Intercultural Communication Center (ICC)Waseda University

News

★ICC★ ICC Language and Cultural Exchange Program

Earlier this semester, I met a girl from Singapore through the ICC language and cultural exchange program, which helped both Japanese and international students find a partner to practice their target language with. I applied for this program and got matched with a student from Canada last semester, but we didn’t get to meet up even once as our schedule didn’t work out. So, I was excited to meet my partners this semester.

My partner from Singapore Josephine came to Japan this September to do her master’s degree in GSAPS. We have one more Japanese partner Kyosuke, who used to live in Singapore for three years, so we are a group of three. In our first meeting, we introduced ourselves and decided to have lunch together once a week. As I hadn’t heard Singapore English, sometimes called Singlish, until I first talked with Josephine, it took me a while to get used to it, to be honest. Besides having lunch together, Kyosuke and I sometimes helped her with daily things from writing a birthday wish to her dormitory manager in Japanese to applying for a Waseda student card. As we have common interests such as learning about different cultures and traveling, we get along very well not only as language and culture exchange partners but also as friends.

In October, I joined the ICC Imperial palace run with Josephine (Kyosuke couldn’t make it because of his seminar). As we weren’t quite confident with our stamina, we planned to run slowly together if we were in the same team. On the day of the event, there were about 30 participants, and it turned out we weren’t in the same team. We all took a subway from Waseda to Kudanshita, and I made friends with students from Thailand, China, and Hong Kong on the way.

It was cold, but once I started running, it was alright. It seemed there was a marathon festival that day, and there were more runners than I had expected. I gave up and started walking on the way, but I enjoyed conversations with friends and beautiful autumn leaves. After the 5km run, we had a small mixing time outside in the North Park. It was fun to talk with students from different countries and departments, and I enjoyed the event overall.

Now we three are planning on a short trip to Kawagoe. It’s been one of the most popular visitors’ destinations for years, but any of us has never visited there. It remains the atmosphere from ancient Edo period, so it should be a great opportunity for us to discover Japan as a part of cultural exchange.

What is more, I decided to go to Singapore in February with my friends. Josephine will be back in Singapore then to celebrate Chinese New Year’s day with her family, so we might be able to hang out there. She has also helped us a lot with planning our itinerary these days. I am so excited to visit her home country and know more about its culture.

Though we started out as language exchange partners, I am so glad we became close friends. I’m grateful for this encounter, and I hope to see my partners even after the program ends.

 

Yuriko Asada

Page Top
WASEDA University

Sorry!
The Waseda University official website
<<https://www.waseda.jp/inst/icc/en/>> doesn't support your system.

Please update to the newest version of your browser and try again.

Continue

Suporrted Browser

Close