Mio Umemoto prepared for her year-long study abroad journey in the United States by watching American movies that highlighted the experiences of high school and college students.
Her favorite: High School Musical.
“A lot of High School Musical,” laughs Umemoto, a 20-year-old sophomore from outside of Fukuoka, Japan. Aside from students suddenly bursting into song and dance, she says, “It was good preparation.”
Umemoto is six months into her Campbell University experience, which will end in May. She says she wanted two things while looking for schools where she could study English as part of her foreign language curriculum at Japan’s Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka.
She wanted a more intimate, welcoming campus where she felt more like a student than a number. And she wanted a school where she could be immersed in American culture — English-speaking roommates, no Japanese foreign language program and an environment that would force her to speak and learn the language.
Six months into her year-long international journey, Umemoto says she’s found a second home at Campbell, a place that both reminds her of her hometown and has provided the new experiences and slice of “American life” she was hoping for.
“I wanted a school where I would be different,” she says. “I know if I went to a school with a lot of Japanese people, I would end up speaking Japanese. I wanted to try something different.”
Umemoto comes to Buies Creek from Kasuga, Japan, a small city on the northern shore of Japan’s Kyushu Island (a 13-hour drive of five-hour bullet train southwest of Tokyo). The area around Fukuoka and Kasuga is known for its ancient temples, beautiful beaches and shopping, but the island’s historic, rural areas remind Umemoto of rural North Carolina.
Her time in the U.S. is the English portion of her foreign languages degree — Umemoto is also studying French back home.
“I don’t have a future job or career lined up just yet, but I want to use English in whatever job I do,” she says. “Whether that is in hotels or hospitality or as an English teacher in Japan, what I am learning here will help me with that.”
Umemoto, who was named to the Dean’s List in the fall, arrived at Campbell in early September and says her English has come a long way in a short time (she knew basic English when she arrived, but did not feel comfortable talking to others). She credits her roommates in Bob Barker Hall — Ti’Azha Long, Heather-Marie Wilson and Arriel Patterson — with helping her along the way.
She says her roommates have asked questions about Japanese culture, and she, in turn, has leaned on them to learn about American culture. She’s also learned a great deal about African-American culture from her roommates, an unexpected and welcome surprise, she says.
“That’s been really nice for me,” she says. “Before coming here, I didn’t really know a lot of Black American people in Japan. I’ve learned a lot [from my roommates] — music, movies and more. It has been very interesting for me.”
Her favorite American food is macaroni and cheese (she says she’s eaten a lot of it here), and she’s taken in a few basketball and football games at Campbell (she found the rules to be confusing). The biggest difference between school in the U.S. and back in Japan, however, comes in the classroom.
“Here, students talk a lot with their professors. There are a lot of questions, and a lot of discussion during class,” she says. “But in Japan, people tend to be quiet during classes. The teacher does the talking, and that is it. That’s the biggest difference.”
Umemoto will return to Japan in May. She misses her family and her mother’s home cooking. She says she’ll have a lot of stories to tell her family and friends about her time at Campbell.
“Most of all, I will talk about hanging out with my friends,” she says. “I am very thankful for being here and having this experience.”