S3E29: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Tatsuya ‘Kyle’ Nakamura of Japan

In this our twenty-ninth (29th) episode of Season 3 (and 115th overall!), Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews international student Tatsuya 'Kyle' Nakamura about his experience here at Seattle Colleges and about life in the United States. 

1:19 - Meet Kyle!

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Transcript

Evan Franulovich  0:00  
Welcome to Seattle Colleges International Programs and our show 'Conversations with!', where we talk to people that help you understand how you too, can be an international student in the United States and why Seattle Colleges should be your first choice. We'll talk to students and staff and agents and government folks, all kinds of people about what you can expect when you're getting ready to apply or travel here, what you'll experience while you're with us, and how it can all lead to an amazing life. Don't forget to check out the Seattle Colleges International Programs website at intl.seattlecolleges.edu where you can find a treasure trove of information about the school, the programs here and best of all, fill out and submit your application. Again, that's intl.seattlecolleges.edu.

Hey everybody! Welcome back to Seattle Colleges 'Conversations with!' We are here at Seattle Central College down in the heart of the city of Seattle.

Welcome to the show one of our international ambassadors. He has decided to join us today. We really appreciate it. Can you tell everybody who you are, where you're from, and maybe what you're studying, how long you been here?

Tatsuya Nakamura  1:31  
Hi, I'm Kyle. I'm Tetsuya Nakamura, but you can call me Kyle as my English name. I've been here for two years and three months so far. And I am from Yokohama, Japan. 

Evan Franulovich  1:47  
Yeah. Yokohama is famous for it's tires, right? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  1:51  
Oh, really? 

Evan Franulovich  1:51  
I think so. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  1:52  
I don't know. 

Evan Franulovich  1:53  
Yokohama tires, yeah. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  1:55  
Could be. 

Evan Franulovich  1:56  
Could be, yeah. Is it an industrial city? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  1:58  
Um, yeah. Depends on the town. 

Evan Franulovich  2:04  
Okay. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  2:05  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  2:05  
Sounds good. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  2:06  
So my town, like, it's not really. It's kind of countryside. 

Evan Franulovich  2:12  
Oh, really? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  2:13  
Kind of.

Evan Franulovich  2:14  
So you live outside of the city. Are there chickens walking around?

Tatsuya Nakamura  2:20  
Not that much. 

Evan Franulovich  2:23  
Okay, cool. And what else I was gonna ask you, something else about it. I think you're our first guest, from that area of Japan. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  2:32  
Oh, really? 

Evan Franulovich  2:32  
That's kind of cool. Yeah. So what made you want to become an international student? Had you always wanted to be one, or did someone suggest it to you?

Tatsuya Nakamura  2:43  
Well, yeah. When I was a child, I couldn't study at all. To be honest. 

Evan Franulovich  2:48  
You couldn't? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  2:48  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  2:50  
You're just too hyper active?

Tatsuya Nakamura  2:52  
No. I'm Japanese, but I don't really speak Japanese well. 

Evan Franulovich  2:59  
What?! 

Tatsuya Nakamura  3:01  
Since I was seven years old, I started studying English. So, I feel like English is only one fun subject for me.

Evan Franulovich  3:14  
Really? Well, your English is amazing, actually. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  3:17  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  3:17  
Yeah. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  3:18  
Then one of my friends was in here, in Seattle. So they're like, 'Seattle is still fun. So why don't you come?' I was like, 'Oh, okay.' then I went to college in Japan. 

Evan Franulovich  3:30  
Oh, you did? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  3:30  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  3:31  
So you got a bachelor's degree in Japan? Oh, in what subject?

Tatsuya Nakamura  3:35  
Not subject, but I learned general subject... 

Evan Franulovich  3:41  
Okay. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  3:41  
...in English in Japan. 

Evan Franulovich  3:43  
All right. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  3:43  
So they have a connection with Seattle Central College. 

Evan Franulovich  3:48  
Ahhhh! 

Tatsuya Nakamura  3:48  
So I was like, 'Seattle is cool.' So that's why I came here.

Evan Franulovich  3:53  
So you applied, you came and what did you say your majors in?

Tatsuya Nakamura  3:56  
In Japan?

Evan Franulovich  3:57  
No, here. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  3:58  
Business Technology Management. 

Evan Franulovich  4:00  
Business Technology Management. Okay, great. And you're almost done then, right? If you've been here two plus years, you must be graduating soon. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  4:06  
Yes, spring is gonna be my graduating quarter.

