a very immersive
way to experience another culture. Some of the best
takeaways were:
● Adapting to our surroundings
● Being open to trying new things
● Learning to be very patient
● How living in Japan is like in general
● Learning how to be part of a Japanese family
What we learned from/in Otsuchi
We learned about the horrible tsunami that swept
Otsuchi and learned about the chaos that ensued
from it. Out of all the coastal towns, Otsuchi was hit
the hardest.
Their entire town has weekly tsunami evacuation drills
that every single person at the schools partake in,
from 1st graders, all the way to staff and 12th graders.
One of the greatest things we learned in Otsuchi was
about the tradition of their festival in which we all got the chance to participate in it. More on that in another slide.
Learning about the Disaster
● Learned about the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 ● A very sensitive topic as many people were lost
● Over half of the city was destroyed to the earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent fires
● Took them 5 years to elevate the land alone and many more to restore infrastructure
● We greatly helped them in the recovery process and it strengthened our bond as Sister Cities
What we learned from being
immersed in another culture
Being immersed in another culture taught us many skills, traditions, values, and perspectives. It also helped us open our eyes to a whole new world. Other things we learned while being there were:
● Different forms of communication
● Respect and Etiquette
● Food and cooking
● History of Otsuchi
● Schools
● The school was more structured and students were
more attentive
● Students were expected to clean the school
● Lack of trash and litter around the school
● The quality of the food served was much better than
here
Activites
● Archery
● Calligraphy
School
The Relationship Between Otsuchi and Fort Bragg Students ● You meet so many people with widely
varying backgrounds from you
● You form many unforgettable friendships
● All the people in Otsuchi were always
friendly and welcoming
● You become close to them in such a short
amount of time
Building Bonds beyond words
● Even without speaking the language well, we still
communicated well.
● The host families kindness made it easy to connect.
● Gestures and facial expressions helped us understand
each other.
● These simple actions showed our feelings and intentions. ● Regardless of language barrier we built unforgettable bonds that will be remembered forever and we all learned from one another.
●
Personal Change and Growth
● Helped with becoming more independent and
outgoing.
● Taught the importance of perseverance and
having a good attitude.
● Also taught how critical it is to be prepared for
everything!!
CREDITS: This presentation template was created by Slidesgo, including icon by Flaticon, and infographics & images from Freepik
The Otsuchi Festival:
● Festival’s
Significance:Shichi-Fukujin
-Otsuchi collaboration with other towns
-The “God Carrier”
● Ostchui’s Traditional dances
-Traditional dances performed at each house!
-Tiger Dance,
-Lion dance
● Shishi-Odori (Lion dance)
-Original traditional Lion dance (folk lore)
● Jonai Daikagura
● Food was one of the biggest
overcomes for most of us, since the
Japanese palate is different, but we
pulled through and tried many things.
● Being open and communicative was
very helpful for staying in a home
with people you’ve never met before.
Experience of trying new things
Coming to a new country and trying things you’ve never done or eaten before was a big fulfillment that made the trip 10 times more worth it.
Thank you so much for listening!
Slides created by,
Christopher, Damian, Emily, Francesca, Kalin,
Krystyn, Lillian, Pablo, Citlali and Caden.
Image credits go to Ayane Kasuga (Sekiyu), Chris Island, and the Otsuchi Exchange Program