With Shimane prefecture’s being one of the three corona virus free prefectures in Japan, the University of Shimane held the entrance ceremony on April 2, 2020 as scheduled.
In welcome address, the University Shimane’s
President, Dr. Masayoshi Kiyohara congratulated the 248 undergraduate and
graduate students, wishing a fruitful and enjoyable student life ahead. He
stated the college experiences form the foundation of an individual as it is
the time to foster various abilities such as creativity, understanding,
cooperation, overcoming difficulties through meeting a variety of new people.
Dr. Kiyohara encouraged the new students to
play an active part in various fields of the campus and community as the “anchors”
of the Faculty of Policy studies, as they are the last cohort of the faculty,
which will be reorganized into the Faculty of International Relations and the
Faculty of Regional Policy Studies in 2021.
Miss Momone Kakita made an oath on behalf
of the new students, promising that they would like to acquire foreign language
and communication abilities as well as expert knowledge on policy studies to
contribute to the development of society.
The entrance ceremony was shortened this year
for 20 minutes with health authorities recommending social distancing in order
to prevent the corona virus from spreading across Japan.
Announcing all the students’ names,
speeches by guests, singing songs and photo shooting were cancelled.
The mother of a freshman, who waited
outside of the auditorium, said that she was very pleased at the fact the
University of Shimane did not cancel the entrance ceremony, as it is a very
memorable day for parents.
Mr. Takenao Masuda, a male student, said he liked the short ceremony. For him the most memorable part of the ceremony was the song Dr. Kiyohara offered: The breeze of spring across the hills, to tell the start of new learning. He would like to learn a lot of new things so that he can become someone who can make people smile.
Despite the request of social distancing,
the freshmen hung out in front of the auditorium. They took photos and
discussed what to do for a week, because the orientation programs and classes will
be cancelled next week. They will have nothing to do until Monday, April 13.
Students were wondering when they would
receive their PC’s, how to log on the University’s wifi network, which courses
to register, etc. A lot of students were at loss because face to face
orientations were cancelled, and they must read written documents with college jargons
to navigate the first few weeks in a new environment.
Do you know the country called Laos? I went
to Laos last August and this activity became a special experience for me. The
reason why it was a special experience is that I was able to experience something
new. Originally I studied the language of Laos by myself, so I was able to
speak the language of Laos with the people and play with the children of Laos. Also,
I was able to understand the literacy problem facing Laos.
Laos is one of the countries of South East Asia and it is next to Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. Because it is a poor country, some people can’t go to school because they don’t have money for school. It has two seasons, the rainy season and the the dry season. In Laos, when summer comes, it became the rainy season. Also, most people speak Lao, the language of Laos. The capital in laos is Vientiane. A lot of building is built, but it is smaller than Tokyo or Bangkok. There are some temple, we can watch religious mendicancy in the morning.
In Laos, I went to two libraries built by
Kiyoko Yasui in Vientiane and Sivirai. Kiyoko Yasui is the leader of the NGO “The
fund of library for the children in Laos”. She lives in Vientiane, Laos. She is
originally interested in work involved in children’s book. And she went to a
refugee camp in Thailand to do puppet show. Then she had interested in children
in the Southeast Asia and came to participate in the project of children’s
library in Laos. Now she do two activities, one is to protect the folk talk of
Hmong tribe, another is to support of
library’s management. I studied about literacy in Laos and the support
from Japan and other countries. In Japan, SVA(Shanti Volunteer Association)
mainly send the children’s book to Laos. When I visited the library, many
children came, so I communicated with them a lot. One day, they waited for me
for three hours this day because they are looking forward to us coming to the
library. I read Japanese book for them in Japanese, played with Japanese toys,
and danced. As Japanese toys, I introduce kendama, darumaotoshi, origami. They
play with them well soon because they are skillful with their fingers. They are
interested in Japanese books and Japanese toys, so I was happy. I was also able
to see their smiles.
In addition, I came to understand that Laotian people don’t read books and there are not a lot of books in Laos through the talk of Kiyoko Yasui and visiting some library such as national library and the library of national university of Laos. There is not custom they read books from young in Laos. In fact, national library, library in university and two library built by Kiyoko Yasui is all small and there are not books a lot.
Through this activity, I was able to enjoy and
gain more interest in Laos and its issues with literacy. I want to try to
continue to study Laos. Also, I want to tell a lot of people about my
experience because I want a lot of people to learn about Laos.
This summer I was working at Iwami Seaside
Park as a lifeguard. It was really fun because during my free time, I could
enjoy some activities with other lifeguards but also there were dangerous days.
It was a really hard job for me but I got a lot of experiences through this
job.
