Posts published in “Cultural Understanding”

Stories for cross-cultural understanding

The International Students Support Club, HOW.U

February 17, 2020

Somin Im

University of 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.

Beach cleanup raises environmental awareness

Beach cleanup raises environmental awareness

March 12, 2019

Fifty volunteers gathered at the beach of Iwami Sea Side Park, Shimane prefecture on Sunday, March 10, 2019 for collecting trash on the beach.

The volunteers were 28 US service members of Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and 18 Japanese students of the University of Shimane.

The international event was organized by ISP, the company that manages Iwami Seaside Park, which consists of two beaches, campsites, cabins, sports facilities, aquarium and parks.

Mr. Yoshiro Morikawa, President of ISP, welcomed the volunteers and expressed his gratitude to the participants. He said a lot of trash was washed up to the beach in winter and the beach cleaning effort in winter was necessary to welcome tourists in summer.

The volunteers then grabbed big garbage bags for burnable and non-burnable trash and walked the length of the beach and picked up the litter.

There were a lot of objects on the sand. Seina, freshman, said “there were a variety of items: salad dressing containers, fishing nets, plastic spoons and plates. I picked them up again and again, but no matter how much I collected trash, I saw a lot of trash lying on the beach.”

The volunteers worked for one hour, ending up collecting ocean trash that filled two trucks.
After the cleaning, a big BBQ lunch was offered by the organizer. Both the students and the Americans enjoyed a great lunch and conversation in English.

The beach cleaning was educational for the college students, because it raised awareness of the litter problem on the beach. Kasumi, sophomore, said she had not realized there was so much litter on the beach because she had never participated in this type of project before. Shusuke, freshman, noticed the trash on the beach was an international issue, because a lot of plastic bottles had labels written in a foreign language.

The interaction with the Americans also motivated the college students to study English more. Amane, freshman, said, “I could not initiate conversation in English. I thought that I had to to overcome my shyness. I also need to increase my English vocabulary, because I could not understand what they said well nor was I able to express myself in English.”

Takumi, junior, said the best thing was that the Americans were friendly and he enjoyed English conversation so much. Yui, freshman, said he enjoyed learning about the life in military. Rie, sophomore, got curious about the life in the base and felt like visiting it.

At the end, the cleanup crew took a group photo and exchanged LINE information each other. Despite the rain, the international beach cleanup was a very successful event: a cleaner beach, insight into the trash problem, motivation to study English and heart-warming conversations. Everyone is looking forward to a next opportunity to make a meaningful contribution.

Students’Exchange Deepens Japan-Russia Friendship

Students’Exchange Deepens Japan-Russia Friendship

December 19, 2018

MarikoEguchi University of Shimane

University in Vladivostok, Russia, visited the University of Shimane on June 26, 2018,while their sailing training ship Nadezhda stayed in the Hamada Port,Shimane, Japan.

About 40 students arrived at the University of Shimane campus, wearing white sailor uniforms and caps. They are cadets who are trained to be officers after finishing their education.

Both Russian and Japanese students gathered around the memorial garden of Miyako Hiraoka to pray. Miyako, whose dream was to study abroad, lost her life when she was only 19 years old in a terrible murder. In 2009, the training ship Nadezhda first visited the Port of Hamada, and Miyako, who studied Russian, visited the ship and made friends with students from Maritime State University. Her dream never came true, but her wish has been, and will be passed on to other students, because the Maritime State University established a scholarship for Shimane students in memory of Miyako Hiraoka.

In the afternoon, both Russian and Japanese students had a great time at the gym. The Office of International Affairs of the University of Shimane prepared for dodge ball, but they failed to communicate the rules of the game to the Russian students. They ended up playing volleyball and Japanese traditional games. It was an instance of a cross-cultural communication problem, but the participants enjoyed being together.

YuriNakano, senior of the University of Students, showed some Russian students how to play a Japanese toy called “kendama.”The player is supposed to place a wooden ball connected to a stick into cups of the stick. She said that it was hard to describe how to play with the toy in English,but the Russian students were quick learners and they enjoyed playing it together.

Yuri said, “I had a lot of chances to talk with Russian students and I got very motivated to study the Russian language. I hope to greet them in Russian when they visit here again.”

Students from Maritime State University in Vladivostok, Russia and the University of Shimane in Hamada,Japan on board the Nadezdha

Own cultural knowledge necessary

Own cultural knowledge necessary

June 21, 2018

My friends and I had an opportunity to share ideas with American students in Hiroshima on Saturday, May 20, 2018. We had fun with students from East Carolina University, but this experience was shocking, too, because I realized how ignorant I am about Japanese history and culture.