Evan Franulovich  4:14  
Yeah, graduation. Are you gonna walk in the graduation ceremony? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  4:18  
Yeah, probably. 

Evan Franulovich  4:18  
Cool. And wear something interesting on your cap and gown that identifies you? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  4:26  
Could be. 

Evan Franulovich  4:26  
Could be. Nice. Well, so you've been here two years, so you got lots of time here. So when you were in Japan, did you talk to your parents about it, they were super supportive? They were like, 'Yeah, go to US. We don't care.' 

Tatsuya Nakamura  4:45  
Yeah. My dad was super supportive, if you want, yeah, you can go. But my mom was like, 'Oh, I'm gonna be so sad. You cannot go.'

Evan Franulovich  4:54  
Come on, mom. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  4:56  
Yeah, it's gonna be a good experience for me. I could speak English more.

Evan Franulovich  5:05  
For sure. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  5:06  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  5:06  
Does she speak English? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  5:08  
No.

Evan Franulovich  5:10  
Has she been here, over here to visit you since you came or your dad?

Tatsuya Nakamura  5:16  
She's gonna come in April.

Evan Franulovich  5:18  
Cool. See you graduate?

Tatsuya Nakamura  5:20  
No.

Evan Franulovich  5:21  
No, just before you graduate. Well, cool. Well, hey, when your mom comes here, maybe we could do an interview with her.

Tatsuya Nakamura  5:30  
I need to be a translator for her. 

Evan Franulovich  5:32  
Oh, that's true. That's true. Yeah. Well, that's cool. Are you the only child, by the way, or do you have brothers and sisters? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  5:42  
I have an older brother. 

Evan Franulovich  5:43  
Oh, okay. What's he doing? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  5:45  
He's kind of working at the hospital.

Evan Franulovich  5:47  
Oh, right. In Japan? So you decide to come, you apply, you get accepted, of course. And then how long did it take for you to get your visa interview?

Tatsuya Nakamura  5:59  
Well, it didn't take so long because I met Mizue in Japan. As I said, I went to college in Japan. They were so supportive because my major was to transfer to other countries, university or college. 

Evan Franulovich  6:23  
Okay. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  6:23  
So they support it so much. 

Evan Franulovich  6:25  
Nice. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  6:25  
So it didn't take so long, one or two months.

Evan Franulovich  6:28  
Oh, that's pretty fast. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  6:30  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  6:30  
And then when you did your interview, did you do it in Tokyo, or did you have a consulate in your city? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  6:37  
In Tokyo? 

Evan Franulovich  6:38  
Oh, you did have to go. And how far away is that?

Tatsuya Nakamura  6:42  
On our hour by train. 

Evan Franulovich  6:43  
Oh, super fast. And then when you got there, how long did it take to do the interview?

Tatsuya Nakamura  6:49  
Not so long time, I think.

Evan Franulovich  6:53  
5-10-15 minutes somewhere, pretty short. Do you remember what kind of questions they asked you?

Tatsuya Nakamura  6:59  
Well, what do you want to do and study something. Yeah, I don't really remember that.

Evan Franulovich  7:06  
It was a while ago. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  7:07  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  7:08  
That's cool. Were you nervous?

Tatsuya Nakamura  7:11  
Not really.

Evan Franulovich  7:13  
It was all in English. Very cool.

Tatsuya Nakamura  7:16  
So probably, if that's in Japanese, I would've been nervous. In English, not really. 

Evan Franulovich  7:22  
Surely, you speak Japanese fluently. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  7:22  
Yeah, I do. 

Evan Franulovich  7:22  
That's your first language, yeah. So when you talk to your mom and dad, you're speaking in Japanese? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  7:26  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  7:26  
Of course. All right. And when you speak with Mizue, do you have any problem?

Tatsuya Nakamura  7:36  
Not really. 

Evan Franulovich  7:37  
Oh, okay. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  7:38  
We both speak Japanese and English. 

Evan Franulovich  7:41  
Sure. Do you speak a different style of Japanese? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  7:45  
Kind of the same, though. 

Evan Franulovich  7:48  
Okay, pretty close the same. All right, well, so you get your visa on your first try, and then how long before you got on a plane to come to the US?

Tatsuya Nakamura  7:58  
I got the visa in November. 

Evan Franulovich  8:03  
Yeah. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  8:03  
Then I got on the plane in December.

