INTERNATIONAL STUDENT CENTER NEWSLETTER

VOL.3 September,2000

1-14 BUNKYO-MACHI,NAGASAKI-CITY,852-8521,TEL:095-847-1111,EX 2275,FAX:095-847-5968

Japanese Version

Japanese Courses (second semester) staring on October 11

The second semester of Japanese language courses will start on Wednesday, October 11, 2000. We hope that as many students as possible will apply for these courses.

You can apply for any course.
Any foreign student including research students at Nagasaki University, is allowed to apply for Intensive Courses, Supplementary Courses, and Zengaku-Kyoiku Courses.

Elementary to Advanced
There are many varieties of classes from elementary to advanced, differing from 1 to 16 periods per week.

Intensive Courses recommended for students who want to focus on learning Japanese
If you want to focus on learning Japanese for six months or a year, we strongly recommend you to join our Intensive courses. There are 3 classes, one has 8 periods a week, and the others have 16.

Elementary classes in Supplementary courses for your spouse
Foreign students’ spouses can apply for Elementary classes in Supplementary courses. Spouses have been admitted since the first semester this year with the idea that students’ study needs their spouse’s support for success.

Duration of Courses is October to February
For Intensive Courses and Supplementary Courses, the second semester will start on Wednesday, October 11, 2000 until Friday, February 9, 2001. (For Elementary Level I, the semester will start on November 1 until February 9.) Winter holidays will be from December 20 until January 8. For Zengaku-Kyoiku Japanese Language Course, the second semester will start on Tuesday, October 10, 2000 until Friday, February 16, 2001, with holidays from December 25 until January 8.

Spring Special Courses will be held from Tuesday, February 13 until Monday, March 5.

Application Period is from September 20 to October 3.
Applications will be accepted from Wednesday, September 20 to Tuesday, October 3 at the International Student Center. (For Elementary Level I, until Monday, October 30) After your application, an interview or a test will be given to organize classes. For details, please check the “Information On The International Student Center_Japanese Language Education and Foreign Student Counseling_”.

Courses at opening classes,
second semester of 2000 (For all foreign students)

The International Student Center will 
give advice to foreign students

We will provide any kind of counseling for any student anytime. When you wonder who to ask or if you cannot talk to anybody, or if you just feel like chatting with somebody, just pop in the International Student Center.

There are 5 instructors and 2 staff at our center. If it is hard for you to come to Bunkyo campus, please give us a call (Nagasaki University, Telephone No.095-847-1111), or send us e-mail.

Instructors names and e-mail addresses are as follows:

Akira MIYAHARA (ex.2276),amiyaha@net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp

Chikako NAGAI (ex.3402),nagai@net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp

Kumiko MATSUMOTO(ex.3402),kumiko-m@net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp

Keiko MORIYAMA (ex.2277),mkeikol@net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp

Tomoki OKUMURA(ex.3400),okmrt@net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp

For further information about life in Japan, please check out "Guide to Nagasaki Life for International Students" (1999).

Caution!Riding motorcycles or driving

For those students who are planning to buy motorcycles or cars, you will need licenses to drive. Even driving in car parks for practice is not allowed. If it is possible to switch your national licenses to Japanese, you need to have it translated at JAF.

And apart from purchasing a car or motorbike, quite a lot of money will be needed for taxes and insurance. Especially for people who are going to buy cars, it is necessary to get “Sha-ko Shou-mei(proof paper of your own car park) to register your cars. You also need “Sha-ken”(an automobile inspection).

Corrections to “Guide to Nagasaki Life for International Students”

p.72 : JAF’s address has changed.

New address: 2-13 Yachiyo-machi, Nagasaki-city

p.18 : Rent support by the Association of International Education, JAPAN for students with Monbusho Scholarship has been discontinued, new applications will no longer be accepted.

