Newspapers / Brevard College Student Newspaper / Oct. 30, 1989, edition 1 / Page 5
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Coming to America! Japanese students find life very different in U,S. The Clarion October 30. 1989 Page 5 Some of the Japanese students studying at Brevard College this fall, left to right, front to back: Emi Yamada, Emi Saito, Yuko Sakaij Megami Takada and Nahoko Morita; second row: Sam Sugaya, Ayumi Kawaguchi, Akiko Iwama, Noriko Inoue, Reiko Shiozawa and Atsuko Kawamura; third row: Teruo Ogawa, Kazumi Egusa, Motomi Takahashi, Reiko Iwaatake, Rei Mizuwaki, Setsuko Nishimura, Misako Eto, Eriko Wada and Takako Ichige. (Clarion photo by Raisan Russo) Musical seasons greeting by Shawn White & Ashley Cimino CAarion Reporters So you think you’re homesick? Imagine beinif thousands of miles away from home in an unfamiliar country with an entirely different culture from your own. ^ The Japanese exchange students at BrevarB College this year know that feel ing all too well. Here from Japan through the East-We^ Foundation are students ex periencing &n American way of life, while coping with the normal pressures of col lege life. Most of them have come to lear English, while others have come through the E.W.F. to learn a new culture. Teruo Ogawa, or “Teri” as his American friends have nicknamed him, is a freshman this year on the BG soccer team. Teri arrived this summer, staying in Georgia where he took English as a Second Language, a course for the Japanese students to better learn English, before coming to BC. College life in the U.S. is very different than that of Japan’s. “Our school system is different,” says Teri. “America has less schooling. We go to school Monday through Friday, six hours a day and on Saturday we go for four hours. We also have to pass an exam in junior high to go on with school. If we don’t pass all we can do is work.” For Teri the hardest part of learning here is communication. “The school work is easy but its hard being in class where everyone speaks English.” With communication being so difficult, it’s hard for them to even order a cheesburger at McDonalds. Motomi Takahasi and Setsuko Nishimura, also freshmen at BC, commented on their com munication problems too. “We are having a hard time building relationships with Americans because it’s hard for us to make conversation.” They go on to say that Americans are very friendly and it makes them sad to not be able to communicate with us. They wanted to be sure that they were quoted as saying, “We want to speak English more so please come up to us and talk because we want to speak well.” The Japanese are very easily influenced in their new environment here. They’re very inquisitive and have a lot of ques tions. It helps them a lot if students are pa tient and understanding of their problems. One of the biggest influences over the Japanese students is responsibility. In Japan with very little freedom, the Japanese are rarely faced with important decision making. Suddenly being faced with the option to do their homework when and where they want, having no curfew, their rules just cut in half, they soon must learn what real responsibility is and how to deal with it. Says Teri, “In Japan the teacher protects you. But here it’s yery^ free so you have to learn to be responsible.” Another difference that influences the Japanese: Americans are less shy. This is helpful to them, they say because it helps another college and continue their educa tion. A lot of them want to work in some way with the English language, such as Teri who wants to some day teach others how to speak English, or Motomi who would like to one day be an interpreter. Setsuko, however, wants to be a television or movie producer. Of course nothing is definite yet but as of now they are all grateful just to be here in America and have a chance to do anything they want To do. On a more personal note, the Japanese students have found many exceptional dif ferences between the American way of life and that of the Japanese. What about food? Motomi and Setsuko feel that American food, such as chicken and some fast foods, are too greasy. According to them, we also eat a lot of cheese and sweet foods. However, their favorite American foods are pizza and ice cream. Motomi adds, “...but we do have pizza in Japan too.” The Japanese students love to share their food with the American students. They like for us to try some authentic Japanese food because they want to know how we feel about their food just as wt want to know how they feel about ours. They say they have a lot of American restaurants over there and they want us to see what their food is like. Teri says, “Clothes, food - everything is cheaper here than