Release Date: February 10, 2005

Ten Monmouth College students, accompanied by assistant professor of political economy and commerce, spent a week in Japan last month. In the front row are, from left, Natasha Kemmerling, Lindsay Andrews, Olivia Heaton, Nick Olendzki and Ken Stachorek. In the back row are, from left, Scott DePue, trip facilitator Tim Karren, Rafael Mojden, Lindsay Bero, Jessica Mojden. Allissa Woloshyn and Capener.

MONMOUTH, Ill. — To prepare his students to compete in a global economy, Monmouth College business professor Don Capener believes they need to experience the world first-hand, so he recently led a group of them on a 12,000-mile field trip to Japan.

A former international marketing executive, Capener arranged to take 10 students on tours of some of Asia’s largest corporations – including Nippon Oil, Toyota and NTT Wireless – during 10 days in January. During their journey, the party also experienced cultural jaunts to the Golden Temple and Ryoanji rock garden, traveled at 180 miles per hour in a bullet train and lived with native Japanese families.

The trip was an outgrowth of Monmouth’s newly enhanced curriculum, which includes an international business major. Capener helped lead a similar excursion for business students to Germany during last year’s spring break.

While the industrial and cultural outings were the thrust of the official “Business 290: International Business Practicum” course offering, more than one student brought back memories that had nothing to do with an assembly line or tourist attraction.

“Japan was definitely a lifetime experience and I will remember it forever,” said junior Olivia Heaton of Monmouth. “I had never traveled outside of the country before. I thought the companies that we met with were very enthusiastic about our interest in Japan and what they do.”

She added, “I thought the home stay was the best cultural experience of the whole trip. The family I stayed with did not speak English so it made conversation very difficult. However, they were a great family who made me feel very welcome in their home.”

Allissa Woloshyn, a senior from Hawthorn Woods, echoed that sentiment.

“The most memorable time for me was definitely the time I spent with my host family,” she said. “Each one of us had a unique experience.”

Woloshyn said she spoke mainly with the mother, Yokiko, and the daughter, Mikiko. In fact, the daughter so looked forward to spending time with her new American friend that she tried to track Allissa down later on the trip.

“After staying with our host families all weekend, we were at a hostel on Wednesday, and we were told ‘One of you has a message.’ It was Mikiko. She had called me, and she was crying. She missed me.

“She really wants to come to Chicago,” added Woloshyn, who said that the 17-year-old Mikiko was “heavily into American pop music,” particularly Christina Aguilera.

Woloshyn had been prepped on some common Japanese phrases on the trip over, and she was also able to speak a limited amount of English with her host family.

“Mikiko spoke it the best,” she said. “I carried an electronic dictionary with me, and it became kind of a running joke how often I would have to use it.”

While communication is a given concern when traveling abroad, the MC students also experienced major differences in eating, sleeping and even bathing.

At a “very traditional” Japanese meal, Woloshyn said she was treated to devil’s tongue (sea anemone), kelp, “tons” of tofu and lots of different fishes. Seafood was a common offering at every meal, as even breakfasts featured a fish called “sierra,” smoked salmon, sushi and “little deep-fried anchovies.”

Woloshyn said she was the only student whose host family took her to an “osen.”

“They said to me, ‘We go to spa?’ and I was like, ‘Sure, I love spas.’ I was surprised at first when I found out what it was, but it was very relaxing.”

An osen is a communal bath house, separated into men’s and women’s areas and typically used at night.

“Everyone shares the same bathwater,” explained Capener. “It was very different from the morning showers that our students are used to.”

A little less relaxing was the Japanese method of sleeping. Mats on the floor were a poor substitute for a big, comfortable bed, but Woloshyn said she adjusted by adding on layers and forming her own makeshift “cocoon.”

Woloshyn, who is majoring in international business and art at Monmouth, was also taken by her host family to the Yokohama Art Institute, where she saw works by Salvador Dali and blown glass by Dale Chihuly.

“They also took me to a private exhibition where the artist had created works with stockings and pantyhose,” said Woloshyn, who describes herself as a painter and graphic designer. “That gave me a different perspective that ideas can be expressed through different mediums.”

On the business side, Woloshyn came away impressed with the Japanese work ethic.

“They’re very dedicated and very loyal,” she said.

Capener, who has been instrumental in developing Monmouth’s international business curriculum, called the Japan trip “a great experience” and hopes to make it a biannual event.

“Culturally, the home stay was just a super experience,” he said. “I also thought we had great business meetings. We were able to tour Nippon’s refinery in Yokohama and we saw them receive a huge tanker from Iran. Their mentality is much different from ours. They store millions of gallons in reserve because they don’t have the indigenous resources in their country.

“On each of one of these trips that we’ve taken, we’ve used contacts to beef up the itinerary,” added Capener, noting that the Nippon visit was facilitated by MC alumnus and trustee Robert Ardell, the retired president of Nippon Oil Exploration USA, Ltd.

The itinerary included visits to Toyota and to Japan’s premier mobile communications company, NTT DoCoMo, where the students were impressed by the company’s integration of html-rich e-mail with phones.

“They are at the forefront of research and development for that,” he said of the advanced text-messaging technology.

At Toyota, the students learned that the Japanese are developing fuel cell technology, which will help control fuel costs, as gas in Japan costs $5 per gallon.

Other Monmouth students who traveled to Japan were senior Scott DePue of Joliet; juniors Lindsay Bero of Batavia, Jessica Mojden of Hinsdale and Nick Olendzki of Monmouth; and sophomores Lindsay Andrews of Galesburg, Natasha Kemmerling of Morrisonville, Rafael Mojden of Hinsdale and Ken Stachorek of Darien.

“I’m glad I went,” Woloshyn concluded. “How many people get to go to Asia? In spite of cultural differences, it was easy to connect. We really are like one big world. There aren’t as many barriers as you’d think. They didn’t talk down to me or idolize me. We’re the same, just in different areas of the world.”

Released by the Office of College Communications
Barry McNamara, Associate Director of College Communications
Phone: 309-457-2117
Fax: 309-457-2330