VIETNAM
– JAPAN EXCHANGE PROGRAM 2019
PERSONAL REPORT
Reporter: Khauv Mỹ Trân (Tracy)
Ho Chi Minh City, 21st September
2019
MY VJEP Journey
Dear VJEP 2019.
It has been a while since I finish my
wonderful VJEP 2019 journey with many amazing people that I had the chance to
connect with. I would say that participating in this program was destiny to
me because it came right at the time that I was looking for an opportunity to
reach out more in order to gain that personal growth and precious
experience.
About a few months ago, I was not
confident that I could be selected out of hundreds of potential applicants but
because I did not want to have any regrets, so I decided to give it a go and
give my best shot. I was very glad when I knew that I passed the form round and
got to the second round, but still I carried the belief that I might not make
it to the final.
Fortunately enough, I passed all the rounds and came very close to the thing that I desire. So, during the preparation
time, I learned many things about the programs, listened to many stories that
the former participants shared about the joys, pleasures, and lessons that they
had gained. From that, I had another expectation for the program, which was to grow
my mindset and awareness of the environment but also had those precious
relationships with the people that I was about to meet in the program.
The first day at The Common Project was
quite exciting to me because we were all waiting for something that we had all
been waiting for almost the summer for the moment to see the Japanese
participants, but this time everything was so close to that moment already.
When the Japanese delegates arrived, I was looking for my buddy in desperate
because I could not remember her face even though I already had her Facebook
account, but to me, they all look quite alike with similar features. I was quite
nervous because my conversation with my buddy on Messenger did not go quite
well. That was the reason why I had the anxiety that I and she might not
understand each other and everything might be very terrible. Luckily, my buddy
was a super crazy and energetic girl, and we could feel the chemistry that we
had between us was not something.
At that time, I did not think that
language was a barrier between us because we could still understand each other
very well. That night, we were still a bit shy and a little bit hesitant I
think, but at least my worries were cast away by my buddy’s welcome and
smile. The next day came to the ice-breaking session, and at this time, I felt like I
knew a little bit more about my buddy like she had a good voice and that she
had that charisma that could attract many people. That day, I felt closer to
the Japanese delegates such as Natsuki, Moeka, Sae. Everything was going well
until that afternoon, on our way back to the hostel after the opening ceremony,
Miyabi was burst out to tears
The scavenger hunt was great, and it did
bring us closer. I still remembered vividly the time when I and Tuan taught the
Japanese to sing the Vietnamese song and how they encouraged us to sing their
song. I felt just like we had exchanged a little bit of ourselves during that
time. It was very funny to learn that song with everyone and performed it in
front of the organizers without memorizing the lyrics at all. On that day, I
also knew more about the daily lives of my Japanese team including Sayaka,
Moeka, and Sae. Sayaka to me was a shy and not so talkative girl to me, but I was
very surprised when talking with her because we had so much in common.
There were times on conflict between
the Japanese and Vietnamese delegates. One side was not active enough in their
roles and one side was tired of being the active ones, I think that we all just
craved for some connection with our buddies. However, as the days went by, we
encountered different challenges and dealt with them together. The days on Binh
Phuoc were amazing to me because they did not just require you to be physically
strong but also mentally strong.
The day we went to Bu Gia Map
national park was kinda interesting though because, on that day, I saw other
aspects of our teams. It turned out that the ones that gave me the impression
of a sweet girl were very tough and strong under some circumstances. They did
not scream much and managed to keep calm even if the liches were biting their
legs. That day, we were tired as hell, but we were still very happy with the
experience that we have. I learned more about our nature and realized how
beautiful the treasure that our country had. When we came back to Ho Chi Minh
city, we hanged out more with each other. The atmosphere now was not as awkward
as it used to be because we had more things in common, more topics to discuss,
and I felt more cloze with my buddy because we shared with each other lots of
things about life when we went shopping together. Then came the presentation
day. It was crazy as hell, we spend every last second and breath to finish the PowerPoint.
We realized we could have done so much
more with our green business model, there were so many cool ideas that we had
to let go because of the lack of time. I think that was the perfect teamwork of
my team during the whole program. I felt a sense of relief and satisfaction
when we finished our presentation not just because we finished what we needed
to finish but also because we had been working together to come up with
something special and were able to share it with other people. The prom day was
very memorable too because we were shaking, dancing, talking, singing, eating a
lot. I was very proud when I received the letter from my buddy because there
were no grammatical errors in that letter. So happy!!!
2 weeks together flew so quickly. I
wish I had more time to experience and learn more. The experience that I had,
the friends that I got, the lessons that I learned, the perception that I had, I
will carry it along with my life as a treasure box. From that awareness and
perception, I start to take more action to protect the environment in my very
own way and work towards a sustainable future.
Thank you, my dear organizers, for
devoting yourselves to this program and thank you, Mr. Seki, for creating this
meaningful platform.
Anyway, Miyabi is coming to Vietnam
soon, and hopefully, I will have the chance to be united with her. Thank you
for the relationships that this program brought to me!
Yours sincerely.
21.09.2019
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