Abroad in Japan, How my international career all began... Past Review
By Michael S (MEE, University of Dayton) for
Japan Study Abroad Reflections: Comprehensive Reviews of Past Programs
After graduation from college, I began work with a company that had international operations and was stationed in Tokyo, Japan at age 25. After working there for three years, I left to obtain my international MBA in Barcelona, Spain at ESADE, a top ranked international program. After these five years, and becoming fluent in Japanese and Spanish, I am working back in the US and catching up with old friends.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The holistic approach to teaching where class was treated as a graduate course in discussion and learning about other cultures and management practices through learning about our own "normal". Absolutely tremendous experience for broadening mind and horizons. In my career working in Japan for three years for an automotive firm, I often was able to draw back on lessons from my professors about intra-cultural norms and best way to convey communications. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Dealt extensively with local professionals during each day's normal teaching/company visits/exploring. This usually meant a local who had experience working between culture and was an ideal person to learn from. Class size was perfect at around 14 students, with 2 full time professors/guides. Expectations were exceeded. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
Usually ate at restaurants/street food. Street food has to be good/safe, otherwise the vendors would go out of business. When people got sick, it was always because they tried to eat american food abroad (McDonalds, etc.). |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Traveled across Japan for two full weeks, China/Inner Mongolia for three weeks and Thailand for three weeks. The field trips were a highlight tour of Southeast asia. Taking part in this experience was unique in that the companies we visited were based on the makeup of the group and our interests. The field trips were the same. The group was often given a choice of what course of action to take/way to spend a day and then could come up with their own decision. In this way the group was always seeing/doing things that interested them. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Always felt very safe. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Listen to everyone on the journey as they are all amazing people doing unusual things and have their own story to tell. Your job will be to understand how you may benefit from what they have already done. |
