It was in the winter of 2001, in Cambodia. I was completely stunned by the historical ruins of Angkor. I decided to skip the seaside and the rest of the country, and stay another week in Siem Reap, the city serving as an entry point to some of the most magnificent human structures ever made.
That was the place and the time, when I first saw Waseda, written on a modest small plate, stating that this Japanese university is coordinating some restorations at the site.
My way was straightforward. I joined a group
of enthusiastic hungarian researchers in Budapest, whom had already carried out an important international surveying soon after the opening of the Angkor sites after the civil war and the following bedlam.
I soon realized, that actually Waseda has one of the most famous Angkor-research labs in the world, under the guidence of Mr. Nakagawa Takeshi, a recognized scholar of the History of Architecture. After 3 years I applied for a scholarship at my home University, and my dream came true, I was selected.
In Hungary, private Universities don’t have a long tradition, as they had been nationalized during the communist regime, and they have just reappeared in the last 15 years. I was particularly amazed by the fact, that Waseda definitely has traditions. The Japanese students are extremely helpful. On the Japanese classes I have, the number of the Japanese volunteers sometimes overruns the number of the students. There are plenty of clubs, I can join virtually any kind of activity, and I am even guided by similarly enthusiastic mates. They are ready to spend their free time helping me find a secondhand bicycle shop or tasty restaurants.
Doing my phd course at Waseda, I expect unique studying and surveying opportunities. My labmates have frequent field-works at the ruins, and run several independent conservation and restoration projects. Besides getting an Internationally recognized Diploma on a special field, I will also have the chance to acquire invaluable experiences in works carried out at World Heritage sites, followed by keen international attention and regard.
The University staff became another significant point in my life. The ladies at my department really do their best, being ready almost every day for long hours to help me discover the hidden opportunities in the jungle of the Japanese characters printed on flyers and leaflets. The International Education Center’s personnel deserves the special recognition too. Besides their precious orientation in the adminstrational labyrinth, they never forget to warn me for deadlines, and offer me participation on various cultural programs too, any time I show up in their office. Even the president of the University came there to talk to us at the welcome party for International students, to exchange our views on different fields.
To put my thoughts together, I’m proud of studying at such a recognized international institution as Waseda University. The life here should be one of the most fertile periods in my life.
Balazs IRIMIAS,
exchange student from Hungary (Budapest University of Technology and Economics) |
