I am glad that I participated in this ASEAN Forum. What I learned from this experience are the importance of challenge, being greedy for more knowledge and having skills in addition to English ability. It all started when one of my friends in Yosakoi (Japanese dance) club asked me if I wanted to join this forum. Since I belong to the School of International Studies at Kanazawa University, I thought would be a good opportunity for cross-cultural experience.

All participants were able to represent their national culture and they all were interested in differences. I thought I could introduce Japanese culture well; however, the students from other countries knew more about Japan than me. I wasn’t able to represent the Japanese culture and I had no information about other countries. It just showed that my cross-cultural awareness was low. It’s regrettable that I could have better interacted with others if I knew more about my own country and other countries. What I learned is that in order to interact with others, it is important to have interest in a variety of matters rather than just the language itself. In Yosakoi performance, it was challenging to think how to perform with only 4 members. I was also worried if I can spread the charm of Yosakoi dance and attract students who speak different languages.

Since I was a high school student, I have been a student at International Studies Course and have always studied English. My goal for going abroad was always to use English and be good at it. However, English is just a language, so I came to realize that what to do with it and what you learn with it are also important. I got to know this program through Yosakoi club and decided to join in order to test my ability and to spread Yosakoi all over the world. Through this experience, I learned that by having a purpose other than just using English, one can gain more knowledge as well as friendship.

Going abroad in order to expand your horizons is very important and going and living abroad will be very beneficial in your future. My best advice to the students who want to study abroad is to have a purpose other than to use English. Although I belong to the School of International Studies at Kanazawa University, I didn’t go to long-term study abroad programs. That is because I rather focus on how many countries I visit, how many people I interact with, how many countries, people and cultures I experience, and how much I expand my network by joining multiple short-term programs. I think there are only few people who think like me. Still, I really hope you would study the language very hard and go abroad for your self-growth, and have a clear idea of why you like to go abroad and what you would like to learn other than the English language.

(Updated: March 1, 2018)