STUDENT INTERVIEW: Glenn Siquian (SILAC)

Glenn Siquian

Jon: How's the course going?
Glenn: SILAC is really good. We do a chapter from the text book a day and since we practice every day, it's hard to forget things.
J: How about the pace of the program?
G: It's almost perfect. Every now and then there's a student who might slow it down a bit but that's the way it goes sometimes.

J: Did you know Japanese before you arrived at Yamasa?
G: A little, but not enough to be able to speak properly. Now I know enough Japanese to have conversations with people.

J: Why are you studying Japanese?
G: Many reasons. When I was studying martial arts in America it was useful to know some Japanese. I like languages in general but I don't have a huge amount of money so I had to narrow it down to one language and that was Japanese. I also find the culture interesting.

J: Apart from English, what other languages do you speak?
G: Tagalog.
J: Have you used your Tagalog in Japan at all?
G: Surprisingly, yes! I've actually used it more than I did when I was in America. I met some mormons, one of which was a Philippino. We talked for about an hour - I didn't expect to be using any other languages apart from Japanese and sometimes English.
J: Do you find you get many opportunities to practice your Japanese outside of class?
G: Yeh, any time you have to do anything outside of the Student Village it's basically all Japanese.
J: And what do you think of the Student Village?
G: Pretty cool because there's a lot of people there. The one downside is that there are quite a few English speakers staying there at the moment so you need to make an effort to speak Japanese, rather than English. There's always somebody around to have a drink with.

J: How did you find out about Yamasa?
G: From the website. My friend Trevor, who is also studying at Yamasa, sent me the link to the homepage.

J: What do you when you're not studying?
G: I go and do Aikido 3 times a week. I also go to bars in Nagoya a lot with people from the dormitory. It can get expensive though so try and hang out in the dorm.
J: Where do you go in Nagoya?
G: Sakae mainly.
J: Can you recommend any good places?
G: I can't recall the names of the places as I was being led by other people who know Nagoya better than I do.

J: I saw you near Okazaki Castle last night viewing the Cherry Blossom (hanami). How was it?
G: It was great - there's nothing like that in America where I live. It's just like something out of a Japanese anime movie I've seen. Me and a friend were thinking how it's so beautiful but we were going around without a girlfriend which is why we were trying to get Sonja* away from you yesterday!

*(someone currently working in the International Office on the workstudy program who was with me when I met Glenn).

J: Do you have any message for students coming to Yamasa, things to do, or not to do?
G: If you come from America and you like candy, bring lots of chocolate or candy with you as it's expensive here. You can live off the 100 Yen curry to save money and get yourself a bicycle as soon as you get here!
J: How much did you pay for your bike?
G: I found a place where you can rent bikes for 1,000 Yen per month, but as the months went on I received 3 other bikes for free so I'm going to use them instead.

J: What are your plans after you return to America?
G: I'll probably return to my drafting job, save up some money and come back.
J: Come back to Japan, Yamasa?
G: To Yamasa. I've learnt more in one month here than I did studying 12 months on my own. And the teachers are pretty - that also helps!!