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YEAR'S EXCHANGE STUDENT'S EXPERIENCES At present, we have many students from Canada, Germany, Kenya, Indonesia, Netherlands, New Zealand, China, U.S.A., France studying in our International Program here at Sendai Ikuei. Let's take a look and see how the students are doing, and what kind of experiences they are having. Let's see what their impressions are. |
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| ■New Zealand | |||
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Four
weeks ago, I was still in New Zealand, stressing because my suitcases were
too heavy and wondering just what it would be like to actually come to Japan.
I'd seen many pictures of this country, and its culture. They say a thousand
words can be used to describe a photograph but I can assure you being there
is everything. Now here I am, a JSL student at Sendai Ikuei and though I've only been here a month, it feels like a week. So far, one of my biggest experiences has been staying in the Ikuei 90 dormitories where I met many other students; some are also foreigners. The school was also very different, such as learning Japanese all day, but after a while you get to know your classmates and everything just falls into routine. I also went to Matsushima and saw the many islands each with a legend of its own. Then, I went to Zuiganji with my host mother and sister. There is so much history and beauty there that is so unique to Japan. If you are planning on coming to Japan, don't listen to others' stereotypes or comments unless they've actually been here themselves. Chances are, if they're negative, they're not true. I've still got four months left here and I know I'm going to make the most of it. Not a lot of people get this opportunity. |
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| ■U.S.A. | |||
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I have been here for about four months now. During that time, I have had my fair share of mishaps. However, I have had even more good experiences. The bad things include having had a bike lent to me stolen, breaking a school's basketball goal, and being lost on several different occasions. But, as bad as those few things are, there are many more good things that have made this trip much better. When you come to Japan, the culture and the things you do, ask a lot more of you, as far as your normal routine goes. Every thing here just feels a lot better. Simple things, like trips to Sendai, are amazing. You can just go and talk with friends, go to Karaoke, explore the city, go shopping, sight-seeing, or do Purikura. In Texas, things like Karaoke, sight-seeing, Purikura, and even just going to big cities wasn't an option for me. Everything is new and exciting. Even at school, just going to JSL and having class with my friends is a lot of fun. Overall, I am enjoying staying at Ikuei and love Japan even more. | ||
| ■Germany | |||
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The
day I arrived in Japan, everything was new and I was very excited. After
the long flight, I decided to start my stay in Japan with a Japanese drink.
I bought a bottle of green juice, my first challenge in Japan. It tasted
horrible. A stay in a foreign country is full of challenges and sometimes you don't like the taste of it, but I am enjoying every bit of it. I feel I learned more in the time that I spent here than I've ever learned at home. There are a lot of things you can not learn in a classroom. I found a lot of new friends, a new family, and a new daily routine. When I came here first, I was a bit scared, everything was so different. But I soon found out that Japanese people are very nice and they always helped me. My stay here is as pleasant as I could wish for, and I think my biggest challenge is yet to come. I am going back home in less than 2 months, leaving all this behind will not be easy. But when it's time to go, I will learn with new knowledge, wonderful memories and I'll take a part of a different culture with me. |
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| ■Canada | |||
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It
has been almost 3 months already since I came to Sendai. I can't believe
time is passing by so quickly, even though it feels like I just got here.