"The world is your friend." & Cultural Exchange Party 
in Sotomecho
(from the events in the first semester)

Every spring and autumn, lectures called “The world is your friend”, where foreigners introduce their countries, is hosted by Chuo-kominkan. Both spring and autumn lectures are held from 6:30 to 8:30 in the evening on five Thursdays in a row. Five countries, Malaysia, Brazil, Canada, Nigeria, and Bolivia were introduced in spring lectures of 2000. Many foreign students of Nagasaki University have now introduced their own countries as lecturers. Here, we introduce Mr. Shuaibu , who is a graduate student of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, who gave a lecture on Nigeria.　

Making a speech about your home country

by SHUAIBU Mohammed NASIR
(graduate student of the Institute of Tropical Medicine)

The wisdom behind making presentation about ones country seems to be subtle. Most foreigners wave the invitation away as unnecessary. I shared the same feelings before, but of recent I happened to glaringly see the wisdom. I never realized that until I had a chance to make a presentation about my country, Nigeria. Most people here in Nagasaki seem to only be familiar with some political and natural disasters that bedevil most developing countries. The nature, beauty, peace, rich culture and in general, the way of life of people in developing countries are not adequately represented.

To my fellow foreigners here in Nagasaki, as ambassadors of our respective beloved countries, we owe a duty to adequately make a good and clear presentation, whenever and wherever we are given the invitation. Do not give too much emphasis on the communication tussles, it is a very rare opportunity for us to pay tribute to our respective countries by clearing the air for the Japanese and other national to appreciate the values of own diverse culture and way of life.

(Autumn lectures are scheduled to be held on October 12(Guatemala), 19(Argentina), 26(Kenya), and November 2(Russia).

Nagasaki International Association holds Cultural Exchange Parties, where foreign residents and Japanese children and students can meet, a few times a year. In this article, we introduce Mr. Lin Ran, a student, who joined a Cultural Exchange Party with 2 days home stay through July 14 to 15.

Home stay in Sotomecho

by Lin Ran (student of the Faculty of Economics)

Sotomecho, on the north-west end of Nagasaki Prefecture, is a small, quiet, and beautiful town blessed with the sea. On the day we arrived, as it was so fine, the blue sea was shining with reflections by the sunshine. When we got off the bus at Sotomecho, I saw teachers and students of Kamiura Junior High school standing on both sides of the road waving our national flags. I was so moved by the warm atmosphere.

That evening, Ko-san and I from China stayed with the Okitas, where Mr. Okita works for the temple as a monk. His family enthusiastically talked to us, and we had a lot of chat about China. Somen(Japanese noodle) was one of the foods I enjoyed most out of many kinds they kindly treated us to.

Next day, we had an international exchange party at the gym of Kamiura Junior High School. Each foreign student joined into a small group of Japanese students, and talked to each other. They told us lots of things about festivals and seafood in Sotomecho, and also asked us various questions about China. For example, “I have heard Chinese people often use bicycles, don’t you have any accidents?” “What do you think about the relationship between Taiwan and China?” “Do Chinese children watch Japanese cartoons or play with Japanese toys?” “How much do Chinese children know about Japan?” etc. When I mentioned that children watch DORAEMON (Japanese cartoon character), junior high school students seemed interested.

After the party, we visited Sotome Bunka-mura, De rotz Memorial Hall, Shusaku Endo Memorial Hall , and learnt the history of Sotomecho as an eastern point of contact with the West.

Through these activities for international exchange, I have found that we, volunteer members, can not only teach our own culture to Japanese children, but also come across many new experiences through touching a part of the history of Nagasaki, which has become a great harvest to me.

Events happening outside and inside the university
　　From late September to February

Events with *mark are held inside university.

Nagasaki Kunchi is the grand scale Autumn Festival of Suwa Shrine, which has a tradition of 360 years. As it is nationally famous, many tourists visit Nagasaki in this period.

The International Student Center Bazaar is the event where you can purchase towels, tableware, and many other things for a small amount of money. You might come across bargains such as televisions or electric heaters.

Host Family Program for international students will give you good opportunities to stay in Japanese families. You will see details on the notice board at the International Student Center.

