I'll start with the question "what does 'communication' mean to you". Communication is an extremely varied and broad category that I think can best be summarized as an exchange of ideas. I am using "ideas" here very loosely: I am including factual information, opinions and beliefs, emotional states of being, and perceptions. These ideas can be exchanged between two or more individuals in an almost infinite number of ways: spoken words, tone of voice, facial expression and body language, written language, actions, and even silence.
To address the question "what do you expect to learn from this pod-casting project", I think the key term to define is "learn". If "learn" is taken to mean "acquire information previously unknown", then I expect to learn a little bit about the history of natto and possible a fact or two about Japanese tea ceremonies, along with how to say terms relevant to these topics in Japanese. If, however, "learn" is taken to mean "realize something either unknown or not seen in this context", then I may learn something new about filming a group project or about Japanese restaurants in New York (nothing against Japanese restaurants--I just don't go out to almost any restaurants in the US).
