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Message from exchange students
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Robin Banks Studying at Chukyo is one of the greatest experiences of my life. I really love how friendly the teachers and students are, and how everyone seems to be connected despite the large size of the school. I feel I've made more good friends here than at my home institution. The staff here also makes sure that incoming exchange students have every need taken care of, and if the students encounter problems, the staff does their best to help solve the situation. The classes at Chukyo are interesting too. The teachers here want students to explore subjects on their own and think critically about each topic. Rarely do I sit through a boring lecture on a subject I don't care about. Teachers also try to incorporate current events and global culture with each lesson whether it be a language course, business, accounting, history, or literature. Being in Japan teaches a person a lot about themselves and not just the culture around them. By staying in Japan, I've learned to be more independent, how to communicate my problems to others in a language that is not my own, and how to view the world as a larger place than just the borders of my hometown. Japanese culture is sometimes confusing, sometimes annoying, and sometimes makes perfect sense, but all in all, it's a great place to study and see your own country from a different perspective. |
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Brandon Miller Most people who study at Chukyo University already have some degree of Japanese language ability (from beginner to advanced) and certainly everyone who decides to study abroad in Japan has some interest relating to Japan (be it culture, history, heritage, entertainment, etc). If you want to improve your Japanese skill while learning more about your varied interests, then living and studying in Japan seems like the natural choice. The classes you will take will depend on your language ability, and you may have difficulty in classes pertaining to your major, but even those tough classes give you an excellent chance to improve your grasp of the Japanese language. While the Japanese teachers at Chukyo University are very good and will do everything they can to help you better understand the language and cultural nuances, you might end up learning even more from everything that you will see and hear around you. Speaking Japanese everyday, listening to Japanese radio and watching Japanese TV are all excellent ways to build vocabulary and comprehension skills. Japan is a beautiful country with good and bad things, but the few bad things that you might find are nothing compared to the good things that you can experience here. Nagoya is a big city, but it is pretty easy to find everything that you need. Japan is a pretty safe place to live and study as well. I must say though, that convenience stores are far too convenient (I don't really need to buy ice cream at 4 in the morning, but I certainly don't mind the option of doing so). I hope all of you who decide to study at Chukyo University will experience all the great things that I, and the other exchange students, experienced. |
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Oskari Saloniemi Having been in Japan for eight months now, I can say that Chukyo University has been a good place to be as an exchange student. It has been a good jumping point to dive to the wonders of Japan. The international center has been more than helpful during the hard times here, and there has been some, of course. Japanese culture doesn't let you off very easy, but it does give you tremendously, that is guaranteed. An adventurous attitude is good to have. Although the academic level here, at least in the courses that I was able to take with my poor Japanese, was not as high as I'm used to in Finland, the courses were educational in many other levels. Japanese skills have improved tremendously, naturally, and Japanese people in general are very nice and enthusiastic to speak with foreigners, which is a good motivation to learn Japanese of course. Altogether this has been a great experience to broaden my views and because there are a lot of other exchange students too in Chukyo besides the ISEP-students, mainly Chinese people, I've come in contact with people from all over Asia. Contacts from Chukyo University have been very fruitful, giving me experiences that are hard to get by yourself. Also the apartments are great and well located near the campus. As our lives here have been very much interwoven with the university, I'm ever so glad that it was Chukyo University for me. |
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Leah Maitland Studying abroad gives a person a new perspective on life. By venturing out of your comfort zone, you get to actually see and not only read about other great countries in the world. You get to experience and live the culture first hand. You see the daily lives of the Japanese and you get to live it yourself. You realize that what is feed to you about another culture is not always true, yet sometimes holds true. Japan is a country meant especially to be experienced with one's own senses and not by those of another. By studying abroad here, you get to see everything that you have read about, seen through pictures or film, or heard about and then some. By experiencing Japan unadulterated, you get to form your own perceptions of what is reality and what is fantasy. You will get the opportunity meet many interesting people here and realize the true beauty of Japan that is not always given to you. |