Many other events related to the 400th anniversary of Japan-Holland Trade and Friendship are being held at many places.

Lake Hoan Kiem, a Vietnamese lake of legend

by Pham Thi Minh Phuong
(research student at the International Student Center)

My country, Vietnam is in South-east Asia, and is close to China, Laos, and Cambodia. The land size is three hundred thirty thousand square kilometers and its population is seventy-six million. Metropolitan Hanoi, where I was born, is in the north part of Vietnam. It is ninety thousand square kilometers, with two million and eight hundred thousand population.

When I was a child, my grandmother and sister used to tell me lots of stories, one of them was that, for example, Hanoi used to be called Thang Long. “Thang” means “rise”, “Long” means “dragon” and “prosperity”. The name “Thang Long” changed to “Ha Noi” in 1831. “Ha” means “river”, “Noi” means “inside”, and as the name tells, there are many rivers and lakes in Hanoi, such as Lake West, Lake Truc Back, and Lake Thin Quang. The most famous of them is Lake Hoan Kiem, which is at the center of the city, and has a very interesting legend.

Long ago, Vietnam had a very tough time, because it was attacked by many enemies. One day, when a fisherman was fishing in the lake, he found a great sword in his net, then he heard a voice coming from inside the lake. “ I am the god of water. I will give you that sword to protect yourself from enemies.”

The fisherman soon took it to his king, then the king got rid of all the enemies. Soon after that, Vietnam became a peaceful and free country.

One day, the king went to the lake to go sailing. All of a sudden, a very big turtle slowly approached him, and said, “I once lent a sword to you, king, but now Vietnam is so free, please give it back to me.” After the king gave the sword back to the turtle, he soon disappeared, holding the sword in his mouth. Then, the king gave the name, “Hoan Kiem” to the lake. “Hoan” means “return”, “Kiem” means “sword”.

Still now, you can sometimes see big turtles. Last year a 1.2 meter sized turtle showed his face 26 times.

In 2010, Hanoi will be 1000 years old. Though I do not know what happens if a person becomes 1000 years old, Hanoi is still very active and young. And it is a very romantic place. People are very kind and welcome people from their heart. So please come and visit Hanoi. We are looking forward to seeing you.

Part-time job　- worries as a foreign student -

by Wu Xian
(student of the Faculty of Economics)

I am a privately financed student from China. Though three years and four months have already passed since I came to Japan, I have been so busy that I cannot feel I have been here more than three years.

In the same way as other foreign students do, I have lots of difficulties in this life here, and part-time jobs are probably the biggest part of it. Part-time jobs help you in studying Japanese or experiencing social matters, though of course the main reason is to earn enough money for living, specially for privately financed students like me. As a result, our whole lives come to be dominated by part-time jobs.

When my second grade started last year, I felt the study suddenly became so difficult. To reduce the time I was spending on my part-time job from 5 times a week down to 3 times, I started working late nights at Yakinikuya(BBQ restaurant) on Wednesdays and Thursdays. That seemed alright, as I had no classes on Thursdays, but the second class on Fridays was General English as a compulsory subject, and the professor was severe for being late, so I honestly had a very hard time.

On Friday mornings, though I always had my alarm clock set at five to ten, it was often ten thirty when I woke up. I thought, “Again! I can never be late any more.” It never worked. I got D in the examination as a result. But, I still think that I could have got at least C, if I was not late for classes. Taking sairishu(re-pursuing) classes is as hard as you can guess.

I was ready for the difficulties of student life before I came to Japan, but the reality was much harder than I expected. I used to play football once or twice a week in my country, then enjoyed bottles of beer with my friends, now I manage to be able to play football once a week after two years. But I think this is still luxurious for me in Japan.

I never regret coming to Japan for studying. On the contrary, I am looking forward to seeing the outcome of all my efforts on graduation day. I will work on with people’s support by my side.

