Spotlight on Alumni
In the News - June 2005
Rahul Syamlal
Rahul is an alumnus of the 2003 Okinawa Peace Scholars scholarship program. He is currently living back in Japan on an exchange and has an active blog which can be viewed at http://clearlyno.com/rahul/. One of the items he has written for this new experience is below and reflects on the impact his Okinawa exchange with YFU had on him:
“As you may have read, these essays are collections of my thoughts concentrated on various subjects while I am staying in Japan. I thought that it might be appropriate to write my first essay before I leave. And my topic in this essay: my preparation for the trip.
One major aspect of my preparation for this trip is the items that I will take with me. Even though I will be learning a lot on this trip, I am bringing several learning aides to expedite the process. For help in learning the Japanese language, I am taking Remembering the Kanji – to learn Japanese’s borrowed Chinese characters, Handbook of Japanese Verbs – to learn how to conjugate and effectively use verbs, Making Out in Japanese – to learn more casual Japanese speech that I will probably hear daily, and Japanese for Everyone – this book provides a variety of general Japanese lessons that I can work through when attending my Japanese high school. Along with all these academic books, I will make sure to bring some paperback books to read through the year – I am certain that there will be several times during my trip where I will have nothing to do, and I will need a respite from trying to absorb all the Japanese.
For capturing the experience, I have covered several perspectives – a visual perspective using a digital camera, an animated visual perspective using a MiniDV camera, and a literary perspective using a blog and these essays. On the flip side, I have made a photo album with about 90 photos to show to people I meet in Japan a little of my life in America. I also will be making a PowerPoint presentation about myself and America to show at events like Rotary meetings. And of course I will carry a bundle of gifts for my host families and friends which includes: West Virginia t-shirts, American sandals, deck of cards with American motifs, key chains, etc...
I have not only gathered items for this trip, but have also gathered knowledge. My trip to Okinawa [as an Okinawa Peace Scholars winner] last summer has been a really good stepping stone for this trip. Although Okinawan culture is sometimes markedly different than mainland Japanese culture, I believe that I will be able to acclimatize to my Japanese surroundings much faster than my last trip. I’ll try to use what I already know about Japan to further my understanding on particular topics. For instance, Japanese high schools are not as foreign to me as they seemed before, and this time I can more closely look at the differences between American and Japanese high schools. With regards to language, I have attempted to try to learn as much as I can before I go back. This time I’ve concentrated more on learning through speech through private lessons rather than by reading. I think my first meeting with my first host family will go more smoothly because of what I have learned now. Of course, most of what I learn in Japanese will happen in Japan, because I will be surrounded by the language. I also have done a little research on the religions of Japan and some local history of Fukuoka in our town’s public library. I will probably use this knowledge in later essays.
What do I hope to get out of this trip? Well of course a better understanding of Japan and its people. But I think more importantly I would like to explore what makes us all essentially the same. I find it interesting to find pieces of culture and/or history mirrored in another completely different culture. Plus, I like to travel and try new things. I am not going merely for deep academic analysis but also to have fun. I hope to have experiences that I will never forget and meet people that I will be in contact with for the rest of my life. I am ready for a challenge and ready to have as much fun as I can!”
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Last Updated: Saturday, August 20, 2005 03:55 PM