Provided by
SUISA Newsletter Team& Center for Promotion of International Exchange, Saga University

Introducing Saga University Global Supporter
We plan, manage, and facilitate international exchange events at the university.

Kashima Trip Program
Connecting Kashima’s attractiveness to inbound tourism.

Buddy Program
A pair of foreign student with Japanese student to get to know each other custom.

Covid Vaccination in Campus
Saga University uses Moderna vaccine manufactured by Takeda.

Halloween Party“Ohh… The email came from International Office is a Halloween Party invitation!”

Program for Promoting International Work in Local Areas (PILWo)
In order to guide foreign students through the job-hunting process.

Saga University Global Supporter
What is Global Supporter?
In collaboration with Center for Promotion of International
Exchange Saga University, we plan, manage, and facilitate
international exchange events at the university. We also provide
support for international students and those who wish to study
abroad.

Kashima Trip Program"Connecting Kashima’s attractiveness to inbound tourism" whichis “Kashima’s video clip/ poster design project” was organizedunder the guidance of Associate Professor, Ishimatsu Hiroyuki fromCenter for Promotion of International Exchange, Saga University.
Many international and Japanese students participated in thisprogram.
The main part of the program was in
KashimaCity,
however,alltheparticipants had pre-training and posttraining periods. To figure out moredetails about the program, I interviewed
one of the participants. Her name is“PRECIOUS KARONGA” and she is from
Zimbabwe. She is a bachelor's student
studying Biochemistry from the faculty ofAgriculture, Saga University.
Where was the field trip and how long?

Logo of Saga University Global Supporter

The trip was to Kashima City and it was a two-day one night trip.

When GS started?

What is the purpose of the trip?

We interviewed applicants in April 2021. It is a very youngorganization that has been for less than a year.

The purpose of the trip was to promote Kashima city and also to
get to know the city from local people’s point of view.

Who are the members?

How do you feel about the pre-training?

A total of 15 students, 13 Japanese students and 2 international
students, are active and they are in various grades from various
faculties. We are mainly active in a group of students who haveexperienced exchange study abroad called SIPS.

Pre-training was very helpful because it gave me an idea of what
l was going to see and experience in Kashima.

What are the goals of GS?
Our goal is to revitalize international exchange at Saga University!
Since the spread of the COVID-19, various events and exchange
programs have been cancelled. While it is difficult to study
abroad, we always think about what we can do and hold events.
What are the activities made by GS so far?
We hold monthly online and face-to-face Meetup events. In July,
we held a large-scale event of one week as International Week.
In October, we also hold Halloween events and provide events
that students can enjoy as much as possible.
How do you feel as a part of GS?
As a member of GS, I find it very rewarding to plan, manage andfacilitate various activities. There are many difficult points, but I
feel that we are able to create better products by cooperatingwith other members. I also feel that this is a great opportunity to
improve my English skills.

What did you do during the trip, as a group and individual?
We did various interesting things. My highlight of the trip was
getting to attend a traditional ceremony in the Yutoku Inari Shrine
and after that, we got to drink traditionally made green tea,made from special ingredients, it was delicious with a rich taste.
We also went to one of the oldest sake breweries to see how they
do their work. Then we walked around hamashuku street, which issaid to have been a famous trading point back in the days. We
also visited Kashima Mud flood tidal where the famous
Gatalympic takes place. We had an opportunity to taste locallymade sake and a range of wines.
Do you want to share some funny moments with us?
Yes, l had fun during one of the pre-training meetings when we
had to build a marshmallow tower. Unfortunately, my group’s
tower could not stand on its own at the end. And also, in the
pickle-making process, we did in Kashima l hope my pickles will
taste great after the 2 months incubation period because l had
no idea what l was doing.

Any message to Saga University students?
When you hear about international exchange, you may have an
image that it is often difficult, such as having to speak English. We
want such students to have fun international exchanges andcreate new encounters. If you are interested in it, or if you are
wondering whether to attend the event, please join us! I am
looking forward to seeing you at events.

A Group Picture of Kashima Trip

What did you get from this program?
I think l improved in teamwork because almost everything we did
before, during, and after the trip was groupwork-based. As well as
time management, we kept all activities according to theschedule. Moreover, I’ve got lots of friends…
What are the post-program activities?
After the trip we have to make a poster and a video about
Kashima, trying to promote Kashima Region to inbound foreign
and local tourists as a destination of choice in Saga.
How do you think of Kashima Region?
I think Kashima City is under-rated. I feel like there was more to see
and experience there and my 2 days trip could not allow me to
explore further. I will definitely go back there sometime.

