my little aiesec story from the summer

Oi Aiesec! This is my first post for the Aiesec ILLINOIS blog! I'm really excited about this blog and hopefully this will be a great tool in which our LC can stay connected even if you're abroad and away from chambana. Even during international conferences, we can keep everybody in the LC updated by having someone post some insights and crazy stories from their day.

Well, I guess for my first post, it's only right if I post something about how I first heard about Aiesec last summer. Reflecting back upon my aiesec experience, it's crazy to see how much I've learned and experienced through Aiesec in such a short time.

Last summer, I was back home in Japan (I usually go back home every Summer and Winter break) to visit my friends and family in Japan. Usually, vacation schedules in the US and Japan are off by a month so I had about a month to myself, since all my friends in Japan were still in school. So I spent 2 weeks travelling all over my home country and exploring places I've never been to before. To me, born in Hiroshima and raised in Chicago, I've always felt like a foreigner wherever I was. But this trip turned out to be an eye-opener and a discovery of my own identity. From the city life of Tokyo to the countryside of Japan I wanted to see it all with my own eyes.
Here are some pics I took along my trip.

Tokyo Tower at Night

The Busiest Intersection in Japan(Shibuya, Tokyo)

Hiroshima

Golden Shrine in Kyoto

Rice field in Miyazaki

Hiroshima

Asia's kitchen- Tokyo Tsukiji Fish Market(each one of these Tunas are sold $1000 and up)

View from a Mountain I climbed in West Japan

Japanese Garden inside a Shrine in Kyoto

After a couple weeks, I found out that Mitch, from our LC, was in Tokyo for an summer internship teaching English. It was his first time in Japan and he had told me before that he might have a job in Japan this summer but I didnt know if he was really comming or not. I sent him an message saying that since he's in Japan, he should come west to Hiroshima and stay at my home and see other parts of Japan. He replied right away and told me that he had a free week before he returned to the US and was looking for something to do.

Couple days later I was driving my car(driving on the left side of the road that is,,) to pick up Mitch at my local train station. As I was driving, I was thinking to myself, "wait, I don't even know this kid that well!!". At that time, I think I've only talked to Mitch like twice before. I pulled up at the station and he was already there waiting for me. He arrived later than scheduled since he made a couple unexpected stops on the way(which he could ellaborate later on this blog). It was definately a new feeling for me to see someone who I normally would see in Champaign sitting in the bench on my station back home in Japan. He seemed to be really happy to see me. Later on, he told me that he was quite lonely in Tokyo since it was his first time in Japan, and he didnt know that many people.Plus, no one really understands English.

Atomic Bomb Dome

At Miyajima, Hiroshima

Next day, I took him around the city of Hiroshima and went to Miyajima, which is an UNESCO world heritage site. After feasting on some delicious conger we moved back to the city and to the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Peace Memorial Museum. The Peace Museum is somewhere I believe everyone should visit if they're in Japan. 63 years after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, my hometown is the symbol for World Peace. We then visited the "Atomic Bomb Dome" which is a the most famous landmark of Hiroshima. It is the remaining ruins from what used to be a bank before the bomb was dropped. It's remarkable since this was the one of the only buildings that survived, since the shock wave from the bomb devastedly destroyed everything in that area. I visit this Dome everytime I'm home. It tells the story of what atomic bombs can do and that people will always remember what happened on the morning of August 6th. We took a picture in front of this dome and when I later showed my grandma, who had gone through the war, emotionally told me how much things have changed in the last 60 years. She never thought that her very own grandson would be living in the US and would be welcoming an American to Hiroshima, 60 years ago during the war.

It was getting late and after eating Hiroshima's famous "okonomiyaki", Japanese Dish consisting of a pan-fried batter cake and various ingredients, we hurried back to the station since the Typhoon was approaching. As we approached the station, we saw a bunch of people lined up outside the station. I asked them what they were lined up for and they said that they were all waiting for the taxi since all the local train lines were canceled for the day due to the typhoon. We thought that we would have to stay in the city for the night since my home is an hour away from the actual city of Hiroshima. But we were in luck and turned out that there was one last bullet train going in the direction of my home. So we hopped on and made it on last second.

The very next day we planned to return back to Tokyo together by taking a night express bus; which is alot cheaper than taking the bullet train. But we had some time before the bus so I took him to neighboring city "Onomichi". Famous for vast number of shrines and Mitch's favorite Ramen. We went to one of Japan's best ramen restaurant and laster visited a famous shrine in Onomichi. On the way to the bus, we started to talk about our upcomming semester back in Champaign. Classes, schedules, the stuff we weren't looking forward to since we were having a blast in Hiroshima. Then he started telling me about an organization that he was in that dealt with raising cultural awareness on campus. He told me all about it on the train in Hiroshima and my interest in this organization grew as he told me more about it. He told me that I should check it out and I would definately fit in and would have a blast.

2 weeks later I was back on the streets of Champaign and I joined Aiesec which has become something that I really enjoy and feel that is worth every minute of my time. If Mitch wasn't in Japan that summer and I didnt invite him over to Hiroshima, I might have not been writing this blog post right now. It's interesting how no matter where you are, Hiroshima, Chicago,,, the people you meet and the friendships you develop will always be with you no matter what.

in Chicago (late august)

So, thats my lil story on how I heard about Aiesec,,,


-go

2/24/08