Japanese senior college students Hina Nagai, Kotoko Niwa, and Aoi Kamada, from Hirosaki Vocational High School, visited Guam Community College on Wednesday as a part of a culinary cultural trade program.
Students within the GCC culinary and baking program ready manha tatiyas and fish kelaguen for the Japanese college students.
They additionally confirmed how you can lower open coconuts to make use of as cups to drink the juice.
Kamada, 18, stated this was all of their first time on Guam. They had by no means had every other meals experiences comparable to Guam’s and had been grateful for the normal cooking periods.
“This is the most fantastic experience in my whole life, my first time seeing people open coconuts in front of me. I didn’t know how aggressive it is,” Kamada stated.
Guam Visitors Bureau’s Samual Takamatsu and Mai Perez, administrative assistant and supervisor of the Japan advertising and marketing workforce, helped translate the visiting college students’ solutions from Japanese to English.
After having fun with the buffet ready by GCC college students, which featured purple rice, kelaguen, smoked meat, ube bread, cassava, and extra, Kamada informed the Pacific Daily News she loved the spiciness and sweetness of all of the dishes.
“Each of the tastes is very strong and unique, but my most favorite food is sweet food, and the cassava cake was mochi-like and sweet,” Kamada stated.
Nagai stated she actually likes spicy meals, like Japanese wasabi, however Guam’s spiciness was a “totally different type of spice” that she actually loved.
Niwa stated the three of them solely studied the place to eat and a handful of vacationer locations earlier than touring to Guam, however she particularly appreciated studying the preparation for the coconut drink and the way native college students use elements for CHamoru cooking.
In the longer term, she hopes to strive Guam meals once more and expects to understand it extra, now being extra conversant in the tradition of the island.
“Even though there is a language barrier, the way we all have an interest in CHamoru food is the most important thing,” Niwa stated. “I like the unique taste of the sweetness, sourness, and spiciness of Guam’s food and enjoy the difference from Japan’s food. The first time I ate Guam food, it was totally different…but once I started to eat more, it became easier and tastier.”
The Japanese college students landed on Monday and visited Two Lover’s Point, CHamoru Village, Latte Stone Park, and Paseo Beach Park earlier than exchanging with GCC.
They had been excited to see the Wednesday Night Market earlier than flying out the subsequent morning.
‘Fostering growth’
According to Regina Nedlic, senior advertising and marketing supervisor for GVB’s Japan market, the trio gained the chance to journey to Guam by defeating 300 different Japanese faculties (greater than 860 college students) on the Umamaimon Koshien competitors.
The trio’s profitable dish was sushiko parfait, a dessert various to conventional sushi rolls.
For their a part of the trade, Nagai, Niwa, and Kamada ready a number of samples of the dish for GCC culinary college students to attempt to showcase their cooking course of.
Nedlic added that Hirosaki Vocational High School has back-to-back winners of this system and despatched one other set of scholars to Guam for profitable the competitors final yr.
She stated that is the third yr GVB has run the culinary trade as a part of its instructional tourism program for the Japan market.
Nedlic was glad to see the Japanese college students having fun with themselves and the meals, particularly throughout CHamoru Month.
“We are fostering growth and cultural exchange between youths in Japan and Guam. Educational tourism is looking to elevate and share our culture by food and interaction with the GCC culinary and tourism guide programs,” Nedlic stated.
Second-year culinary college students Christopher Garcia, Selena Rabago, and Jolina Ghie De Dios observed similarities between the GCC and Japanese college students, comparable to knife expertise, the kind of cuts they used, preparation, and cleanliness.
Garcia, 19, from Yona, stated the Japanese college students had been very meticulous with their chopping and establishing.
“It’s good to see [how] it’s being shown in other countries,” Garcia added.
De Dios discovered it fascinating to see how calm they had been, in comparison with how “chaotic and fast-paced” she stated the GCC college students normally are.
Rabago stated the expertise allowed her to learn to cook dinner issues with new greens or objects she’d by no means heard of earlier than.
‘Food is a universal language’
There are 75 present college students within the culinary program, and that quantity is anticipated to succeed in 100 or so by the autumn semester, in response to Kennylyn Miranda, division chair for the GCC culinary program.
Miranda stated this was the primary time the trade program was held on campus, and significantly within the newly refurbished culinary arts kitchen and baking heart.
She was pleased with this system’s younger success, saying it permits college students to be taught extra about different cultures and views and offers them delight to share theirs as effectively.
Miranda additionally stated the culinary and tourism administration packages are creating the longer term cooks and tourism professionals that can form Guam’s economic system.
“Food is a universal language. Once they started cooking, the communication became more natural, and that’s what food does,” Miranda stated. “This is a great example of how GCC connects education, culture, and industry. It shows that community colleges can be places where meaningful global experiences can happen.”
The trade occasion additionally featured a presentation by GCC’s tourism, journey, and administration program.
Miranda stated this system at the moment has 41 college students, and the 4 who offered had been in a position to put what that they had been studying in follow.
Third-year Kayann Kanil, 22, from Mangilao, stated she and the three others had been largely coaching to develop into tour guides, having discovered weaving and different expertise and historic info about Guam on the Valley of the Latte.
Kanil and her friends, Jan Pascua, Warline Sanchez, and Alex Carolina, had been grateful for the chance to characterize Guam’s cultural id.
“They’re from [one of] our main markets, so they can go back and share what their experience was with us,” Kanil stated.
The alternative was particular for the 4 of them as a result of none of them are initially from Guam. Although they’ve all lived on Guam for 3 to 11 years, Kanil was born in Hawaii, and her classmates had been born within the Philippines.
Sanchez stated all of them fell in love with the CHamoru heritage and historical past and need to be those to share it with the island’s guests.
Carolina stated it was particularly tough when she first moved to Guam as a result of she solely spoke Tagalog. However, the chums she made helped her step out of her consolation zone and notice the fantastic thing about Guam.
All 4 of them need to assist create that ambiance for folks, for them to take pleasure in what makes Guam stunning and need to share it with others, Kanil added.