Evan Franulovich  8:06  
Oh, so, not too long. So you had to put your bags together, pack your suitcases. Do you remember what you wish you had packed that you didn't pack? After you got here you must been like, 'Oh, I wish I had remembered to bring this.' 

Tatsuya Nakamura  8:21  
Well, yeah. I should've got brought more Japanese food.

Evan Franulovich  8:26  
Haha. More Japanese food. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  8:28  
Yeah, kind of convenience stuff. 

Evan Franulovich  8:30  
Yeah, yeah. But we have some great Asian markets here in Seattle. Are you able to find most of what you're looking for?

Tatsuya Nakamura  8:42  
Yeah, yeah. I went to Uwajimaya and found some good Japanese one. 

Evan Franulovich  8:48  
Okay, do you cook? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  8:50  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  8:51  
All right, that's great. And what about the Japanese restaurants? You know, Japanese food is great. We have a number of Japanese restaurants within Seattle, because there's such a huge Asian community. Have you found one in particular that you think's like, this is legit Japanese food? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  9:07  
Well, I found good sushi restaurant actually. 

Evan Franulovich  9:10  
Really? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  9:10  
Yeah, it's in Belltown, called Umisaku House. 

Evan Franulovich  9:14  
Shout out to Umisaku House. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  9:16  
Yeah, it's really nice. 

Evan Franulovich  9:18  
Really? That's good for me to know. I love sushi. Pretty much the same. Like, there's probably American style sushi. That's not really sushi. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  9:28  
It's really sushi. 

Evan Franulovich  9:29  
Okay. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  9:29  
Yeah, not not American way. 

Evan Franulovich  9:31  
Okay. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  9:31  
It's Japanese way sushi. 

Evan Franulovich  9:32  
Right on. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  9:33  
That's why I love it. 

Evan Franulovich  9:34  
It's awesome. Okay, so if you are coming from Japan and you start missing home, you can check that place out. So you are arriving, and you started in winter quarter, obviously. And then tell us about your first quarter here. What was that like?

Tatsuya Nakamura  9:53  
Well, first quarter. Yeah, when I got the airplane. No, I mean airport. 

Evan Franulovich  9:59  
Mm, hmm. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  9:59  
Yeah, it was like literally like the movie Frozen. It was snowy and windy. 

Evan Franulovich  10:08  
Oh, really? That's unusual in Seattle. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  10:15  
One of my friends was supposed to pick me up, but the road was frozen. Sorry, I can't pick you up. 

Evan Franulovich  10:23  
So what did you do? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  10:24  
So I took the train. 

Evan Franulovich  10:26  
Okay. Subway. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  10:28  
And the bus to get the house. 

Evan Franulovich  10:31  
Oh, okay, cool. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  10:32  
So, but this was, that was my first time to come to the US. I'm abroad, first time ever in my life. 

Evan Franulovich  10:39  
Wow. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  10:41  
Yes, I didn't know how to get on the train.

Evan Franulovich  10:44  
Yeah, scary. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  10:49  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  10:50  
But you navigated it okay? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  10:52  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  10:53  
Your English is good, so that helps a lot, right?

Tatsuya Nakamura  10:55  
Yeah, I got better since I got here. 

Evan Franulovich  10:58  
Okay. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  10:59  
Yeah, I learned English a lot in Japan. 

Evan Franulovich  11:07  
Right. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  11:08  
But they speak just a little bit slower for us. 

Evan Franulovich  11:12  
Of course they do. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  11:14  
But airport, not bad. They speak so fast. So I was like, 'I'm sorry?'

Evan Franulovich  11:20  
Yes, I understand. Yeah, I speak Spanish, it's one of the languages I speak. And I was just down in Colombia, and I would say something to them in Spanish, and then they would be speaking fast, whoa, slow down. It's kind of kind of tough. Well, that's great. So you said you took the subway to your house. So what is your housing situation? What was it when you first got here, and what is it now?

Tatsuya Nakamura  11:41  
The first time was. What was that...?

Evan Franulovich  11:55  
The winter quarter.

Tatsuya Nakamura  11:58  
What was that called housing? The host family. 

Evan Franulovich  12:02  
Oh, homestay. You did a homestay. Oh, cool. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  12:06  
And now I'm living alone.

Evan Franulovich  12:07  
Now you got it, like a studio apartment. What part of the city? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  12:12  
Um, Seattle. 

Evan Franulovich  12:14  
I mean, are you like a U district? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  12:16  
Capital Hill. 

