Frontiers of International Exchange ３
Through the International Exchange During My College Days
By Mariko Imamura (Graduate of 2009)
At the college dorm (Imamura, center)
During my four years of college, I belonged to AIESEC, where a group of students manage internships overseas. AIESEC exists in one hundred countries; therefore, there were cases when nationalities and backgrounds were irrelevant once one became active. Within the last four years, I met a total of ten trainees that came from ten different countries to experience internships. We went to Denmark and Turkey to participate in the international meeting. Moreover, we went to Finland, Sweden and Bulgaria to visit the members at the actual place. Today, I would like to discuss my fondest experience in Bulgaria.
On November 16, 2008, I made a connecting flight to Germany from Finland. It took four hours to reach the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia. When I arrived, Dancho, the OB of AIESEC, was there to pick me up. He didn’t have a guidebook or anything in hand, which made me relieved. He seemed very pure and his smile was charming, however, I was troubled since he didn’t speak English. But it was still helpful and encouraging to have been picked up in a country where I couldn’t communicate.
We went to the bank in the city right after but it didn’t seem like they understood English either so Dancho translated everything. I am very grateful for this type of kindness. Through AIESEC, members of the actual places have always been helpful.
Experience in Bulgaria
The energetic kids
After riding the bus for three hours, we reached Svishtov, where Yuki, the internee that we sent off from our college, lived. While we started talking right away, she asked if I wanted to go to a party that a Bulgarian she met that day was throwing. I decided to go because I thought it would be a waste to go to sleep when I just arrived. They say that in their culture, its normal to hang out with the people you met that day. Nevertheless, the town’s population is thirty thousand people and half are students. It’s a small town so it is quite peaceful.
When we arrived at that place that was planned, there were two guys waiting. We took the taxi together and when we got to their dorm, they led us to a three-person room. It smelled funny and there were three beds in the same room. Just to think that they lived with absolutely no privacy made me feel bad for the students there. Then the party started. We first enjoyed candy and alcohol and danced here and there. But as they became hyper, they began to dance on top of the chairs. It seemed to be normal there. In Japan, there is no way one can have a party with this of a loud volume in a normal dorm room. However, most all of them couldn’t understand English so all they could do was dance in that situation. I was lucky to have experienced the young culture for my first night in Bulgaria.
The next day on the 17th, I went to the training school with Yuki. She taught Japanese culture and English for her training in two college’s in the city. We stuffed our mouth with bread at the bakery where she goes almost everyday and then headed to school by taxi. The bread was less than a dollar but was delicious. Furthermore, I was surprised at how cheap the taxi was. It only cost about a dollar and fifty cents to get to school. I could certainly take the taxi everyday and it would be cheaper than taking the bus.
A typical lunch in Bulgaria
When we arrived at school, Diana was there to greet us. She worked with Yuki and was also an English teacher. She began her class in total confidence. As she listened to the student’s opinions and stated her own opinions, forty-five minutes passed in an instant. Once recess started, the hallways were filled with cheers saying, “Yuki! Yuki!” There were almost no foreign teachers that lived in the town, and seeing an Asian was very uncommon. I know it must have been Yuki’s character but I was really amazed at how popular she was.
Yuki and I went out for lunch at a restaurant nearby that day. The food and the bread were absolutely delicious. If it was just the food, I thought that I could live in Bulgaria. Yuki ate at the cafeteria nearly everyday, but says she’s never experienced bad food yet.
At the Danube River : Imamura, right
We finished the classes for the day and went on a walk along the Danube River. How amazing is it that Yuki can see the Danube River from the window in her dorm! Romania is just next-door.
Coming to Bulgaria, Yuki was surprised at how not punctual the other members were. They say they want to improve management knowledge and utilize it in business. She was surprised by how different their philosophy was compared to AIESEC, but the bigger the organization becomes the more it may occur. Yuki thinks that one needs to maintain a composed point of view at all times.
Impressions of AIESEC
From what I saw, the members of the AIESEC committee were friendly and I could tell that they were working hard. Compared to other college students who only party, it seemed like they were trying to change the current situation. But I felt that due to the national character and economic situations, the countries organization’s (Student Society known as AIESEC) actual situation would also eventually change. Bulgaria is affiliated with the European Union and the economy is unstable due to the European Union lacking in money. Even if one graduates from college, there may only be jobs as waiters and to get a good job one needs to have connection. While they are faced with a hopeless reality, I wonder how much power AIESEC has to fill in the gap between idealistic. The participation fee for the International meeting costs more than a month salary of an average schoolteacher. Its common for teacher’s to work in two or three places, even outside of the EU, because they have a hard time living too. They won’t have jobs if they don’t build a different career compared to the common college students. Yuki was left confused if it was either a nervous situation or not by looking at what the members of AIESEC said and did. Its not a level of the members of AIESEC being bad or anything but it seems like it would be too simple to wrap it up and say national character. I also reflected on how inadequate my past activities in AIESEC were.
Later, Yuki and I talked about the gap between the ideal and reality of AIESEC and some of each other’s past experiences in AIESEC. When we were a freshman in college, there was a Turkish internee that we just left unattended and sadly ended up going back to his own country. Because our consciousnesses were low, the trainee we were in charge for canceled their contract.
I felt a great amount of responsibility by facing situations where one decides everything in a person’s life from right to left. At the same time, I felt responsible to face the incompleteness of the international society of AIESEC.
I was able to meet many people by joining the international society of AIESEC. This experience is irreplaceable and is my greatest fortune. My last student life trip abroad to Bulgaria made me remember the beginning of my activities in AIESEC. From now on, I hope to grow as a person in a society where one can respect each other though the nationality and position may differ.
