On Tuesday, July 2nd, ten visitors from Wright State University (Ohio, USA), three from the University of Findlay (Ohio, USA), four from the Pontifical Catholic University of Parana, and three from the Federal University of Parana (Brazil), along with 14 OUS students, came together for a cultural exchange event organized by members of Global Volunteers (GLOBOLA).
The event opened with three icebreaker activities so that the members of each group could converse and get to know one another. First, they played the “Lucky Color Game,” in which participants guessed which color (red, yellow, green, or blue) the game master would pick from a box by standing inside a colored square.
The second activity was a gesture game (charades) in which participants were divided into four groups, and each group played two one-minute rounds.
The final activity was a game called “Human Knot”. The game involved group members standing in a circle and holding hands with two group mates other than the ones standing next to them. The challenge of the game is to, without letting go, step over or crawl under joined hands to create a new circle in one minute.
After the icebreaker, the participants participated in the main activity, Campus Quest. The objective of Campus Quest was for each team to visit four sites on the OUS campus and complete a “mission”. A mission could be taking a group photo in front of an object or writing down an answer to a question. Teams received a score for successfully completing a mission and returning to the starting point within a 15-minute time limit.
After Campus Quest, the groups had a commemorative toast with "Ramune," a cultural experience for the American and Brazilian visitors, as the drink is not sold in their countries. They had to learn how to open the drink from the OUS students. While drinking, they sat down to a picnic of Japanese and Brazilian snacks and pleasant conversation.
After the toast, all participants came together for a commemorative photograph. Comments from the participants were positive.
“I enjoyed getting to know Japanese students!!” “I wish it were an hour longer!” “I loved the interaction!”
The event opened with three icebreaker activities so that the members of each group could converse and get to know one another. First, they played the “Lucky Color Game,” in which participants guessed which color (red, yellow, green, or blue) the game master would pick from a box by standing inside a colored square.
The second activity was a gesture game (charades) in which participants were divided into four groups, and each group played two one-minute rounds.
The final activity was a game called “Human Knot”. The game involved group members standing in a circle and holding hands with two group mates other than the ones standing next to them. The challenge of the game is to, without letting go, step over or crawl under joined hands to create a new circle in one minute.
After the icebreaker, the participants participated in the main activity, Campus Quest. The objective of Campus Quest was for each team to visit four sites on the OUS campus and complete a “mission”. A mission could be taking a group photo in front of an object or writing down an answer to a question. Teams received a score for successfully completing a mission and returning to the starting point within a 15-minute time limit.
After Campus Quest, the groups had a commemorative toast with "Ramune," a cultural experience for the American and Brazilian visitors, as the drink is not sold in their countries. They had to learn how to open the drink from the OUS students. While drinking, they sat down to a picnic of Japanese and Brazilian snacks and pleasant conversation.
After the toast, all participants came together for a commemorative photograph. Comments from the participants were positive.
“I enjoyed getting to know Japanese students!!”
“I wish it were an hour longer!”
“I loved the interaction!”