Shinnenkai at “Hill Country BBQ” (photo by Izumi Osawa)

From Friday, January 19, to Sunday, January 20, JICUF hosted the second “ICU Student Weekend in NYC.” We invited 50 ICU students currently studying in the United States and Canada on an exchange program to New York, and 27 students participated from as far away as California, Georgia, and Vancouver. JICUF paid for their accommodation, several meals and admission to a few sites, while the students paid for their own travel. 

On Friday afternoon, we held a “meet and greet” at the JICUF office. Fusae Nara and Danny Ha, New York-based JICUF trustees, joined JICUF staff in greeting the students. We broke out into small groups to discuss what the students thought were the best things they had experienced so far while studying abroad, as well as the challenges they had faced. After the discussion session, we headed downtown to a BBQ restaurant on 26th Street for a new year’s celebration with ICU alumni and friends. Around 50 alumni from the class of 1967 to 2023 participated, and more than 80 guests including the students mingled and made new connections.

Top of the Rock

On Saturday, JICUF staff and Izumi Osawa, representative of the ICU Alumni Association’s NY Chapter, met the students in midtown and took them to the “Top of the Rock” observation deck. It was the coldest day of this winter (-8 degrees celsius, felt like -15 degrees!) and we enjoyed a crisp view of Manhattan.

Next, we visited the Museum of Modern Art for about two hours, and had lunch at an Italian restaurant nearby. The students were free to explore the city on their own afterward, but 15 of them joined an optional program at night to listen to jazz at the Jazz at Lincoln Center. Izumi, JICUF staff Sachiko Tokai and the students enjoyed a performance by a jazz orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis. 

Lunch at “Trattoria Dell’ Arte” (photo by Izumi Osawa)

Sari Kamiyama, a student participant who is currently studying at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, sent us the following comment:
I appreciated the opportunity to connect not only with other ICU exchange students but ICU alumni who live in the States, which was very inspiring for me to imagine my future outside of Japan. By spending time with other exchange students from ICU, we got to share our joys and struggles half way through our study abroad journey. Every single moment was mesmerizing in New York City, such as the view from Top of the Rock, MoMA, and the jazz concert. Thank you for organizing this amazing event!

We had a wonderful time meeting energetic ICU students as well as alumni and friends. Thank you to all who participated! 

Jazz at Lincoln Center