I guess it's not a bad thing; when you're having fun, time flies. So far, living in Sendai with different host families, I've gained knowledge about the Japanese culture and everyday life in Sendai. The Sendai city is sure different from my home city back in Canada. Richmond, Canada didn't have beautiful city sight at night time. Malls in Sendai are much bigger than malls back home. Everything in general is very different here compared to my city back in Canada. I think this is an awesome experience for me here in Sendai, Japan. In Sendai Ikuei, I'm currently attending JSL (Japanese as a Second Language) course. Every exchange student in the school starts off in JSL. In JSL, it's all about Japanese! No, duh! You probably think it's boring just having Japanese class every single day, but that's not the case. My JSL classmates and I have awesome time together during classes, practicing our Japanese. I have got to thank Hoshina sensei and Nagasawa sensei for putting up with us. I know how much effort they put in for the JSL students. Every class they would try to make it interesting in their creative thoughts. I just hope they don't get tired with us. 7 months to go! Minnasan ganbatte kudasai! P.S. Thomas: We'll be good! At least the Canadians will. |
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| ■Canada | |||
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When
I first came to Japan, I didn't know at all what to expect. I grew up in
a small town on the west coast of Canada, so I was completely surprised
by the busy city life in Japan. On my first day, I arrived in Narita Airport
in Tokyo, and I was dazed for a few moments at the sheer amount of people
that were in the airport, let alone the city! The population of my home
town is 15,000 people (at best), so I'd never seen such huge crowds before
in my life. It was almost frightening to a country person like me!! Sendai, however, was not so overwhelming, which was lucky, otherwise I most likely would have suffered a lot of culture shock. Thankfully, I managed to slowly adjust to life here in Japan, even though the customs, people and technology are so different from home. For example, everyone uses public transit (trains, buses, etc.) where as in the cities in Canada, the trains are rarely (if ever) full. I marvel at what has become the norm for me here in Japan. My lifestyle here is nearly the opposite of what I am used to, but it was easy to get used to and much more interesting than my life before. I can hardly believe that I've been here a month already, but when I look back I realize that I've done and seen so much in my time here. There is truly a world of difference between Canada and Japan, but slowly overcoming that is an experience I have enjoyed and hope to enjoy for the rest of my stay here both in the country and as a student of Sendai Ikuei Gakuen High School. |
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| ■Indonesia | |||
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I've
been staying in Japan for more than 8 months, but still I feel like I
just arrived yesterday. My exchange student experience is so great. The
reason I came to Japan is I wanted to learn about the Japanese. I want
to know if there is any difference between my country and Japan because
we are both from Asia. Now, I realize that although we are both similar,
we still have a wonderful difference. The most interesting thing I found
in Japan was that there are so many greetings for each situation. It is
a great thing that Japan has a lot of greetings so that people show their
respect to each other. |
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| ■New Zealand | |||
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I
have been at Sendai Ikuei for almost a year! During this time, I have had
so many great experiences that I will never forget. One of them is definitely
being a part of the school Judo team. I had been doing Judo since I was
little boy back in New Zealand, and it was always a dream of mine to go
to the country that invented the sport and do it. So here I am! I can still
remember the first time I went to Judo at Ikuei. I was really nervous because
I didn't know what the Japanese boys were going to be like and how high
the level of skill would be. But as soon as I walked into the Judo hall
all the boys came up to me and introduced themselves to me. Since then I
have become real good friends with the boys. I have gone to tournaments
and training camps with them. The Judo in Japan is a lot different from
New Zealand Judo. Trainings are six days a week and it's a lot more competitive.
I am really glad I joined the Judo team. I have got a lot better at the
sport and my Japanese has got a lot better too. The other experiences are meeting my host family. They have been so good to me. They have taken me to baseball games and taught me the true Japanese culture and traditions. They treat me like I'm one of their sons! I am really happy to have met them. More stuff about Japan - The weather in Japan is a bit similar to that of New Zealand, except the Japanese summer is more humid and in the winter it snows quite heavily. Sendai is a beautiful city. There are a lot of entertaining things you can do. There are malls, sightseeing places, and of course Karaoke! The people in Sendai are very friendly. If you are lost or worried about something, you just ask someone on the street and they will help you very kindly. Sendai Ikuei is the best school for exchange students. The school has two huge campuses and great teachers. At first, all the exchange students attend the Japanese as a second language class. This class helped me with my Kanji (Chinese characters). After a few months in the JSL class, then you integrate into a normal Japanese class. I have been in the normal Japanese class for over six months now. I have made real good friends with all my classmates. It is hard to believe but I am having fun studying in class. Well these past months have gone by extremely fast but it has been a huge success and I plan to learn more and make the most out of the time I have left in Japan. |
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| ■Netherlands | |||
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Hello