Evan Franulovich  12:17  
Capital Hill. So you are really close to...can you just walk to...?

Tatsuya Nakamura  12:21  
Yeah, I can, but I don't. 

Evan Franulovich  12:22  
You take the street car or something? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  12:25  
I take the bus. 

Evan Franulovich  12:26  
Oh, nice. All right, cool. Yeah. Capitol Hill is a cool part of town. That's nice. Do you feel like you get a pretty good deal for your rent? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  12:37  
Mhmm.

Evan Franulovich  12:38  
Yeah, that's pretty good. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  12:39  
I got a discount.

Evan Franulovich  12:41  
Can you tell the viewers, we have a number of students ask about homestays. Homestays is when you live with an American family, so you have kind of a linguistic and a cultural experience. Tell us about your homestay. How was it?

Tatsuya Nakamura  12:54  
Yeah, my homestay was kind of funny, because my host family were Indonesians. 

Evan Franulovich  12:59  
Oh, they weren't even... Okay. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  13:01  
Yeah. So they don't really speak English. 

Evan Franulovich  13:04  
What?! 

Tatsuya Nakamura  13:07  
There are two more international students.

Evan Franulovich  13:11  
Oh, so there were three of you total, wow. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  13:13  
And then they were Indonesian as well. 

Evan Franulovich  13:13  
Wow.

Tatsuya Nakamura  13:16  
 So they do speak the Indonesian, so I don't understand at all.

Evan Franulovich  13:22  
Well. So what did you do? Just like, go to your room and study?

Tatsuya Nakamura  13:26  
Yeah, by myself. And then go to my room and study.

Evan Franulovich  13:32  
Did you have a choice? Like, when you first got here, did they say, 'Hey, we're gonna put you with this family. '

Tatsuya Nakamura  13:37  
I didn't have a choice.

Evan Franulovich  13:38  
You didn't have a choice. This is where you got sent. And if you had chosen to say, 'Hey, look, I don't really understand the family, could I be placed in another home?' Could they have replaced you? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  13:49  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  13:49  
Okay, but you were comfortable?

Tatsuya Nakamura  13:52  
Yeah, because after a month, the host family went back to Indonesia.

Evan Franulovich  13:59  
Oh, they did? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  14:00  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  14:01  
So you were there by your self?

Tatsuya Nakamura  14:02  
I didn't spend much time with them.

Evan Franulovich  14:05  
Oh, so after that month, what did you do? Just get your apartment? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  14:08  
No, I stayed there, because I have to live there for three months, because I've already paid it. 

Evan Franulovich  14:16  
Oh, gotcha. And they were okay with you just living there? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  14:19  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  14:20  
And the other two students, did they stay there as well? All right, so who cooked for you? You just cooked for yourself?

Tatsuya Nakamura  14:26  
I cooked myself. 

Evan Franulovich  14:26  
Oh, okay.And then after those three months, that's when you got your apartment? And you've been there ever since?

Tatsuya Nakamura  14:34  
No actually, I went back to Japan this summer. So until then, I got a apartment, but the contract ended in July. 

Evan Franulovich  14:46  
Okay. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  14:47  
Then I came back and I got a new apartment.

Evan Franulovich  14:49  
Gotcha, gotcha. So, what was that like? We have a number of students who take a vacation quarter, you know, they decide they want to go home. What was that like? Like, having been here for a while, then going home and then coming back. What was that experience like? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  15:06  
Yeah, before I went back to Japan, I was so excited. 

Evan Franulovich  15:10  
Oh, really? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  15:11  
Yeah, because, you know, I have lot of friends in Japan. 

Evan Franulovich  15:14  
Sure. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  15:15  
I can have a lot of Japanese food, of course. But, you know, when I came back to Seattle, I was like, 'Am I going back again?' You know, I was just sad. 

Evan Franulovich  15:31  
Oh. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  15:33  
Because I'm gonna miss my friends again. 

Evan Franulovich  15:35  
Sure, but have you made friends? Have you made a lot of friends here in Seattle? Oh yeah, you have. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  15:42  
Through events or a SCIE. 

Evan Franulovich  15:45  
Oh, through a SCIE. When you say the event, like, what kind of events did you go?

Tatsuya Nakamura  15:50  
Well, yeah. I'm working as an international ambassador since October, so we have a Halloween party. 

Evan Franulovich  15:59  
Oh yeah. Halloween party is great. My favorite. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  16:03  
And we went to a snow tubing. 

