{"id":1428,"date":"2024-04-22T11:12:25","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T02:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yamamurakokusai.com\/english3\/?p=1428"},"modified":"2024-05-18T08:07:15","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T23:07:15","slug":"qa-with-our-resident-exchange-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yamamurakokusai.com\/english3\/qa-with-our-resident-exchange-student\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A with our Resident Exchange Student"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For those interested in coming to school in Japan, I interviewed our current exchange student on his life here in Japan. He came to Japan in August 2023 and will leave July 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What made you want to study abroad in Japan? A: My mom was an exchange student when she was my age and went to Argentina. I was also interested in learning a new language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What did you pack that you definitely didn`t need? A: Extremely thick gloves. It is much colder in Iceland than here in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What were you excited about before you left? A: Wearing a school uniform as we don`t have those. I also wanted to go to Harajuku.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What were you nervous about? A: Whether I would get along with my host family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What is your housing like? A: I live with a host family: dad, mom, brother (same age), and a younger brother. Nearby are the host family`s grandma, grandpa, great grandpa, aunt\/uncle, and cousins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Were you given a choice of what your housing situation would be like? A: It was always going to be a host family but I could request a type of area I could live in :rural, city, etc. I didn`t choose though because I wanted to be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What is a typical school day like for you? A: I wake up at 6:50 everyday, ride by bike to the station and then take the train to school (about an hour total). Everyday I take PE classes and also have one study period in the library that I use to improve my Japanese. After school I go to a gym near my host family`s house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Which is your favorite class? A: PE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What is the most surprising thing about Japanese schools? A: How strict the school is about not using cell phones during school hours, having school on Saturdays, and how the school doesn`t have things like dances\/parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: How are classes different here than in Iceland? A: Here they are much stricter, the students are quieter, and classes are longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Did you study Japanese before coming? A: No, I didn`t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Do you have any advice for anyone coming to Japan and not knowing the language? A: Be annoying! Ask questions “What does this word mean?” “How do you say ~?” Set goals but not something like “I`m going to study.” Make small goals that are doable to complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: How do you get around? A: Train, bike, and walking<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What was your favorite place to visit? A: Harajuku of course but I also liked Amerikamura in Osaka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What new foods have you tried and liked? A: Tonkatsu and karage<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What is the weirdest thing you have eaten? A: I had a bowl of rice with what I thought were different spices on top but it was really little tiny fish (shirasu).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What food do you miss? A: Milk products, milk tastes different here. Cheese and cake. I feel like cake in Iceland is just right. In America its very sweet with lots of frosting, and here its not that sweet with just a small amount of frosting on top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What is something you definitely recommend other people do when they come to Japan? A: Just try out random restaurants, that`s usually the best way to find great food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What is one thing you don`t recommend anyone doing? A: Going to Disneyland in August. Its just too hot. If you<\/code> have been to a Disney in another country then I think its overrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What is the biggest thing you expected but it did not actually happen? A: I thought I would meet with the guys from Tokyo Drift and they would show me cars and drive me around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What is the hardest adjustment you have had to make? A: School uniforms. I thought I would like them but they aren`t comfortable and mine is too big. I`m also not good at reading the air. Sometimes I am expected to do something or say something that everyone knows but no one told me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Have you made any embarrassing mistakes? A: My first week, covid or something similar happened and classes went online. However, due to jetlag I slept through them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What was the most interesting thing you learned about Japanese culture? A: Onsens. You makes you really vulnerable but it also makes you and everyone else more at ease and easier to talk to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: How do you keep in touch with family\/friends at home? A: I use my smart phone. We facetime every couple of weeks. In the beginning we chatted a lot but that became less in the beginning and now that its toward the end of my time we are chatting more again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: How do you deal with homesickness? A: I write songs. Talking to friends back home can be good but it sometimes makes it worse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For those interested in coming to school in Japan, I interviewed our current exchange student on his life here in Japan. He came to Japan in August 2023 and will leave July 2024 Q: What made you want to study abroad in Japan? A: My mom was an exchange student when she was my age Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[79,78,73,65,80,81,20,9],"class_list":["post-1428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-english","category-uncategorized","tag-exchange-student","tag-foreign-exchange","tag-high-school","tag-japan","tag-life-in-japan","tag-school-life","tag-yamamura-kokusai","tag-9","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yamamurakokusai.com\/english3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yamamurakokusai.com\/english3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yamamurakokusai.com\/english3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yamamurakokusai.com\/english3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yamamurakokusai.com\/english3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1428"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.yamamurakokusai.com\/english3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1429,"href":"https:\/\/www.yamamurakokusai.com\/english3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1428\/revisions\/1429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yamamurakokusai.com\/english3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yamamurakokusai.com\/english3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yamamurakokusai.com\/english3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}