By: Megan Sterrett
4/27/2006

She was alone. She couldn’t speak English. And she had just left home for the first time. Her brown eyes grew wide at the thought of it.

“Everything was amazing,” she said. “Everything is huge.”

Hiroko Yamashina arrived in the United States for the first time three years ago. She was 22 years old. She flew from her home town of Sapporo, Japan, famous for a snow festival featuring ice sculptures, to Orlando, Fla.

“Somehow I had some confidence that I can speak English,” Yamashina said.

Yamashina is scheduled to graduate this May. She will be the first radiological technology major to graduate from Friends in five years.

After arriving in the United States, she spent eight months learning English in an intensive study program at the University of Central Florida. Because Yamashina had a basic knowledge of the language, she concentrated on listening and speaking. She lived in university housing with two other international students. They didn’t speak English either.

“I stayed in my room the whole day,” she said. “I didn’t answer the door the first couple of months.”

Yamashina met other Japanese students. They were her interpreters until she got a better grasp on English.

After completing the eight-month intensive study program, Yamashina went to New Zealand for a medical interpreter program. For one month she studied medical terms in English and Japanese. She interned with an interpreter the second month.

Before leaving for New Zealand, Yamashina applied to Friends University. She wanted a school with few international students so she could improve her English speaking skills. The agency she traveled through matched her interests — including city size, weather and program of study — to a few colleges and universities. Because she already had an associate’s degree in radiological technology from Hokkaido University in Japan, Yamashina wanted to attend a four-year university. Friends fit her choices and her budget, so she started classes in the fall of 2004.

One of Yamashina’s friends studied in America while she was in high school. He got her interested in studying abroad, too.

“When I was young, many young people would dream to go to the United States. Maybe,” she laughs. “We like American style.”

At Friends Yamashina had to adjust to a new way of learning. In Japan, students attend classes from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., but they have little homework. Many students have part-time jobs in the evenings.

Karyn Turla, Yamashina’s adviser and professor of science, recalls her saying the courses here are more rigorous than in Japan. Yamashina has had to work hard, Turla said, but she has had a good work ethic from the beginning. Her presence also resulted in a cultural exchange.

“She has definitely brought awareness to the students that her culture really isn’t that much different than ours,” Turla said.

Turla actively helped her adjust to school. Her classmates helped her study and prepare for exams, too.

“Everything was challenging for me,” Yamashina said. “The hardest thing was speech.”

Even if she could ask a student to repeat what a professor said, that student would reply in English, she said.

Japanese courses, unlike American classes, focus more on testing than oral presentations and reports. Yamashina admits she was nervous about speaking in front of native English speakers. Many of her classmates perceive her as shy, but she is actually outgoing, she said.

“I am actually ashamed of my English,” Yamashina said. “That is why I rarely speak up in class.”

In reality she articulates her thoughts clearly, only occasionally leaving out an article like “a” or “the.” At one point she debated with herself over the job description of her father, an engineer.

“He makes machinery,” Yamashina said. “No, designs. No, makes.”

Her eyes roll upward to stare at some unknown point on the ceiling. She debates on which word to use for another minute. Finally: “Designs. He designs machinery.”

Her mom is a medical clerk at a hospital. She also has an older brother, Masaaki. Yamashina goes home for winter and summer breaks to see family and friends. She never gets homesick, she said.

Her mom has visited twice because she is worried about her daughter and she is curious about American culture.

Yamashina lives alone in an apartment off campus. This is her first time to live by herself.
Yamashina embraces both Japanese and American cultures. Her favorite band is Aerosmith.

“I went to concert twice,” she said with a grin.

Yamashina also finds solace in driving her small SUV, a 1999 Kia Sportage.

“I love to drive,” she said. “Whenever I have free time, I just drive.”

After graduation Yamashina hopes to get a job in a hospital or clinic as a medical interpreter for Japanese speakers. She plans to go to another state, possibly California, where the Japanese population is larger.

Yamashina recently applied for optional practical training. This allows her to work in the United States for one year. After that she will apply for an H1Visa. If she gets one she will be able to work in the United States for three additional years. She isn’t sure if she will apply for citizenship because the process is lengthy.

“My wish is to stay here as long as I can,” Yamashina said. “I think in U.S. we have more opportunities to work, to study than in Japan.”