AZERBAIJAN TO WASEDA
Aysel Mamedli
Student studying special courses at the Center for Japanese Language
I came from Azerbaijan, which is located far away from Japan. The country lies on the western shores of the Caspian Sea and is surrounded by Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey and Iran. It is known as an oil-producing country with four seasons where the people are friendly and hospitable.
The reason behind my motivation to study Japanese was unexpected. When I was at high school, studying toward my dream of becoming a lawyer, my parents, who had an interest in Japan, urged me to study about Japan and Japanese. At first, I had no confidence in acquiring the Japanese language and was anxious. However after studying for a while, I became to love the language and in order to experience and understand it firsthand, I decided to study in Japan. Looking back now, I can confidently say that this is the most proper decision I have ever made in my life.
Introducing Azerbaijan to primary school students at an ICC Outreach activity
Even after coming to Japan, I have been charmed and surprised in many ways by the country, such as people taking a walk with their pets in pushchairs and Japanese fashion. Although the Japanese people are shy and poor at expressing their feelings, I feel that, for some reason, in make-up and fashion they possess freedom and eccentricity.
Azerbaijan in autumn, where you can enjoy the autumn colors like Japan
Unfortunately Azerbaijan is not well known in Japan. In the future, as a bridge between Azerbaijan and Japan, I hope to become a person who can build friendly relations between the two countries. In order to do this, during my time here I am participating in various events and speech contests to increase the popularity of Azerbaijan. Also, I want to directly experience more beautiful and mysterious parts of Japan that I have yet to discover.
