January 30, 2009
To further support and work together with the international community, Lakeland College Japan Campus has opened its Library doors on Saturdays! With our extensive English library, complete with countless scholarly resources and databases, we hope that this service will help all those current students who are looking for all those “extra sources”.
We ask that all students who come to use our Library on Saturday’s come directly to the 4th floor to register, and that the other floors of the college not be used, for other exams, courses, and events will be held throughout other floors and rooms. We look forward to offering this service, and hope that our Library may be an additional source to your international education!
Open: Saturday 1pm - 5pm
Please Register at the 4th Floor Library
February 19th, 2009 (Thurs)
6:00pm - 7:30pm
Lakeland College Japan Campus will be hosting an English Information Session for all students, friends, parents and teachers interested in learning more about our American college in Japan.
The event will start at 6:00pm, with registration available from 5:30-6:00pm. Come join as we explain in detail our system, curriculum, class style, degree opportunities, and what kind of life is possible here at our International College. We will have a “Q&A” session towards the end, where additional questions, concerns, or interests may be discussed with our staff and current students.
Resfreshments and private consultation will also be made available, and we hope to see you there!
For those interested, please contact Charlie Stockman in our Student Affairs department for further information and reservations.
E-mail: stockman@japan.lakeland.edu
TEL: 03-3225-0425
Fax: 03-3225-0428
January 27, 2009
Yasutaka Sakamoto, former President of the SAB (’98-’99), visited Lakeland College Japan today. He attended LCJ nearly a decade ago.
Yasutaka Sakamoto, May 1999, in LCJ’s student lounge at the Shokuan Dori location. |
After graduating in 2001 from LCJ, he went on to study at our home campus in Wisconsin (LCW), where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing. After participating in several internships and holding temporary jobs, he joined a waste management and recycling company where today he has significant responsibilities as a site foreman (??), handling dangerous chemicals for safe disposal and re-use.
The faculty who were here at that time remember Yasutaka well, as he left a strong impression on all of us. He composed poetry (which was featured in our 1999-2000 yearbook) and was active in school affairs. Ms. Tanaka specifically recalls that he wore a hakama type of kimono at his graduation in August 2001.
History followed his move to the United States. Just days after he started school in Wisconsin, 9/11 struck. Although most of the classes were cancelled for the day, Yasutaka’s History class was one of the few that proceeded. After an initial silence, the professor said, “Even in times such as these, we must continue to study.”
Yasutaka says that he felt relaxed and comfortable in LCW’s countryside setting, but what impressed him the most were the other international students, especially those from Malawi, a southern African country.
Lakeland College has a program in which it pays the tuition for students from that nation to study Education; these students then return to Malawi to rebuild its educational system, and to train more teachers.
Yasutaka remembers with great respect and fondness how magnificently these students performed, despite their problems. “I was so shocked when I heard their life expectancy is around 35 years, ” he related. Some of the students were already 28 or 30 years old.
“Their responsibility is too strong, but every day their attitude is so positive.” The Malawians were always kind, gentle, serious, and hard-working. But Yasutaka admired them as much for their spirit, which he said was very similar to the traditional Japanese spirit. “While we were talking, my mind and heart felt that I was talking with my grandpa and grandma. It was excellent. That is my best memory.”
Yasutaka also has strong opinions on politics and the economy. “I feel the limits of Capitalism, ” he said, characterizing it as too reliant on greed. Democracy, in his opinion, helps control the selfishness inherent in Capitalism–but it also promotes peace. Yasutaka points out that since World War II, no two democracies have fought an outright war against each other.
On American politics, he likes Obama’s oratory, but does not think that his economic policies are strong enough. Pointing out the need for better infrastructure, he believes that not just America, but the whole world should be spending at least three times more on new infrastructure projects than they currently do.
The idea of laying new and strong foundations, along with the strong sense of hard work and personal responsibility for others that he admired so much in the Malawian students perhaps inspired his advice for the current students of LCJ: “Every time, using your heart, you should feel the pain of other people in the world–then use your mind to act. But most importantly, never lose your heart.”
January 26, 2009
Would you like to study Photoshop and InDesign? Practice Hawaiian Music or Shamisen? Brush up your English Pronunciation? Study for the TOEFL or the TOEIC tests? Or learn how to speak Korean?
LCJ is offering a new set of Open College classes. LCJ Open College classes are non-credit bearing, and are much cheaper than regular LCJ classes. You don’t study to graduate, you go to learn and to have fun! You can study:
Personal Money Management
Negotiating Across Cultures
Adobe Photoshop & InDesign
Power Point Presentation
Website Design
Magazine Article Writing
Hawaiian Music
Shamisen Lesson
Beating the TOEIC
Business English
Communicating in English
Current Issues
Improving TOEFL Performance
Practice in English Pronunciation-Fluency Drills
Korean Language
Classes are once a week for ten weeks; each meeting lasts two hours. Classes are Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, and on Saturdays from 12:30 to 2:30 pm, and from 3:00 to 5:00 pm.
A 10-week course costs ¥36,000, but LCJ and NIC students and their family members get a 20% discount! Register at the 6th floor office or send an application via the web site.
Move fast–the first week of classes starts Wednesday, January 26th!
Everyone:
Don’t forget, the new LCJ Mail system is now official! We are beginning to send out important notices via this system, and will continue to do so in the future. There isn’t too much at the present, but as time goes on, more and more communication from the school will use these email addresses. It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to monitor your LCJ Mail account REGULARLY!
LCJ Mail can be checked using any computer connected to the Internet. Make sure that you use our LCJ Mail page (http://mail.japan.lakeland.edu) to log in (don’t use the GMail page!). If your cell phone can check POP email, you can use your keitai to check it as well.
Remember, everyone at LCJ has an LCJ Mail address–even NIC students here for this semester only. You should have received a notice with your email account information, and a 2-page Quick Guide. In case you did not get that information, please check with the 6th Floor staff or see Mr. Poza. If you would like a PDF copy of the Quick Guide, here it is (1.1 MB). If you would like to download a PDF file of the longer, 24-page guide written by Mr. Poza, then right-click and download from this link (4.2 MB). Additionally, the “Help” feature in LCJ Mail is available in 42 languages, including Japanese!
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2-page Quick Guide
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24-page Booklet
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Check your LCJ Mail!
LCJ is proud to note the fact that our college, recognized by the Japanese Ministry of Education, is quickly becoming more and more international. At present, fully 20% of the students in our EAP and academic programs are from outside Japan. Currently, there are LCJ students from America, China, Ghana, Korea, Mongolia, Peru, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Uganda. We have also had students from countries such as France and Brazil. We’re looking forward to welcoming more of the world through our front doors!
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