Hamada city, in Shimane prefecture is located
on western side of Japan. This prefecture facing the Japan sea so there are
many beaches. Iwami Seaside Park is the largest beach in Hamada city, the total
length of this beach is 3km! You can see beautiful sky and sea at this beach
but when typhoon is approaching, The waves get higher and nobody can swim. At
the beginning of the August, This beach was always crowded but Around late
August, the sea bathers were less than before.
There are lifeguards who belong to Hamada Lifesaving Club and they are lifeguarding at the beach during the summer season. The members are twenties to fifties. Also they did some activities like stand up paddleboarding, wakeboarding, and snorkeling. They are not professional because they are working at company during the week and if they have a free time like the weekend, they lifeguard at this beach.
The first day, I had free time so I did stand
up paddleboarding with sea bathers and other lifeguards. That was a hot, sunny
day so I got a tan but the sea was a really beautiful. That’s why we really
enjoyed this activity. In the middle of August, a typhoon came to Japan. This
caused big waves, These big waves took some sea bathers out to the sea and I
helped them by using a rescue board. The rescue board is looks like a long
board to surf but it has more buoyancy and thick. We have a lot of rescue board
and we use this like this situation. It was a really dangerous day but no one was
hurt. Around late August, there were less sea bathers than at the beginning of
the month, so we did wakeboarding. I think that wakeboarding is a little bit it
more difficult than the other activities but we really enjoyed this sports.
In
brief, it was really hard job but I learned that how to help people who are taken
away by the big waves, how to work as a lifeguard, and so on. My Lifeguarding
job became a great summer memory that I can not forget!!
This August, my life
of Japanese archery was changed. I participated in preliminary contest of the National
Sports Festival in the Chugoku region, held in Izumo, Shimane. Meeting great
teachers, teammates and other participants from other prefectures affected me
very much. I could learn many things and I grew as a player of Japanese archery.
Before
writing about my special experience, I will explain to you about Japanese
archery. Japanese archery is one of Japan’s traditional sports. We use a bow
and four arrows. We can get a point when we hit a row on the target. The length
from the center of the target is not related to the score. All we have to do is
hit the target. Players compete by adding up the total number of hit arrows.
The meet gave me three opportunities. First, it gave me a chance to meet many players of Japanese archery. I could see many players in Shimane; 10 teammates, 3 coaches and their friends and teachers. We could get to know each other through this meet. They told me not only how to play Japanese archery better but also how to repair and maintain my equipment.
Second, it gave me a chance to learn about the way to control my nervousness before a large competition. The meet was held in Izumo Dome in Shimane. Domes are larger than places where I usually practice and play. I have participated in a large meet held in a big dome like this, but I didn’t play well because I was too nervous to do my best. So, I didn’t want to make the same mistake again this time. To do my best, I did two things. First, I talked with my teammates to prevent me from thinking too much about possible mistakes I might meet. Second, I wrote out why I was so nervous. Before writing out about it, I didn’t know what made me nervous, so I wrote out what I feel anxious to visualize my worries. For example, I wrote “It’s important to calm myself down because I can’t hit my arrows when I feel heat.” These two things worked well.
Finally, the meet gave me a chance to improve my skill of Japanese archery. Through not only the day of the meet but also self-practicing for it, I certainly could make progress. The environment around me was great because people around us cheered me and gave me advice. I was very pleased when my teammates and coaches noticed my effort and praised about it and my progress. That helped improve my skill and motivate me. In addition, it helped me even more mentally. People around me gave me the power to practice more and more. I had practiced harder than ever for the meet and improved my skill because players around me were much better than me. However, they were not students and didn’t have time to practice hard, but I was a student and had much more free time than them, so I thought the only thing I could win over them was quantity of practice, and I practiced about 4 hours per day. As a result, I could hit 3 of 4 arrows on the target on the day of the meet. However, I noticed the quantity of the practice is as important as quality of it to prepare for the day of the meet, because our team couldn’t win the meet. I think I should have practiced with my teammates together more. I always practiced alone but it was important to practice like the real part.
Through the meet,
I learned that the more I practice, the better I can do. Also, knowing each
other with players of Japanese archery is important because they help me when I
fall in a slump. Also, I noticed the environment around me is very important for
upgrading my skill. I think the three opportunities I got through the meet held
this August and practicing for it changed my life of Japanese archery, and I
believe this experience will help me in the future.
On October 1st, I found again that getting ready is
essential for success. I got a job offer from the company I will enter after
graduation from university this April. The company held a “newbie ceremony” at
its building called the Comprehensive Center in Osaka on October 1st for
new recruits.