Buddy Program
As we have reported that due to COVID-19 pandemic, theexchange students which planned to come to Japan during
2020-2021, unfortunately, have to switch their plan to participate
the program online. However, as we fully know that exchange
program is not only about learning language, but cultural
exchange is also the important part of it. To have the foreign
students and Japanese students experience diverse culture as
the program intended as much as possible, the Center for
Promotion of International Exchange came up with the Buddy
system which would pair foreign students with Japanese students
to get to know each other custom. Today we got a chance tointerview Lita-san and Samadhi-san who participate in the Online
Exchange Program.

going to be cancelled. In February the situation did not ease up,
and the Center for Promotion of International Exchange asked
me if I am interested in the online exchange program.
Samadhi : Like Lita, I applied for an exchange program in 2020and I waited for one year until 2021 when the online program
started. We get to select 6 subjects that we would like to study. I
chose Japanese language with an independent study and a
subject in economic.
Wow so it took about one year until the online course started.
Anyway let’s move to our main topic. Could you please tell us
about the Buddy system?
Lita : The buddy program was coming up by the Center for
Promotion of International Exchange. The program will pairinternational students with Japanese student to talk about various
things from daily life to study for us to get to know each otherbetter.
How were you assigned to your buddy? Do you get to choose, or
the pairs were selected randomly?
Samadhi : We were assigned a Japanese buddy at the beginningof the semester. the Center for Promotion of International
Exchange selected one Japanese buddy for us among the threechoices we chose.
Lita ：We got a listed of possible buddy with their hobbies, theirfield of study, their year of study and other information without
their name. Then choose the buddy into 3 ranks and the Center
for Promotion of International Exchange would choose the buddy
for us.
So, when did you start to talk with your buddy and is there an
official first day where you get to meet your buddy?
Lita : After they selected the buddy for us, they send us thecontact information like their e-mail to us. Then we exchange our
SNS account. The Center for Promotion of International Exchange
also set up an official meeting for us online by video call which
was the orientation day. But we already talked through SNS bythen.
Samadhi : After we were assigned our buddy, first we contacted
each other through e-mail, then we decided to contact eachother through SNS like Line and WhatsApp.
What are the activities the Center for Promotion of International
Exchange held for you guys to get to know each other better?

Lita from Cambodia and Samadhi from Sri Lanka
Can you please introduce yourself?
Lita : I am Kry Lita from Cambodia.
Samadhi: I am Samadhi Dissanayake from Sri Lanka.
I am sorry for making this the first question. Can you please tell me
how COVID-19 pandemic have affected your plan to come to
Saga?
Lita : I planned to join the SPACE-E program in April 2020. But, twoor three days before my flight to Japan, the flight was suddenly
cancelled, so I can say that it happened suddenly. There weremany students who resign from participating the program.
However, I did not. I decided to delay my exchange program tothe next semester in October, but when the time comes, thesituation did not get better, and it seems like the program was

Lita : Apart from arranging video calls, they also held otheractivities for us to participate together like the language lounge.
At the beginning we would receive a list of activities that we canparticipate. There are also activities suggestion like a topic for
discussion, language teaching, drama to watch and video gameto play together.
Samadhi : We introduce each other our families, our university,and the location we want to show each other. I place I introduce
to her is the Royal Botanic Gardens. Unfortunately, due to thepandemic I did not show her the real place but a photographinstead. My buddy showed me Saga University, Fukuoka Station,
and a museum in Fukuoka. There was also a report that we must
submit. At the end of the semester about the activities we haddone together. We decided to give a presentation about ourinterest, our culture, our hometown, and our university.
What do you think are the differences and similarities between
you and your buddy?
Samadhi : We both study agriculture and we both love pets. I
keep a dog at home, and she has two hamsters.

