Special programs -- Seinan Gakuin University

Seinan Gakuin students celebrate their graduation in September.

For three weeks in September, ELI was host to a group of 29 enthusiastic students from Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka, Japan. Organized in Japan by Yoshiko Yamaguchi of Seinan’s Center for International Education and coordinated at ELI by Ken Cranker, this group was blessed with fair weather throughout its stay in Delaware and also on weekend day trips to Washington, D.C. and New York. When asked what he wanted to do in New York, one student replied, “I want to eat a hot dog in Central Park,” reflecting a desire to act like a true New Yorker.

The group also visited the Food Bank of Delaware, where students worked hard sorting food and packing meal boxes for distribution among needy local families. "This [Food Bank] is an experience we could never get in Japan," said many students.