Participants / Impression / Miyagi

When I first met Alice and Sao, I was surprised that they seemed to be wearing a lot of makeup. I was intimidated because in Korea, those who wear makeup have the image of being girls who play around. I was relieved after spending time with them, though, to find out that they were just ordinary high school students.

I was under the impression that Japanese people “charge for everything,” “say one thing with a smile but think something else,” and are “unsympathetic.” But people were very kind to me, like when I bought a “lucky cat” figurine (manekineko) as a gift and the shop attendant gave me a detailed explanation about it, or when the people at the inn on Katsurajima took care of me when I was feeling unwell and came to see us off at the harbor. My image of Japanese has changed. I also had the image of Japanese as always smiling and models of moral rectitude, but I was glad to find through encounters with some not-so-friendly people that they, too, are only human.

This program allowed me to enjoy the experience of meeting new people, and has brought about changes in my life. My dream now is to become friends not only with Japanese but with people from all over the world, and to learn about their countries.

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