One day, I was given a mission by the human resources employee before the ceremony was held. The mission was to read an address replying beck to the president’s encouragement one for the new recruits. When I got the call, I felt honored, but at the same time, a little nervous, too. Referring to two previous addresses sent to me, I wrote an original one, and sent it to the company to check. After making sure my address was suitable for the ceremony twice, the time when I would have to read it got closer. Not to read it out loud with a shaking voice, I decided to practice reading and to give myself confidence. I went to a karaoke booth alone with my address paper and read it again and again through a microphone. That was the first preparation I did by myself for success.
My second form of preparation happened on
the day, October 1st. I arrived at the center two hours earlier than
the opening of the ceremony since I planned to practice the actions in the
ceremony and read out loud the address. One HR employee and I did it together,
and that was helpful because I could imagine how to behave during the ceremony.
After having lunch with him, at 1:00 pm, the ceremony finally started. It’s
held in a medium-sized hall, 23 new recruits including me were in the hall and
10 board members sat in front of us. After the introduction of each board
member, the receiving of the offer confirmation, and then the president’s
address, my turn came. I was not nervous but confident because I knew how to walk
in the front of the president, read out loud the address, and fold the paper to
give him, so I carried out the mission. Practicing those steps was the factor
for my success. Without this practice, I would have felt more nervous and would
have not been that confident when I was in front of all the participants.
Therefore, I was able to realize again that
to keep practicing is the huge factor for succeeding. Those two steps -reading out
loud alone in the karaoke box and practicing with a partner in the real
situation- gave me confidence and better understanding of what to do in the
ceremony. Getting ready for the actual performance is necessary for the
success.
It has been a month since I started my new life in Wenatchee Valley
College. I found many differences between Japan and America. Also, there were
some difficulties and a lot of great experiences.
One thing I noticed is the difference between the number of courses
to take in a week. I have only three courses a week. The three courses are
English Writing, Career Life Planning, and English Communication. Each course
has a class every day and one class is only for 60 minutes. Although the number
of the courses is less, I get a lot of homework after every class.
I was surprised at the number of courses that I must take in the United States, because I used to take ten or more courses while I was in Japan. At the University of Shimae, I had many different courses every day, and one class meeting was 90 minutes.
It is hard for me to speak in class. So far I think that I am not good at group work because my classmates speak very fast and it is difficult to say my opinions quickly. So I raise my hand and answer to the teacher’s questions sometimes. In order not to fail to hear important things, I record my instructor’s voice in every class and listen to it when I come back to my dorm. On Tuesday and Thursday, free tutoring is offered for the international students. I usually ask questions to my tutors about difficult points of my homework.
The life in my dormitory is comfortable and I made many friends there. My roommate Chris is a nice person. He gives me his sodas, apples, and cookies sometimes. There is a common kitchen, and when I cook dishes, I often meet someone who lives in the same floor, and conversation begins. This is my way of making friends. I usually cook some sort of spaghettis such as tomato sauce, and cheese sauce. Recently, we decorated our common area for Halloween. This kind of events make me feel I am really in the American culture.
In my free time and during weekends, I usually go shopping. Fortunately, the students of WVC can ride on every bus for free of charge, so I use the bus to a supermarket. I like to buy fruits. Wenatchee is famous for apples, so if you come here, you should try them. They are very good! When I miss Japanese foods, I buy chicken, teriyaki sauce, and rice which can be cooked with microwave, and cook a bowl of teriyaki chicken. I also like to explore the town. I’ve been to Town Toyota Center, which is the biggest skate rink in Wenatchee, Pybus Market, and Columbia River. I went there by free bus and each place is very good.
My life in Wenatchee, including studying, is extremally enjoyable! I
want to try many new things while I am here and I will keep studying hard to be
able to use English fluently.
English Lessons and Homestay in Vancouver, Canada Eighteen students of the University of Shimane participated in a cross-cultural understanding course during summer in 2019 by joining an intensive English language program hosted by Langara College in Vancouver, Canada. The students had amazing experiences with their host families and students from other countries.
Overcoming my fear of speaking English
By Kaito Takechi
At the beginning I felt nervous because I was not good at speaking
English. And I didn’t know what it was like to live in a house in Canada. However,
when I first met my host mother, I felt instantly at ease because when my name
was called, my host mother said to me, “Oh blonde hair boy!” and all my classmates
and teachers laughed. So I felt relaxed. I thought she was a fantastic lady who
had a great sense of humor. She was very nice and made me feel comfortable by
talking to me gently on our way to her house.
