Emily's reflections on her stay

My name is Emily Bryan and I am 20 years old. I am currently in my 3rd year of studying Primary Teacher Training
at Newman University in Birmingham, England. As part of my course this year, I was given the opportunity to complete
a short placement in an alternative or international setting. I chose Japan as I have always had an interest in the country
and its culture. Although my knowledge of the Japanese language is limited, I felt as though I had enough to get by
if I did decide to take my placement there. I also had contact with Aichi University of Education through email, so
organising the visit was made a little easier. These factors led to my decision to take my placement in Aichi, Japan
and, so far, I have been here for just over 3 weeks.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here so far and am sad to be leaving in less than a week. I feel as though I have
experienced so much in such a short time and wish that I could stay longer. I have made many friends from around the world
whilst I have been here and will be sure to keep in contact with them when I return to England.

During my first week at Aichi University of Education, I spent time within university classes and one school on the Friday.
My arrival on Sunday followed an 11 hour flight which was tiring but worth it:
 

I met many students at the AUE International House and enjoyed talking with them and others about
my reasons for coming to Japan and my aims for the trip:


On Monday, I met with a university student planning to visit Newman in September, and a teacher whose
school I would be visiting the following week. Through talking to him, this day was my first detailed insight into school life in Japan and
I could already see some differences to England. For example, my first surprise was the size of the classes in Japanese junior high schools.
In England, classes are usually between 25 and 30 pupils, but in Japan it is closer to 40 per class. I couldn't imagine how difficult that would be.

Tuesday was the day where I joined my first university classes. In the first class, I held conversations with groups of students and
answered questions which they had prepared in English. I was surprised at how good the standard of English was, compared to
the level of foreign language skills I had seen in England. The second class focused on politeness and the differences between
Japan, America, and England. I was also surprised at how similar Japan and England are in regards to what they view as polite
or impolite. Although the countries are very different, there are some similarities which make Japan feel less strange to me.
On Wednesday, I joined a class to discuss various issues in English, and to compare opinions of Japanese students with my own.
This class was very interesting and I feel as though I learned a lot about controversial topics and how they are discussed in both
Japan and England. Thursday was spent conversing with some students in English to help them improve their confidence in the
language, preparing a presentation for Friday, and visiting the elementary school I would join in my third week.
On Friday, I went to a high school in Toyohashi to give a presentation to 5 different classes about school life in England.
Each of the classes prepared a short presentation about an aspect of Japanese culture too. They were all very fun and educational to watch.
I even received a few gifts from the students!

Find out about my second week.