Bates College | Technos International Week in Japan

The Tanaka Memorial Foundation provides an extraordinary opportunity to experience Japan with other young adults for two weeks in June 2008. The Foundation offers complete support for two students and one faculty or staff member to travel to Japan for Technos International Week during the first two weeks of June. Twenty-four students and ten faculty members from Bates, nine other US colleges; Pembroke College in Oxford, England; and Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand gather at Technos College in Tokyo and travel together for a week. The experience culminates in a final week of interaction in Tokyo with Japanese students and faculty at Technos College. Technos College students plan and organize many of the activities both at Technos and along the way.

The goal of the visit is to foster international exchange and understanding. Students are introduced to Japan, its people and culture. The language used is English. Students in past years have found the experience rich and sometimes life-changing.

Students travel to Toyko, the Japanese Alps, Nagoya, Takayama, and other cities. They spend two days at a mountain camp, two days at a traditional Japanese Ryokan with hot baths and Tatami rooms and return to Tokyo on the famous Bullet Train. During the second week in Tokyo, international students visit Technos College and spend time with Japanese students at Technos College.

Applicants must be current first or second-year students at Bates and preference is given to students who have taken one or more classes in east Asian languages or other areas of Asian Studies. They must not have traveled extensively in Japan or be fluent in Japanese. Applicants should have an academic interest in Japan, China, Korea, or Taiwan and explain that interest in the application essay. They must be citizens of the United States or a country whose citizens are permitted similar visa waiver conditions for short-term entry to Japan. They must be eager to meet people from different cultural backgrounds and experience with good grace living conditions and foods which may be new to them.

Airfare, travel in Japan, housing, and most meals are paid by the Tanaka Memorial Foundation. In addition, students receive a scholarship of $250 to cover those meals which are not provided. Students have some free time for shopping or additional sightseeing and may want to bring some spending money.

When they return, Bates students are expected to communicate their experiences in Japan to the Bates community through visits to various classes or other activities determined by faculty. Applications and a letter of support from one member of the Bates College faculty are due by noon on Monday, March 24, 2008 in Lane Hall 121. Please contact Dave Baker at dbaker2@bates.edu, if you have questions.

8/2007