Making the Most of the Exchange Experience: Tung Cheng Hsin, National Chi Nan University, Taiwan

Tung Cheng Hsin at Lake Tazawa on an AIU Bus Tour

Hello, everyone. My name is Tung Cheng Hsin, and I am from Taiwan. I want to share something from my experience during this semester in AIU, Japan with everyone.

Club Activities

In AIU, I attended some clubs, such as tea ceremony, kendo, badminton, and handball. In the tea ceremony club, I learned how to make a good tea, and how to serve a tea politely. In kendo clubs, I knew that kendo didn’t need much power, it only needed nimbleness. In these clubs, not only did I learn much more skills, but I also made lots of friends. Thus, it was a good experience for me to join these clubs.

Bus Trips

In addition, I attended the bus trips, and I went to Kakunodate and Tazawako (Lake Tazawa). Kakunodate was really beautiful, the color of leaves was turning and there were lots of ancient buildings that were mansions of samurai families. In these mansions, I could learn about daily life in that period.

After that, I went to Tazawako, the deepest lake in Japan, seventeenth deepest in the world. The lake was really clear and beautiful, and I even bought some fish food to feed them. I enjoyed the beautiful scenery while I was feeding the fish. It was an unforgettable bus trip.

Participating in Monitor Tours

Furthermore, I attended the activity which was made by Akita Green tourism. I experienced lots of things, like making soba, picking apple, cooking Kiritampo, and living homestay. I really enjoyed experiencing traditional Japanese culture. During the homestay, I lived with one Taiwanese, one Japanese, and two Koreans. We chatted with each other about our cultural differences during meals. Moreover, I promise that the Kiritampo which was made by our host mother was the most delicious Kiritampo I have ever eaten. At that time, we had a really good atmosphere to share our countries’ cultures while we were enjoying our delicious Kiritampo. Therefore, I think that Kiritampo was the most delicious local food while I stayed in Akita, Japan.

During this trip, I also went to see Akita dogs, they were really cute and smart; moreover, they are known for loyalty. For example, the dog Hachi-ko is the most famous dog in Japan.

Memories and Friends for a Lifetime

During this semester in AIU, I had a lot of unforgettable memories. In addition, I made many friends from different countries. AIU was like a globe village. I could interact with international students easily. The most interesting thing is that I could learn English and Japanese at the same time. When I had unknown words in Japanese, instead I could use English. Thus, it was easily to communicate with other people on campus.

Campus Environment

I really like this atmosphere on campus. Due to its capacity, AIU is a suitable and comfortable campus to study. Furthermore, the resources are extremely rich to study by myself. The library is the best example: I can study whenever I want to study. There is plenty of knowledge and information to obtain. Thus, I really enjoyed and am satisfied with my AIU life.