Going out to find yourself
日本語 | English
The future of the University of Tokyo is often described with the keyword "global knowledge." Each year, about fifty foreign exchange students enter the university and spend at least a year to four years of their life on this campus. We met a student in her fourth year studying at the international relationships course, in the middle of this wide international flow of people, knowledge, and experience: Her name is Charissa.
Stepping Outside
I never really thought of leaving the Philippines until I had to come to Japan. I was born and raised in the Philippines and I can say that I am a really family-oriented person. I go home very often whenever I get a chance, not necessarily that I like the Philippines but mainly because my family is there. This coming to Japan happened because I applied for the scholarship and when it was granted, I was told, "You're the only recipient this year."
Before that, I lived a very pampered life in the Philippines. When I needed something, I just asked for it and it was there. I was very dependent on my parents. We asked permissions for doing most things and we let our parents know where we were and what we were up to. When I was finishing my third year at a university in the Philippines, double majoring in economics and accountancy, I applied for the scholarship to Japan. My friends and I were just interested on whether one of us would pass or not. When I did actually receive the scholarship I had some doubts. But people told me to go, that an opportunity like this doesn’t come very often and also that it’s "Japan!" In a third world country, the image of Japan is really big. The prestige came with the scholarship, both for being a recipient and also for going to Japan. So I decided to go.
Getting to Know "Todai"
I first arrived at Osaka in Japan, where they taught us Japanese for one year. When I came to Japan, I didn't know any Japanese, not even "hai." We had to do our best in those classes because our grades determined which school we could attend the following year. It was quite a competitive environment. I really wanted to get into the University of Tokyo (UT) because people were telling me that the number one and best school in Japan was "Todai"(UT). UT is not as famous in the Philippines, not as much as what the name brings to Japanese people. I was really happy and excited when I did get in.
When school started, two years of general studies was quite unexpected. I liked it because there were a lot of choices, unlike in the Philippines, where we had our whole schedule planned until we graduated. The freedom is what I liked the most about todai. With the way they organize classes, we were given a lot of choices.
Sometimes, though, it was too free. The professors didn't seem to care much if students understood or not, students were more on their own. For example, I took a class in astronomy and had no clue about the Japanese terms for stars and planets, I totally got lost, and my dictionary was literally overworked. There were also times when I asked the professors for additional references in English and they told me that it was better that I just listen to their lectures instead, and I did just that. I was used to textbook-based classes, and it's much easier to follow and ask questions that way. Here, everything was in the one and a half hours of oral lecture and it's up to you whether you've absorbed anything or not. Another thing that surprised me was that they didn't care about students sleeping during classes. Maybe it’s because of the number of students in each class. I was used to 30 to 40 people in each class, but there are some classes here with 200 or 300 students and that's too huge for just one teacher to take care of. For me personally, being taught in Japanese was actually a good thing because it forced me to learn Japanese.
I went on majoring in international relations my junior year. We studied intl. law, intl. politics, and intl. economics; which were quite broad but interesting subjects. A lot of my classmates were very focused on their studies and they always seemed so busy. Their notes and books all highlighted with notes on the side, everything was complete and fully understood. I'm a born crammer compared to them, haha. I heard it was very competitive for Japanese students to get into the international relations course, so I guess that my classmates really studied a lot. I also felt the same way when I started attending UT. Students around me studied really hard to get into the majors and courses they wanted to get in two years later. In Manila where I went to school, I had experienced a very competitive environment for entrance exams, but once you got in, it was different. When I saw all these notes and reviews students at the UT were carrying around campus in the freshman year, I wanted to tell them to relax. haha. Pretty much we foreign students were on our own you could say, in many ways. Being at the international relations course in the third and fourth year was good though, for example, that it provided us English textbooks, and most teachers had experiences of studying abroad and they were more understanding about the language barrier. That gave us some relief.
As a Foreign Student...
What I have focused on most at the UT, literally, was surviving. I'm not a happy-go-lucky kind of person, I'm more of the kind who gets really stressed during exam weeks. I always focused on how to get through each step carefully these past four years. I guess I wasn't able to enjoy myself much by joining circles or going out a lot. Now I'm kind of OK, but still feel kind of lost because I still don't understand Japanese a 100 % and have to get through classes with that.
