Morita Miyu

Internship Period: February 28th, 2024 to May 28th, 2024

 I have been an exchange student at Ewha Womans University for one year since August 2023. At the end of my first semester in Korea, I was looking for an opportunity to not only study at the university, but also to contribute to Japan-Korea exchange, which was my original interest. I was attracted by the organization's activities and the fact that I would be able to interact with people from overseas, so I applied for an internship. I was anxious about doing an internship while balancing my schoolwork, but looking back now, I think the experience I gained at the Asia Hope Camp Organization was well worth it.

During my internship, I was mainly in charge of interpreting at events and managing Japan-Korea exchange meetings. The first time I was in charge of interpretation was at a mini-concert where students of the Asian Hope Camp Organization's trainee training course presented the results of their daily practice. I was nervous about being in charge of interpretation for the first time and made many mistakes, but I am glad that I was able to make it through to the end. Although I had been able to converse in Korean without any problems, interpreting requires a lot of comprehension and spontaneity, so my next goal was to improve my interpreting skills. I also gained experience as an interpreter by working as an interpreter for a class at a correspondence high school in Japan that offers a training course to become a KPOP practitioner. Since it was a vocal lesson, there was a lot of technical terminology, and I sometimes had trouble translating it well, but I was able to improve my accuracy as I went through the lessons. I often saw junior high and high school students pursuing their dreams of becoming KPOP idols at the places where I worked as an interpreter, and I found it very rewarding to be able to support these people who were working so hard as an interpreter.

We also put a lot of effort into organizing Japan-Korea exchange meetings, which were held twice a month. The purpose of these exchange meetings is for Japanese and Koreans to deepen their understanding of each other's culture while playing board games and chatting. At first, there were some challenges, such as the fact that there were differences in Korean language abilities among the participants, and some Japanese could not keep up with the flow of conversation. However, with the help of myself and Korean speakers with good Japanese skills interpreting in a timely manner, not only was everyone able to participate in the conversation, but it also provided an opportunity for the Korean participants to learn Japanese. As a result, I think the exchange party was beneficial to both sides. When we held a takoyaki party at one of the social gatherings, the takoyaki machine was too small and could only make a small amount at a time, and there was also the incident that no one ate the chocolate pancakes we made to change the flavor because they looked burnt. Even so, at the end of the party, everyone said they had a lot of fun and wanted to participate again, which made us feel that all our hard work in planning the event was worth it. Although it was difficult to prepare for the event due to the small number of members involved, I was very happy to see the number of participants increase as the event went on, and to see the participants develop a deeper relationship with each other.

The most important thing I have learned through my internship activities so far is the spirit of challenge to try anything new. Since the Asia Hope Camp Organization is involved in a variety of projects, it provides an environment where I can do what I want to do. I am an introvert by nature, so I have often focused on supporting rather than leading, but I have gained many new perspectives by taking the initiative. Of course, I made many mistakes, but I will continue to think about what I can do to contribute to Japan-Korea exchange and take action.