Japan Study testimonials
For me, the significance of the Japan Study program was in the realization of the vast differences between Japan and the United States; of Japanese and American culture. With a better understanding of these differences came a greater insight into the ability of the two cultures to cooperate on governmental, financial, and social platforms. In an ever more globalized world, understanding the cultural underpinnings of human behavior will be even more essential for cooperation and conflict resolution. This program has provided the foundation for this new found understanding and I now feel pushed to take it to the next level; to promote the lessons I have learned in order to help broaden global consciousness.
—Roy Wimer, Japan Study, Academic Year 2009-10
A year abroad on the Japan Study program allowed me to not only greatly improve my Japanese language abilities, but to also get a view of a completely different way of life. In the U.S. eating five fruits and vegetables is considered the key to a healthy diet. Within my first week of living with my host family, I learned that in Japan eating 30 different foods each day is considered essential to living healthy, hence the creation of variety vegetable juices. By placing me in a Japanese home, the Japan Study program enabled me to increase my knowledge of Japanese culture and language to unexpected heights.
—Milton Koch, Japan Study, Academic Year 2007-08
On the Japan Study program, I learned to become extremely independent. Being in a foreign country, where you're basically on your own, forces you to grow up quickly. I was no longer able to depend on my mother or father to get me out of binds, and having this self-sufficient trait is something that would have taken a lot longer for me to acquire had I not participated in Japan Study. Not to mention, my Japanese is amazing now.
—Laura Woodland, Japan Study, 2007-08
I chose the Japan Study program because I wanted to become fluent in Japanese and experience life at one of the most exciting cities in the world - Tokyo. The homestay experience in a Japanese family not only forced me to use Japanese everyday, it also allowed me to understand Japanese culture from an insider's point of view. On long weekends, you can travel to different places in Japan and enjoy some of the best scenery in the world. During the program, I got accepted by a Japanese electronic company and am now working in Osaka.
—Pierre Kiang, Japan Study, 2006-07
The Japan Study program gave me the opportunity of immersion in a language I had long studied and provided me with some of the most memorable experiences of my life. From picking the bones out of a fish at 6:30 in the morning while discussing hydrogen power (in Japanese) with my dorm manager to eating fresh taiyaki with friends while talking about the eye-opening international perspective we were gaining from studying abroad, I could not have had a more rewarding or beneficial experience. The level of language and cultural education that I had on the Japan Study program is something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, and is something for which I am tremendously grateful.
—Keaton White, Japan Study, Fall 2007