Are there any communication difficulties?
Lita : Yes, since both of us are not native English speaker, when we
made a video call sometimes it is difficult for us to understandeach other. We would text each other instead if that happened.
Sometimes communicating through SNS leads to late contact inurgent time. There was this one time when my buddy invites me
to some event before the day it was held, and I did not reply hersoon enough to participate in the event.
Lastly, please tell me about any story you were impressed by yourbuddy the most.
Lita: In one of activity that we need to show our hometown. She
opened her camera and walk around while showing me aroundher house, the bus stop, the road and the transportation system.
Even though the weather was very hot, but she walked aroundfor 2 hours until she reached the sightseeing spot. When she
reached the sightseeing spot, the connection was very bad, so
she tried taking the pictures of the sightseeing spot to show me
instead. I was very impressed in the effort she gave. We also talked
a lot about her story during the walk. Sadly, the COVID-19 situationin Cambodia was very bad so I could not show her my hometown.
Samadhi : My buddy was very helpful. She helps me with learning
Japanese language. She also helped check my answer when I
practiced doing Japanese drills.
Even after the Online Exchange Program, did you guys still get intouch?
Lita: Yes, we sometimes still talked through SNS, but not quite often
since we are both very busy after graduation. But every special
occasion like her birthday I always remember to wish her a happy
birthday.
Thank you very much for sharing us your experience and I hope
you to be successful in your career path.
Lita/Samadhi : Thank you for the interview too.

Covid Vaccination in Campus

notice regarding the vaccination process, they provided it very
well. On the day of vaccination, I needed to bring a paper stating
I am ready to be vaccinated as well as my information on thatday such as body temperature and whether I have allergies. Next,
the staff will check and state whether I can get vaccinated. After
doing the vaccination I gave a vaccination coupon and got a
vaccination certificate, the staff gave me a leaflet for the second
vaccination which is a month after the first vaccination along withthe password for the second vaccination registration. The staff
provided a waiting area after vaccination to see the side effectsof vaccination. I noticed several people had different side effects
and the staff took good care of them. I think Saga University has
managed the schedule and the number of participants well sothat during the process I didn't have to wait for long time.

Vaccination’s Waiting Area Situation
The effect I felt after the first vaccination was soreness in theinjected hand, a little difficult to move it for the whole day, but
after that everything was fine. After the second vaccination I had
a fever for two days.
A vaccination is our responsibility to prevent the spread of covid.
By vaccinating, it means we are helping to suppress the spread of
Covid. Vaccination is important to protect yourself and others.

Halloween Party

It was one fine evening of autumn days, and I received an email
from International Division Saga University.
“Ohh… it’s about Halloween!”.

My name is Fathia Lovita Farasi fromIndonesia. I am now in my secondyear master student of Chemical
Engineering at Saga University.
I took my first vaccination on August
11th and the second one on 8th
September 2021 in Saga University.
Saga University uses Moderna
vaccine manufactured by Takeda,
and it says that the onset prevention effect is about 94%. There
were also vaccinations in hospital, but I decided to take thevaccine on campus because Saga University is close to where I
live. Besides that, the registration procedure was also easy andcould be done online. At that time, the vaccination from Saga
University was postponed which made me and my friends tried toregister at one of the hospitals, but the vaccination queue was solong, and we were only able to get the first vaccination on
September. Luckily the vaccination at Saga University can bedone on August and I got the vaccination there.
The campus made vaccination notification includes a web
address to register if I want to do it. I needed to fill my personal
data and chose the available date that matches with myschedule, I could also choose several dates. After that I read theI was so surprised because, as far as I know, Halloween is famousin western countries, not in Asia. The party was on 29th October,Friday night. However, I was so excited and curious about thiseven since I’ve never celebrated Halloween Party before. As soon
as I got the mail, I registered for that event because it’s mentionedthat only 30 people will be allowed to participate to prevent thecovid situation.
After registration, it was time to think about the costume because
the event was coming soon. Since Japan is a country famous forcosplay, I found out that they’d like to do cosplay on Halloween
too. Moreover, the weather was getting colder day by day, I
preferred the costume that can give me enough protection fromthe cozy autumn breeze. After a long consideration for a few days,
I decided to order a princess costume from Amazon.
“Ahh…. the shipping days are too long!! It cannot be deliveredon time".
I gave up and I just selected my second option. Here, I want tosuggest to the readers to order the costume as early as possible.
Anyway, ...
“I’d become ………. a witch!”