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Marvin Joji Hoffmann Chukyo University is an excellent decision. Be prepared for the most memorable nine months of one's life! (Trying to keep a journal is a challenge!) First of all, there aren't so many American exchange students that one will be unable to interact with the Japanese students and learn the Japanese language, but there are enough of them that if one needs to take a break from all the Japanese, he/she can. Second, the International Center at Chukyo University will play a major role during one's stay. The staff at the International Center takes great care of all the exchange students, and goes out of their way to find information and attempt to answer all of one's questions. The International Center staff understands that learning to speak the Japanese language is the main objective and will recommend classes that allow for this objective to be reached, namely, classes that allow for time outside of class to be better spent interacting with the Japanese people and learning the Japanese language. From the start, one should be interacting with the Japanese people, because this exchange will be the shortest nine months ever. Although one will not be able to obtain a cell phone until one receives his/her alien registration card, contact information of newly acquired friends should be recorded for future use. Also, during the first and second week, clubs and circles will be advertising in order to gain new members. Find a couple that are of interest to you and make an attempt to participate in their activities. It will be well worth it. And don't worry; there is something for everyone. (Note: Clubs represent the school so they are a bit more serious, while circles are more for fun.) The best experiences of one's life will occur here. |
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Justin Hays Time passes so fast in Japan that if it were not for the bitter cold wind and changing color of the leaves I would swear that it were still summer. However, the reality is that it is now November and I must soon return home. Therefore, it is very much the ideal time for reflection upon my experience here. No matter what goal you hope to achieve during your stay here at Chukyo I think you will find the environment to be more than accommodating. The International Center at Chukyo makes it a priority to help the exchange students strike that delicate balance between play, travel, and study. Although you will undoubtedly come to Chukyo with your own goals and expectations I think you will find the staff at the Chukyo University to be very accommodating and understanding of your own personal needs. I do not want this to read like a pamphlet that espouses only the pros of Chukyo University without touching upon the more negative aspects so let us talk about what I did not enjoy. I thought our first week here in Nagoya to be an absolute mess. Having not fully recovered from Jet lag or a cold that left me unable to speak I had to, along with the other exchange students, navigate a mess of registration, tests, appointments, and tours. It was absolutely hell and I firmly believe that Chukyo should allow at least a few days to recover before they run the unsuspecting and fatigued students through their deadly gauntlet. I also cannot claim to be terribly pleased with my Japanese classes as I thought that among them (you will probably take 4 or so) there was little coordination in what was being taught. As for regrets, my biggest for this year is that I did not join a club in the first semester. I know now that the club life at Chukyo is perhaps the best way to make friends, improve your Japanese, and participate in an activity that you enjoy. To conclude, Chukyo is really a great place for anyone with an interest in Japanese language or culture but do not take my word for it, just come check it out. |
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Tyler Mitchell I think it would be near impossible to explain in a few paragraphs what has happened to me here at Chukyo. Initially, I intended to come to Japan to increase my capacity for the language. However, what I appreciate most about the time spent at Chukyo is how I have developed as a person. Please don't misunderstand me. The Japanese skills I've obtained here have been invaluable. But, in terms of lifetime experiences, the good and bad times I have shared with friends I met in Japan outweigh language benefits 10 to 1. My greatest of advice to incoming foreign exchange students would have to be: Act with Haste! You might think you'll be in Japan for 9 months, but you're not! You are really only here closer to 10 minutes. Sounds strange, right? Well, it's true! You must talk, see, eat, smell, hear, go, meet, touch, play, and love everything and everyone you can, until your time here is up. Please heed my warning 'It will go faster than you or I could have ever imagined.' |
