My name is Cookie and I made this blog for my friend Yuichi, who started a language exchange community in Kyoto, Japan. I also wanted to help him advertise his plans, goals and the community we are trying to building. Since he has done so much for our group I would also like to give something back.
Language exchange is about sharing and exchanging ideas from different people, making friends, building deeper understanding to the different cultures from people you wouldn't wouldn't normally meet. It's exhilarating getting to know new people and most importantly it's always fun.
So if you find this interesting, please join us on our journey.
So without further a do I introduce to you Yuichi
Greetings everyone, my name is Yuichi.
It has been a while since we had a gathering because of the pandemic, and I am so happy that we were able to do so recently, particularly in March and in April.
I hope if you are reading this you are safe and well.
Are you interested in the culture of other people?
Are you interested in the mindset and outlook of people that grew up in a different environment?
Are you interested in making friends that you would think unlikely to meet any place else where?
Are you a person who is just curious or just want to practice or speak English?
Meet up: https://meetu.ps/c/52904/MckfG/a
I used to live in Thailand as a Japanese teacher, because I wanted to be involved in the Thai community. In my journey abroad, not only did I learn a lot of things from different people, but I also learned something more about myself as an individual and my passion for relationships with other people. I got to know me Yuichi, rather than as a Japanese.
After returning I want to give something back to the community, sharing what I have learned and encouraging other people to know themselves more through language exchange events. This is what got me started in hosting.
At that time, I met Ms. Rie of Kyoto Laundry Café, and started hosting events there. Acting as a bridge to connect people, locals and foreigners in Kyoto, and it turned out to be hit and up until now we are continuing it.
Place: https://kyoto-laundry-cafe.com/
The pandemic hit and face to face events were all canceled. It was a difficult time for all of us. But they say, “Difficulty is just another form of opportunity”, so I chose not to stop and so I created OUCHI International, an online community for language exchange, that aims to connect different people through online events. And with OUCHI International we also gained a chance to reach out to people outside of Kyoto.
Details of OUCHI Internationals is in this article:
https://ouchideinternational.com/ouchi-de-international%e3%81%afmeta-life%e3%81%ab%e5%bc%95%e8%b6%8a%e3%81%97%e3%81%97%e3%81%be%e3%81%99/
After the Pandemic we are back with the events in meeting face-to-face. Online is great and all but let’s face it, meeting other people in person is always better.
We aim to be the number one international exchange event in Japan, I know that is a quite hefty goal and maybe to brazen I might say, but I do believe we can do it. Passion is what drives a person and for as long as I am doing this, I do believe we can do that.
How to Achieve our goal of being number 1:
On our goal to be number we focus in these factors of the Event.
We experiment on different ways to realize our goal. We take surveys, communicate with customers in the shop and accept comments in order to better the experience of future people coming to the shop.
And we receive some really nice comments as well for example this one.
It brings me joy getting these types of feedback so I will continue to give it my all to be even better.
To see people communicate and having fun, knowing other people’s culture, satisfying their curiosity, it give a fulfilling feeling. This is me Yuichi, this is my passion, this is what I love to do, and so for that I will move forward to put this event on top.
As much as I love doing this there are certain limitations on what an individual can accomplish so it would really be appreciated if we could get some sponsors for our event, If you know anyone that is willing to help please do not hesitate to contact me.
