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STUDENT INTERVIEW: Tserendamba Lkhagvasuven (AIJP)

Tserendamba Lkhagvasuven

This weeks interview was done by Shihkuei Huang, a former student at Yamasa, and now working full time in the International Office.

Tserendamba (Suren) comes from Ulanbator, Mongolia, and has been studying at Yamasa since April. Right now, she is in G class of the AIJP course. Because her room is just opposite my apartment, and there are not many students from Mongolia at Yamasa, I decided to interview her for this weeks newsletter. I went to her room in Yamasa Villa 2........

Huang: (knock on the door) Excuse me, is there anybody here?
Suren: Sure, what's up? (She is watching a Korean video with her friend, Nou-san)
H: I would like to interview you for this week's newsletter.
S: Really!!
H: We haven't done an interview with anybody from Mongolia before. Actually my ancestors who followed Genghis Khan 800 years ago also came from Mongolia so we might even be related in some way.

H: How did you find out about Yamasa?
S: Through my husband. He knew the previous Vice President Mr Ito and, through his recommendations, I was being able to study here.
H: Husband! So your married? You seem too young to be married.
S: I am just 24, but I also have a baby.
H: You have baby! Hayai!
S: Yeh, look, here's a picture. He's very cute, isn't he? My husband and I got married in 2000 and he was born a year later.

H: So where is your husband? Is he now in Ulaanbuatar, or somewhere else?
S: He's quite close actually. He's studying at Toyohashi university of Technology now, so we meet with each other quite often.

H: How about your child? Who takes care him?
S: He is in Ulaanbuatar with my parents.......(She seems a little bit upset when I ask her about her child).
H: Sorry about that. I'll change the subject.......Did you have any problems applying for a student visa?
S: Yes, because I'm Mongolian, the immigration office set a very strict application procedure for us, but thankfully I had a guarantor so I didn't have any problems.

H: So do you enjoy studying at Yamasa. How is the teaching staff and your classmates?
S: I like it a lot. My class has just 6 people and my teachers are good at teaching, compared to my previous Russian class in Mongolia.
H: Do you understand Russian as well? So how many languages do you speak?
S: Three languages. Of course Mongolian is my mother tongue. I learned Russian at University, but I've forgotten most of it now. Oh, and I think I know some English as well, so it's four languages.
H: Wow, that's amazing. I think English is the one of the most important languages in the world. Why don't you study English instead of Japanese?
S: That's because of my husband. We were classmates in our second year of University but he quit studying and came to Japan. When I finished University in Mongolia, I came here and got married with him. We stayed in Tokyo when he was a pre-college student and I became aware that learning Japanese was essential. So when he decided to study in Toyohashi, I also applied for the course at Yamasa.

H: Right now you are staying in Villa 2, but you mentioned that your husband studies in Toyohashi. Why don't you stay together to save on living costs?
S: Maybe I'm lazy. I don't like to commute to school every day. It takes time, and my husband can come to see me every week, so I think the life is very good here. Also, the cultural atmosphere in Okazaki is much better than Toyohashi. I still remember when I came here this April; I saw the "Ieyasu parade". It was my first time to see so many people putting on traditional clothes and riding horses, which reminded me of my previous experience of riding horses in the Mongolian grassland.

H: That sounds nice. I wish I could go there in the future.
S: You should go there. The yurt, roast lamb, and the unique scenery won't disappoint you, I guarantee.

H: OK, I will. Finally, do you have any advice for students coming to Japan?
S: Yes, come here, come to Okazaki. I am sure you can find your own paradise.