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Sampo Pasanen This was an exchange year full of experiences, new people, new culture and new language. When people ask about Fuji-mountain, packed subways and electronics, I have answers but at the same time I feel like I'm cheating them and myself. That's not the Japan that I got to know. And if I don't explain more, their Japan will still be only pieces from here and there. But how do I explain about the rest? How do I explain about the change in me, change in my way of thinking, change in my view of the world, how my Japan is beautiful and mysterious even without the Fuji-mountain and other things that Japan is famous for. Maybe I can't explain everything, but at least I hope that people would understand that a student exchange is not just a trip to another country. It is a period when you try to adapt to a new culture and become accepted as a person, not only as a foreigner. In most cases, at least partially, you will. That's why going back is going to hurt, because it means that you have to leave behind a part of your identity and you know, that many of the people that you have got to know, you will never see again. But that's one inevitable part of the student exchange. There are difficult times in the new environment, trying to find friends, trying to understand what people are saying, and then when you finally start to get a grasp of the everyday life, you suddenly have to go back. Still, I wouldn't give up this experience for anything. That's how important the student exchange was for me. So what did Nagoya and Chukyo University offer me? First of all, all the arrangements including housing, introduction to the student facilities, course selections and all the other things that are necessary to handle before the school year starts went so smoothly that I was amazed. We were taken so good care of that we really had time to concentrate on surviving in the culture knowing all the time that if we have problems there is someone who helps you out. So, even though the beginning was difficult in a completely new environment, I think it was made as easy as possible. The student life in Chukyo University, and what I've heard, in most Japanese universities, is not too busy. The contents of the courses in general are not that difficult, so you can mostly concentrate on learning Japanese and just to keep up with the courses. Courses and seminars for the graduate students are a little bit more challenging, but they can also offer higher academic education. The Japanese students in general don't seem to be too much into studying, which reflects to the level of education on many courses. For learning Japanese Chukyo University and Nagoya have offered a good chance because most people don't speak English or other foreign languages, so everything you do from shopping to handling bank affairs and such, you have to use Japanese. To conclude, for people who like to understand common modern Japanese way of living, Nagoya offers an excellent chance. Because Nagoya is not famous abroad, there are not so many tourists and you wonÕt be treated as one so easily. Also because Nagoya is the fourth biggest city in Japan, there are all kinds of things that you can do. Kioto, Osaka, Nara are close enough for even a one day trip and Tokyo is not so far either, so chances for travelling are also quite good. I didn't know what to expect from the student exchange, but I know for sure, that this kind of experience I won't have again, even if I would be working in Japan. I wish everybody could have a chance to get an experience like this. Thanks for everybody who made it possible for me. |
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Heidi Havansi It has been a great privilege having been able to participate the ISEP program for Chukyo University. As a foreigner in Japan you never fail in receiving help from the hospitable Japanese, but certainly the most generous and needed help has been given by the wonderful staff of the International Center of Chukyo, to whom I would like to express my gratitude. The time I have spent in Japan has enriched my life in many ways. The combination of the difficulties and the rewarding moments make you really appreciate the whole experience. I have not only been able to explore the Japanese way of living and thinking, but at the same time I have become more aware of my own cultural background as a Finn. I have truly realized how deep of an impact our common values have on our daily lives. I find it all the more interesting and challenging to communicate with people of different cultural backgrounds. It's a really eye-opening experience, and I think it is also important for the Japanese people to have contact with foreigner so that they can become more confident about their communication skills and build a truly international society. I think that no matter how intently you stay Japanese culture, you will be constantly surprised by the daily life in modern Japan. The cities are large, crowded, full of neon lights, noisy and very safe. This is an example of the modern and certainly unique Japanese society. I have been especially surprised by the academic style. Even though I consider Chukyo University a nice place I would have to say it doesn't quite meet my expectations of an academic institution. Sometimes it seems to me that neither students nor teachers are interested in their work. But this is certainly not the case with all of the classes, and I have been really satisfied with the ancient Japanese literature classes. Not to mention how good all the classes are for improving your ability to listen to proper Japanese. Two things are certain, when you study in Japan you will find many different things that will interest you and you will make friends for a lifetime. I strongly recommend participating in a study abroad program at Chukyo. |