On February 25, IJLC Winter came to an end.

The participants, who were nervous at first, soon became friends with students of Kansai University and enjoyed talking with them. Especially, KU students who supported participants as "Conversational Partners" in classes were received well. In addition to Japanese language classes, the participants also had an event to interact with KU students, where they enjoyed talking about topics unique to their age group.

The participants went on a field trip to Kyoto, where they visited two temples, Sanjusangendo and Kinkakuji, strolled around Arashiyama, and experienced making Japanese traditional confectioneries. It was the first time for them to make Japanese sweets, but their sweets turned out so beautifully that some said, "I want to keep them as decorations" or "I want to take them home to my family!"

They also had the opportunity to experience Japanese culture through wrapping with a traditional wrapping cloth known as furoshiki. They actually had fun using a piece of furoshiki to make backpacks and wrap wine bottles, boxes and balls.

Although it was a very short period of 13 days, the participants were able to make good progress in their Japanese classes and conversations with their conversational partners. On the last day, they were able to give a final presentation summarizing their results. At the end of the course, some of them commented that they really enjoyed the course because they had a lot of conversations. They reluctantly bid farewell, expressing their gratitude to the kind conversational partners and teachers.

Please continue to do your best on studying Japanese, everyone!