STUDENT INTERVIEW: Andrew Clemens (Discovery)

Andrew Clemens

Andrew, from Australia has just completed an 8 day Discovery Tour and Declan caught up with him as waited for his train....

Declan: G'day mate. Are you ready to go?
Andrew: Yeah, I think I'm all packed. Nothing left behind in the Village as far as I can tell.
D: Well if we find anything I guess we can send it along. how was life in the Village anyway?
A: Great. I was only here about four weeks and it has everything I needed. Pretty comfortable.
D: I see you brought your notebook with you....
A: Yeah bringing the laptop along was definitely a goer. The internet access was good, certainly made it a lot easier to communicate home and so on.
D: So you mainly kept in touch by email? Did you use the house phones at all?
A: Mostly email. With the phones I could just call my parents and ask them to call me back. It was nice having a phone in the room. I think my Mum & Dad found it re-assuring too.

D: And how was the study component of your program at Yamasa? I think you told me you were a beginner?
A: Yeah I started with a, i, u, e, o.... I'm going to be starting a Japanese major at Macquarie University from next semester so I thought I'd come over here and get a head start.
D: Excellent program that one.
A: I'm really looking forward to it.
D: Do you live near Mac?
A: I'm only about 5 minutes away. A dream commute.

D: And did you get the headstart you were hoping for?
A: Yunno its amazing how fast you can learn here. The teachers were brilliant, and I was very lucky for the first half of the program to be the only student at my level, so was having 23 private classes a week!
D: Yeah you certainly came at the right time, winter is good for small class sizes. Was the format about right? And the resources?
A: The schedule and format is perfect. I also found the textbooks to be good, very easy to use.
D: Did you bring dictionaries with you or buy them after you arrived?
A: Bought them in Australia. That was a good decision too, let me get straight into the study.

D: Now you joined a tour in the off-season as well. How was that?
A: Unbelievable leg room for a start (laughing). It was good. I really enjoyed the variety of the tour, visiting Tokyo and Kyoto, the temples like Ryoanji and things. Being my first time in Japan and everything. It would have been nice if it had snowed though. Coming from an Australian summer it would have been nice.
D: Most bizarre experience?
A: Walking around DisneySea I guess. Being tall everybody was always pointing at me. Lot of girls around. Got a bit frustrating not being fluent enough to confidently talk to them in proper Japanese.
D: What did you do then?
A: Just waved mostly. Thats all I could do actually. 2 weeks of study isn't enough.
D: Did you get used to being a Gulliver?
A: After a while, but not the small kids bursting into tears!
D: How tall are you again?
A: 196 centimeters. (6 feet 5)
D: So you hit ya head on doors and things?
A: Yeah, I had about 4 or 5 um, solid impacts. Nearly poked my eye out on a hinge once. The Village was one of the few places I felt safe. I'm no ninja.
D: And how was DisneySea by the way?
A: It would have been great if I hadn't had to wait forever for a turkey leg.
D: Should have eaten earlier I guess. Before the crowds pack in. Or were you stuck in line for a ride?
A: I think around 11.30 or so I was still waiting for Journey to the Center of the Earth.
D: Based on the Jules Verne book?
A: I think so, haven't read the book.

D: What were some of the other highlights?
A: I had fun at Toyota. Sitting in a sports car with my head sticking out of the sun roof. Like I said, I'm no ninja.
D: The yellow Celica?
A: Yeah, I also had no leg room and couldn't lift my foot off the accelerator. It was a fascinating tour though, especially the hybrid car sections.
D: You enjoyed the brewery tour as well?
A: Asahi was very interesting. The beer tasting at the end was more interesting!

D: And whats next?
A: I'm home for 3 days, and then off to Canada. A mate is working in the ski-fields up in British Columbia so I'm going to crash there and get some serious skiing in before university starts again. Then hit the Japanese.
D: Sounds pretty cool. Well good luck with it all.
A: Cheers.