Ugudei and Khatanbaatar came to Japan two months ago. Before coming to Japan, they have finished their first year at a university in Mongol. They are now learning Japanese language at Shizuoka Japanese Education Center. Let's have a look at the new students' fun day.

Their class begins. They are going to make a presentation today. They look a bit nervous!

Ugudei and Khatanbatar live in an apartment in Aoi-ku together. They have bread and bananas for breakfast. After the breakfast, they prepare to leave for school. They leave for school around 8:25. It takes about 12 minutes from their place to school by bicycle. Their fun and sparkling day has begun.

Off to school!

They have classes in the morning. They learn Japanese for 4 hours a day at school. In Mongol, Ugudei majored in Japanese while Khatanbaatar studied architecture at university. Now they are hoping to go on to university in Japan after graduating Shizuoka Japanese Education Center. Ugudei wants to study Japanese IT systems; on the other hand Khatanbaatar wants to keep studying architecture.

Their class begins. They are going to make a presentation today. They look a bit nervous!

Their classmates are from different countries. They can learn various cultures from them, and they always have fun chats with them.

Recess time with classmates. Their presentation is over! They look relieved!

In their classes, students take turns to give their presentations. Ugudei and Khatanbaatar find the classes are a little challenging, but they ask their teachers and classmates questions whenever they don't understand. They also have a lot of homework like written assignments. They both try hard to learn Japanese every day.

in the class

After returning home, they cook a simple, quick dish like fried rice for lunch. They can cook delicious fried rice.

Look at him stir-frying vegetables!

After having a short rest at home, they head to the city to look around. As they are now looking for a part-time job, they pick up job magazines in the city. And as always, time flies! They go home before getting too dark. On the way home, they drop by a convenience store near their place to buy fruits or a salad for tomorrow's breakfast.

Heading to the city!

Enjoying shopping.

At home, they review what they have learned at school, practice writing kanji and prepare for tomorrow's class. They also need to finish their homework! In order to remember new words and kanji, they write them down on a paper and hang it in their room. After finishing reviewing and learning Japanese, they research on their own interests individually. Ugudei reads magazines about technology in Japan while Khatanbaartar learns new words from books or magazines on architecture.

Reviewing lessons at home!

After having a shower, they go to bed.

"They have classes only on weekdays, but they participate in a special class, activities or school events on Saturday if those are held at school. They also take part in preparation for the school events or play sports with their classmates. It sometimes happens that they bring up their own ideas about school events, and discuss them with their teachers. The teachers give them good advice and support.
On Sunday, they do their laundry and clean their room in the morning. After having brunch, they are off to grocery shopping for the night and the next week or two. They do this on weekends because they want to spend their time on study on weekdays. For dinner, they cook traditional Mongolian dishes such as Tsuivan and Buuz. Having gained energy from the meals reminding them of their home country, they start making a study plan for the next week and preparing for tomorrow's class. "

Shizuoka is famous not only for industrial products but also for agricultural products such as green tea, wasabi (Japanese horseradish), oranges, and strawberries. This school event, orange-picking, turned out to be a wonderful opportunity for newly enrolled students like Ugudei and Khatanbaatar to visit the place where the specialty of the city is produced, and to enjoy the taste. They also enjoyed talking with second-year students from different countries. The talks with the seniors motivated them more to learn Japanese. They have been enjoying their school life, actively joining various school events like this. 。

Even though Ugudei and Khatanbaatar receive financial supports from their parents, I hope they find a part-time job, learn many things from the work experience and make many good friends. They arrived in Japan only a couple of months ago, but they have been enthusiastic, participating in fun school events or visiting many places in Shizuoka. Of course, they have been trying hard to learn Japanese too. I hope they keep their initial enthusiasm in mind and try their best, even in times of trouble, to make their dreams come true. I also hope they will contribute to the development of Mongol after their return to the country.

Comments from Ugudei and Khatanbaatar