There are many opportunities for international and Japanese students to build friendships at Geiko. In the previous article, I interviewed a pair of friends who first met as classmates and had established a deep friendship. This time, I would like to introduce friends who met through the “Tandem Program,” Kyushu University’s own language exchange program in which students are paired and learn each other’s language. Through this program, Kyushu University students have the opportunity to meet friends who speak the language of their interest and learn that language intensively, and sometimes even learn a rare language. I have joined the Tandem Program twice to learn Chinese and English. It is a little embarrassing for me, but in this article, I would like to share with you the story of me and my tandem partner. We looked back on our journey together right from our first meeting in the Tandem Program.

Interviewee: Larisa Villaverde (graduated from the Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Science in March 2023, from Turkey)
Interviewer: Megumi Hasegawa (2nd year master’s student)

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Megumi: I want to recall our first meeting. When was that?
Larisa: Last November or December, I think.
Megumi: So it’s been about 8 months. By the way, how many tandems have you joined?
Larisa: This is my third time. The first time was when I was still in Turkey because I could not enter Japan due to the Corona disaster.
Megumi: Why did you join the tandem at first?
Larisa: I wanted to meet people and speak Japanese.
Megumi: I see. I had the same reason. I joined because I wanted to meet people and concentrate on improving my conversation skill.
Okay, this is a little embarrassing, but I want to ask you what your first impression of me was.
Larisa: It was great. I was impressed by your smile. And I thought we couldn’t stop talking to each other about our past areas of expertise and so on.
Megumi: That makes me happy. When I first met you, I had the image of a beautiful and smart person. Also, you are confident.
Larisa: I never thought of myself as beautiful.
Megumi: Actually, we talk online all the time, so I’ve never seen you in person, and I don’t know how tall you are, haha. I’m looking forward to seeing your beautiful face. We’ve been doing tandem once a week as much as possible since we met last November, right? Now you are already working in Fukuoka.
We always talk for 30 minutes in Japanese and 30 minutes in English, and we talk about all kinds of things. Do you remember what kind of things we talked about?
Larisa: We talked about everything. We talked about what we were doing for our master’s studies, and we encouraged each other. We also talked about job hunting, politics, culture, cooking, and so on.
Megumi: I joined Tandem to learn English, but through chatting with you, I also enjoyed learning about Turkish culture. After 8 months, do you think your impressions of me have changed?
Larisa: No. We talk so much that I think one hour is not enough time, and we look forward to seeing each other.
Megumi: I’m glad! At first, I thought you might be the type of person who can’t forgive yourself if things aren’t perfect, but it turns out you are someone who is good at relaxing and enjoying your life.
Larisa: There used to be times when I couldn’t forgive myself if things weren’t perfect, but that’s not so anymore….

After this, we had a nice private chat.

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Larisa and I belonged to different campuses and areas of expertise, but the Tandem Program has allowed us to meet. Practising different languages through our conversations with each other and chatting about weekly happenings is now a part of our lives, and we have built a steady friendship that we will continue after graduating from university.

Finally, I would like to share with you all why I want to make friends with international students and learn English. I have always been interested in Chinese culture, and I want to find out more. To do that, I want to make Chinese friends. Hence, I joined a class with many international students. In the subject, I felt frustrated that my English skills (especially in conversation) were very low compared to the foreign students, and I decided to create opportunities to speak English actively, hence, the Tandem Program. I started out with an interest in Chinese culture, but I never thought that I would learn more about Turkey after Tandem Program.

I hope that both international and Japanese students will take an interest in the Tandem program to meet new friends and knowledge.

In the next issue, I will write about the friends who met as laboratory mates. Please look forward to it!

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About the Writer
I am a master’s student. I’m Japanese, but I really love foreign cultures, especially Chinese culture. It’s fun for me to hear the stories from international students because it broadens my horizons. If you also become a Geiko student, you can expand your creativity as well as your international horizons.
Why don’t you join us? We are waiting for you!

Megumi Hasegawa
Human Life Design and Science Course
Graduate School of Design