By Dylan Jestin

Hey, my name is Dylan and I am in my third and final year studying Japanese.

I chose to go on exchange because as a student studying International language and culture with a focus on Japanese and East Asian culture, I believe the experience will not only strengthen my understanding of what I have learned so far through real world experience and also provide me with more opportunities to learn about aspects of Japanese culture and history that would be unobtainable to me while studying here in New Zealand, as well as expose me to Japanese language daily, giving me the opportunity to practice my language skills and hopefully develop a more natural Japanese speaking style. 

I chose Kansai Gaidai in Japan not only because of its location in Osaka, less than an hour’s travel away from Kyoto the old capital of Japan and the vast amounts of tradition and culture I can be exposed to as a result of proximity to both these historic cities. But also because throughout my time at Waikato University, I have had the privilege to be one of the volunteers at the English club where for one hour a week we would spend time practising English with international exchange students many of whom are Japanese, during this time I made several friendships and connections with students from Kansai Gaidai University and am looking forward to getting to strengthen and develop these friendships while also getting first-hand experience in the culture until now I have only read about 
 
Thank you to the Waikato global experience team for this opportunity.