Thursday, February 12, 2009
I remember feeling uncomfortable when my Taiwanese friend brought up Japan’s military conquests in Asia before World War II. She said her grandmother still didn’t like the Japanese because of Japan’s occupation of Taiwan from 1895 to 1945.
I didn’t know how to respond at first. We then talked about what we learned in our history classes. She said her Taiwanese history textbook described Japan’s colonization of Taiwan for pages. My Japanese history textbook, however, referred to the event only for a few paragraphs.
I found the conversation interesting. This was one of the moments I took advantage of being abroad and interacting with non-Japanese people.
The Institute of International Education recently reported that 27.5 percent of KU undergraduate students completed study abroad programs before their graduation. According to the Office of Study Abroad, 1,365 KU students studied abroad for the 2006-2007 academic year. This was a 47 percent increase, compared with the number of students who studied abroad five years ago. The increase is partly due to a variety of programs that the University offers, said Sue Lorenz, interim director of the Office of Study Abroad. Students can choose programs that fit their schedules, budgets and interests. Some programs allow students to study overseas during winter break, or take classes in English without requiring them to know another language.
Though this flexibility makes study abroad programs more accessible, it is hard to benefit from overseas experiences if one doesn’t speak the language or stay longer than a few weeks. While planning to study abroad, students should be aware of their constraints and maximize their opportunities. As an international student, I encourage students to interact with local people and other foreign exchange students as much as possible. One can’t learn deeply about a different country and culture without observing that country’s people and actually talking to them.
For example, before coming to the U.S., I thought many Americans were overly patriotic, believing America was the best and forcing the rest of the world to follow American ways of life. I based my perception about the U.S. from the Japanese mass media. Later, I realized it was a misconception after talking to American students and observing different types of activism on campus.
My experience studying abroad also helped me understand how Americans and other people from different countries think about Japan. When I was in Japan, I heard a lot of news about U.S.-Japanese diplomatic and economic relations. In the major American media, however, I find very little news about Japan every day. I was surprised when some American students once asked me if I spoke Chinese in Japan or if we had our own language. Experiences like these made me realize that Japan was not the center of the world affairs. This broadened my world view, and study-abroad students from America and other countries will benefit from learning that their own nations are not the end-all of international affairs.
While abroad, it’s good to step out of your group of American friends and immerse yourself in the local environment. Don’t worry about your language proficiency (or lack thereof), but be a good observer, pay attention to what people talk about, care about and laugh about. Ask questions that you’re interested in. Politics, religion, sex — some issues can be taboo, but people are usually willing to share their opinions, as long as you approach the subject with the right attitude and don’t force your view. Plan ahead to step out of your comfort zone and make your trip meaningful.
— Miyakawa is a Tokyo, Japan, senior in journalism.
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