Nagomi NAKAYAMA

Student of Kansai Gaidai University, Japan
Exchange to The University of Adelaide, Australia

Living in a foreign country and meeting many wonderful people is one of my dreams since I was a child. Now, I live in Adelaide and study at The University of Adelaide as an exchange student, and would like to share some of my experiences in Adelaide. For the past month, I had the opportunity to experience new cultures and meet different people.

To dive into a new culture and survive, I needed to not only study but also adjust my own culture. It has only been one month, and I have already got some surprises in cultural experience. I am also surprised by the different ideas of veganism and LGBTQI between our two countries. However, that does not mean that I want to say which culture is better. Every time I experience a new culture or different perspectives, it is an opportunity for me to reflect: "How about my culture? Why does my country do it this way?" Living in a different culture gives me opportunities to think about my own culture.

I have also had the opportunity to meet some wonderful people in Adelaide through university life. The University of Adelaide has a huge number of foreign students from different countries, and I enjoy talking to people who bring different perspectives to the discussion. For instance, one of my favorite topics is sociology, and I can actually discuss the topic with people from various societies, which is something I can do easily in Australia and maybe not in Japan.

To sum up, I can think about my own culture by experiencing new cultures and studying with people from different societies. I believe I will be able to get more wonderful experiences through my year in Adelaide.

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