I am May Okamoto from Japan. I’m in my fourth year at Keio University in Tokyo and am majoring in marketing. I was recently an exchange student at UNSW.
I’m really interested in foreign languages. I’ve learned Mandarin-Chinese at Keio and have also taken Korean classes at UNSW where I met Tina. Furthermore, I really enjoyed getting to know Aussie-English, Singlish (Singaporean-English), Cantonese, Bengali, Polish, etc. while staying in Australia ((I've already forgotten most of it though...). For me, it's wonderfully interesting to get to know how the languages work and to find the common and different things among several languages.
What attracted you to go on exchange to Sydney, Australia?
Woooo, it would be a long story. Lol
It was actually because of my regrets. I had actually lived in Australia for a year when I was sixteen due to my dad's job, which means I went there with my whole family. In other words, I went there without any motivation to study hard. Also that I could speak Japanese to my family so that I could live without speaking English so much. A year later when I came back to Japan and entered high school, I dropped one year since I missed so much school work during the stay. Then, I had conversations such as below with my classmates so many times.
"how come you dropped one year?"
"because I've been in Australia for a year!"
"Wow!!! Cool!!! You must speak English perfectly!!"
... Then I realised that I became a "fake returnee". In Japan, returnees are considered as special because they are supposed to manage two languages, which is very rare in Japan. However, I didn't! Unfortunately, I didn't study much and didn't try to master English while in Australia. I deeply regretted not having studied hard. After that, I came to feel an inferiority complex about my English. I was so embarrassed about speaking English in front of my friends. Then, I made up my mind that "I'll definitely study abroad at uni and become a real 'returnee'."
Why did I choose Australia? Because I wanted to give it another go! And also I was in love with blue sky and ocean in Australia and friendly Aussie people. Also, I got attracted by multi-culture.
It’s really cool how fluent you are at a second language. How long did you study English before your exchange experience?
Well... Thanks for the compliment haha. But I can't say I'm fluent since most of my friends from Japan that I met in Syd are way more fluent.
Anyway, I started learning English in 1st year in junior high (year 7 in Aus) as everyone does. Yet I started learning it HARD after I came back from Aus in high school because of my inferiority complex about English.
Anyway, I started learning English in 1st year in junior high (year 7 in Aus) as everyone does. Yet I started learning it HARD after I came back from Aus in high school because of my inferiority complex about English.
What kind of cultural differences did you face?
For example... The first one is definitely the sense of time. I was a bit confused even for 5 min delay of transportation in comparison to Japanese transportation, which hardly gets late even for a minute. It was really interesting to know how people see the time flow. Then, I ended up not caring about punctuation in Japan too and now some people complain to me about that... Lol
The second one is about hygiene. Japanese people (or Asian) take their shoes off inside, you know, so it's okay to sit down there. So, I couldn't really understand how come in Australia they don't care about sitting down even where they walked in with their shoes! But then, I ended up not caring about it too and I love it. Haha it's more comfortable not to be too sensitive about hygiene. You won't die even if you sit down on dirty place anyways.
The third one is the style of friendliness. In Japanese stores, every clerk is trained to be the same, that is being smiley, respectful, and manualised perfectly. On the other hand, they’re diverse in Australia, which means some are not so nice but some are amazingly friendly. It's not common in Japan that clerks say "hello! how are you?" Needless to say, no one talks to customers except sales talks. It even surprised me when a clerk said "Hi! How are you? It's a bit chilly today, isn't it?"
And also if you are looking around anxiously in a town, someone will indeed help you in Australia.
The second one is about hygiene. Japanese people (or Asian) take their shoes off inside, you know, so it's okay to sit down there. So, I couldn't really understand how come in Australia they don't care about sitting down even where they walked in with their shoes! But then, I ended up not caring about it too and I love it. Haha it's more comfortable not to be too sensitive about hygiene. You won't die even if you sit down on dirty place anyways.
The third one is the style of friendliness. In Japanese stores, every clerk is trained to be the same, that is being smiley, respectful, and manualised perfectly. On the other hand, they’re diverse in Australia, which means some are not so nice but some are amazingly friendly. It's not common in Japan that clerks say "hello! how are you?" Needless to say, no one talks to customers except sales talks. It even surprised me when a clerk said "Hi! How are you? It's a bit chilly today, isn't it?"
