Eric's Beijing Diary

Took the train to Shinjuku and had lunch with some of my students who are doing internships here in Japan. After a sukiyaki lunch, we went to a coffee bar and talked the day away. I was telling the students today about some of the students I worked with at the university I taught at in Arizona. They were fascinated with Japanese computer games, and their dream was to go to Japan and work for a Japanese software company. At one point the university even hired a Japanese teacher to teach Japanese language as an elective, because so many students wanted to study Japanese, in hopes of being able to work there.

But I don't know a single one of those students who actually fulfilled his dream. The students I visited with today, on the other hand, are given extensive Japanese language training at the Beijing campus, then lined up with internships at Japanese companies in Tokyo. I reminded these kids today how fortunate they are to have this kind of opportunity. I had students in Arizona who would do almost anything for such a unique option.