Mi-yun Park

STUDENT INTERVIEW: Mi-yun Park (SILAC)

Patty: Hi Mi-yun, thanks for agreeing to do the interview.
Mi Yun: Sure, no problem.
P: Well, since I've got lots of questions let's get started.
M: Okay.

P: When was the last time you were in Japan?
M: I came to Japan in mid-July last year for 4 weeks of SILAC.
P: What made you decide to come back?
M: Well, I had a good experience last time and found I learnt a lot.
P: I see. Instead of trying other Yamasa programs, why did you choose SILAC again?
M: The timing is just right for short term studying.

P: So tell me a little bit about your background. You're from Korea...?
M: No, I'm from Geneva, Switzerland. I was born and raised in Korea until I was seven when we moved to Geneva. We went back to Korea when I was 14, but moved back to Geneva two years later and have stayed there ever since.
P: I see. So, what's the difference between Switzerland and Korea?
M: Well, if you want to go to fun places to hang out and travel, Korea is the place because everything is cheap. On the other hand, Switzerland is a nice place to live because it's safe and quiet. Likewise, since it's small, I know the place very well.

P: Where are you living at the moment?
M: I'm doing homestay right now. In fact, it's the same homestay family that I stayed with last year because we had a great time together and the atmosphere was really nice.
P: What do you normally do with your homestay family?
M: After I finish my classes, I go home and chat with my homestay mother, sometimes play with my homestay brothers, they are nine and eleven years old. After that, I go to my room to do homework and study. Before dinner, we will prepare together and talk more on anything during dinner. Homestay is a good way to practice Japanese.
P: How about weekends? Do you hang out with your homestay family?
M: No, I usually spend time with my friends in Tokyo during weekends. However, last year, we went to my homestay father's hometown in Shizuoka Prefecture.
P: So what did you do there?
M: Well, since it was in the countryside, we basically just visited shrines and temples and strolled around.

P: Slight change of subject, what made you decide to study Japanese?
M: Well, I'm majoring in Art History and since it is under the Department of Humanities, I'm required to pick three subjects. One for the major, one for foreign language (both need to studied for four years) and another subject for just two years. I picked art history, Japanese, and photography.
P: Why did you pick Japanese?
M: I wanted to pick Chinese, but the class time overlapped with my art history class, so I had to give it up and choose Japanese. However, since I can still learn Kanji by studying Japanese it's interesting.
P: So you've grown interested in Japanese then?
M: Yeah, you could say that. Likewise, I think that after I graduate from university I want to become a fashion designer, so I might come to Japan for an internship or something like that if I have the chance.

P: Speaking of Kanji, how do you study it?
M: Well, I studied them when I was in university, but right now I've stopped. I plan to pick up kanji studying again later.

P: And how do you normally prepare for your lessons?
M: We get a lot of printouts for homework, so I basically write down words or phrases that I don't know in my notes and flip through my dictionary for meanings and try to remember as much as I can. As we get printouts, I do more review than preparing ahead for the next lessons. I use the '18 kippu' to go to Tokyo during weekends, and it takes about five and a half hours to get there, so I just use that time to study my notes
P: You're a very studious student.

P: So, what's your plan after you finish studying at Yamasa?
M: Well, I plan to go to Tokyo and travel for 10 days then head back to Geneva and finish my graduate paper. Except this time, I'll be taking the bullet train to Tokyo and not local train because I have to carry my belongings with me.

P: And finally, any suggestions for newcomers?
M: Before moving into the dormitory, try homestay because it gives you a Japanese only environment to practice your Japanese. I think most of the people can speak English at the dormitory, so you might not have the chance to practice Japanese after you finish your lessons.

P: Thank you very much for your time to do the interview.
M: You're welcome.

Return to top of page