International Student Symposium was held online
On Friday, February 18, 2022 International Students Symposium hosted by the Kumamoto Student Exchanges Promotion Conference was held online. There were 50 participants, including international students attending universities in Kumamoto, high school students and the local residents.
Under the theme of “Folk tales from around the world”, 6 international students (from Estonia, Zambia, China and Thailand) including 2 KU students gave presentations about their folktales in Japanese or English. A Japanese university student provided interpretation support for a presenter who speak in English.
An international student from Thailand introduced the folklore of “Mae Nak”. Mae Nak is a pregnant woman that died while her husband is sent to war, and appears in this world becoming a vengeful ghost. He also introduced a movie about “Mae Nak” which depicts her as a ghost that expands her arms and attacks humans. In response to a question “What are you scared of Japanese ghosts?”, he commented “Japanese horror is not scary to me. I think a scary thing is different depending on the culture.” It seems they had a lively exchange of opinions on the theme of “What is the scariest story in own country?” etc. among the participants.
Participants offered comments about the symposium, such as “I found that how interesting it is to experience different culture and way of thinking,” and “I’ve learned a lot of from the symposium.” And it was a productive event where participants can feel close to other countries. The Kumamoto Student Exchanges Promotion Conference will continue to provide International students, Japanese students, high school students and local residents with more opportunities for them to experience global interaction in the future.
