As part of the "Short-term Study-abroad Programs under Student Exchange Agreements for AY 2013" (unofficially dubbed the "Short Stay Program in East Asia"), six students from Kyoto University participated in the KNU Global Summer School hosted by Kyungpook National University in South Korea. The students participated in a wide variety of activities, including taking Korean language courses, attending special lectures on Korean history and culture, and engaging in cultural activities such as studying taekwondo and donning a hanbok. KU students also organized a seminar on Japanese culture with the cooperation of local KU alumni, which was favorably received by local participants.
Held as a five-day program up until the last time it was offered, the summer school was upgraded this time into a two-week program based on discussions between the two universities. In addition, this year about twenty-five students from other Japanese universities participated in the program.
One thing that characterizes this summer school is that it offers ample opportunities for participants to mingle with Korean students and local people. The participants had valuable opportunities to meet many people in and out of the classroom as well as to discuss, face-to-face, topics ranging from daily trivia to political, economic and social issues.
The participants are expected to further develop in the future what they have learned from this trip.
Report by a Program Participant
Tomoyasu Ito
Team Leader at the KNU Global Summer School in South Korea
Fourth-year Student, Faculty of Economics
Originally, I joined this program not only because I wanted to deepen my knowledge and gain more experience, thereby achieving personal growth, but also from a desire to contribute to the co-existence and mutual prosperity of Japan and Korea through intercultural exchange. Motivated to participate in this program by such noble ideals, I set out with great enthusiasm and not only attended Korean language classes, but also experienced cultural things such as taekwondo; Korean paper-making; hanboks; Korean cooking and pottery; and cities outside Daegu, like Kyﾅ熟gju and Pusan. As a result of interacting with a whole host of people, I realized two things, aside from achieving the goals I mentioned above.
First, when it comes to fluency in a foreign language (in other words, communicating with others), what matters most is neither my test scores nor credentials, but how much I try to use the expressions and words I know, and how strongly motivated I am to learn the foreign language. There is no need to fear making mistakes merely because you are non-native speaker.
Secondly, although we often compare Japan and Korea or the Japanese and Koreans in explaining different things, in some cases it seems useless to make such distinctions between the two countries. This is because in some respects we belong to the same group--like East Asia, Asia or mankind. In short, I came to believe from deep inside that we are all a family. We are all brothers and sisters.
Next April, the experiences I have gained through this program while visiting South Korea--an important partner of Japan--should prove meaningful to me when I start working in the tourist industry. I am also very happy that I can serve as a human bridge between Japan and Korea not only through personal ties in my private life but through my function in society. My hope is that there will be as many people as possible who are willing, like me, to serve as bridges between the two countries. I believe that such grassroots efforts will be the first step for the two nations to share the feeling that we are a family or brothers and sisters.
Finally, I am now determined to maintain communication with the many people I met on this trip and continue pursuing my goal of intercultural understanding, co-existence and mutual prosperity through "human" interactions.
I am grateful from the bottom of my heart to have been able to share with my best friends the best time in my life.
 Group photo of KNU students and Japanese students |  KU students answering questions at the Japanese culture seminar |
 Students in different Korean clothing, including ch’ima chogori, during a hanbok try-on event |  Students posing in a taekwondo class |
"Short-term Study-abroad Programs under Student Exchange Agreements" (unofficially dubbed the "Short Stay Program in East Asia")
As opportunities for students to build ties with students of foreign universities, cultivate an international outlook, and improve their language skills, Kyoto University organizes seven programs a year within the framework of "Short-term Study-abroad Programs under Student Exchange Agreements." These programs, which are based on inter-university, student-exchange agreements between Kyoto University and a host institution, accept students on terms equivalent to those of exchange students who are basically exempted from paying tuition fees. In the 2013 academic year, they are sponsored by the "Rediscovering Japan through Collaboration in the Open ASEAN +6: International Human Resource Development Centering on the SEND Program" Project (Re-inventing Japan Project: Support for the Formation of Collaborative Programs with ASEAN Universities); the JASSO Scholarship Program (within the framework of the Re-Inventing Japan Project); and the Kyoto University John Mung Program, which sends young researchers abroad.
