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| Why Nebraska?? |
| 09.30.03 (3:01 pm) [edit] |
"Where are you from? Tokyo? Wow, that is a huge city, isn't it? So, why did you come to here?"
I really don't know how many times people asked me that question. In Iowa, Nebraska, wherever I go, people ask me that question.
Well, yeah, actually, Iowa or Nebraska is not popular states for international student to go to school. They tend to go to California or New York, instead of Nebraska or Iowa.
I was planning to go to San Francisco when I was in Japan, but the tuition in a university is way too expaensive in there. I was looking for the college which doesn't cost that much. In mid-west, the tuition is cheaper.
And more, there are many Japanese students in bigger cities. At the first place, I didn't want to go to a university that has a lot of Japanese students because they tend to hang out only with Japanese students and talk Japanese al the time. I wanted to learn English so that I would be fluent in it. So I decided to go to college which is in smaller city.
In my oppinion, smaller city is better than bigger city. Because in smaller city, people are more friendly and kind to international students.
I graduated from Iowa Central Community College in this May, I had to choose where to transfer, but I didn't want to go to bigger state. I love Iowa and the people in there. So I decided to came to Wayne State College which is in a smaller city. I like the people in here so far.
My old college, ICCC
Check out how many international students are in WSC
There are so many international students' organization in a University in California
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| Challenge |
| 09.12.03 (12:54 pm) [edit] |
It was the time to choose my way. There were two ways to in front of me. One was going to University in Japan and major in Englsih, another was going to college in the U.S. It was not easy to choose, but I picked the way.
I am an international student who is going to college in Nebraska. It sounds so hard going to college in foreign country. Yes, it is. Life is not easy if you ask me, but it is worth it.
Winter 1999, I was 2nd gread of high school. I had one more year to graduate. It was the time for me to decide what I want to do in the future. I really liked studying English at that time so I wanted to go to University and major in English. But there was a question; "Will I really get used to English studying in a country which don't use English at all?" In Japan, we don't use English at all even though we have english sign everywhere. Then I started thinking about going to college in the U.S.
I tried to talk to my parents about it, but I couldn't tell them that I want to go to college in the U.S., which costs more than Japanese University does. My parents are not rich enough to let me go to University in Japan, so I had to borrow money from my grandmother. She knew that I like studying, so she was glad to help me with going to University in Japan.
Oneday, my grandmother came to me and said, "Why don't you go to college in the U.S.? Do you think if you go to University in Japan, you would be fluent in English? I doubt it, but if you go to college or University in the U.S., I am sure you will be." I was speechless. Who expecected that suggestion ? I couldn't believe my ears at first. Do I want to go to college in the U.S.? WHY NOT!!
For my parents, it was not an easy thing to nod at once. Especially for my father. He is a strict person and he has too much proud to ask someone else to pay for his daughter. They argued a lot about the money. Whenever we talked about it, I couldn't stop crying. I thought I was so selfish, making my family argue about me, but still wishing to make my dream comes ture.
I can't imagine how hard it was for me father to ask my grandmother, saying, "please help us with sending my daughter to the U.S." He wanted to make my dream comes ture even if he had to throw his pride away. He doens't show emotion to his children, so I had never felt been loved, but I found that he loves us more than anything at that time. I was so bilnd to find it.
The day I stepped on the graund of the U.S., I promissed myself. No matter what, I will get educated and be an author that my family would be proud of. Life is not easy, but life without challenge, it would be so boring. That's what I found.
for more information about Japan click here
For more informationa about Japanese Education system, clickhere
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| New Life |
| 09.12.03 (10:47 am) [edit] |
Here I am, walking down the street, saying hi to people who I really don't know. I am an international student who is going to college in Nebraska. I couldn't imagine it when I was living in Japan, the contry I came from. In Japan, we don't say hi to people we don't know, but the small town like Wayne Nebraska, people are so nice and friendly. When I first got in the U.S. in 2001, I was so surprised because many people smiled at me and said "Hi, how are you?" For the girl who couldn't really understand English, it was a huge challenge just to say "I am good, and you?"
The more I spent time in the U.S., the more I found the cultural difference. The biggest culture shock was hug. In Japan, we don't hug. Even the parents don't hug their children. When I first hugged by my male friend, I was shocked. If he was a girl, I wasn't that surprised, but he was a guy! I didn't know what to do. He made a weird face and said "The way you hug me is weird." Of course it was! It was the first time I hugged by a male friend!
I found a lot of thing that I didn't know in Japan. The things I found were not only good things, but also bad things. I had a class mate who was taking a speech class with me. I had a chance to speak in front of my classmates and I didn't know what to say. I was really confused. After that class, one of my class mate came to me. He seemed to be nice at first, but suddenly he opened his mouth and said, "You know what? your English really sucks. I couldn't get what you said." How nice of him to say such a thing to international student who is trying to get rid of her accent so hard. He didn't know how hard learning other languages are. If he tries to speak Japanese, he definitely has an English accent. Then he will find out how hard it is to get rid of it.
It is my third year in the U.S. Still dealing with my accent, I sometimes remember the class mate who made fun of me. I will be an author and write books in Engkish, and surprised him with it. I am not going to give it up because my new life has just started since I left my home.
For the basic information about Japan, clickhere
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| Topic |
| 09.11.03 (9:35 pm) [edit] |
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The topic for my assignment would be "My life." I am going to write about myself.
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| new blog |
| 09.10.03 (8:04 pm) [edit] |
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this is sayaka's blog. :D
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