And also if you are looking around anxiously in a town, someone will indeed help you in Australia.
What did you gain from the experience?
Weight!!!!! Jokes lol but seriously I gained 6kg during the stay... Jokes aside,,, Friends. Especially, three kinds of friends.
1. Friends who I can discuss sensitive diplomatic topics to such as the relations between China and Japan, Korea and Japan, Hong Kong and China, Taiwan and China... Those who are from other countries or have different backgrounds in Australia tend to be mature and have objective opinions about their home countries. I remember that I discussed this with some friends in the middle of the night in my dorm. It was such a meaningful and thoughtful night.
2. Friends who are in different age groups than me: It's Japanese culture that you always have to respect older people and use honorific language. Since it applies to even for one-year older people, it's a bit hard to make close older friends in Japan. Compared to that, no one cares how old you are, thanks to English which doesn't have an honorific version. It was such an honour to have a casual chat and go out together with people who are 19 to around 30. I've never done that in Japan. They always broadened my horizons.
3. Friends who have different backgrounds. Japan is almost an ethically and culturally homogeneous country, which I found boring lol and this culture makes Japanese people more homogeneous. Like, everyone tries to follow the trend and that's why Jap girls always wear similar clothes. If you do different things than others, you might get stared by cold eyes. But Australia is a multicultural country, which is friendly towards diversity. Everyone just follows their tradition/customs so it’s not troublesome for others. It was really cool that I've heard a lot about their home countries, backgrounds, religions, senses of values, which also broadened my horizons. What I thought was ordinary isn't necessarily ordinary in the world.
1. Friends who I can discuss sensitive diplomatic topics to such as the relations between China and Japan, Korea and Japan, Hong Kong and China, Taiwan and China... Those who are from other countries or have different backgrounds in Australia tend to be mature and have objective opinions about their home countries. I remember that I discussed this with some friends in the middle of the night in my dorm. It was such a meaningful and thoughtful night.
2. Friends who are in different age groups than me: It's Japanese culture that you always have to respect older people and use honorific language. Since it applies to even for one-year older people, it's a bit hard to make close older friends in Japan. Compared to that, no one cares how old you are, thanks to English which doesn't have an honorific version. It was such an honour to have a casual chat and go out together with people who are 19 to around 30. I've never done that in Japan. They always broadened my horizons.
3. Friends who have different backgrounds. Japan is almost an ethically and culturally homogeneous country, which I found boring lol and this culture makes Japanese people more homogeneous. Like, everyone tries to follow the trend and that's why Jap girls always wear similar clothes. If you do different things than others, you might get stared by cold eyes. But Australia is a multicultural country, which is friendly towards diversity. Everyone just follows their tradition/customs so it’s not troublesome for others. It was really cool that I've heard a lot about their home countries, backgrounds, religions, senses of values, which also broadened my horizons. What I thought was ordinary isn't necessarily ordinary in the world.
Did you miss your family back home?
Mmmm just a bit! Because I knew that I had to go back to Japan soon... of course I realised how my family had helped me a lot so far in my life. But we live in such a technological society! I could always get in touch with my family through SNS and even have a chat. I felt like I've got closer with my younger sister while I was away.
Was there ever an experience that made you regret going on exchange?
Oh yeah. Lol
Uni classes heavily stressed me out. Firstly, I wasn't that good at English. Secondly, there was so much group work compared to Japan in spite of my poor English. Thirdly, I'd gotten so many assignments compared to Japan.
Japanese unis suck, I must say... Well, I like my uni because I took some tough courses and a seminar that I really wanted to study and I'm satisfied. But you actually do not have to take tough courses, and can skip classes, pass exams, and graduate, ending up starting working without any useful knowledge/skills in society. Jap uni is hard to get into and easy to graduate. It's the opposite in Aus. So everyone has to work hard in order to graduate and open their good future. I couldn't handle the pile of assignments and group works at first. In one of the courses, I had done my best at weekly homework and an assignment, which were assessed pretty well. But I screwed up an exam as it was a writing test. I had to get at least 60% for the exam in order to pass the course but I apparently didn't. My teacher told me that it was obvious that I hadn't studied and he wouldn't pass me if I got the similar marks. He also told me that some had written 4 pages compared to me who had written just one page... I didn't understand how he could compare local students with me. I got so upset and cried at dorm because I studied quite hard :( My hair obviously got thinner at that time lol. But I fortunately had awesome friends who supported me and told me how I should manage writing tests. At the end, I'm not too sure how well I did in the last exam, but I eventually got an okay score for the course, thanks to my helpful friends.
