We started our Nikkei Community Internship experience with a retreat to Little Tokyo. The San Jose and the San Francisco NCI interns flew down to meet the interns from Southern California in the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC). Paul Matsushima, the coordinator of the NCI program in SoCal and a staff member at Kizuna, led introductions and ice breaker activities. He then broke up the interns into groups and we were sent off to do a Little Tokyo Video Scavenger Hunt. The scavenger hunt was an exciting way to bond with our fellow NCI interns and to explore Little Tokyo. It was also the first time both of us have ever tried nato (and it was ok...). We had the opportunity to meet Debbie Ching, a professor in the Master’s program at CSU Northridge, who educated us about the Organization Life Cycle and provided us with some helpful networking tips. After Debbie’s workshop, Paul checked us in to the Miyako Hotel and let us explore Little Tokyo. The day ended with a NCI alumni dinner where we were able to meet previous participants of the program and to get to know more about them and their experiences.
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| Opening Potluck Dinner with NCI class of 2013 and NCI alumni |
The next morning, we were given a private tour of the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) exhibit, Common Ground, where we were introduced to the President and CEO of JANM Greg Kimura. We then drove to Keiro Senior HealthCare to set up for the NCI Opening Luncheon with supervisors and Southern California members of the California Japanese American Community Leadership Council (CJACLC). The luncheon ended the retreat, and after taking lots of photos and saying goodbye to the Southern California interns, we headed back to LAX. The retreat was a great way to start the NCI program and we are looking forward to the next 8 weeks!
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