This morning we took a train with our luggage to get to the
next hotel. I was happy the train was
not packed. Then we took multiple trains
and the subway to get to Nagoya University and experienced the crammed train cars.
It was a long morning. A
professor from Nagoya told us about the school and we were able to meet some of
the students and eat lunch with them. I
spent most of the day talking to a grad student named Kotoka. She is studying education and focusing on
researching entrance exams and processes for college. The Nagoya school of education is more of a
research school then a school to prepare students for a teaching career. Only about 8% of students from the school of
education actually go on to teach. Many
of the students did have part time jobs substituting or tutoring. We spent the afternoon talking with the
students and touring their campus.
Unlike in Taiwan, they do not have a lot of English speaking
international students because all of the courses are taught in Japanese. They stressed that they are making an effort
to increase the number of classes taught in English to attract more
international students. The students
here did not speak as much English as in Taiwan and were fairly shy. We stayed at the University for dinner which
was similar to the bbq meat I had the night before, but many more courses. Most of the students could not join us. At the restaurant everyone had to remove
their shoes before entering. I find this
custom very gross. I don’t want to smell
other peoples feet when I eat. We sat in
the lower seating which was different.
They used to kneel. Now it is like you are sitting on the floor and
there is a hole under the table for everyone legs and feet. It was a good experience even though it was a long
meal. We took the subway and train back
to the hotel. Out of all the places we
have stayed, everyone has been able to get a decent room, but this time three of us
were stuck in smoking rooms. I happen to
be one of them and slept with the window open.
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