in Japan.” Not only are they cheaper, but clothers, make-up and music are also very different. Teri is used to the tight black uniforms that he had to wear to school in Japan, totally unlike American clothes which he prefers, that are comfortable and baggy. Motomi and Setsuko pointed out that Americans wear bright clothes, in referr ing to neons that were popular this past summer. They also feel that American girls wear a lot of make-up and begin wearing it an an earlier age. In Japan the girls don’t wear make-up unless they are going out on a date, or until they get to college. In fact, besides being less shy, one of their images of American girls is that they look more mature because they wear so much make-up. As for the guys in America, “They are more built,” but they still prefer the Japanese guys. In speaking of music, their favorite is Top 40. Setsuko says, "Some American music is noisy.” Most of the Japanese enjoy musicians such as Bon Jovi and Paula Abdul. Religiously, the Japanese students are having no problems adjusting. In their culture they have no belief in God; they say that mostly only the older generation practices Buddhism. Something that they find uncomfytable is how Americans display affection for each other. In Japan, kissing, touching and hugging are very personal and not publicly displayed. Their only problems adjusting are that of conversation and transportation. When asked what their overall image of America was, they exclaimed “FREEDOM! The Brevard College Collegiate Singers and Chamber Chorale have scheduled a busy holiday season with musical perfor mances on and off campus. During Parents’ Weekend, the Chamber Chorale will sing during the Sunday, Nov. 5, special church service at 11 a.m. in Dunham Auditorium. The Collegiate Singers’ first appearance of the fall will feature Vivaldi’s Gloria on Sunday, Nov. 12, for the 10:55 am. service at the Brevard First United Methodist Church across the street from the College. Then, on Monday, Nov. 20, at 8:15 p.m. the Collegiate Singers give their annual Fall Concert in Dunham Auditorium. by Marc Carr C.larian On Wednesday, Oct. 18, the SGA food committee held its first meeting. Under the supervision of RD Jeff Battle, representative Ben Hudson and Virginia Peavy will hear student comments on the cafeteria and ARA Service. “We are still looking for three other representatives to join us,” says Ben Hud son, “but we are willing to do anything we can to help the students.” The food com mittee will take the comments to Jeff Bat tle and together they will discuss them with cafeteria manager Jerry Roper. At Several schedule changes have been an nounced in this fall’s Life and Culture Arts Series at Brevard College this week. First, the Oct. 26 piano concert by pianists Yarborough and Cowan was cancelled “for reasons beyond our control,” said BC spokesman Jock Lauterer. Secondly, he Brevard College Collegiate Singers and Chamber Chorales’s annual The first of the Yuletide music will be presented by the Chamber Chorale during a first-ever Madrigal Dinner on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 and 2. Details to follow. Other holiday singing dates include a Dec. 3 program at Givens Estates, the Methodist retirement home outside Asheville; a Dec. 12 performance for the American Association of Retired People on Dec. 12 at 10 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church and Christmas program on Dec. 17 at the First United Methodist Church during the regular morning wor - ship hour. That performance will feature the Service of Lessons amd Carols. them to be more bold. So what will the Japanese do after twu years at Brevard College? They’ll go on to Food committee goes to work Take note of schedule changes their meeting they will hear the comments from the students’ side and see what can be resolved. “Jerry is here to serve us,” says Virginia Peavey, “but his hands are tied if he doesn’t get comments from the students,” The matter of the quality of the cafeteria food is an ongoing discussion that all students seem to talk about at one time or another. “We have just now started to get organized,” Hudson added, “but we are going to plan things that will help oiu* committee and ARA better serve the stu dent body.” Fall Concert has been moved to Monday, Nov. 20, (from Tuesday, Nov. 21) to ac commodate the school's Thanksgiving holidays. Finally, the Concert Band’s Fall Con cert, which was inadvertantly left out of the brochure, is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 7, at 8:15 p.m. in Dunham Auditorium.
Brevard College Student Newspaper
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Oct. 30, 1989, edition 1
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