General Information and Universities we visited

• Sept. 20 6 p.m. Arrival at the Montreal Trudeau Airport, QC,
• Sept. 21 Visiting Montreal Downtown (Ville Marie) and Underground City (RESO)
• Sept. 22 Visiting Municipal Performing Art and Circus City (TOHU)
• Sept. 23 Meeting with JSA (Japanese Student Association) Students of McGill University,
• Sept. 24 Moving to Charlottetown, PEI, by Air from Montreal
• Sept. 25 (Morning) City Tour Guided by Professor Edward McDonald in the Flame of PEI and Atlantic Canadian Architectural History
  (Afternoon) Visiting University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) and Lecture at “Canadian Business Culture 1” by Professor Heather Rossiter
• Sept. 26 Visiting Green Gables House at Cavendish, famous place for “Anne of Green Gables” by Lucy M. Montgomery
• Sept. 27 (Afternoon) Oral Presentation by the Participants and Commented by Professor Jim Randall
  (Night) Farewell Party Organized by Prof. Randall at his home

• Sept. 28 Moving to New Orleans, LA, by Air from Charlottetown
• Sept. 29 Visiting French Quarter
• Sept. 30 Taking a Mississippi River Cruise
  Visiting Jazz Museum
• Oct. 1 Moving to Lafayette, LA, by greyhound bus from New Orleans
• Oct. 2 Visiting Lafayette Downtown
• Oct. 3 Visiting University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL)
• Oct. 4 Taking part in Cajun Food Tours
• Oct. 5 (Morning) Departure from Lafayette Regional Airport
• Oct.6 Arrival at Narita Airport and End of the SV program.

We visited several universities in both countries. “McGill University” in Montreal, “University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI)” in Charlottetown, and “University of Louisiana at Lafayette(ULL)” in Lafayette. I’d like to talk about those universities through our experiences there.

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Canadian universities

McGill University is actually provincial and the oldest university in Canada. It was founded in 1821. The campus is located in hill side of the Mont Royal, Montreal City, Quebec, the only French-speaking province in Canada. However, all lessons in this university are in English. There are 21 faculties and over 300 majors. Especially the Faculty of medicine is famous. The university had produced some Nobel Prize winners in various fields. In the ranking of the world's universities, McGill University is within the top 20, the highest of Canada. It is the same position as University of Tokyo in Japan.

McGill University has a student organization called “JSA McGill”. “JSA” means “Japan Student Association of McGill”. The main members in this organization are University of McGill students, who are Japanese or interested in Japan. They are trying to spread Japanese culture and language to Montreal. They hold regular events, such as the experience of traditional Japanese performing arts, Japanese language tutorials, fund raisers, and networking.

We participated in the Culture Exchange event organized by JSA McGill. We were divided into two booths, calligraphy and origami, and held workshops. We welcomed some students who happened to come in our booths. On the corner of the classroom, we set Japanese sweets and snacks on the table, and let the students taste them freely. It was very difficult to explain that in English, but I was very glad that they enjoyed touching the traditional Japanese culture.

The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) is a provincial university situated in suburban area of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island capital city, Canada. This university is called “UPEI”. Originally, this university was founded as “Saint Dunstan College” in 1804. In 1969, by reorganization and provincialization, the UPEI was created. It has a history of over 200 years. There are 9 faculties and 150 courses, for example, business, tourism, nursing science, and veterinary science. UPEI is also international university. It is because the university actively accepts foreign students, so there are foreign students whose nationalities are more than 60. On the campus, there are three school dormitories, the library, the PC lab, cafeterias, the gym, the sports centre, and other facilities. There is also a Lucy M. Montgomery Institute that commemorated L. M. Montgomery, author of “Anne of Green Gables”. Near university, there are movie theatres, shopping malls, restaurants and seashores. We can walk to the beach on foot.

On the first day, we walked around the city with Professor McDonald as a guide. While listening to PEI's history, we visited the harbour and some churches. A lot of historical buildings with red bricks made of island cray. It was very fashionable. In the afternoon, we participated in the class “Canadian Business Culture” of the faculty of business administration held by professor Heather Rossiter.

On the second day, we gave a presentation on the theme of “The difference between Yokohama and Montreal”. The presentation was made in three parts: transportation, food, and time. After Professor Jim Randall asked us a few questions about the differences between PEI and Montreal, we listened to his presentation about immigration. There was a farewell party at Jim's house at the last night in PEI. We enjoyed talking with professors, graduate students, and Jim’s wife over gorgeous meal. We received the provincial flag of PEI as a souvenir.

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The University of Louisiana at Lafayette

The ULL is a state university, founded in 1898. It located in near city centre of Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S. The campus is large and full of buildings. There are many dormitories, so some students are living in the campus. There are 22 faculties and 80 majors. Especially the Faculty of nursing science is popular. The University of Louisiana has nine campuses. The Lafayette campus is the second largest of this university, and holds the greatest number of students of it.

Much as we had no class nor cultural exchange activity at ULL in the program, we dropped in the university and visited the campus. The Campus is very huge and beautiful. There were some alligators in an inner university pond. And there were posted the warning, written like this, “UL Ragin Cajuns CYPRESS LAKE Alligator Habitat Caution: DO NOT FEED THE ALLIDATORS KEEP PETS OUT OF THE LAKE DO NOT LITTER”. “Ragin' Cajuns” are the nickname of the ULL and its students. And its mascot is figured a large lily flower coloured red. Usually, US and Canadian universities hold an animal character as a school mascot. For example, the students of the UPEI are called “Panthers”. ULL's case is very rare, I think.

Through visiting various universities, and taking classes or participating in events, we were able to learn about the characteristics of those universities and understand their differences from Japanese ones including YNU. I consider visiting universities in foreign countries gives me a chance to make my abilities on foreign languages, especially English up. I feel that more certain through this trip tour.