My favorite class was Chinese class. At first, to learn a new language in a language that you're not familiar with, seemed crazy. But it turned out that it was the one class when I was on the same level as everyone else. I was so happy when I did well on quizzes. I liked it also because it allowed me to speak with my mom in Chinese, which I enjoyed so much. But after studying Japanese in the following years, I think my Chinese is now rusty.
I've spent my college life in the Philippines differently. I was really active there, such as being a vice president of an economics organization for example. I realize that the language problem makes a big difference. I see some Chinese and Korean students who are already familiar, if not fluent, in Japanese when they arrive and they have a fairly easier time. One of the common things foreign students are going to say though, is that there seems to be a barrier between Japanese and foreign students. We felt some distance that was difficult to overcome, so we ended up sticking with each other. But we understand that as much as Japan is foreign to us, we are foreign to Japanese students at the same time. Some of Japanese students have never seen foreign people. We're just scared to break the wall on both sides, I think. For foreign students planning to come to Japan, I recommend learning the language, and once you are here, make a lot of friends. It's really a plus to have friends at school. Even if they are not there to help you with studying, it's good just to know that there's someone out there suffering through the same problems as you. The mere fact that they are there, makes a big difference.
Facing Myself
When I came to Japan, I was absolutely alone. It was extremely shocking to leave home and actually leave the country for the first time. I got really homesick and after 4 years, I can't say that I'm used to being away from home yet. It took me at least two years to find some comfort in Japan. Spending a year at Osaka Gaidai, and moving to Tokyo and entering the UT, these were big changes in such a short period of time. It was quite difficult to adjust to my new life here. I love Japan as a whole, but there are little things that still surprise me. I did have culture shock with how young people interact with elders. In the Philippines it's taboo not to pay respect to the elders, and people pay close attention to family. I was so used to that custom, but when I didn't see it in Japan, I first felt it was wrong. But then I started viewing it as a cultural difference.
Being alone at first was tough, but to put it another way, I gained freedom. I definitely became indepent after coming to Japan. Now I earn my own money, spend it, and decide and do whatever I want: I guess that I like it. I actually can't imagine going back to my old life in the Philippines. I feel I am not like who I used to be anymore. I'm really interested in Japan. I love trying new things, it's one of the happiest things in Japan I've experienced and I get really excited about it. I never really get scared of new things because I think, "It only happens once, why not try it!" If I were in the Philippines there are some things I’ll never get to try. In the Philippines, there was no time and space to think of trying new things because I guess it's not convenient to be adventurous in the Philippines. I am thankful that I came to Japan, I'll never regret it. I only miss my family, and if they were closer, I think I'd live in Japan for the rest of my life.
After graduating, I'm going back home because I have to finish my degree, and then hopefully I'll get a job afterwards. I want to work outside of the Philippines, at least for the first few years of my career. My experience here has taught me that it's really nice to live abroad. For example, just comparing the transportation systems in Japan and the Philippines, you can see why Japan is a first world country and the Philippines is not. Little things like that are real eye openers. Home will always be home, but for some part of my career I'd like to go abroad. Somewhere close to the Philippines, like Singapore, would be nice. There has been times in these past five years when things weren't going well and I just had to fly back home the next day. So I guess, being closer to home would be really nice. I'm interested in big multinational manufacturing companies, in a marketing-related job. I'm interested in multinational companies because of the opportunity to deal with people from other countries. I enjoy meeting people from different backgrounds very much. That's another plus that I gained in Japan. In the Philippines, I never imagined meeting a Nepalese or Russian, but now I have Nepali friends, Russian friends and friends from other countries I did not imagine myself having before coming to Japan. Working in Japan has also become a possibility for me. Five years ago when I first came to Japan, I never wanted to stay here after college. But now I have become so open to the possibility of staying here. Living here has changed me very slowly. Before I hated it, now I love it: Things really do change.
To be Happy
My inspiration for studying: I always look at the future. "OK, I have to get good grades so I can get into a good school, so I can get a good job." That's the way I always think. I also think of my parents who have been always very conscious of our grades. I never really questioned studying. My parents have told us that education is the best thing you could ever have, as a key to achieving anything, which people can't take away from you. I guess, in a way, they brainwashed us, lol. Well, you could say that's a common sense, but I see some people who take education for granted. They do it just because everyone does. If you think that way, nothing is going to happen, and nothing will be achieved. I think the best thing you can do in college is to love what you do. If you do that, most things will turn out well.
Name: Charissa Gloria Lim Francisco
Hometown: Manila, Philippines
日本語 | English