However, I still had my fear of talking with my host family. So on the first day in Vancouver, as soon as my host mother finished telling me how to use the bathroom, when the dinner starts, and how to go to Langara College, and so on, I immediately went to my room and closed the door so that I did not need to meet my host family.
On the second day and third day, I was still nervous due to the same
reason that I had to use English all the time in the house.
But my host mother kept trying to understand what I wanted to say.
She was always calm and always cheerful. She laughed a lot. Her kindness gave
me a courage to speak English. I started to talk with my host family in
English.
While I was in my room and being alone, I asked myself why I paid so much money for coming to Vancouver? I thought hard, but the answer was simple. My answer was that I wanted to improve my English skills through this program! After realizing what I really wanted to do, I always tried to stay in the living room to talk with my host family in English, when I’m in the house.
Two weeks passed, and I realized myself enjoying talking with my
host family about host family’s cat Rio, culture, places to visit in Vancouver,
where I would go and where I went on the day, what I bought, and so on. I truly
enjoyed talking with my host mother and I felt using English improved my
English speaking skill.
Gradually the final day in Vancouver approached, and I felt I did
not want to go back to Japan, and I wanted to stay in Canada longer like one
year or more.
Now I am grateful for my host mother because she made my Canadian life enjoyable. Thanks to my host mother, all the things went well! I think I overcame my fear of speaking English.
On the last day I was sad because I need to say good bye to my host family. So I wrote a letter for each family member. My host mother enjoyed reading my letter and said, “You can come back to our house anytime.” When I have time and money in the future, I would like to go to Canada to meet my host family to say “Long time no see!”
Overcoming my asking for help
By
Yuko Madono
I had a scary experience in
Vancouver. My homestay family’s house was located in the suburb of Vancouver
and I needed to ride on a bus for 45 minutes. One day, I rode on a usual bus
and paid attention to the display that showed the bus stop’s name. On that day
there were not many passengers on the bus and the bus did not make many stops.
I saw the name of my bus stop, so I got off.
However, the place where I got
off was not at the usual bus stop. The scenery was completely different.
I managed to confirm my whereabouts, but I did not have Wi-Fi and there are no stores around, so I became anxious. But I kept walking because I was worried of asking people for directions. But after all, it didn’t help. I was completely lost. I was becoming very scared. It was getting late. I decided to ask for help.
I saw a woman and stopped her.
I said to her that I was lost. Then, the woman kindly taught me how to go and
then I could finally got home after walking about 10 minutes. I felt relieved
to see something familiar.
Thanks to the woman, I was
helped. It was very scary to get lost in land I don’t know, but I thought it
was important to ask people with courage.
While I was in Vancouver, I had some troubles, but people were always very polite. I realized that there were many kind people who would were willing to help.
Bothering others means trusting others
By Kazuki Enomoto
When I woke up in the bed of my host family’s house in the morning
of the second day in Canada, I realized that I did not have an important bag
with me. The bag contained the important item for overseas travel: my passport.
I turned pale. I usually try to solve problems by myself, but I immediately
reported to the teacher by LINE because this was serious. Unfortunately, she
did not reply.
It was early in the morning, but I wanted to tell this incident to my host family, so I went downstairs and waited in the living room for everyone to wake up.
Then my host father came down. After I greeted good morning, I immediately said to him, ”I lost my important bag, so I would like to go to college.” He said, “Today I was supposed to guide you to Vancouver, but would you like to go to college?” I tried to convey my problem in my own English, but I couldn’t think of good words at all and the silence continued between him and me. I thought that I needed to locate my passport immediately, and I used a translation app to communicate my problem. The host father kindly contacted the college and talked to a teacher instead of me. The teacher found the bag in the classroom where we had an orientation program in the previous night. I got the bag on the next day and found my passport.
Another incident happened on the 15th day of my stay in Vancouver. On
that weekend I went to Stanley Park, where I decided to ride on a bike. I
rented a bicycle and went along the bike lane around the beach. I approached a
small roundabout, and I tried to make a turn, so I just applied a little brake,
but I was speeding too much and I lost my balance and my body flew forward.
I was struck to the ground so hard. It was so sudden and violent that I could not tell how things happened.
People came near me immediately. Two men and women who seemed to be old couples and one young woman rushed to me immediately. At first, I heard many things in English quickly, but I did not have the translation app, so I was in trouble. They asked if I was okay with pointing their knees, because I injured my knees. They also asked me where I rented the bicycle and they help me to return the bike. Fortunately, the accident was not very serious and I only hurt my knees a bit. I sweat more in talking to them in English.
