Interactions with Japanese university students
Just this semester alone, I went to 3 interaction sessions with Japanese students. First was interaction with Waseda University [not all were from Waseda though] (we had lunch with them and talk about university life). That went pretty well, I guess. But I think I only understood 70% of what they were saying. The funniest part is that when Sensei was sitting near to us, and she overheard our conversation, she was like "Do you really understand what he was saying? If you don't you can ask him!" So embarrassing >.< haha I think most of the time we only kind of understand each other a bit and had to guess exactly what the other party is saying.
So basically, we talked about university life and hobbies and so on. One likes to drink, the other one don't. One of them loves mountain climbing and was kind of disappointed when the tallest "mountain" in Singapore is Bukit Timah Hills? haha And after his trip here to Singapore, he is going to Malaysia to climb Mount ~something~. Amazing~ He also mentioned his interest in working here in Singapore (surprising!)
Okay, moving on to the interaction session with Komazawa Women's University. We assembled at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and bought them along to visit the different places in YST. NUS students were equally amazed by almost everything in YSTCoM because it's also our first time there. Then we went to visit Central Library and also Chinese and Japanese library. They were quite amazed by mangas and idol magazines (me too! first time seeing those there.. and they were new ones) in the Japanese library. Then we also talked about Arashi a bit. After that, we had presentations from both the universities. We learned about the 4 seasons in Japan and what festivals Japan had etc. It was quite interesting! Because I learnt a fair bit of new things. Then, after that was a dinner session at Riverview Hotel hosted by the Japanese university. We were really pleased to be able to join them for dinner :)
We continue to talk about life, interests etc. And I found out that not all Japanese students like to drink. Only 1 in our table drank beer + 1 Singaporean male. And she drank really fast!! 2 cups of beer! while our Singaporean male friend was like still drinking half the cup.. Also, I found out that there is one Arashi fan in our table!! And she went to Arashi's concert earlier this year!!!! OMG :D *i envy* haha Actually I found out that she is an Arashi fan after we were about to leave.. Because she saw my Arashi concert strap and asked me whether I liked Arashi :D And coincidently, our favourite member is the same! Aiba-kun~ :D I also show them my Japanese language textbook and they were quite "amazed/amused/interested" (can't find the right word) on it. And they told me that those Japanese used in textbook are not really those that the "real" Japanese people will use in their daily life. (Maybe because it's too formal?) and some words are also not frequently used at all. Also, keigo is difficult >.< I gotta agree with that!
Finally, the 3rd interaction session with Waseda University students. We first interviewed them for our Japanese lesson. Then, the next day (which was yesterday), we met up with them (4 of them) for dinner. We met at Clementi Mall and had dinner in the food court inside. We chatted a while and they found out that almost all of us are into anime, manga, idols. Well, basically, Japanese popular culture! haha. And we seemed to know a lot (thanks to the Internet)! I didn't really talk a lot cause most of them time, I can't really hear what they said~ lol Nvm, 大概大概懂就好。After dinner, because we had the image of Japanese people always going to 飲み会(drinking session?) so we sort of invited them to go Clarke Quay. Kind of a first-time experience for most of us! haha But, in actual fact, not all of them like/can really drink. Actually, it was quite awkward that time because everyone is kind of really tired and we don't really talk much. Actually I had questions to ask them, but my mind wasn't really working well that time so I kind of forgot what I wanted to ask! I think we're not really good hosts... haha 不這麽會招待人~ lol~ But, anyway, it was really fun and a great experience!!
Some other things that I found out:
Merlion is a must see attraction in Singapore (maybe for the Japanese) and chicken rice is the most famous food here.
First time, all guys. Second time, all girls. Third time, all guys. And I came to realize something. I can communicate with the girls better. Maybe it's because the ratio of Singapore students to Japanese students is like 3:7 (for that interaction session)? Hmm. And in my group, only I can speak a bit of Japanese compared to the other guy who was clueless about Japanese language. Also, guys are more polite compared to girls (from the group I interacted with lah) and I don't really have any common topics to talk to guys :( I need to work on that and start thinking of what kind of questions can I ask when I go to further interaction sessions with the Japanese students.