It was Friday evening ... getting dark outside… I finished dressing
up and I am ready to go to the Halloween event. When I entered
the event room, I saw a group of students was wearing Hogwarts
uniforms. I felt like I am in a magic world, and it reminded me
about my childhood dream of “attending Hogwarts School with
Harry Potter”.

Program for Promoting International Workin Local Areas (PILWo)
I trusted that a lot of foreign students who are studying in Saga
University wishes to find a job in Japan. However, most of theforeign students did not know the job-hunting process in Japaneven the students who speaks Japanese well. In order to guideforeign students through this job-hunting process the “Program for
Promoting International Work in Local Areas (PILWo)” wasestablished. Today we have a great honor to interview Professor
Koga Hiroki who is now supervising this program. Saga University’s
Office of International affairs is the main organizer of this programand it is supported by Saga prefecture.
First, I would like to ask when did this program started?

Hogwarts Students
I saw people dressing up like a princess, spiderman, doctor
plague, witch, skull body, demons, and the squid gamecharacters. When we hear “Halloween”, we think of buying a
costume”. But I also noticed some students created a costumewith things we already have (DIY) such as wearing a lab coat,
gloves and mask turned out to be a scientist.
While looking around, I noticed someone blocking my way... I saw
a person with blinking sunglasses and fake hair... He was playing
the role of a guitarist!
I tried to go in another direction. He
blocked again. I was so confused for a few seconds looking at
him unintelligibly. I didn't have any clue. Then he started laughing
and right after that my brain cells started working“Ohh that’s my friend” …
while.

and we couldn’t stop laughing for a

After trying to recognize the participants, the organizers set up ourown team and we played a Halloween game. The mission of thegame was “taking Halloween theme photos at the targetedareas”. We’ve got the list of targeted areas and lists of photo styles
we are supposed to do. We altogether participated in the game,and it was so much fun.

It has just started in October this year (2021). So, it is still a newprogram.
If it just started are there already a student participating in thisprogram?
Yes, there are already 6 people in this program who are mostly
graduate students since it is a program with the objective of
mainly supporting master and Ph.D. students.
For example, if I would like to start a job in Japan, when should I
start considering about job hunting?
Mostly you should start finding jobs 2 years before entering the firm.
So simply speaking, if possible you should start from your firstsemester of the master program, if not, I would recommend you
to at least start it in the second semester.
Wow, that’s very early. When does this program start accepting
applicants?
Our program will start accepting application on July-September
every year and the program would start from October. Moreover,four of the applied students would be awarded a scholarship fromthe Saga prefecture.
What is the qualification needed in order to apply for thisprogram?
At least your Japanese skill, especially conversation skill, should beequivalent to JLPT N2 level. This is because it is the qualification
required by most company in Saga. The selection would be doneby the program supervisor.
I was wondering what kind of qualification the firm in Saga wereseeking for from international students.

Halloween Pose in front of Saga University Stone
After that, we had a special moment. It was “the best costume
award”. We all had to vote for our favourite costume. It was sucha difficult moment for me because I do love all the costumes. As
a result, the costume of “Goku” from Dragon Ball anime won the
1st prize and the “doctor plague” got the second prize.
Overall, it was an awesome experience, and I will never forget myvery first “Happy Halloween” event at Saga University with mybeloved friends.

I think they are seeking for the student who can work in a position
that Japanese people can’t. For example, master and Ph.D
student who have extensive knowledge in certain engineeringand scientific field. Also, students who are fluent in multiple
languages who can work as an interpreter or foreign relations
officer are needed.
When will I know the result whether I got accepted?
Mostly you will know the results about the first semester of your 2ndyear in the master course or Ph.D course. Even if you did not findany job at that time you still have a chance until December ofyour 2nd year.

Lastly is there anything you would like to advice the student who
are planning to find job in Japan?
After you graduated your work would be entirely in Japanese.
Whether it is reading documents full of Kanji or speaking withsuperior or co-worker. So, I would like to advise you to learn
Japanese as much as you can and try to aim for JLPT N1.
Thank you very much for your precious time and valuable insight.
I hope that every student in the program would find the job theywant.
Thanks for the interview too.

Peemaphat Buarapha, 2nd Year PhD Student of Science and Engineering
Myat Htoo San, 2nd Year Master Student of Advanced Health Science
Takayuki Kunihiro, 4th Year Student of Secondary English Education
Jevri Tri Ardiansah, 1st Year PhD Student of Computer Science