However, there were some things which was different
from what I expected before I attended the program. For example, the images of the IES students were sometimes really different from what I thought they would be by exchanging emails and
when I actually met them in person. I thought the student was
very open and outgoing when I exchanged emails before their
arrivals, but some of them were very shy and took long time to
be friends in the reality, I often spent my time to think what
would be the best way to approach them to become closer for
those semesters.
There were also good differences from what I thought it
would be, like when the IES students taught me what’s going on
outside of Japan and gave me opportunities to expand my
knowledge. There were many times when IES students talked
about their countries, and every time, I could learn about the
world situation, their cultures and laws.
There were also some concerns from the cultural differences. Especially, the concept of time the US students have was 所属している音楽サークルの公演を見に来た留学生達と公演後の記念撮影
really different from what we have. One day, I planed to go out
with some of the exchange students but had to waited for one when I watch the TV drama in English.
hour and half without any notice till they actually showed up.
Also, there are no borders between girls and we always
had fun chatting. We had so much fun sharing our secrets and
talked about boys. It was another fun experience about this program to have "girl’s talk" in English.
Lastly, I would like to send my words to the KUIS students who wish to participate in the program that they should
challenge anything they want to do. Especially, I know how it can
be great opportunities to get to know someone from outside of
Japan to gain different perspectives. Because we are young, we
should meet new people and should expand our possibilities.
To those of you, future IES students who are planning to
sign up for the program, I would say to take this great opportunities, make lots of friends in Japan and think Japan as your second home because there will be no other chance to live abroad
for over 3 months after we graduate from school.
It makes us always nervous when we want to try something new and different, but after all, everything is going to be
alright!
留学生としゃぶしゃぶなど美味しい食べ物もたくさん食べに行きました！
When they showed up finally, they just greeted me as there was
nothing happened. To be honest, I was expecting them to say
"sorry for being late" or any kinds of apologies, so got really
shocked by how they were. Back then, I wasn't sure if I should
tell them how I felt about this or not, and if so how I should tell
them. I opened up and told them that I was waiting for them for
more than one hour just standing and wished they contacted
me. The problem solved that time by me opened up and share
how I felt and them apologized about being late. I learned from
this experience that I should tell them straight about what I felt
in order them to understand how I feel. Because of the Japanese culture "reading the air", we are unconsciously putting our
feelings inside and not share with others. It was actually important to say it in words for this situation to communicate without misunderstandings.
Another things I learned from the experiences with this
program was to learn vocabularies and slang words which we
don't normally lean in the classroom. There were many interesting idioms and sometimes bad words. I can tell that the listening
and speaking skills were also improved because of this program
Misa Oba, Kanda University of International Studies
(Translation: Hyung-Hye Lee)
いろんな場所に出かけて、他の留学生や日本人学生とも交流できました!