Pilot Program Report

Ms. I, 3rd year student at the Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering

Hello, everyone. Now that I have safely returned to Japan after completing a six-week program in Australia, I would like to report on what I felt and learned during the program, as well as the differences between Japan and overseas. I also participated in TAP last year, so I would like to share my experiences, taking into account the differences between this year and last year.

Those of us who participated in the pilot program are called MEXT students, and MEXT stands for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.We are very grateful for the support of TCU, ECU and MEXT, which is what allowed us to participate in this program.

First of all, regarding the flight—last year, I changed planes in Sydney, but this year, I transferred in Singapore. I think the Singapore transfer was shorter and less tiring, so I recommend it.Also, the Singapore airport was very beautiful, and I would love to visit Singapore in the future.

When I arrived at Perth Airport, back for the first time in about eight months, I was filled with nostalgia.Australian crows make a unique sound similar to a baby crying, and when I heard it, it sunk in that I was back in Perth.

For the first homestay experience of my life, I stayed in the two-story Japanese-style house of a Buddhist Vietnamese mother and an Australian father.On the first day, my host mother spoke English with a very strong accent, so I could hardly understand her, which made me worry about my life for the next 41 days. However, I got used to it, and within three days, I was able to understand about 90% of what she said.Even though the host mother had lived in Australia for about 40 years, she doesn’t seem to be very good at English, and I had trouble communicating with her because I didn’t understand her pronunciation or grammar well, and conversely, she also frequently told me that she could not understand my English. I think my English was quite American and easy to listen to, but I felt dejected every time I heard her say “Hmm?” or “Huh!?” in a uniquely Vietnamese way. It was just a way of asking me to repeat myself, but it sounds aggressive to Japanese people. The host mother seemed to be able to communicate with the host father who spoke very Aussie English, but her tone still sounded angry throughout, which made the host father seem very broad-minded to me.Native speakers are skilled at listening to the English of non-native speakers. On the other hand, in conversations between non-native speakers, people often speak English with strong accents, and I felt that there was a significant communication barrier because they were not accustomed to each other’s accents.

For homestays, the rule is that the host family just needs to provide one bedroom and three meals for the student. The other students who traveled with me were treated like real family members, as their host families bought them sweets and juice, drove them to and from school, washed and cleaned their clothes, and took them to see movies and go shopping.My host mother, on the other hand, was extremely serious about money. Every day, she would tell me how much she paid for things, how expensive things were, but how healthy it was, and she would point to the Vietnamese ham she put out for dinner and tell me how expensive it was. On the second day of my stay, I was taken to a nearby shopping center, where I was asked to buy my own laundry detergent, bath towels, body soap, and hand soap. She said, “If you’re going to use them yourself, you’re going to buy them yourself, right?” I also had a “yogurt problem” during my stay. I had been living on yogurt and granola every morning, and when I told my host mother that I wanted to eat yogurt, she told me to get my own if I didn’t want to eat what they had prepared (ham and cheese toast). They were not invested in me at all, despite the fact that I was paying a fair amount for my stay. In addition to breakfast, my host mother made large amounts of food for dinner, and told me to pack the previous day’s dinner in Tupperware and take it for lunch the next day. When we could not finish the food, I had to eat the same thing for two lunches and dinners in a row.Sometimes, when they ran out of ingredients, they would give us only Spam and white rice for lunch. Last year, I stayed at the university dormitory, ECU village, and cooked my own meals, so I had no complaints about buying my own food and enjoyed cooking for myself, but this time, I was often sick of the food. However, they did sometimes serve delicious Vietnamese noodle soups for dinner, which was a new and valuable opportunity for me, as I do not eat much food from other countries in Asia.

