This summer, one of Akemi’s students visited Japan and helped to raise funds for Aid For Japan
Ojiya Study Abroad is a non-profit organisation aimed at helping international people learn the Japanese language and learn about Japanese culture on a small budget. OSA is fully supported by the City of Ojiya and offers individuals the opportunity to study in a more traditional Japanese environment.
As one of Akemi Solloway’s language students, Sam Stocker was deeply concerned by the plight of the orphans from the 2011 tragedy. Wanting to lend assistance to Aid For Japan, Sam was linked up to Ojiya Study Abroad and decided to combine both ideas together.
Sam set off in July for Ojiya and charted his adventures via his blog (https://ojiyastudyabroadsamstocker.wordpress.com/) which covered everything that happened during the month he spent in Japan.
Among the schools that Sam visited, Higashiyama Elementary School is located in one of the more picturesque areas of Ojiya. It’s a small school with only 22 students. As they were learning English, Sam helped the students with their language studies.
Sam also visited a middle school in central Ojiya and had the opportunity to look at the Japanese education system in more detail. “The school system was quite a bit different as expected” recalls Sam, “each lesson was only 45 minutes long, and there were 10-minute breaks between each lesson”.
While Sam spent a lot of time helping with classes, he also found time to explore Japanese culture. This included visits to an onsen, feeding koi and going to festivals. There was also lots of opportunities to enjoy tasty Japanese food.
Sadly, Sam’s trip abroad had to come to an end sometime. But the good news is that he managed to raise 11,000 yen for Aid For Japan during his time in Japan.
Aid For Japan extends its grateful thanks to Sam Stocker and also to Ojiya Study Abroad.
You can read all about Sam’s adventures on his blog: https://ojiyastudyabroadsamstocker.wordpress.com/
More details on Ojiya Study Abroad: https://www.ojiyastudyabroad.com/
