STUDENT INTERVIEW: Jiraporn Supachartkaisorn (AIJP)

Jiraporn Supachartkaisorn

After I taught Jiraporn to ski in Ontake a few weeks ago she felt obliged to repay the favor by being interviewed for this weeks Newsletter.

Jon: I'll get straight into it - why are you studying Japanese?
Jiraporn: My Mum is my motivation, she graduated from Japan and has a lot of Japanese friends. I came here first when I was 8 years old, and many other times after that. I stayed with host families in Osaka and Okayama. I started studying Japanese properly when I was 14 years old in a school in Bangkok.

Jon: What were you doing before you came to Japan?
Jir: After I graduated from University I worked for a freight forwarding company as a project co-ordinator for 9 months. Even before I got the job I had decided to come to Japan.

Jon: Why did you choose Yamasa?
Jir: You have a great homepage - great marketing strategy! I looked at a school in Hiroshima but they weren't able to provide accommodation and to get your own place is very difficult. After I arrived at Yamasa I found that there were students from all over the place. I actually visited the school in Hiroshima and found that 90% of the students were from one country.

Jon: How is the course?
Jir: Muzukashii! I didn't find that the AIJP course was specifically geared towards the Japanese Language Proficiency Test - apart from the few months before the test - but luckily I didn't need to pass any level of the test as I will be going to a graduate school that doesn't need it.

Jon: Which graduate school are you going to?
Jir: I applied for Kobe and Nanzan University but I haven't heard back yet.
Jon: What are you going to study there?
Jir: International Transportation. That was my major at University.
Jon: With a view to doing what?
Jir: I'll go back to Thailand and start a career in a shipping company or a logistics related business.

Jon: I heard that your parents own a hotel in Thailand - are you going to work with them at some point in the future?
Jir: At the moment my brother and sister are working for them so they don't need me, but I'm sure that I will work there someday.
Jon: Any discounts for Yamasa employees if I plug the hotel?
Jir: Of course!
Jon: Great! Plug away.....!
Jir: Well, the name of the hotel is The Diamond Beach Hotel and it's situated in Pattaya City, a popular tourist area. Not so many Japanese come to visit but there are always a lot of Americans and Europeans.

Jon: I'm sure the rooms at the hotel are just as good as Yamasa's (cheeky smile).
Jir: (Ignoring the comment). I stayed in the Student Village for the first 8 months of my stay and the facilities were great, but I prefer my privacy so I moved into one of the apartments in the Villa Studio apartments.

Jon: How do you find Okazaki?
Jir: It's bigger than I thought. I imagined that it would be very rural but it isn't. It wasn't very interesting when I first arrived but once I settled down and got a job it was much better.
Jon: So you're working at the moment?
Jir: Yes. At a Chinese restaurant in the large shopping mall in Okazaki.
Jon: Do you like it?
Jir: On the first day I was washing dishes, but after that the chef taught me to make a number of things. I can make most things, like noodles and spring rolls, but I'm not allowed to make dessert.
Jon: Why?
Jir: I've always wondered that! New staff are allowed to make dessert but not me! I try not to think about this discrimination......

Jon: You went ski-ing a few weeks ago to Ontake?
Jir: Yes, with you and other friends.
Jon: How did you get on?
Jir: My friends who organized it said there'll be no problems, even though I hadn't skied before, because there would be lessons provided.
Jon: And...?.
Jir: Luckily you were on the trip as no one else was able to ski!
Jon: Will you go again?
Jir: Why not! But next time I won't do anything that's too difficult for me. If you weren't there I would've called mountain rescue to help me down the mountain.
Jon: Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to go all the way to the top of the mountain on the first run.........

Jon: Any message for our readers or people thinking about studying Japanese?
Jir: If you want to learn Japanese and you don't have a background in kanji, never compare yourself with people who do and never give up. You can't ignore kanji if you want to get to a really high level.