I even went on an outing with my host mother once.One day, she invited me to go with her to join her family on a tour of the Pinnacles the following Saturday.Because she said we could join the tour for $70 instead of over $100, which was the usual fee, I decided to go with them to the Pinnacles, which I couldn’t visit last year because of my schedule. On the day of the tour, however, it turned out that my host father, whom I could rely on, had to work and could not join us, and furthermore, the cheap tour was a Vietnamese language tour.Believing the tour was completely in English, I felt left out among the Vietnamese people crammed into the small, cramped bus. They also started talking loudly (compared to people from other countries) and blasting Vietnamese music on the bus at volumes comparable to an outdoor concert. I couldn’t even sleep. My ears hurt from the noise, and I almost started crying because I felt so alone not being able to talk to anyone.It took four and a half hours to arrive at the Pinnacles, where my host mother took pictures with her own sister and friends, leaving me alone.Having lost the will to try conversing with the other Vietnamese people who were there with their families or partners, I ended up alone, taking selfies with my smartphone between the rocks. I had heard that we would stop to see a mysterious rock called Two Rocks and then go to the beach on the way back, but we didn’t stop at the beach before arriving back at our departure point.The Pinnacles themselves were a mysterious and very interesting place, but it was an impactful day, arguably the toughest and worst day of my life.However, I don’t think I would have had the opportunity to experience Vietnamese culture without such an opportunity. Born and raised in Japan, my “normal” is not at all “normal” for people from different countries, and their “normal” is also unfamiliar to me. I think this is what cross-cultural exchange is all about, and I felt that this is one of the best things about studying abroad and being exposed to new cultures. I felt that the loneliness I felt during this Pinnacles tour is something that some foreigners who come to Japan may be feeling, and I felt that I wanted to actively reach out to people who felt lonely after diving into a world in which they didn’t understand the language at all.

There were six Bhutanese people living in rented rooms at my host family’s house, and about ten Bhutanese people living in the house across the street (where my host family used to live). Many of them were very gentle and kind, and they even shared the dinner they made with me and invited me to a birthday party in their room.The white curry made by a girl named Hamo was so delicious that I feel sad when I think about how I won’t be able to eat it anymore.They eat very spicy food. On the day of my return to Japan, one of the Bhutanese people cooked a dish with bone-in chicken and offered to share, asking me, “Do you wanna have lunch with me? It’s not spicy, just a little spicy.” It was the spiciest food I had ever eaten in my life. But it was so delicious that I finished it, even though my lips were burning. "The official language of Bhutan is Dzongkha. It’s not a language that people have a chance to hear very often, but my listening skills have improved to the point where I can tell that someone is Bhutanese when they are speaking Dzongkha on the street (though I cannot understand what they are saying). Incidentally, three of the five students who participated in this program were Chinese, so I learned to make out Chinese as a result of hearing them speak Chinese every day, and I learned to discern Vietnamese because I heard my host mother speaking loudly on the phone every night.In other words, this trip, I was exposed to five languages every day—Japanese, English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Dzongkha. I learned to tell these languages apart and grasped their phonetic characteristics. At TAP last year, everyone spoke English, and TAP students often spoke Japanese, so there were two languages that I was constantly exposed to. I didn’t learn to understand what they were actually saying, but I felt that the opportunity to live amongst such a large number of languages on a daily basis was rare.

The ECC English classes at ECU were also very international.Last year, I attended AE5, the highest level English class, and there were only 16 Japanese TAP students and one Bhutanese student who joined midway through the course.It was my first time to take part in a class abroad, and I imagined there would be many more foreign students from various countries, but I remember being slightly disappointed to see that most of the students were Japanese.((Of course, the class was fun and my English skills improved.) This time, on the other hand, two Japanese, five Chinese (including three TCU students), two Bhutanese, two Vietnamese, three Iranian, and one African student participated in AE4. Everyone was very active in the class, as well as kind and considerate. Unlike in Japan, where it is not always a good idea to express one’s opinion frankly, I felt very comfortable with their learning attitudes, in which people express their opinion and then ask others what they think, and then express agreement after listening to their thoughts carefully. The teachers were very kind and professional, and they conducted the class by creating an atmosphere in which students felt free to raise their hands. Even when students made off-the-cuff remarks, the teachers never treated them with disdain, but instead listened to them compassionately. I felt this would give students confidence and improve their initiative.In classes in Japan, I feel that being attuned to the students around you and quietly listening to the teacher’s lesson are considered to be marks of a “good student,” but in order to deepen students’ learning, I think it is preferable to participate in the class as an individual and take the initiative to speak out. I really enjoyed my time at ECC, so it was very disappointing to have to leave the originally 10-week English program in 5 weeks. The difference between AE5 and AE4 is that AE5 is more advanced and requires a high level of academic skill, so it was quite hard for me as a second year undergraduate at the time. On the other hand, AE4 dealt with not only academic topics, but also a lot of grammar and general background knowledge, so I felt that it suited me more. I am sure that the knowledge I learned in these classes will be useful in the future when I write or read academic papers, or perhaps when I study at a university abroad.

