Ten students from the University of the Free State in South Africa came to ICU for a 13-day stay as part of UFS's "Leadership for Change Program." The intensive program cultivates "future campus leaders" who promote global diversity and exchange across ethnicities. This is the second time ICU hosted students from the program (the first time in 2012).

In addition to taking classes on Japanese culture at ICU, the students also visited a nearby elementary school and the South African Embassy in Japan.

UFS students had this to say about their visit:

"This short program in Japan was a great experience. There are increasingly broader choices of places to study on this program but the majority of the locations are in the US and Europe. Of course it's possible to have valuable experiences in those countries as well but since South African culture has been strongly influenced by American and European culture I think there have been more new discoveries for us in Japan and other Asian countries. If I have the chance, I'd love to come again and stay longer."

"I could see how international ICU is. When we joined classes here I was surprised by how globally diverse the student body was, with students from the Philippines, Italy, Russia, Pakistan, the US and other countries. Plus, the classes were small and highly interactive. We were able to come into contact with a culture here in Japan that is vastly different from that in South Africa. The learning environment here is really great since you study side by side with students from all around the world."