Mr. Fumio Nakajima, a third-year student of the University of Aizu, and Mr. Junichi Fujinuma, a first-year student of the University of Aizu, has finished their two-week program (from March 12, 2008 - March 29) at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, U.S.A. (state of Indiana) on UoA's International Short-Term Study Program for Academic Year 2007.
Here are the reports on their study and daily life at RHIT.
A report from Mr. Fumio Nakajima
I had two purposes for this Short-Term Study Program. One purpose was to confirm my English skills I have studied in Japan. I wanted to know how much English I could use in the United States. The English spoken by my roommate and his friends was much faster than studying materials which can be bought in Japan, so I had to ask them to say over and over for my understanding. Similarly I had to say to them over and over for their understanding. Therefore, I asked my friends I got along with at RHIT about English, such as pronunciation of L and R, what differences there are between L and R. It was a very good experience for me to study English because what I learned from my friends was different from books or lectures in my college.
Another purpose was to see students studying in the same field but in a deferent country. I have heard that RHIT had provided good lectures and students had put a lot of efforts into study, and it was exactly correct. In class, students use their own laptop, and sometimes there are students who are seeing an unrelated website. However, when they have something they don't understand in the lecture, they immediately ask their professor a question and solve their problem during the class. I think class was not difficult for them because they had prepared enough. When they return to their dorm, they do a lot of homework. Since when they are assigned their homework, there is always not enough time by its deadline, they always have to finish their homework in a hurry. While they are busy, they also play cards and video games sometimes. On the other hand, even in this enjoyable time, they can stop playing by saying "I'll go ba