Valpo Voyager

Student Stories from Around the World

Month: August 2014 (page 2 of 2)

Introduction: Sarah Blackwell in Hirakata, Japan!

August 18, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Last week I finally bought my plane ticket to Japan, so my study abroad opportunity is finally starting to feel more real! It’s definitely one thing to be accepted into Kansai Gaidai University and begin to fill out paperwork for housing, etc.. Those are great things that bring me closer to my destination. However, it’s quite another thing to buy a plane ticket; it puts the paperwork into the realm of reality.

Japanese Spring Festival

Japanese Club Spring Festival with club members Emily and Sabena, and my language partner, Nozomi. We practiced Japanese and sang karaoke, a popular pastime in Japan

I chose the study abroad program at Kansai Gaidai University because I plan to teach English in Japan after I graduate, either through Fulbright or the Japan Exchange Teaching Programme (commonly referred to as the JET Programme). Studying abroad in Japan will provide me with excellent opportunities to learn about Japanese culture, practice using the language in its native context, and get to know new people- things I’ve been wanting to do for years.

I’m probably most looking forward to making new friends and getting to know new people in Japan. From what I’ve heard from others who have been to Kansai Gaidai, students on campus are very friendly and want to make foreign friends just as much as I do.

Honduran Friends!

My friends from Honduras. We still talk a lot!

I also really want to visit a lot of places like shrines, temples, and “konbini” (convenience stores- Japanese konbini are famous for their uniqueness) among other tourist attractions. And just as much as tourist attractions, I want to explore Hirakata and the surrounding area for small, hole-in-the-wall places that make the area unique; I’d love to find a little “mom-and-pop” type ramen stand or something similar that would make the area feel like home. Hopefully I’ll even find time to make the journey from Hirakata to Tokyo. It’s a long way, but it will be worth it to visit Japan’s largest city. I’ve already starting making a list of places in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto that I want to visit. I won’t have time for all of them, I’m sure, but organizing a list ahead of time will make my decision easier when I’m actually there. I just can’t help but start preparing now, even though this semester isn’t over yet!

I’m really excited to simply live in another place, despite the language barrier that I will undoubtedly run into. When I went to Honduras last year, I had been learning and speaking Spanish for about eight years, so I didn’t really have any trouble navigating or speaking to locals. However, I’ve only taken two years of Japanese and learned a little on my own. I’m sure the language barrier will affect more aspects of my life than I’m aware of, but honestly I’m really excited about it: it’ll give me a chance to really practice using the language. I’ll make mistakes when taking trains; maybe I’ll read the maps wrong. But I’m sure it will turn out alright, and very possibly turn into an exciting adventure. Even something as simple as going to the store won’t be as simple as it is at home. None of the products will be the same and I probably won’t be able to read much on the labels. Despite all this, I’m still very excited about it- these experiences will help me grow and develop as a person and prepare me for the career I’ve chosen. Not to mention I’ll have a good time!

Enthusiastic future Kansai Gaidai student,

Sarah Blackwell

Introduction: Katie Rinda in Reutlingen, Germany!

August 18, 2014 / / 0 Comments

I have basically three months until I climb on board a plane for Stuttgart. I don’t know how you feel about change, but I’m pretty much freaking out about it. (The added stress from the end of the semester isn’t really helping.) Living in a foreign country is pretty scary as is, but it’s even scarier when you’re supposed to be working there as well.

katierinda3Every time I’ve started working at a new place, I’ve had to learn a whole new vocabulary. Every industry and company has their own jargon, and the differences amplify when you add technical vocabulary to the list. It generally takes me a month to fully understand the lingo. And, in general, going to Germany will mean I have to learn a whole new set of words and procedures for just regular life. Hopefully, those years of studying German will pay off.

What I’m worried about is transitioning to my internship. Will I have developed enough German skills to sort through conversations to find what’s technical and what’s not? There’s always a jump between engineering at school, and engineering in the workplace. Sometimes, they seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. When I get comfortable with jargon, I can generally connect it back to what I’ve previously learned. Will the language barrier keep me from making those connections?

