For about 10 months (from February to November 2007), I studied abroad through the HUSA program at Australia's University of New England. The university is located about 6 hours from Sydney by car in a town called Armidale. There are many educational institutions there, and it was developed as a "college town."
 

I am currently in the language and culture program and am interested in linguistics and cross-cultural communication. At the University of New England, international students can take any class in any faculty. In the first semester, I chose Linguistics, Chinese, Cross-Cultural Communication, and Communication and Culture, whereas during the second semester, I took Linguistics, Chinese, Modern Asian Studies, and Film Studies.


The tutorials were divided into small classes of 10 students and we held discussions or made presentations on the materials we learned in class. For foreign language classes, this time was used for conversation lessons. As these tutorials were participation-based, it was necessary to take an active stance. Each tutor was creative: they would ask students questions, have them do group work, or hold quizzes.

Each class consists of lectures and tutorials: lectures are generally 2-3 hours per week, and tutorials are about 1 hour per week. Since all lectures proceed on the premise of prep work, if students don't read the assigned textbooks or literature in advance, it is difficult to keep up. The amount of reading was much more than I had imagined, and there were many occasions on which I couldn't finish it all before the lecture. What first surprised me was the thickness of the textbooks. Each one had the thickness of a dictionary, and so it was hard to walk while carrying even 2 or 3 of them.

At first, I was pretty confused because, as you can see, there are many differences compared to Japanese universities! Since my English comprehension wasn't quite good enough, when I was able to follow my courses in the first semester, I felt like "finally! (I understand)". In academic writing especially, the style and rules are comparatively stricter than Japan, and if you fail to answer the questions closely enoughy, you won't receive a good evaluation. I had a professor who advised me on how to write papers in the first semester check my work, and thanks to that, I came to understand the ropes of paper writing and gradually came to master the essays I once had trouble with.

When I entered my second semester, I was used to the pace of classes and was able to understand what my professors said more than the first semester. I also became able to actively participate and voice my opinion in tutorials. While my studies were indeed trying and caused some difficulties, they were also good experiences for me. My point of view also broadened dramatically, as I took classes and exchanged opinions and points of view with students from various countries and with various cultural backgrounds. My interest in language and cross-cultural communication grew deeper, and I also came to learn the joys of it.
 

In the dorm that I lived in, there was a place for students to cook. Students each had their own rooms, but the kitchen and bathrooms were shared facilities. I lived with 6 students: 2 Australians, 2 Chinese, and 2 Japanese. Through cooking, we learned about each others' cultures and by eating meals with students from various countries, I enjoyed the kind of communication that only comes with living in a dorm where you can cook your own meals. The kitchen was spacious and the ovens were huge, so it was easy to use, however, they only had showers in the bathrooms, so I really missed Japanese baths.
 

Compared to the city, Armidale doesn't have many places to go for fun, however, because of this, the connections between people are strong, and there are many opportunities to meet people. Also, since the University of New England is a university where students from all over the world gather, you can make friends with people from many countries. There were many friendly and kind people around me who really helped me out. These meetings are something which I will treasure all my life.

I believe that the effort I made at the university and what I studied there will give me confidence from here into the future. Blessed by the professors and friends that I had around me, I was able to have a very fulfilling college experience, despite the short duration. It was only 10 months, however in that nature-filled environment, I was able enjoy a rich study abroad experience.