Name:　T・M

English Education Modern Education Course (Undergraduate)

Study Abroad Period: September 2023 - August 2024

Host University: KU Leuven, Belgium

1. Description of the university

KU Leuven was established in 1425, and it is the oldest Catholic university in Europe.

It is the highest ranked European university of the World Most Innovative Universities.

There are about 40,000 KUL students and 10,000 international students. Main campus is in Leuven.

It takes about 20 minutes from Leuven to Brussels, the capital city, and takes about 15 minutes from Leuven to Brussel International Airport.

In addition, there is a department of Japanese and events which Japanology students organize are held once every month. Not only these events but also other events which KUL students organize are held every night. I made good friends when I interacted with them.

2. Studying at the university

The way of class is lecture. International students are recommended to choose classes from the Programme in European Culture and Society (PECS). You can learn the history of Benelux, the EU, and so on. You can also choose classes which other KUL students take, but it's difficult to pass exams. School hours are about 2~3. It was difficult for me to listen to classes in English, but I got used to doing it and I could concentrate. KUL exams were hard for me. There are 3 kinds of exams, essay exam, speaking and paper. KUL exams tend to ask me my thoughts. Professors asked me about trends in history, the reasons for historical events. So, in the 2nd semester, I tried not only studying in class but also visiting historical places, learning about food culture, and these studies raised my level of cultural appreciation.

When I didn't have class, I tried to join KUL events to get opportunities to speak English. I could improve my English due to these efforts.

3. Life at the university

It's comfortable to spend life in Leuven. The shape of the town is a circle and there is a campus of university, supermarkets, Asian supermarkets, restaurants, parks, a botanical garden, a church and a city hall.

When I didn't have classes or holidays, I often joined KUL of Japanology events, traveled, did volunteer work and exercised at a sports gym.

I stayed at KUL residence. I had a lot of problems with the same floor members because of culture differences, but this experience was valuable for me to understand other countries' culture.

4. What I learned from my experience

I learned many things from studying abroad.

First, I learned that it's important to see someone, not judging as a country but as a person.

For example,my Chinese best friend helped me a lot and taught me Chinese culture, education and so on politely. Japanese have various ideas and a sense of value. It's the same for other foreigners. I must not judge a person by country but interact with him or her as a person.

If I do it, I speculate that my cross-cultural understanding ability will be improved.

Second, I have confidence in myself. When I arrived at Leuven, I didn't know how to use public transportation and how to connect my smartphone. I had uneasiness, impatience and anger. However, I tried to search for a solution and ask someone and I could overcome these problems. This experience made me confident. The confidence also appears in my energy. I tried joining volunteer work, visiting elementary schools, planning Japan Festival and traveling in Europe.

I met a lot of people and important experiences made me grow.

5. Advice for those who considering studying abroad

While studying abroad, I sometimes felt bad because we have differences in culture or sense of value but it's a good chance to have a broad view of things and review my culture of Japan.

「海内存知己、天涯若比邻」This is a sentence of classical Chinese. My best friend from China taught me this when we said goodbye to each other. This means that we live far away but our minds are close. We have been interacting with each other through SNS having this sentence in our mind. I learned a lot of things from her. Also, I invited my friends to introduce Japanese dishes like curry and rice. I also made origami like plates and chopstick rests. I noticed good points of Japanese culture and customs when I showed them. If I hadn't decided to study abroad in Belgium, I wouldn't have met her and come up with these ideas. So, I really recommend studying abroad if you are interested in studying abroad.

Please take a step forward to the world. You may meet friends who will have a big effect on your life. Plan how to spend your time and add variety to your life!