International Student Vol.1

08/23/2012

International Vol. 1
Johan give an interview (picture by Rin Oh)
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NAME: Johan Nilsson Björk
From: Sweden
Major: Japanese literature

 

   Japanese games have led Johan Nilsson Björk, a 25-year-old Swede, to seek an opportunity to study at Chuo University. 
 “I took an interest in Japan while I was playing Japanese games in my boyhood. That motivated me to learn Japanese when I was a high school student,” he said.
 
 Johan, a fifth grader, majors in Japanese literature at the Faculty of Letters. But he sits for various other classes such as philosophy, in which he said he is particularly interested. “Japanese literature is a bit too difficult for me,” he said smilingly. After school, he usually spends time chatting with his friends, including those at his two extracurricular clubs, one on rakugo (Japanese comic storytelling) and the other on drama.
 
 Asked what characterizes Sweden, Johan replied, “Well, Sweden is a small country rich in nature.” He continued, “Swedes are quieter than other Europeans and Americans. They have some resemblances to Japanese. Both are shy and care about other people.” But he added he sees a striking difference between them. “Swedes speak out what they have in mind while Japanese don’t.”
 
 Asked about his impression of Japan and its people, Johan replied off hand, “It’s very hot here in Japan, especially in the summer.” He said, “I was also impressed by an excessive wrapping at shops. Wherever you do your shopping, they wrap things too much.” On Japanese people, he said, “They are polite and kind. But they don’t seem to think on their own.”
 
 Johan said he finds Chuo’s Tama campus amazingly big. “One of the places I frequent on the campus is the cafeteria,” he said.
 
 On studying abroad, he said, “It was a great deal of fun for me to study abroad. You can manage somehow wherever you go,” adding, “It’s important to speak anyhow if you want to be a good speaker of a foreign language.”

 

 

Written by: Rin Oh