By MAX LA ROCCO
Like many other kids around the country, Ramapo College students returned to classes in mid-January to get a start on their Spring semester. Among that influx of Roadrunners was Yuki Nakayama, an exchange student from Japan.
“[I wanted to study in America] because my major is English so, I want to improve my English skills,” Nakayama said.
Nakayama, 20, is new to the United States, having only arrived on Jan. 16. Originally from Fukui Prefecture, Nakayama is majoring in English at Kansai Gaidai University, a school focused mainly on foreign languages and international studies in Hirakata, Osaka. Osaka is the second largest city in Japan, after the capital, Tokyo. She is originally from Fukui Prefecture, which is in the Western shore of the country, bordering the Sea of Japan.
Kansai Gaidai has exchange programs with 342 institutions, including Ramapo College, in 51 countries and regions, according to the information provided by the Roukema Center.
The exchange program between Ramapo and Kansai Gaidai began in 2012, and nine Ramapo students have visited Kansai Gaidai in that time, including two this semester. Five Kansai Gaidai students have come to Ramapo, Nakayama is the fifth.
Experiences, Plans, Classes
I met with Nakayama just outside the Potter Library, where she had been studying on Monday, Feb. 8th. Though she spends a moment choosing her words, her English is very understandable. She said she has been studying English since junior high school, so about 7 or 8 years. Without a high English test score from back home, she would not have been able to study abroad.
Technically, Nakayama is a business major at Ramapo, and is taking some business courses. She finds them to be “so difficult” and also said that local students and professors speak very fast.
Nakayama has already made some friends, and attends the Japanese Happy Hour meetings in the Roukema Center (ASB-123) every Wednesday at 1 p.m. The meetings are usually discussions about the Japanese language and customs, with contributions by students involved in the Kansai Gaidai-Ramapo exchange program, as well as Japanese Roukema staff member Izumi Osawa-Minevich, but are open to anyone interested in learning about the culture. Japanese candy and snacks are provided.
When asked why she picked Ramapo, she said it was because it’s close to New York City, although she hasn’t gone there just yet.”I don’t have a plan but… there is a big park there… it is used in a Japanese drama,” Nakayama said, referring to Central Park.
The Japanese sometimes have an image of Americans as people who use drugs and guns, both of which are virtually forbidden in Japan. But Nakayama said she is finding out how polite Americans are at Ramapo.
“American people are so friendly… at first, I was surprised. American people open the door and [wait] for the next one, and say thank you and you’re welcome,” Nakayama said. “They are strangers maybe, but they talk [to] each other, it’s so nice.”
Nakayama said that her parents are apprehensive about her living in another country on the other side of the world with no Japanese peers or really anyone she’s met before. However, some of her friends from Kansai are studying in Florida and California.
When asked what she misses most while living in America, Nakayama responded with a laugh: “Food.”
“Everything is different from Japan, but food is the most different,” Nakayama said. She does, however, like Ramapo’s Birch Tree Inn, particularly their pizza and omelets.
Nakayama will be here for one year, continuing at Ramapo in the fall, providing she gets good grades this semester. This is because in Japan, most schools start for the year near the beginning of the calendar year, in April or so, and finish on or around Christmas. That’s the approximate schedule at Kansai Gaidai. During summer break, Nakayama will either be staying in America with a friend, or possibly visiting Europe, she is not sure yet.
The way you described Nakayama’s experience so far at Ramapo is really good, even though she has been here for only a month, you left nothing out. I actually didn’t even know Ramapo had exchange students from Japan. To optimize the headline, I would include the country “Japan”, so readers can know before reading where she is from. “Japanese Exchange Student’s Experience at Ramapo”, might work better.