Abigail Dunagan, Campus Carrier features editor

Cammie Wilks, Campus Carrier asst. features editor

Studying abroad is an exciting opportunity that offers students the chance to immerse themselves in a new culture. Students from Berry have traveled all around the world to complete their studies, but now the roles are reversed as Berry has recently welcomed a group of exchange students from Setsunan University in Osaka, Japan for a two-week long study abroad program on American culture. 

This program was initially started by associate professor of teacher education and coordinator of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Chang Pu. Ideas for the program began after Pu had a conversation with a professor from Setsunan University about the importance of intercultural connections between students from universities. Last summer, Pu took a group of students in the course EDU 222 for a two-week study abroad teaching trip in Japan. EDU 222, or Exploration in Diverse Cultures, is a required course for students who are a part of the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) program. 

After this trip, Pu began talking with the faculty at Setsunan about how they could expand this opportunity to benefit students from both colleges. Eventually, they decided to bring a group of students from Setsunan to study at Berry for a two-week exchange program. The schools then began working together to organize scholarship opportunities and to set the dates of the study abroad. 

“Through casual conversations with my students, a lot of them never had the chance to interact with students from other countries and other linguistic backgrounds,” Pu said. “Human connections can transform our thinking. Those real time, face-to-face interactions are very powerful. I just hope that through those interactions among our students, they can learn from each other.” 

The students are taking two classes that will last the full two weeks that they are here. These classes focus on topics such as American culture, geography and religion. For students Chimi Gao and Naoto Okutera, this trip was their first time traveling to the U.S. They have observed cultural differences in the way Americans interact, and they have found it easy to make friends at Berry. 

“In Japan, we don’t usually do small talk because there is community already,” Okutera said. “We don’t usually make new friends. In the U.S., we meet new friends every day.” 

The people of the Southern U.S. have a reputation being extra friendly, or having “southern hospitality.” Gao said that she found this reputation to be an accurate representation of Southern people. 

“Before I came to America, I thought Americans were very casual or that they would just say ‘what’s up’” Gao said. “It’s different, but they use this to keep a friendship. They are very warm.” 

Outside of social differences, the American cities are much more reliant on cars for transportation than cities in Japan. Osaka is the third most populous city in Japan, and residents frequently use public transportation to traverse the city. However, Rome is a more rural city, and most people use their cars every day. 

Gao and Okutera have also observed differences in food. Traditional Asian dishes like rice, are better in Japan, but they found that they enjoy classic American dishes, like hamburgers. It is also important that the students become familiar with popular English words and slang, as the way people speak is constantly changing. While native speakers of a language rarely think twice about the words they use, slang terms can present a unique challenge to those who are learning as a second language. 

“We are also going to have a lesson on American idioms and slang,” Pu said. “What are the words people usually use? Especially because language is constantly evolving. People say, ‘oh, that’s so slay.’ What does that mean?” 

TEFL Instructor Jacelyn Carter (24C) is an international affairs graduate from Berry that assists with teaching the students from Setsunan. There are multiple other instructors in the course that are TEFL majors. Not only are they teaching the Japanese students, but they are also learning from them as well. The experience is mutually beneficial because while the Japanese students are taught, Berry’s TEFL students are learning the best ways to instruct English to those who don’t speak it. Despite this challenge, it is still a rewarding process.

Not only is Carter an instructor in the course, but she has also been working with Pu since last September to arrange this experience for these students. 

“It’s been a process of getting it going and making sure that everything is prepared for them to be here,” Carter said. “It’s exciting that they’re here now because everything is being put into motion, and they are going through their classes.”

Director of International Experiences Elizabeth Davis has been working at Berry for the last four years and has helped rewrite Berry’s study abroad program from her own experiences and passion. A large aspect of her job is supervising international experiences and finding opportunities for either a Berry student to travel abroad, or for an international student to travel to Berry. A unique quality about the Setsunan students’ experience abroad is that they are only here for a two-week program; most students who come to Berry from a different countries are either here for a semester, or all four years.  

Davis has studied abroad, and she has seen changes in herself and other students who have had the opportunity. She hopes that, while the students from Setsunan spend time at Berry, they will make worthwhile connections with other students. 

“My favorite part about study abroad is when students come back from their experience and I can see that they’ve grown in some way,” Davis said. “They’ve had this experience that literally shaped them in a way that they don’t seem quite the same as before, and sometimes students don’t realize it.”

Studying abroad is not only an enriching experience for the students themselves. It also benefits those at home school. People from different cultures get to meet and learn from each other, all while gaining experience that will benefit them in their future careers. 

“I think it’s important because Berry doesn’t have many opportunities for students coming from international places to do something like this,” Carter said. “I also think it’s just great because it’s building partnerships with other universities abroad. It’s giving students this opportunity to have English practice with conversational and oral communication, and to explore and immerse themselves in that college culture.”