Suhailah DAVIES

Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Exchange to Kansai Gaidai University, Japan

When I started university back in 2007 it had always been a goal of mine to undertake an exchange program. As I was studying a Bachelor of Business/Bachelor of Arts (Japanese) I thought that it would be an invaluable experience to go to Japan on exchange to try and further my Japanese language skills, as well as having the opportunity to see what the life of a uni student in a country other than Australia would be like. However, it wasn’t until I was in my fifth (and final) year of my degree I finally got up the courage to leave Australia and set off for an exchange semester at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan – and now I can’t believe it took me so long to go!

The campus at Kansai Gaidai was absolutely beautiful. The first time I stepped on the campus I was blown away by the size and how clean it was, it really made going to class everyday very pleasant. All of the international student’s classes were held in the Centre for International Education and it was great to have all our classes in the one place, as well as our teachers if we needed help or advice. The university really looks after the international students and always makes sure that they have the best experience possible whilst in Japan.

I lived in one of Kansai Gaidai’s four seminar houses (on-campus accommodation) which was a ten minute bike ride from campus. It was a great experience to be able to live with other students, the support of my roommates was just phenomenal, the six of us were always laughing and having fun and there was definitely never a dull moment in our apartment.

During the week I would go to classes at the university – Japanese language classes in the morning and cultural and business classes in the afternoon. After school and on weekends my friends and I would do various trips such as Hiroshima, Kyoto and Osaka city. Probably one of the highlights was participating in the annual Hanami festival (cherry blossom festival) wearing Kimono. It’s such a famous time of year in Japan and a really important part of Japanese culture. I really think being immersed in a culture where you have to speak a foreign language in your everyday life is an exceptional way to further language and intercultural skills – I even found myself starting to think in Japanese! I shared some wonderful experiences with the friends I made in Japan, we saw lots of incredible places, shopped, ate, drank and partied together everyday! I made friends that I know I will keep in contact with for years to come.

Unfortunately part of my exchange semester included experiencing the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami. It was awful knowing that such a horrible disaster was occurring in the same country where I was staying but it was amazing to see just how resilient and strong Japanese people are.

I can’t recommend an exchange experience enough to any university student. It was definitely the highlight of my time at Uni and has given me so many different insights into another culture, improved my Japanese language skills and given me a second home in Japan.

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