Patty Lo

STAFF INTERVIEW: Patty Lo - Admissions Coordinator

Patty took over from Shihkuei Huang in April 2003 as Yamasa's Chinese speaking Admissions Coordinator.

Jon: You've been doing the job for nearly 6 months now, so how's it been so far?
Patty: Alright.....
J: Would you like to elaborate on that?
P: I'm getting used to things now and don't have to ask you so many questions!
J: How did Peter (Shihkuei) prepare you for the job, because I know you hadn't worked in the International Office prior to April.
P: He'd written a manual of what I had to do and said that after he left I could ask you any questions I might have. I only had a week to train with him before he left so I figured a fair amount by myself.

J: What's it like working in the International Office?
P: To be honest, kind of strange.
J: That must be Declan......
P: No, it's strange being a student before at Yamasa and now being an employee. It's like being on the other side of the fence.

J: Give me a bit of background on your studies at Yamasa.
P: I applied for AIJP in April 2001 and originally planned to study for one year and work on my speaking skills. I wanted level 2 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) and then look for a job. I had a few interviews but realized that I needed to improve my Japanese further so I stayed for a another year and took and passed level 1 of the JLPT in December 2002.

J: What brought you to Japan in the first place?
P: First of all my major is Japanese and even after I'd completed that my Japanese needed a lot of improvement. Secondly, I've had a lot of contact with popular Japanese culture and travelled to Japan in the past. In knew what to expect before I arrived.
J: So you had a fairly good grounding in Japanese before you came?

P: Yeh, I graduated from UC Irvine in the US about 10 months before I started studying at Yamasa. I was going to apply for the October 2000 start date but didn't have enough time to get all the documentation together.
J: And what did you do in the 10 months between finishing at UC Irvine and coming to Yamasa?
P: Besides being a 'bum' I learned karate and did some part-time work at my karate teacher's company. And of course I spent some time getting ready for coming to Japan.

J: How do you find life in Japan?
P: In one word - freedom!
J: Freedom from what?
P: Because I lived with my parents before coming to Japan, and also when I was at University. I have no curfues to abide by, no rules like I did back home.
J: And you enjoy that?
P: Yeh, that's one of the reasons why I'm still in Japan!

J: How is life different from being a student to being an employee?
P: As a student you of course have to study and that's where your focus lies. I don't have to depend on my parents if I'm working.

J: I'm not sure if you had more spare time as a student or you have more now, but in general how do you spend your spare time?
P: When I was a student I'd go to karate every Saturday, watch TV with friends, listen to music and travel around Japan.
J: ....and now?
P: I'm usually too tired to go to karate, so I spend most of my time reading or listening to music. I go skiing in the Winter as well.

J: Tell me a bit about your family.
P: I don't have any brothers and sisters, just me and my parents.
J: Where do your parents live?
P: They're in Taiwan at the moment.
J: Is that their permanent base?
P: Yes. Though we moved from Taiwan to the US when I was 11.
J: Did you speak any English at that time?

P: Not really. 'This is a book', 'this is a pen' was about the range of my English ability.
J: And you adapted okay?
P: I'm okay with the environment in California which is where we moved to.

J: What are your future plans?
P: Work in Japan for a few more years and then see how things are at that stage.

J: And finally, any advice for people who want to pass level 1 of the JLPT?
P: Work hard on your weaknesses and don't just focus on your strong points. Study a little every day and don't cram as you won't remember everything after the test.

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