Massages from Exchange Students

Fu Jiayu (University of Technology, Sydney)

Two semesters of intensive Japanese course has finally came to the end. No words can describe how sad for me to leave this university and returning back home. Although ten months of studying in Japan was short but it has been the best time of my life. I had the privileges to take part in an excellent course, realizing the little improvement of my ability day by day. Even though the intensive Japanese course has a high expectation toward us, and sometimes we did feel pressure by the workload, however, it is just the best feeling to see our language ability getting better and better everyday. All the teachers that we had are excellent, they didn't only teach us Japanese from the textbook, they also show us many aspects of Japan such its cultures, traditions, society etc so that we could develop a deeper interest in Japan while learning its language. It is always a joy to talk to different teachers and listening to their experiences and stories, at the same time sharing ours.
We also had school trips to visit various places to gain a better knowledge of Japan and socializing with other international students. The international student centre provides us free home stay, which I think is an excellent program for us to interact with the locals and develop precious friendships. The friendliness of the families warms our hearts when our families are far away from us. I am also glad that I could stay in the international student dormitory, where friendliness and harmony are shared between different nationalities. Of course the cost to stay in the dormitory is also extremely reasonable, so the students can concentrate on study or having fun without worrying too much about paying off the living expenses.
I was once quite regretted about choosing Gifu when I first arrived here because it seems like a boring countryside. But now, here I am, making wonderful memories, and feeling extremely upset about leaving here. Coming to Gifu, and studying in this university is the best decision I have ever made in my life.
This year, there will be new students coming from my university to Gifu, it is understandable that they will be full of uneasiness about coming to a new environment. But as I told them in our homepage (where returnees and new comers of the exchange program share information about the exchange program), they will have the best time in here. They have the best dormitory, which is affordable and newly renovated, excellent teachers, and caring staffs to look after the international students' daily affairs, and also I am sure they will meet the nicest students in university that can become lifelong friends.
Well, Japan gave me the best memories. Besides the huge improvement on my Japanese, I have also meet friends from all over the world, and making precious friendships with the Japanese locals. I have developed an enthusiasm in Japan and my goal for my future is to work in Japan as an international relation officer, bringing harmony between different nationalities and enhance interactions between different cultures.