I really can’t answer that until I’ve spend time abroad. However, in anticipation of this problem, I’ve developed a few strategies to combat my ignorance of technical German:

  1. Focus on language for industries I’m already knowledgeable about. I’ve already had one engineering internship, and will finish a different one this summer before I go abroad. Since those experiences will shape my resume, I’m starting to develop a list of words for industry specific terms. (Eg. I worked with aluminium rolling mills last summer: Aluminium Vorgerüste in German.) Thanks to my time at Alcoa, I know German companies who make mill products, and can learn vocab, just by reading the German version of their sites. General dictionary searches rarely can trGerman Vocab!anslate the jargon as well as the industry themselves.
  2. Find Technical Articles.  Similarly to industry jargon, technical articles will be full of official vocabulary from the field itself. Reading these articles not only teaches me more German, but also adds to my knowledge of engineering.
  3. Speaking with native speakers in a casual environment. I’ve attended the weekly Kaffestunde at the German house frequently since I came to Valpo, and it has definitely improved my comprehension of German. Listening to native speakers rapid fire discuss politics or baking or their travels using words I didn’t learn in class, and actually beginning to understand them is really cool. It also tells me that if I can start to understand half the words, I should be able to understand the gist of the conversation.

That’s what I’ve put together so far. I’ll check back in on this after I’ve been over for a bit and report on the success/fail rate, or if I find anymore brilliant prep tips.

So nervous. So excited!

Introduction: Tobiah Meinzen in Hangzhou, China!

August 18, 2014 / / 0 Comments

For as long as I remember I knew I wanted to study abroad when in college. Growing up I was
interested in exploring new places, a trait I probably inherited from my father, a high school history
teacher who was born in India and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone.

tobiah2I chose to attend Valpo in part because it provided a flexible schedule for engineers to study
abroad. As an engineer, Valpo’s Hangzhou study center is a huge asset. Given the huge manufacturing
and economic resources of China, collaboration with China has become a crucial element of any large
engineering transnational corporation, especially the consumer electronics industry which I am
particularly interested in.

When the Caterpillar Scholarship became available, it made my decision even easier. My
engineering advisor and I had already set aside the fall 2014 semester for me to study abroad.

I think the biggest way I have prepared for studying abroad (besides Valpo’s pre departure class)
has been by reflecting on my previous experiences moving to entirely new places: Holden Village,
Alaska, and Valpo.

In reflection, I have found that it is often the little things that are most surprising or hardest to
adapt to. I know there will be obvious differences between myself and the residents of Hangzhou,
language being the biggest. But by recognizing the big differences it is often possible to miss the effects
of the little differences.Tobiah in Alaska

For instance, when I worked at Holden Village a political philosophy was very obvious in daily
life and religious services, yet when I arrived at Valpo I found that politics could be a very polarizing
topic and were thus not talked about frequently. This difference in the treatment of political issues is
surely one I’ll have to be aware of in China where the government is relatively authoritarian.

Another difference I found was in attitudes towards recycling and consumption (aspects of
environmentalism). Holden Village was very aware of their environmental impact and we hand-sorted
all the trash and recycling, whereas at Valpo recycling is a much more passive act, simply a different
colored bin and in Alaska there were no recycling facilities, most of their trash is incinerated.

Therefore I have found that awareness for little aspects of a new culture/society can have a
dramatic impact on how I conduct myself in society and can help easy my transition into a new culture/
environment.

!Additional Note: Since graduating high school I have maintained my own blog at
blog.tobiahmeinzen.com (80 posts, 5000+ views) which details my travels including 9 months spent at
Holden Village and two summers working in Dillingham, Alaska. Both experiences have been similar to
study abroad in the sense that I moved to a new location without any connections. My posts from my
time at Holden and in Alaska include photos, details of day-to-day life and reflections on my experiences
in those places.

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