Jonathan TSANG

Student of Macquarie University, Australia
Exchange to Sophia University, Japan

Prior to my exchange, I did not quite understand the concept of a university dress code. In summer you wore the first T-shirt you found when you woke up and the first pair of shorts hanging limp from your chair. In winter you could wear a stack of jumpers in a chromatically displeasing combo and it would work. It was the unspoken law of fashion craft I followed for the past three years.

Then I arrived at Sophia University, where every student appeared to have been trained in classical and contemporary fashion from a young age. The students wore thigh-length coats over a layered arrangement of pressed shirts, turtlenecks or jumpers, paired with perfect lengthed pants or skirts. Their necks were cradled by scarfs in complex knots and loops, while fingers were throned in rings of silver or gold. Their strides were choreographed in such confidence and energy that I felt inspired to change by the end of the semester. It was a whole new world to me.

From then on I could not get enough of Tokyo. At night, Tokyo becomes a cyberpunk paradise of steel and glass, where the night operated as a canvas that was carved by neon-street signs and flickering Taxi lights. To see the cultural and architectural influences on works of science fiction such as Akira and Bladerunner was a truly wonderful experience for me.

And the people. Everyone did everything with maximum effort. Whether it was studying, playing sports, participating in a university society or consuming boxes of meat at Shabushabu, Tokyo inspired a lifestyle I immediately adopted. My semester became a whirlwind of unforgettable friendships and experiences, and offered a glimpse into the true scale of the world beyond our home.

This would not have been possible without the scholarship, and I will be forever grateful for the experience. I will never forget being able to finally communicate with my Uber driver in Japanese, or being taken to an urban hideout favoured by local students in Shibuya, where one could enjoy unlimited tacos and drinks for 1,200 yen. I will always cherish the blended English-Japanese jokes I shared with friends, and the picnic in the park where the trees had acquired an auburn blush at the peak of autumn.

This was a journey for which I will be forever grateful,and I am eager to explore the other corners of the world.

© Copyright 2018 CK Group. All rights reserved.