{"id":91325,"date":"2021-10-29T09:30:42","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T00:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/?p=91325"},"modified":"2021-10-14T15:57:26","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T06:57:26","slug":"%ef%bd%9e%e3%82%a4%e3%83%b3%e3%83%89%e3%83%8d%e3%82%b7%e3%82%a2%e3%81%8b%e3%82%89%e6%97%a9%e7%a8%b2%e7%94%b0%e3%81%b8%ef%bd%9e%e3%81%9b%e3%82%93%e3%81%b9%e3%81%84%e4%bd%9c%e3%82%8a%e4%bd%93-10-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/weekly\/news-en\/2021\/10\/29\/91325\/","title":{"rendered":"\uff5eFrom Australia to Waseda\uff5e One thing I realized having lived in three countries"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most important part of going aboard is not where you go, but who you meet and what kind of memories you make.<\/h3>\n

First-year student at the School of International Liberal Studies
\nPARK, Daniel jaewon<\/h6>\n

\"\"\u201cWhy did you come to Japan?\u201d<\/p>\n

If I had \u00a5100 for every time someone asked me this question, I could probably pay for my University tuition. Maybe half because it\u2019s Waseda. But in all honesty, I still don\u2019t know how I should answer back. Comparatively speaking, Australia is a great place to live. Although it has its own problem like any other country, the quality of life is second to none. That\u2019s why when someone asks me why I came to Japan, I feel like they\u2019re asking me why I had left Australia.<\/p>\n

I had quit University in Australia and have been searching for what I wanted to do in life. During that time, I made a friend while volunteering at the Japanese Children\u2019s Day (\u3053\u3069\u3082\u306e\u65e5) event in Adelaide. She was a Waseda SILS student studying abroad in Australia. That was more than two years ago now and I had no idea I\u2019d be a student studying in Waseda myself. This is the story I normally go with to make it sound more interesting, but the truth is, it was an impulsive decision to come and study in Japan when my mother\u2019s worries about my life were at their peak. I love my mum, but she\u2019s still a mum. I\u2019m sure most of us can relate.<\/p>\n

I was born in Korea and moved to Australia when I was young for educational purposes. Now my passport says I\u2019m Australian, so I often have to pause and think before explaining where I\u2019m from. To Australian friends I am Korean, to my Korean friends I\u2019m Australian, my Chinese friends tell me I look Chinese and my Japanese friends think I\u2019m weird. At the end of the day it doesn\u2019t matter where you\u2019re from or what you look like and labels we use to identify ourselves often draw lines between one another. One thing I realized having lived in Korea, Australia and Japan, the cultural difference is not as significant as we perceive it to be.<\/p>\n\n\t\t