Workcation Experience for Parents and Children

This model tour includes a program that is unique to the cosmopolitan town of Chatan, in which children can participate alone. The program is the "Study Abroad in the City" program offered by Hello World (https://hello-world.city/). The purpose of this program is to have children stay with a foreign family for a short stay (home stay or day trip) to experience different cultures and develop an interest in communicating in English. By working while the children were "studying in town," we were able to create a parent-child workcation that allowed each family member to spend quality time together.

Two second-grade girls participating in the day-trip "Study Abroad in the Town" program stayed at the home of an American and a Filipino couple. They had various experiences in their host mother's home, such as drawing, playing the piano, and making pizza. In the morning, they and their host mother departed from the hotel lobby and headed for Sunset Beach, located near the hotel. Arriving at the calm blue sea and white sand beach, the two were given a mission by their host mother: "Give me 10 seashells! (Find 10 seashells and show them to me!)" Counting shells collected on the beach in English was a part of the lesson that could not be experienced in an English classroom in the city. The two sisters, a fifth grader and a second grader, are so interested in English and other cultures that they chose the accommodation plan at their own request. When I went to the American Village with my Panamanian-American host mother, there were so many foreigners there that I felt as if I had gone abroad and had an exciting time. Parents who saw their children enjoying talking about their homestay experiences felt that "being able to experience study abroad in the city of Okinawa is a great first step for their children," and that they would like their children to experience it again because "it is less of a hurdle than studying abroad. Many of the children who participated in this event could not speak English well or had never spoken to foreigners before, but their parents commented, "I could see their growth as they made efforts to communicate," "I could see they made preparations to research and talk about the country of their host families," and "I strongly feel that their interest in English and other cultures has increased. I strongly feel that their interest in English and other cultures has increased.

While the children are staying in a special environment, the adults also have a comfortable work environment. Because workspots were scattered throughout the hotel, café, and coworking space, "I used the hotel for online MTG, the coworking space for PC work, and the nearby café for thinking about projects, and so on. Some people used the hotel for online MTG, the coworking space for PC work, and the nearby café for thinking about plans, etc. I spent a lot of time away from my child at school and at work, but after her first experience studying abroad (in a foreign language), I was able to accept her directly at the hotel when she came back home in a state of uncertainty. We received many comments such as "I was able to meet my daughter every day and listen to her talk about her first experience. The parent-child workcation in Chatan-cho is a place where work and pseudo-overseas experience, the everyday and the extraordinary come and go, and where parents and children can encounter the excitement of growing up.