Kyudai News No26 page 23/28

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Kyudai News No26

International S tudentsO VoiceKyudai News No.26 22Can you tell us a bit about your background?I was born and raised in Latvia and live there until I graduatedfrom high school. en I went on to study Japanese at NewcastleUniversity in England, together with a close friend who reallywas the initiator of this small adventure. anks for theuniversity’s policy, I was lucky enough to join JTW (Japan inToday’s World) in Kyushu University in 2009-2010 and have thetime of my life!Why did you choose Japan and Kyushu University topursue your studies?Admittedly, the ?rst time my choice was ?nance driven. Butsince I had such a fantastic time in JTW and I already knew thecity well I really hoped to come back when applying for KyushuUniversity again through Ministry of Education, Culture,Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). I enrolled to improvemy language and communication skills, learn more about beingindependent and with the hope of gaining a Master degree, allof which is happening.What are you mainly studying now?is is a new department, it only started operating last year. Iam currently taking a range of classes from debate to East Asianpolitics with a lot in between. My own research, however, ?tswithin Translation studies as I try to compare translatedmaterials from the Immigration Bureau between Japanese andEnglish. I think it is important to understand how the messagesspeak to the reader and if the impact is the same for eachaudience, that is, their equivalence in the pragmatic sense.How do you find your campus life at KyushuUniversity?When I was in JTW, I used to bike to Hakozaki Campus fromthe dormitory in Kashiihama, but it is nothing compared to the10 km I now commute from the outskirts of Fukuoka City to ItoCampus (if the weather is good). Although Ito is a windier placeand gives me a good workout, I like the Hakozaki charm of oldbuildings and the greenery around more. When I have time, Igo there just for lunch and look around. I’ll de?nitely miss itwhen it’s gone!How do you spend time after classes and weekends?I try to stay active and participate in the many opportunitiesavailable, brought forward by word of mouth, emails, posters…Ihave participated in teaching, interpreting, giving lectures forelderly Japanese or school kids, interviewee for research, andmany more. I don’t always enjoy doing whatever I signed up for,but it is worth to try anyway and the experiences give mesomething to talk about back home.My biggest challenge is getting out of bed in the morning sinceI’m not an early bird, also despite 7 years of Japanese study myskills still fail me and it can be frustrating sometimes.What kind of job would you like to have aftergraduation?I would like to work as an interpreter/translator, possibly in thelegal sector since I have some experience already. I understandthe anxiety when communication doesn’t go smoothly, so Iwould like to help people who are facing the language barrier.To achieve this, I attend a community interpreting study groupin Tenjin once a month.Also I am planning to enroll next year in the EU StudiesDiploma Programmes provided by Kyushu University to helpme on the theoretical side of law, immigration, etc. It depends ifI could ?nd an ideal employer, but I would like to stay a bitlonger in Japan after graduation.Laura Luse (Latvia)Graduate Student,Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Global Society