Some students plan to return to Japan

An earthquake and tsunami that crippled nuclear reactors would be enough to keep most people… An earthquake and tsunami that crippled nuclear reactors would be enough to keep most people from traveling to Japan. But Pitt junior and Japanese language student Tom Fulks is going to try to go anyway.

Pitt has canceled its spring semester programs in the country and advised students to return home, heeding advice from the U.S. Department of State.

But some students aren’t listening. And it’s unclear whether the University will accept credits they earn through other programs.

Fulks is worried that the unfolding crisis — compounded by Pitt’s request that he and a handful of other students leave the reeling country — will knock him off track for graduation.

He planned to depart March 31 for the southern city of Kyoto, Japan, to study at Ritsumeikan University. With only a few semesters left before graduation, Fulks will not have many more opportunities to study abroad.

“It’s pretty sad because I’ve wanted to go abroad for a long time,” Fulks said.

The study abroad experience is considered especially important for language students, who can experience a foreign language and culture outside of the classroom.

In an e-mail yesterday, Jeff Whitehead, director of the Study Abroad Office, said that the University is working “with each [student’s] family individually to minimize the impact of the tragedy on credit and finances.”

“The University of Pittsburgh has offered assistance with the departure logistics,” he continued. “At this point, there is no timetable for a return to Japan under University of Pittsburgh auspices. However, everyone involved is hoping that the situation improves as quickly as possible.”

The Department of State issued a warning last Wednesday, advising U.S. citizens in Japan to leave and not travel there in the near future. The warning came after concern that one of Japan’s nuclear power plants — Fukushima Daiichi — could go into meltdown.

As Japan operates on a different academic schedule, the students there were in the middle of the school year in Japan when the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami hit Japan two weeks ago.

Despite the University’s recommendation, some students who are currently in Japan say they plan to stay there.

Junior Alana Swiss has also decided that she will continue her studies in Japan. She sent an e-mail to friends and family to explain that she is safe.

She is in the southern region of Japan, studying at Konan University in Kobe.

Swiss packed up a few of her belongings and bought a plane ticket to Australia for two weeks of vacation after the University recommended that students leave Japan. But she left most of her belongings because she intends to return April 8.

“My town has been continuing life as normal, [and] you don’t see people running for the airport here or acting out of the ordinary at all,” she said.

Junior Olivia Vareha, who lives in Kyoto and is studying at Ritsumeikan University, said in an e-mail that she will remain in Japan.

David Mills, an associate professor of Japanese language and linguistics at Pitt, said that it’s best for students to study in Japan if “they really want to learn the language.” He said the students’ inability to study abroad is a concern.

“I certainly hope that they are not abandoning study abroad,” Mills said. “It’s just that with the situation right now in Japan, a lot of people are worried.”

Japan is the only country in the world whose population primarily speaks Japanese, so Mills said students who want to study Japanese would have difficulty finding an immersion experience anywhere else.

In normal circumstances, the Japanese language department offers a summer intensive program for students who might not be able to go to Japan to arduously use their language skills. Students can also take intensive language programs at other universities for credit.

Besides refining language skills, Mills said that studying abroad teaches a lot about culture and communicating with native speakers. The first time he traveled to Japan, Mills said that he had trouble reading signs written in Japanese.

“What happens is that most students — when they haven’t studied it very much — is that they go to Japan and suddenly find themselves on the street corner, and they find themselves being illiterate,” Mills said.

Mills said the temporary cancellation of the study abroad program should not deter students from studying Japanese. He said that most students who show an interest in the program do so because of an interest in Japanese art forms like anime, manga or other areas of Japanese culture.

Fulks said that he is in the process of trading e-mails with the University to see if it is still possible to study abroad in Japan on his own.

He said that because he can study at Ritsumeikan independent from Pitt, he wants to pursue his studies there and work with the Study Abroad Office to try to receive credit, even though Pitt canceled its program.

“This is one of the my last chances to study abroad,” Fulks said.