Meet Jurrien Theunisz, Program Counselor for World Campus – Japan 2015 Program!

Jurrien Theunisz

Hey there,

The name is Jurrien Theunisz, from the Netherlands. 24 years old, this year. I started getting interest in Japan about 5 years ago. Since then I have studying Japanese culture and the language by myself at first and then started Japanstudies in University. While doing so I have joined World Campus – Japan Program as a participant and also worked 2 years as a counselor for the program. This summer, I will be in a part of the program, especially the session 1.

Currently I’m finishing up bachelor in the University of Tohoku, Sendai Japan. While doing researching for my bachelor thesis here I am mainly focusing on…. The Japanese student life. A part of this is taking classes that I like in Japanese, such as Chinese, Astronomy, Sports, Environmental Earth Science and of course Japanese language and literature classes. This may seem like a random series of classes, but the goal is improving my Japanese on various fields, as well as learning something that interests me. I must, however point out that taking Chinese classes in Japanese is rather confusing at times… Another part of studying here consists of joining circles; circles are Japanese clubs made up of students with the same interests. An example of such clubs are the Manga club, Japanese archery club, the airplane club, English conversation club, Darts (= drinking) club etc. Me, myself am currently involved with the badminton circle and an English conversation circle. Another important part of studying in an abroad country is socializing; making connections. When you come to a new place the one thing you don’t have and will definitely need is new connections. Getting to know new people. This is where joining events in the Neighborhood, circles, bars etc. come in handy. Living the daily life, meaning eating Japanese food, going to the Japanese supermarket etc. are all part of the Japanese culture. Everything is different, but this makes it all the more interesting!

Doesn’t this life sound interesting to you? Or does it sound rather scary at first? Or is it so that you don’t have the money or time to spend a several months or more abroad in Japan?

Well let’s try to find out what this life is like at 5x its’ normal speed and more variation! By joining World Campus – Japan you have this chance. Being in a host family exposes you to the culture and customs of daily life in Japan. You most likely don’t know all that many people and are forced to make new friends and family on a daily basis! Random knowledge… Welcome to World Campus – Japan! By doing the daily activities WCI offers, I learned the most detailed information about the Japanese school systems, sewing machines, Maple trees, children songs and loads more. Cooking Japanese food and doing sports are also regular activities in the program. And Japanese pop culture, I am sure you will experience a thing or 2…

Oh sorry… I was planning to keep the story short, but… Well, just join the program and we’ll get to know each other, Laters!