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Student summers in Japan
By Stephanie Salmons
Smoky Mountain High School graduate Michael Jardine, now a sophomore at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, spent some time Japan this summer.
Jardine, a 2007 SMHS graduate, was chosen to participate in UNC’s ‘Summer in Japan’ program based at the Institute for the International Education of Students Tokyo Center and Kanda University in Makuhari New City near Tokyo.
Studying abroad in Japan goes along with his intended major – business – he said, adding that he had already been taking Japanese language courses.
Michael Jardine, left, spent seven weeks in Japan as part of a study abroad program. A 2007 graduate of Smoky Mountain High School who’s now a sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Jardine is shown here with his host-mother Aiko Nakajima at Mount Fuji. During his time in Japan, Jardine visited a number of attractions, including shrines and temples, and attended cultural activities such as festivals.
“Asian countries are in the forefront of global business, and it just seemed like an interesting opportunity and a good opportunity to improve my Japanese,” he said.
While he was there, he lived with a host family for seven weeks. In addition to host parents, he had two host sisters and one host brother, all of whom were older than he is.
The family was energetic and active, Jardine said.
“They weren’t the serious, strict family you sometimes see,” he continued. “They were pretty lenient and easy-going, but at the same time they had the same routine.
According to Jardine, his host father would come in at night and get a drink while his host mother fixed dinner.
Afterwards, there would be a hierarchal bath order – father, mother, children and the guest, he said.
“They were lenient with some things but with traditional routines they stuck with it,” Jardine said.
Although the family was “very inclusive,” Jardine said he was still treated as a guest in their home.
“In traditional Japanese families, it takes quite a long time to be treated as part of the family,” he said.
“My host family were very inclusive of the activities, but there is a guest role that you fill.”
One of his biggest adjustments to the Japanese lifestyle was the commuting, Jardine said.
“Everyone uses trains over there, but commutes could be anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours a day and some even more,” he said. “When I first got over there, it was a pretty big pain. I wasn’t used to walking for 30 minutes, riding a train for 30 minutes and walking for another 30 minutes. But to them, it’s their lifestyle. That’s just how they do it. They can fall asleep on the train and wake up at exactly the right stop.”
As a result, most products are centered around that lifestyle.
“It’s all mobile technology so that you can use it on the train,” he said. “So that’s a big part of their modern culture that I had totally overlooked when thinking about going over there.”
Despite the differences, there are similarities between the Japanese and American cultures.
“I’d say the family dynamics are somewhat similar,” he said.
He was warned prior to traveling there that traditionally, the only time the family would see the father was at breakfast.
“In the house, we had a specific role we were supposed to fill but seeing my siblings interact with my host parents and seeing the siblings of other students interact with their host parents, it seemed really similar.”
The best part of the trip, however, was seeing how members of a different culture interact and their interpersonal relationships, Jardine said.
“It’s different – and it’s not,” he said. “You go and you see routine activities that you’d see here in the United States, but it’s in a completely different language. Sometimes you can’t say the same things you would in English. Then at the same time, there are these cultural differences that are hard to get over – some smaller than others.”
Jardine said that he had sneezed and was waiting for some kind of “Japanese bless you” which never came.
“No one really paid any attention to it, they just kept on with their own business and just little small things like that, you start to notice,” he said. “So it opens your eyes to a new culture.”
This was his first trip outside of the United States, but traveling abroad is something he said he would definitely do in the future. It would be required if he continued to pursue a business degree at UNC, especially with an international business concentration, which is what he’s considering, he said.
Jardine traveled with more than 10 other students. During the trip, they visited a number of places that allowed them to experience Japanese culture.
He visited shrines and temples and attended a number of cultural activities such as festivals and Kabuki (theater) performances.
One place Jardine was particularly interested in was the Yasukuni Shrine, which is dedicated to those who died in battle.
“It’s a pretty controversial shrine because when they enshrine the spirit there at the temple, it’s a state matter,” he said. “People who believe in different religions that revolve around the spirit as part of the household have a problem with that.”
He later attended a festival at the shrine.
“It changed the entire mood of the place,” he said. “It was really upbeat with a ton of vendors. It’s similar to how a carnival would be here. It was really a great experience.”
While he was there, he had the opportunity to see traditional Japanese dances and join in as well, Jardine said.
Traveling abroad offers many benefits to those who go, he said.
“The benefit of any study abroad program is to see the interpersonal relationships between people in that culture, because you’ll see similarities but at the same time you’ll be amazed by the differences,” he said.
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