As a student of the Japanese Language and Culture Studies Course of Gifu University, I studied the Japanese language and spent a delightful time in Japan for one year. I believe that accumulating hands-on experiences of Japanese culture is quite important for me and other Japanese language learners. The one-year stay in Japan provided me an ideal opportunity to experience, learn and feel traditional Japanese culture and Japanese people’s ways of thinking, based on all my senses. Such hands-on experiences materially helped me improve my Japanese proficiency and develop multiple perspectives.
I also feel heartfelt gratitude to Gifu University’s kindhearted academic supervisors and Japanese students. Thanks to the supervisors’ instruction and Japanese students’ generous support in my study and daily life, my first study abroad ended up being rewarding and memorable. I am determined to remember my precious days in Japan for the rest of my life.
My one-year stay in Japan was very significant. I am confident that I made the most remarkable progress in my personal development in my year in Japan. While staying in Japan, I became acquainted with many people, studied with international students from various countries, gained hands-on experiences of Japanese culture and went on journeys to various tourist destinations, which all provided me with a wider perspective. I also strived to respect cultural differences, building close friendships with Japanese people and other international students.
Although it was laborious to complete the thesis, I was able to find enjoyment in the hard work. It is not easy to receive instruction on research methodology in my own country. In contrast, at Gifu University academic supervisors kindly instructed me how to proceed with my study and helped me look for literature and reference materials. Their instruction and support will be surely useful for my future study and research. I am deeply grateful to everyone I encountered as well as for every experience and memory I had in Gifu.
It was my first experience to come to Japan and study in Gifu as a student of the Japanese Language and Culture Studies Course of Gifu University. Before participating in the course, I had felt both excited and nervous about staying in Japan. Because my Japanese skills were poor and I had no experience living alone, I was worried about whether or not I could manage as a foreigner for one year in Japan.
Looking back on my one-year experience in Gifu, I can say there was really no need to have such worries. In Japan, I had frequent occasions to feel Japanese people’s spirit of hospitality toward foreigners. Academic supervisors of the International Student Center and other support staff members were always considerate of me and kindly provided academic and other various advice to me. Japanese students of the Ryugaku Love club, thesis tutors and any other Japanese students whom I met at Gifu University were also kindhearted. It is sometimes difficult for international students to accurately communicate their intentions to others in Japanese. In such cases, Japanese students attentively listened to me and advised me how to explain in Japanese what I wanted to say.
Because classes were conducted in Japanese, I am confident that my Japanese proficiency has greatly improved in the past year, compared to when I was in my country. In writing a short thesis during the second semester, I learned how to organize a thesis and gather necessary reference materials. Because I have to complete a graduation thesis to be submitted to my university after returning to my country, the experience of writing a short thesis in Japan will surely serve as useful advance training for me in the future.
Other than academic classes, the course provided a wide variety of cultural classes that were intended to help international students acquire hands-on experiences of traditional Japanese culture. I was very satisfied with the cultural classes. The workshops on kabuki performances, noh & kyogen programs, sado (Japanese tea ceremony) and sumo wrestling were valuable first-hand experiences that could be gained only in Japan as an international student of Gifu University. After returning to my country, I am determined to study harder by making full use of the knowledge that I obtained in Japan, aiming to enter graduate school in the future.