After staying in Canada for a month, I was able to experience the warmth and kindness of people overseas. My host family, my teacher and people in Stanley Park were very nice to me. They did not hate my bothering them. I think I learned a lesson that I was able to overcome troubles by trusting people. I usually act alone because I do not want to bother others, but I think it’s okay to bother others.
An old man with a lump on his cheek went walking deep inside a mountain alone one day until eventually darkness came. Being alone in the middle of the mountain made him frightened, so he started to sing a song to get over his fear, and then suddenly, threatening looking goblins appeared.
The old man begged them to save his life then the goblins ordered him to sing the song again. They danced with his song and when it was over, they asked the old man what was the secret for his singing. The old man touched his lump, which was out of habit, but the goblins thought the lump was the secret. He denied it, but the goblins never listened. They gave the man a treasure and took his lump off.
The day after, the story of the old man went through the village, and a greedy old man with a lump on his cheek heard that too. The greedy old man went to the exact same place at night and sang a song. The goblins came again. The greedy old man said, “My lump has all the merry songs in the world. I will give you my lump if you give me enough gold.” But these goblins already knew the truth because the very lump they took off the other day was not the secret for singing well. Then, the main goblin ordered his friends to give the lump they had on the cheek of the greedy old man. Also, they scolded him with their bats. The greedy old man got one more lump on the other cheek instead of getting rid of his old lump.
In this story,
the greedy old man tried to take off his lump but he got one more lump instead.
“I tried to take it off, but I put it on instead” is one of the well-known old
sayings in Korea. Whenever someone uses tricks to take the easy way, but
finally has more difficulties, we use it for him or her. This saying is a warning
so that we do not cheat others and be honest to each other.
Imagine feeling nature in the middle of the city. In a busy urban life, a park in the city allows us to relax and heal. In Ulsan, there is Taehwagang (Teahwa River) National Garden. On July 11, 2019, Taehwagang Park in Ulsan was selected as a national garden and it is South Korea’s second national garden.
During Japanese occupation, bamboo was planted at the Teahwa River in order to prevent floods and a small park was formed around the bamboo forest. The city of Ulsan has gradually developed Taehwagang Park for its citizens. They built a walkway where citizens could take a walk, rest, and exercise.
But there were some problems at first. Originally, the Taehwa River was a very polluted river. There used to be a bad smell, too. So, the city of Ulsan tried for a long time to improve the water quality of the Taehwa River. As a result, salmon and yellowfin returned into the Teahwa River and it became a ‘river of life.’
Later, the city of Ulsan tried to develop Taehwagang Park, which was finally selected as a national garden. Teahwagang National Garden has an area of 835,452 square meters, and is divided into eight sections: ecological garden, bamboo garden, seasonal garden, aquatic garden, participatory garden, mugunghwa garden, green garden and convenience facilities.
In spring, the flower garden in Taehwagang National Garden offers a splendid scenery created by over 60 million spring flowers including poppies, cornflowers, and golden coreopsis. It is the largest single riverside flower garden in the country.
Taehwagang National Garden, where citizens
can relax, take a walk and feel nature in the center of the city, is one of the
best tourist attractions to visit when people come to Ulsan. For those who read
this article, I recommend visiting Taehwagang National Garden if you come to
Ulsan.
Have you ever experienced studying abroad? These days, the number of international students studying in Korea is increasing every year. Especially, the University of Ulsan is currently interacting with more than 50 universities abroad, so more and more foreign students come to the University of Ulsan to study. However, living in an unfamiliar country with no acquaintances and taking classes in different language can be challenging. To solve these problems, there is a student club called HOW.U which assists international students to adapt to the Korean life.
HOW.U is a club under the University of Ulsan, International office. The name of the club stands for ‘Hang Out with Us’, which means everyone is welcome to visit and hang out. The main function of this club is to help international students who need assistance at school or in their daily lives. For example, students with lack of Korean skills who might have problems reading and filling out documents in Korean, when opening a bank account or registering for an alien registration card.
Another function of HOW.U is planning and organizing events for both international and Korean students. Every semester, members of HOW.U make plans for fresh and enjoyable events for all students to join. One of the best events was the ‘World food festival’, because students from different countries were able to introduce their food and everyone could taste new foods and learn about various cultures. Also, there are events like ‘Welcoming Parties’, ‘Sports Day’, ‘Movie Night’ and ‘Experiencing Korean Holidays’.
With the help of
HOW.U, international students can easily make friends and adapt to the Korean
culture. At the same time, Korean students in University of Ulsan can
experience various foreign cultures through the events and become friends with
foreign students. This club gives great opportunities for both international
and Korean students who want to communicate with each other, and comes highly
recommended for those wishing to settle into life at the University of
Ulsan.
