【June 2/4】Listen to SUJ student about FSA events (Faculty Student Edition)

Name (Nickname): Chien Chin

Country: Kuala-Lumpur (Malaysia)

Faculty: FILA, 4th year

ANDREW: Hi Yappu! First of all, thank you for the time dedicated to this interview (I know you have a busy schedule!).

Before I start, what about introducing yourself a little bit? So that also those who read this interview will know you better!

YAPPU: Hi Andrew! Of course! But do you mind if I cook in the meanwhile?

ANDREW: Not at all!

YAPPU: Thank you! Well, my name is Chien Chin – but people usually call me Yappu – and I’m from Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. I am currently in my 4th year at the Faculty of Liberal Arts (FILA). My passions are watching movies, and doing physical activities; for example, I really do enjoy walking outside in nature! Finally, I’m actually RA [Resident Assistant] in the Takiyama International Dormitory.

ANDREW: Actually, this is really fun, as you are my RA this year! Also, I know that from this year you are also one of the presidents of the Takiyama International Dormitory. You must be really busy!

YAPPU: If I have to be honest, not as much as you think, but kind of. For example, I have to finish my graduation paper, and almost every day I have to attend several online meetings regarding the dorm’s life.

ANDREW: You are really supporting each of us a lot, thank you very much!

Now, I would like to start by asking you some questions for the interview. Are you ready?

YAPPU: Sure, go ahead!

ANDREW: Few weeks ago, we concluded our second event, the Sport Festival, right after the Friendship festival. I would like to hear from you which one you enjoyed the most.

YAPPU: Well, I really enjoyed the Sport Festival: it was very creative, and personally I love “Crayon Shin-chan”, as I used to watch it when I was a child! I found it very fun!

YAPPU: Thanks to this event, I could manage to make new friends, for example among my team, as this year I didn’t really have many chances to do so due to my full schedule. Also, I could deepen the friendships that I already had before, by learning something new from them. This made me very happy!

ANDREW: I’m really happy to hear that from you! As you know, due to the pandemic, even this year we had to set up these events online. Sometimes it may be really hard, but at the same time this can give us the chance to see things from another perspective. What do you think about it? How was it for you?

YAPPU: Honestly, I think that doing sport and physical activity can be made even with very simple actions, like climbing up and down the staircases of the dorm, or even just taking a little walk outside, and this event reminded me of that. Personally, this allowed me to take a break from what I was doing and relax a little bit while doing some physical exercises! I think that holding this event online makes us do healthy activities that due to the pandemic we have stopped doing. It really helps me to break my routine and reconnect with the world!

Also, since FSA activities are places where international students can gather together, I could get closer with them, and this helps me also to know better their necessities. This way, I could learn how to better support them, and this turned out to be really useful for my role as RA in the international students’ dormitory!

ANDREW: Wow this is really interesting, Yap! Thank you very much for sharing with me your impressions! And now, I would like to ask you a last question. As you know, there are still many events that will be held until the end of the year. Among them, are there any events that you are particularly waiting for?

YAPPU: Absolutely: I.C.A.F and Forever Party! I’m very much looking forward to both of them!

I think that it is during these events that culture exchange really happens, and this is an enriching experience as we can make the globalization in this university shine.

Furthermore, this includes the participation of Japanese students, as well as the one of professors and staff, so this represents a real reunion of the entire University committee: we can literally call it a FESTIVAL!

ANDREW: Well, then get ready for it, as there is less than a month to I.C.A.F., which will be on July 2nd and 3rd!

Before I conclude, I wanted to ask you if there is something you would like to share with those who will read this interview.

YAPPU: I think that if there is something I would say to them is that we will never be alone as long as we believe and trust the friends we have around us. We sometimes may tend to hide away when facing difficulties (in particular in this hard period all of us are passing through!), but suffering is an option. If you feel alone, even though it may appear really hard to do in a first moment, what you need to do is to step up and ask: there will always be someone ready to support you!

ANDREW: Thank you so much for this final encouragement. And thank you for your time that you dedicated to me although you are cooking: it seems really delicious by the way!

YAPPU: Thank you! Bye bye