Alumnus-funded Japan trip

Political Science and Communication classes visit Japan over Spring Break

Kylie Durham / Asst. News Editor / The USD Vista

Disclaimer: I personally was a part of this Spring Break trip to Japan, however I am focusing on experiences from other students and faculty members. 

On Mar. 3, two classes from the University of San Diego embarked for Japan as part of a fully-funded excursion by the Chapman Family Foundation. This 10 day program started on Friday and concluded the following Sunday morning. The two classes in attendance were Dr. Leeva Chung’s Intercultural Communication 475 and Dr. Andrew Tirrell’s Politics in the Environment 349. A total of 36 students traveled to numerous cities in Japan to learn through firsthand experiences about Japanese culture and what it means to be a global citizen.

The Chapman Family Foundation is a fully funded program by USD alumnus Greg Chapman, class of ‘92. However, the dream to send students abroad globally originally comes from Dr. Edmonds-Poli of the Political Science department. The purpose of the program is to provide students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel somewhere outside of the United States in an attempt to integrate classroom lessons with real life experiences. As her second year abroad, Dr. Edmonds-Poli emphasized the impact of this opportunity.

“The idea behind the program is that it lowers the barriers to accessing study abroad by covering the cost,” Edmonds-Poli said. “Academically, it is within a regular semester class, so you have the first part of the semester to get an academic foundation that is going to help you understand your experience, and reflect on how what you have learned in the classroom relates to what you see in real life.” 

The first class to be part of this program was Dr. Edmonds-Poli’s Mexican Politics and Society course during the last Spring Break. The group traveled to Mexico City for a week to examine the politics discussed in class taking place in real time. The trip allowed the class to make those connections through tangible practice. The success of the Mexico trip encouraged Chapman to send more students abroad — this time to a country with a drastically varying lifestyle: Japan. 

Both classes noticed striking differences between the two cultures during their time in Japan. USD junior Jess Lefford, a student of Dr. Tirrell’s course, explained the main difference that caught her attention.

 “Culture-wise, people are very polite everywhere,” Lefford said. “I guess one of the things that really stood out to me was how respectful they are in different spaces, especially public spaces. They are hushed and watch their voice volume.”

Being quiet is a very large part of Japanese culture for a variety of reasons. In preparation for the trip, both classes were informed about this cultural norm alongside the expectations of being quiet in public spaces. 

Dr. Chung explained in greater detail why Japanese citizens particularly ask for silence in these public spaces.

 “Silence in that psychological space is important in Japan. I could be sitting so close to you, but you do not exist. And that is how they live their lives. They need 15 minutes of psychological quietness before they go to their next shenanigan. Public spaces are the only place they can do it,” Chung said.

The silence was even present at typically loud events in the United States like baseball games. Dr. Tirrell’s class watched a baseball game while in Tokyo, and students were shocked to see the stands much quieter than the ones at home. 

Lefford pointed out the change in volume.

 “I am used to so much noise at American sporting events, and even though there was exciting action happening, it was still very quiet,” Lefford observed. “Everyone was sitting there eating their food and watching the game, and then we were a whole group of American students who were still yelling and such.”

In addition to the overall silence, students noticed other discrepancies. For USD sophomore Josh Spaulding, he reflected back on his experience interacting with the citizens in Japan and noted what stood out to him the most.

“Their kindness and respectfulness. Everyone was just so hospitable and so kind. They were always willing to do the most,” Spaulding said. 

Not everything went according to plan on the trip, however. Upon arrival in Osaka, both classes missed their connecting flight to Kyoto, which forced director Dr. Edmonds-Poli to quickly pivot to a new plan. Yet the unexpected turnaround once again proved the kindness-of-heart of Japanese citizens.

“As director of the program, my biggest challenge is making sure we don’t have any major hiccups, and it runs as smoothly as possible,” Edmonds-Poli said. “I would love to claim credit for it moving smoothly, but I think our Japanese partners are really the ones responsible. They got us on the metro and had 40 rooms waiting for us at the nearby hotel; it was all their doing. I was so amazed at how dedicated they are to their hospitality, and making sure an unwanted situation got resolved in a satisfactory way.”

The overall benefits outweighed the challenges that occurred on the trip. Many students reflected back on their time abroad and what connections they made between American and Japanese cultures. 

USD senior Lily Rand approached the trip with an open mind and was pleased with the turnout.

“This trip allowed us to interact interculturally with people who have completely different experiences and lifestyles than we do. And for me that really was life changing in a way, as cheesy as it sounds,” Rand said. “You don’t realize how wrapped up you are in that ethnocentric mindset and in the U.S. culture until you get out of it. It puts everything into perspective in a way you have really never been able to see before.”

Fellow classmate, USD senior Madison Kalahui, connected her culture in Hawaii to that of the Japanese.

“Obviously I got to learn more about the Japanese culture and traditions of how they do things,” Kalahui said. “I even got to see a lot of my culture in Japanese culture. I think the culture of Hawaii has a lot of similarities to Japanese culture, so it was really cool to see the similarities between the two in the food and lifestyle. Culture in Hawaii is a huge melting pot, and we have Asian influences everywhere.”

This experience connected the students of USD to not only their peers, but another part of the world. Dr. Edmonds-Poli touched on the significance of this study abroad on a larger scale.

“The overarching motive for doing this whole thing is it is really important for students to understand they are part of a much bigger whole in the world,” Edmonds-Poli said. “It is this idea of global citizenship, and that you are very happy to be who you are and where you are, but you also have an appreciation for places that are different. Places that do things differently than we do. You can really only have that through experiences like this.” 

The week-long trip in Japan exceeded all expectations for students and faculty. With unique opportunities provided to students, USD stands as one of the strongest universities in the nation for study abroad programs. It is experiences such as this one that makes the college experience at USD rich in value.