My first meeting with Japan…

Jennice is a Filipino American 22-year old university student who has almost never been outside of California throughout her whole life. The only two exceptions are once in Tijuana and twice in Las Vegas.

She finally receives the opportunity to experience life in another country through the San Diego State University International Exchange Program. Her destination is Osaka University of Arts in Osaka, Japan, which is a perfect choice for her studies in Japanese and Television, Film, & New Media. She would mostly like to become an editor, but is interested in learning the other positions involved in production.

In applying for national scholarships, Jennice proposed the idea to create a monthly cultural documentary web series as her service project. Through the “Jennice Meets Japan” project, she provides cultural reflection on her day to day experiences, a glimpse of key places and events, and informative advice on traveling and living in Japan. She hopes that her project will encourage students to study overseas, learn about Japanese culture, and motivate viewers to start and applying their talents to their own projects.

Jennice admits she is a naive American who only knows Japan by education, media, and the internet. Japanese movies, music, television, video games, and manga have intrigued her for years and served as windows to Japanese culture. But they only create the fictional idealized picture of Japan. She wishes to break any misconceptions and for the first time meet the real Japan.

SDSU Exchange Programs

Various programs available directly through San Diego State University offering opportunities to study at 46 different countries, available for Semester or Academic year with the benefit of paying SDSU tuition. Click here to see the SDSU Study Abroad website or click here for SDSU Exchange Programs in Japan.

Osaka University of Arts

A private arts university located in Kanan, Minamikawachi District in southern Osaka. Departments include: For more information please see the main website (Japanese) or the english page.

Osaka, Japan

Osaka is located near the Osaka Bay in Kansai Region of main island Honshu and is part of the second largest metropolitan area in Japan. The name “Oosaka” literally means “Large Hill” and is known to be primarily a merchant city in the past. Since the area has many streams and rivers, Osaka has numerous bridges each with different names.
Osaka is also known as the origin for notable foods such as takoyaki (Fried Octopus Balls).