While we stroll around Hiroshima Peace Park, I was asked many times by the American students like that “Have you been there before?” or “What do you know about Hiroshima?” I had thought I knew about Hiroshima but I was not able to explain my knowledge well because my understanding about Hiroshima was very superficial.

We took a ferry and arrived at Miyajima in the afternoon. American students and I went looked around souvenir shops, and there were many cat figures which are called manekineko, meaning “welcoming cat.” I wanted to explained the meaning of the welcoming cat, but I was not able to talk about it sufficiently.

Then we entered the main building of Itsukushiam Shrine, and I only washed my hands, when an American student pointed out that I was supposed to purify myself by cleansing my mouth. I was very ashamed of my ignorance.

During the short exchanges of the American students I learned being raised in Japan does not mean I know Japanese culture explicitly. I felt I need to make effort to understand Japanese culture so that I could explain Japanese culture to people abroad.

Mutsumi Higashio (University of Shimane)

Missing Sound of Police Cars?

June 17, 2018

Missing Sound of Police Car?

Shimane students and American students from East Carolina University exchanged differences of cultures while walking around Hiroshima and Miyajima on May 20. What impressed me the most was differences of cultures of the two countries.

I chatted with Remi and Tina from East Carolina University about their experiences in Japan. They said Japanese cities were really quiet, and to my surprise, they miss the siren of the American police cars. According to them their city, Greenville, North Carolina, is noisy because they hear police sirens almost every day.

Remi and Tina also said high school life is very different. American high school students do not have uniforms. They can color their hair. They can wear piercing. Tina had a pierce on her nose. Tina said, “American high scool students are crazy.” I was very intrigued.

Exchanging ideas about our cultures was so much fun.

At the end of the day, Remi introduced me to one of her friends, saying, “This is Ako. She is my best friend today.” I felt warm in my heart. We said good bye to each other at a JR station, hugging each other. The meeting with ECU students at Hiroshima and Miyajima was a wonderful experience for me.

By Ako Miyama (University of Shimane)

American and Japanese students visit Hiroshima together

March 26, 2018

Students from East Carolina University, Hiroshima University and the University of Shimane on May 20, 2018

Thirteen American students and 12 Japanese students enjoyed walking around Hiroshima on May 20, 2018, deepening friendship between United States and Japan.

The students are from East Carolina University, Hiroshima University and University of Shimane.

The cross-cultural exchange is part of a study tour of East Carolina University, led by Professor John Tucker, who organized the tour to provide his students the opportunity to study Japanese history and culture in Japan.

Since the ECU students had studied Japanese culture before embarking on this trip, they had known good transportation and small living quarters already, but some aspects of Japanese life were new to them.

Diamond, who majors in Anthropology at ECU, said that she noticed differences of behavior of people in shrines. She was surprised at Japanese people seemed nonchalant about the tourists taking pictures at shrines. For her shrines are a sacred place of worship and visitors should pay respect to the people who pray and worship.

Diamond also found Japanese students looked happier and content with their college life, while college life in the United States is stressful with a lot of term papers and exams.

Kazuki, freshman of the University of Shimane, took this opportunity to practice his English. He has prepared for this meeting by doing research about Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and effects of the atomic bombs dropped in Hiroshima. He was greatly impressed with the attitude of the ECU students who were eager to learn about Hiroshima, which further inspired him to study more about the perspectives of Americans toward the atomic bomb.

John Tucker, a professor in the Department of History at ECU, has coordinated the program many years. He said that while students can learn materials from books and lectures, experiences is one of the most valuable forms of education for young students. He coordinates field trips as well as videoconferencing for his students to get first hand knowledge from real people.

East Carolina University and the University of Shimane provides their students real time virtual meetings via videoconferencing, and the friendship were further deepened by this face to face meeting in Hiroshima.

The students gathered at A-Bomb Dome at 9:00 and introduced themselves each other. They strolled around the Children’s Peace Monument, Peace Bell, Memorial Cenotaph, taking photos and chatting each other. Then they moved to JR Miyajima Station and got on a ferry boat for Miyajima Island. They were greeted by deer and the enormous red torii gate. The tide was high and they were not able to get near the gate. They went through the shopping street, biting street foods, and worshipped at the shrine. At 16:30, they all hopped on a ferry back to the mainland. They said good bye to each other around 17:00.

By Mariko Eguchi (University of Shimane)