The CIE-NRC grant is pleased to announce its first cohort of three CIE-NRC Title VI Study Abroad Scholars, who will each receive $2,000 in funding toward their study abroad programs. The new CIE-NRC Title VI Scholarship program is for UWM students pursuing a study abroad program that includes critical language instruction, such as Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, and Russian.
This month, we would like to spotlight study abroad scholarship recipient, Charlanique Hueneke, who is pursuing a minor in Japanese at UWM (though he plans to declare his major upon his return) and a major in civil engineering at UWM. Charlanique is currently studying abroad at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan. Now well into her program, she reflects back on his most memorable experience thus far:
My initial impression of Japanese culture was that silence is valued. I take public transport often and quickly realized that speaking is usually frowned upon-even phones must be silenced. To avoid disturbing the silence of the side streets, Nanzan University staff guide students onto the main road after school. The considerate nature of Japanese culture has made my subway trips and my walks home peaceful experiences. Such experiences are hard to find in Milwaukee.
My most memorable experiences have been provided by Nanzan University. Not only are the art classes all culturally significant, but so are the trips we made to the Grand Sumo Tournament and to Gifu. At the University I took all four art classes which included martial arts, flower arrangement, traditional dance and tea ceremony. In a village called Gero Onsen Gassho-Mura in Gifu, we explored historical thatched roof houses and watched a traditional dance. Before that, we created food replicas and explored a Japanese vintage pop culture museum. All the while I got to practice my Japanese with friendly, local Nanzan University students!
My Japanese has improved immensely since coming to study in Japan. I always knew that immersion was the best way to learn, and it truly is! English is not spoken much here, so I am forced to express myself exclusively in Japanese. I love Japan and cannot wait to improve my language skills and return to have more in-depth conversations!