Another major difference from TAP is that I had two opportunities during my stay to visit the Joondalup Campus to see the labs and learn about what I can study at ECU.Last year, I personally visited the campus with friends twice, the first time during the October Festival and the second time during the Halloween party, for reasons that had nothing to do with my studies. This time, during my first visit, I was able to visit a lab that offers guidance on natural science courses and conducts seaweed research, as well as a lab for chemistry, which is my specialization.On my second visit, I went on a tour of Joondalup’s famous cybersecurity building and other IT buildings. I was able to enter some of the security rooms that I normally wouldn’t be able to enter because they are locked, and I got to see a lot of really interesting things. One of my friends who I got along with at TAP last year is a student in the Faculty of Informatics, so I think he would have been very happy if I had been able to go with him this time.What was most memorable was a very humorous IT professor I met on my second visit. This very hospitable professor gave us assorted cookies, and when visiting a classroom abruptly while they were having a class, he asked a student he didn’t know out of the blue, “You’re going to give a talk today, right?” (The student just said no.) Even though we said goodbye to him in front of the elevator on our way home, he hurried down the emergency stairs and reappeared in front of us to say goodbye again. We were late both days because we weren’t used to the transfers on public transport, but we are grateful to the teachers who kindly let us in and guided us.

Last year, I spent about four months in Perth and came back home with the feeling of not wanting to leave yet.It was very sad to say goodbye to friends I didn’t know when I’d see next, but I never thought I would be back in Perth in less than a year.On my return to Perth, I was busy contacting all my friends in Perth and meeting as many of them as possible.They were all extremely happy to see me again, and treated me wonderfully, treating me to dinner, inviting me to their homes, and driving me to different places. When I visited the homes of local people, I was often surprised by the size of their homes. When I was invited to the home of Vee, a TAP program officer who has been a good friend of mine since last year, I was treated to a very delicious schnitzel and a homemade olive dish, among other things. She gave us a room tour, and to my surprise there was a huge trampoline in the yard, and the yard was as big as the first floor of my house in Japan.However, when her relatives visit from Sylvia, where they live in a very big house, they thank the family for inviting them to their “small and cozy house.”That really surprised me.

On a personal note, I spent my birthday in Perth for the second year in a row because my birthday is September 14.Last year, I invited a lot of roommates and Japanese friends to my room for a party, but this year, we were unable to get together with the same people as last year, so my flatmate with whom I shared a room last year and her best friend celebrated with me, and we went to a restaurant and cake shop together. I received wonderful birthday gifts from my friends and it turned out to be an unforgettable birthday.

There are many restaurants and general stores from different countries in the city of Perth. I have heard that immigrants make up about 40% of Australia’s population, and many people of different races actually live and work together in Perth.As you work, it is essential that you communicate and carry out your work smoothly, and I think this kind of awareness is particularly high in Perth. I think it is because people from different backgrounds who speak different languages, have different religious beliefs, and have different food preferences need, at the very least, to have an understanding of other cultures in order to coexist.Because Japan is an ethnically homogeneous island nation, I think the people there seem to have long had difficulty communicating with people from other countries. I really dislike judging other people based on their appearance, education, gender, or nationality.When we do this, we don’t see the true nature of the person in front of us, and I think it’s disrespectful to judge someone based on external factors alone.But I think many of these kinds of stereotypes still exist in Japan, which makes me feel very disappointed and sad.The COVID-19 pandemic has passed, and I hope that more Japanese schools and workplaces will become international, and that more people will strive for true mutual understanding by increasing cross-cultural exchange.

This has been a long report, but in conclusion, I’m really glad I joined this program.Unlike when I participated in TAP, I feel living a life closer to the local community allowed me to get to the core of things in a lot of aspects. Originally, I was planning to participate in an internship this summer, study for an entrance exam for graduate school, and participate in a summer training camp at a choir club that I missed last year to participate in the Tokyo Metropolitan Competition. However, I was swayed when I saw the offer for the pilot program, so I consulted ChatGPT.ChatGPT told me that I would be able to participate in those other activities another time down the road, but that the study abroad program was a rare opportunity that I might not come across again. This convinced me, and I decided to join the pilot program. I cannot thank ChatGPT enough. My summer vacation would have been completely different without ChatGPT’s advice at that moment, and I may have never had the experience that I had.

Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their understanding and support for my decision, as well as the university and the Ministry of Education for giving me a chance.Thank you very much.