This is just one example. I had a lot of small obstacles while I was staying. However, whenever I had a problem, friends around me and family supported and helped me. Also, the challenges turned out to strengthen myself. So, of course, I don't have any regrets about having gone on exchange right now :)
Uni classes heavily stressed me out. Firstly, I wasn't that good at English. Secondly, there was so much group work compared to Japan in spite of my poor English. Thirdly, I'd gotten so many assignments compared to Japan.
Japanese unis suck, I must say... Well, I like my uni because I took some tough courses and a seminar that I really wanted to study and I'm satisfied. But you actually do not have to take tough courses, and can skip classes, pass exams, and graduate, ending up starting working without any useful knowledge/skills in society. Jap uni is hard to get into and easy to graduate. It's the opposite in Aus. So everyone has to work hard in order to graduate and open their good future. I couldn't handle the pile of assignments and group works at first. In one of the courses, I had done my best at weekly homework and an assignment, which were assessed pretty well. But I screwed up an exam as it was a writing test. I had to get at least 60% for the exam in order to pass the course but I apparently didn't. My teacher told me that it was obvious that I hadn't studied and he wouldn't pass me if I got the similar marks. He also told me that some had written 4 pages compared to me who had written just one page... I didn't understand how he could compare local students with me. I got so upset and cried at dorm because I studied quite hard :( My hair obviously got thinner at that time lol. But I fortunately had awesome friends who supported me and told me how I should manage writing tests. At the end, I'm not too sure how well I did in the last exam, but I eventually got an okay score for the course, thanks to my helpful friends.
This is just one example. I had a lot of small obstacles while I was staying. However, whenever I had a problem, friends around me and family supported and helped me. Also, the challenges turned out to strengthen myself. So, of course, I don't have any regrets about having gone on exchange right now :)
Would you recommend living on campus with roommates?
Definitely yes!!! It's the first step to make good friends when you study abroad.
Did you do any extracurricular activities on campus or off campus?
I belonged to SOAP; Society of Orchestra and Pipers, in which I played percussion since I've played it for almost 11 years. It was also a bit tough for me because everyone talked so fast as they got enthusiastic about music I suppose. I had a problem even with knowing which bar we were playing. However, I realised that music connects anyone without any words. It was one of the most wonderful experiences.
Is there anything you want to say to those considering going on exchange and do you have any advice?
I feel like I only told you a little part about my experience during my stay. You can only see the world through actual experiences. It's definitely worth studying abroad. Especially, Australia!! <3
As a fun question, if you remember, what did you pack in your luggage when you first arrived?
Mmmmm I'll tell you what I regretted not packing lol it was instant miso soup. Even though my friend who went abroad told me to pack a pile of instant miso soup, I didn't because I wasn't a big fan of it. However, I realised that I really needed it when I got hungover lol. In Japan, some people drink miso soup when they get hungover and so do I. I missed it and ending up buying a pack of miso soup in Maruyu in the city. And then I gave them to my friends in my dorm, who were greatly pleased, so I recommend bringing miso soup and also giving some to others.
How awesome is Tina?
Omg Tina is more than awesome. I remember how she greatly amazed me on my birthday even though I never dreamed that anyone knew my birthday in our class. She gave me a white box with a lovely colourful drawing on it and with some Max Brenner's sweets :) Tina is really a considerate and supportive person, who helped me a lot and cheered me up with her shy and adorable smile. I can't thank you enough :) I'm waiting for the time you'll come to Japan ;P
A message from me (Tina) to May:
Hey May あなたは素晴らしいです (yuh, i had to google translate that since my Japanese has become poor. Thanks for taking this little interview. You mentioned that I remembered your Birthday well, thanks for making me this e-card on my Birthday:
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