On Thursday, August 28, the intermediate classes presented their projects. We were able to attend the last two of the morning.

The first presentation focused on students’ relationship with stress. A survey was conducted among 45 students of the school, representing 14 different countries. Eighty percent reported experiencing stress. Students noted a slight increase in their stress levels since arriving in Japan. Fear of an uncertain future and pressure related to school and studies were identified as the two main sources of stress.

The second presentation addressed a similar theme: the difficulties of student life.
The first question asked was: “How long after your alarm rings do you get up?” One third of students said they take between 10 and 20 minutes to get out of bed. “On average, how many times do you yawn during class?” Most students yawn between once and twice per class. “How many hours of sleep do you get on average per night?” The majority of students sleep between 6 and 7 hours per night. The questions and answers followed one another in a cheerful, good-humored atmosphere. Then came the inevitable question: “Which activity in Japanese class makes you feel the sleepiest?” Learning kanji and grammar ranked first. The teachers laughed, saying, “That’s when we should be taking notes.”

Topics related to student living conditions seemed to draw particular attention during this session. We wish the students not to stress too much—and above all, not to fall asleep in class during an overly soporific kanji-learning session!