Robyn GAWENDA

The University of Western Australia, Australia
Exchange to Kansai Gaidai University, Japan

The intoxicating, exciting and exotic world of Asian studies has beckoned me ever since my first trip to Japan at the end of high school. The vibrant youth culture in Harajuku, the dizzying heights (and depths) of fashion in Shinjuku and the serenity of Kamakura ensured an obsession which has taken me through an entire degree in Asian studies and Japanese language at the University of Western Australia.

For me, the decision of whether or not to take the opportunity to go on language exchange study was a no-brainer. How could one have a discrete understanding of the language and customs of a culture without being totally immersed in it? Thankfully, the days of armchair anthropology are gone, the ease and affordability of travel have significantly been increased, and universities have established exchange programs designed to make the experience of overseas study as easy as possible. For a fulltime student, however, the cost of exchange is either a large debt to mum and dad or the student loan office, or missing out on the opportunity entirely. I was fortunate to be awarded the Cheung Kong Endeavour Scholarship which made the whole process less stressful and costly, so I would like to begin by whole-heartedly thanking the program.

My experience in Japan was a rollercoaster of experiences and emotions. Although I had visited Japan prior to my exchange study, I had never lived in the suburban sprawl surrounding the city, never attended a Japanese university, and never had to do it alone. Despite these factors, I was extremely excited and enthusiastic about the experience. When you arrive at your new living quarters, you realize that mum won’t have dinner on the table at 6, your best friend can’t listen to you complain about some idiot on the plane, and your favourite groove on the couch isn’t there. Although these sudden realizations are slightly intimidating, at the end of the day you get on with it. You learn to make yourself tea and dinner, make new friends to complain to, and make a groove on your new couch. The achievement of all of the above is extremely satisfying and is the rite of passage for any exchange student.

It was fantastic attending classes at Kansai University. The teaching style and assessment was totally incomparable to the University of Western Australia, and it was a challenge to adjust to a different academic lifestyle. Studying at Kansai Gaidai also gave me the opportunity to study under some fantastic professors, including Paul Scott, a China-Japan relations specialist, who really made me think critically of issues in contemporary Asia.

The university social life was something different altogether, with students recruiting members for their clubs and circles, diligently rehearsing and practicing and showing off their talents at various events. The equivalent of UWA’s Sausage and Bun Appreciation Society was nowhere in sight. Exchange study offers a great opportunity for a student to meet people from all over the world. I soon made friends with Swedes, Americans, Lithuanians and Mexicans. It was amazing to be friends with such a diverse bunch of people who shared my interest in Japanese culture and language, and we all quickly adapted to social life in Japan. We picnicked during Hanami (the cherry blossom viewing), sang the loudest at karaoke and would share tasty snacks in the local izakaya (Japanese-style bars). At the same time, I was able to get an insight into life in their respective countries and share with them my life experiences in Australia.

Apart from university life, I also wanted to experience youth culture in the city. I invested heavily in magazines and concert tickets and really enjoyed getting away from the university and into Osaka city, the origin of punk music in Japan. One of the most vivid memories of my exchange experience was being at Namba Bears, one of the alternative music hubs in downtown Osaka. The air was thick with cigarette smoke and perspiration, a local band had moved their instruments to the middle of the crowd and surrounding me was a diverse crowd of people - school girls with Hello Kitty backpacks and Doc Martins, young salary men in grey suits and hardcore punk followers with torn jeans and Mohawks. The music, the people and the atmosphere made me think about how Australia and the rest of the world perceive Japan. Kimonos, sushi and sumo wrestlers lend themselves to the image of modern Japan in the consciousness of the rest of the world. The reality is a result of one hundred years of dizzying rapid industrialization, modernization and nation-building, which significantly changed the structure of the Japanese family and community. The variety of music, art, design and sub-cultures present in modern Japan are all evidence of the changing face of Japan and the blurring of what signifies as ‘Japanese’.

So when I wasn’t studying, (which was a large proportion of the time), I was out riding my bike, eating bananas or I was out of Osaka, exploring other cities. By the time I returned to Perth, I had been to Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, Kobe, Nara, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and Beppu. I learnt the subtle differences in the pronunciation of Japanese in each region, sampled the different culinary delights each city had to offer, and soaked up the different personalities I encountered on my travels.

To completely sum up my Japanese experience in a few hundred words is impossible; the stories, the people and the places I had the good fortune to come across could constitute an encyclopaedia. I would like to take this opportunity however to express how valuable I believe student exchange is. Globalization and regionalism are changing the way we live and the importance of building cultural awareness, linguistic skills and ties between countries, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, is integral to the future. The value of exchange for cultural and language students is quite obvious, and I believe that exchange study has the potential to be valuable to any student who wants to become a more worldly and socially aware individual.

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