everyone! My name is Marieke Vande Loosdrecht and I'm 16 years old. I come from the Netherlands. The Neriukawa family is my host family. My hobbies are listening to music, dancing, shopping and playing Korfball. Korfball is a sport which essentially looks like baseball. I've played it for 11 years now. The Japanese government gave me a scholarship to come here. Because YFU made the selection, YFU is my exchange company. The reason why I wanted to go to Japan is that I'm interested in cultures and religions different than the Dutch culture and the Dutch religions. The Japanese culture and the Japanese religions are also very special and interesting to me. My course at Sendai Ikuei High School is the JSL course. When I came to Japan I was only able to make a self-introduction. Now, after I've lived for 3 months in Japan, I can write Hiragana, Katakana and I have memorized more than a hundred Kanji. Sugoi! In JSL class, I met people from all over the world. It was easy to make friends, even though we are all raised in very different cultures. Sometimes I visit tea-ceremony class after school. I enjoy it very much. Learning how to take part in a tea ceremony is very interesting but also very difficult. I've also seen a lot of the Japanese culture in 3 months. My host parents are very enthusiastic and busy people. During the weekends and the holidays, we do a lot of things together with friends of my host parents. We go to sport games (soccer, baseball, American football). We climb mountains or go to a museum. My host mother even took me to Sapporo! My host parents teach me about Japan and I teach them about the Netherlands. At last, I'd like to thank my host parents. They gave me a great opportunity to live in a completely different country with a completely different culture for a while. |
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| ■Canada | |||
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So
far, Japan has been a great experience for me. There have been many new
and exciting things to experience while being here. Coming here the first
night was so exciting and very overwhelming. Many questions ran through
my mind : Was this the right thing to do?, What is there to expect?, and
Will I be successful? To tell you the truth, I was nervous but I had worked
so hard to come here that I knew in the end it would all be worth it. And
so far, it's been that way. Everything has been the best. Since I have been here in Japan, I have learned a lot by going to school and on my own. I compare Sendai to Vancouver, and I like to see the differences between the city where I have grown up, to this new city where I find everything to be new and exciting. Sendai to me is exactly the way you would seen in pictures on T.V. or the internet, just a flashy, busy, big, and somewhat loud city. It's amazing to see the tall buildings with huge advertising posters of the latest brands or famous Japanese artists. You feel small but at the same time it feels unbelievable to have the chance to see it all. Now the other great thing about Japan is the food. My gosh, the food is so good! Personally I am not a picky person when it comes to food so I try anything. And that's for sure a great thing for me because all of the Japanese cuisine is definitely delicious. I really love the Japanese sweets. The pastries are really to die for. The soups are the best soups you can find. My favorite is the Udon soup - very tasty! I've been here for almost 3 months now and during those months it for sure has opened my eyes more. It has made me understand how interesting it is to learn about a different culture. Everyone I have met have all made an impact on me, whether it's my amazing host family, or my great teachers, or just the great friends I have made, every little thing has been a part of my learning. I really don't regret having come here it's a good experience. It's made me grow as a person, and also at the same time I have been given a great chance to experience such a wonderful culture with the help of a great school. |
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| ■New Zealand | |||
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My
time at Sendai Ikuei has been a very memorable and life changing experience
for me. I arrived here in August 2004, not knowing what to expect, with
my Japanese speaking ability being very limited and Kanji being a whole
new thing for me. I knew I was in for a challenge and experience that would
change my life. From the day after I arrived I started my new school with new classmates. Out of six international students, I was the only one who could speak English, so I knew I had to start studying and pickup the language as soon as possible if I wanted to communicate with anyone. As my Japanese improved day by day, new international students joined my class coming from all parts of the world, like the U.S., Canada, China, Croatia, Brazil, France, Germany, Kenya, Indonesia, Sweden, and New Zealand. As all of us International students were together on a daily basis we managed teach and learn about not only Japan and Japanese culture, but also about our own countries and cultures. My 6 months in JSL class flew by and with the help of my 2 teachers plus other staff and friends, I was able to communicate well enough to hold lengthy conversations with Japanese people in Japanese. After about 6 months in JSL class, I and another New Zealander integrated into the same Japanese class. We were lucky enough to experience 2 different courses at Sendai Ikuei, first, we integrated into the Flex course at Miyaginohara Campus. After about 4 months of studying there we changed into Eishin course at Tagajo Campus. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I was in the class with 27 Japanese students plus one other International student from France. Within a short time I made a lot of friends and hopefully life-long contacts. During my time in Eishin, I got to experience the interclass tournaments that were held, which were the basketball tournament - the team I was in came third - and the class singing contest where our class was placed second. Both events were very fun and enjoyable. I would like to thank all the teachers at Sendai Ikuei for helping me with my Japanese and for every thing else I needed help with, plus all the friends I made in Japan. Last of all, I would like to thank my two host families: the Ishikawa family and Machiya family. They accepted me into their homes and treated me like a son, just like part of the family. It was gratefully appreciated and made my stay in Sendai all the more enjoyable. My experience in Japan and at Sendai Ikuei will be a memory I will keep with me for the rest of my life. Thank you very much. 本当にありがとうございました！ |
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