Furthermore, my Japanese is still ダメだ。I need to work harder!!!
がんばります！
So basically, we talked about university life and hobbies and so on. One likes to drink, the other one don't. One of them loves mountain climbing and was kind of disappointed when the tallest "mountain" in Singapore is Bukit Timah Hills? haha And after his trip here to Singapore, he is going to Malaysia to climb Mount ~something~. Amazing~ He also mentioned his interest in working here in Singapore (surprising!)
Okay, moving on to the interaction session with Komazawa Women's University. We assembled at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and bought them along to visit the different places in YST. NUS students were equally amazed by almost everything in YSTCoM because it's also our first time there. Then we went to visit Central Library and also Chinese and Japanese library. They were quite amazed by mangas and idol magazines (me too! first time seeing those there.. and they were new ones) in the Japanese library. Then we also talked about Arashi a bit. After that, we had presentations from both the universities. We learned about the 4 seasons in Japan and what festivals Japan had etc. It was quite interesting! Because I learnt a fair bit of new things. Then, after that was a dinner session at Riverview Hotel hosted by the Japanese university. We were really pleased to be able to join them for dinner :)
We continue to talk about life, interests etc. And I found out that not all Japanese students like to drink. Only 1 in our table drank beer + 1 Singaporean male. And she drank really fast!! 2 cups of beer! while our Singaporean male friend was like still drinking half the cup.. Also, I found out that there is one Arashi fan in our table!! And she went to Arashi's concert earlier this year!!!! OMG :D *i envy* haha Actually I found out that she is an Arashi fan after we were about to leave.. Because she saw my Arashi concert strap and asked me whether I liked Arashi :D And coincidently, our favourite member is the same! Aiba-kun~ :D I also show them my Japanese language textbook and they were quite "amazed/amused/interested" (can't find the right word) on it. And they told me that those Japanese used in textbook are not really those that the "real" Japanese people will use in their daily life. (Maybe because it's too formal?) and some words are also not frequently used at all. Also, keigo is difficult >.< I gotta agree with that!
Finally, the 3rd interaction session with Waseda University students. We first interviewed them for our Japanese lesson. Then, the next day (which was yesterday), we met up with them (4 of them) for dinner. We met at Clementi Mall and had dinner in the food court inside. We chatted a while and they found out that almost all of us are into anime, manga, idols. Well, basically, Japanese popular culture! haha. And we seemed to know a lot (thanks to the Internet)! I didn't really talk a lot cause most of them time, I can't really hear what they said~ lol Nvm, 大概大概懂就好。After dinner, because we had the image of Japanese people always going to 飲み会(drinking session?) so we sort of invited them to go Clarke Quay. Kind of a first-time experience for most of us! haha But, in actual fact, not all of them like/can really drink. Actually, it was quite awkward that time because everyone is kind of really tired and we don't really talk much. Actually I had questions to ask them, but my mind wasn't really working well that time so I kind of forgot what I wanted to ask! I think we're not really good hosts... haha 不這麽會招待人~ lol~ But, anyway, it was really fun and a great experience!!
Some other things that I found out:
Merlion is a must see attraction in Singapore (maybe for the Japanese) and chicken rice is the most famous food here.
First time, all guys. Second time, all girls. Third time, all guys. And I came to realize something. I can communicate with the girls better. Maybe it's because the ratio of Singapore students to Japanese students is like 3:7 (for that interaction session)? Hmm. And in my group, only I can speak a bit of Japanese compared to the other guy who was clueless about Japanese language. Also, guys are more polite compared to girls (from the group I interacted with lah) and I don't really have any common topics to talk to guys :( I need to work on that and start thinking of what kind of questions can I ask when I go to further interaction sessions with the Japanese students.
Furthermore, my Japanese is still ダメだ。I need to work harder!!!
がんばります！