Conversation Partner Program

by Mamiko KOIKE
(student of the Faculty of Economics)

I joined Conversation Partner Program two years ago. I could not talk much, because I was so tense then. My conversation partner and I became good friends as we could argue seriously. If I did not see him, my way of thinking would have been very limited. And being in this program was only a start, now he is my precious friend.

by Mushana Azrin B Mustafa
(student of the department of Engineering)

At the beginning, I was not very confident of my Japanese. I used to be afraid of speaking to Japanese. After joining the program as a conversation partner, my Japanese was gradually improved, plus I learnt many things about Japanese customs and culture. What I

am is wholly owed to her. Anyway, she is much more than a conversation partner to me.

Conversation Partners Wanted!

Introduction of Conversation Partner Program

This partner Program is for foreign and Japanese students to promote better understanding, basically through communicating in Japanese, at their convenient time and place. Why don’t you join this program? If you are interested, please contact Ms. Matsumoto at the International Center.(ex.3401)

e-mail address: kumiko-m@net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp

Foreign students and Volunteers

At the University Hospital attached to the Faculty of Medicine, there are some students who are doing volunteer activities regularly once a week. Since July 1998, four foreign students from Bangladesh, Brazil, Nigeria, and Indonesia have been acting as volunteers at wards for hospitalized patients.

There is also another volunteer group to visit patients and to interpret, which has eight students registered.

If you are interested in either of the above two volunteer groups, please contact the following person.

Ms. Matsumoto at the International Student Center(ex.3401) e-mail: kumiko-m@net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp

Here, we introduce Mrs. Winarni from Indonesia. She used to be a research student belonging to the Faculty of Fisheries, and her husband is a graduate student.

How I started as a hospital volunteer

by Endahingtyas Winarni

I got sick about seven months ago. As a result of an examination, a doctor told me that I needed to get hospitalized, which surprised me. Because I am a foreign resident, I did not know what we need to get ready for hospitalization and information such as regulations, etc. were all written in Kanji. That was a big issue for me. Then, a member of the volunteer group came to help me out.

After I got hospitalized, volunteer members visited me in turns everyday and helped me doing many things with a smile. Thanks to these cheerful and gentle volunteer friends, my heart was warmed up, and then soon I was wholly recovered. When I was lonely, I had a chat with a volunteer friend, and I did not feel lonely anymore. Then I decided to join the volunteer group after I got out of the hospital. Two months after I recovered, I started volunteer activities.

People seem to avoid this kind of activity, because you meet only the patients at the hospitals. But it is not as hard as you think. All you need is consideration and kindness.

What hospital volunteers do is help patients, for example, to help them eating, to give them massages, or to take them for X-ray or other treatment when needed. Sometimes you will be a partner to talk to, pushing his or her wheel chair.

I have had many experiences that made me very happy. When a patient you have been taking care of says, “Thank you. I would like you to come and see me again.”, you feel so contented. I felt that I could help others and what I had been doing is helpful. After you see the same person many times, you sometimes become friends. Though I am getting used to local dialogue(Nagasaki-ben), it is still hard to catch old people’s Nagasaki-ben because of my Japanese. I always try to understand by listening many times. And I do this hospital volunteer activity with a feeling of joy.

Lunch Map around Nagasaki University

There are many places you can have lunch around the university apart from the university coop cafeteria, convenience store, or fast food restaurant. We are introducing some of them. These restaurants have lunch sets for about 500 yen.

<Restaurants near the front gate>

☆Asuka
They sell sets, noodles, and many other kinds of meals.

☆Ikeda Shokudo
Mainly Japanese food, and chanpon and others are available.It takes a little bit of time, because it is run by only one person.

☆Flower mate
They have Ryu-gaku-sei Lunch, whose price is reasonable for foreign students.

<Restaurants near the back gate>

☆Ofukuro san
They have many varieties of sets, including a fried fish set for lunch. Foreign students are often seen.

☆Kenji
As you can read many kinds of comic books here, this is a Japanese students’ favorite place. A cup of coffee comes with a set.

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