Evan Franulovich  16:08  
We've done three years in a row now. So check it out if you're coming. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  16:12  
Yeah, so we have live event. We want a lot of event distressing, like something. So through those events, I did all of them. So I met a lot of friends.

Evan Franulovich  16:23  
Oh, good. Yeah, and from all over the world? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  16:26  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  16:27  
What about domestic students? Are you friends with many domestic students? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  16:31  
Some of the domestic students. 

Evan Franulovich  16:32  
Yeah, yeah. You meet them in class? Are most of your classes in your degree, are most of your classes in person?

Tatsuya Nakamura  16:41  
In person. 

Evan Franulovich  16:42  
Oh, that's great. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  16:43  
It's hybrid, actually.

Evan Franulovich  16:44  
Oh, it is hybrid. So part time in person, part time you're doing it from in are those classes here in this building, or are they next door in the science building on this building, in this building? What's been your favorite class so far? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  16:57  
Well, yeah, obviously the technology management. 

Evan Franulovich  17:03  
Uh huh. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  17:04  
Yeah, because um instructor is very nice and it's gonna be really good for my future career. 

Evan Franulovich  17:12  
Sure, yeah. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  17:15  
And I like English also, because I like to study like language.

Evan Franulovich  17:20  
Yeah, yeah. So when you take English, is it like English literature? Do you take those kinds of classes, or is it more reading and writing? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  17:28  
It's kind of reading, writing. It's kind of fun.

Evan Franulovich  17:31  
Essays, that kind of stuff?

Tatsuya Nakamura  17:34  
I don't really like to read books. 

Evan Franulovich  17:37  
You don't? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  17:37  
No. But I like it. 

Evan Franulovich  17:40  
What about movies you must like to watch? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  17:42  
Well, in English? 

Evan Franulovich  17:45  
Yeah. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  17:46  
I don't really watch movies, to be honest. 

Evan Franulovich  17:49  
What?! Never? What about Netflix? Do you get on Netflix, or do you watch series? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  17:55  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  17:56  
Wow. Well, let's talk then, you know, Seattle's has a lot of stuff going on in Seattle. What do you do for fun? What do you do when you're not studying?

Tatsuya Nakamura  18:05  
Well, when my friends who are here invited me here were gone. One of my friend went to San Diego. Oh, another one went to Atlanta. So I'm kind of alone. 

Evan Franulovich  18:25  
Oh no. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  18:27  
When they're here, I hang out with them. 

Evan Franulovich  18:30  
Yeah, yeah. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  18:31  
And San Diego guy play darts, so I play darts with him. I kind of drink guy.

Evan Franulovich  18:43  
All right. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  18:43  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  18:44  
 So you like go to a pub, drink, throw darts? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  18:47  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  18:48  
Sounds good. So you're obviously over 21. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  18:52  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  18:52  
In the United States guys, if you're out there listening, you have to be at least 21 years of age to drink, to go into bars, although some pubs allow underage, they just don't let them drink. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  18:52  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  19:03  
Oh, that sounds pretty cool. Is there a particular pub in that you really like?

Tatsuya Nakamura  19:09  
Well, I don't remember the name. We went to near UW.

Evan Franulovich  19:15  
UW, yeah. There's a lot of great places out there, for sure. So they're gone. They've gone to San Diego and Atlanta. What about your new friends? Do you guys go out and do things, hit the coffee shops? Do you do clubs, go listen to music, anything like that?

Tatsuya Nakamura  19:35  
Yeah, we just went to coffee shop. 

Evan Franulovich  19:38  
Yeah, yeah. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  19:42  
We don't really go to clubs or something. 

Evan Franulovich  19:44  
You don't go to clubs? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  19:45  
Nah, because I don't like big sound. 

Evan Franulovich  19:47  
Oh, okay. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  19:48  
Right spot.

Evan Franulovich  19:49  
All right, fair enough. Yeah, I know there is a lot of great music places in the Capitol Hill area. What about working out? Do you exercise? Do you do that kind of stuff?

Tatsuya Nakamura  20:02  
Yeah, I do play badminton sometimes. 

Evan Franulovich  20:04  
Oh, cool. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  20:05  
At North.

Evan Franulovich  20:06  
Oh, you go to North to play badminton? Why do you go to North? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  20:09  
Because I have friend up there. 

Evan Franulovich  20:11  
Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  20:11  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  20:12  
Do you take any of your classes at North? Are they all here at Central? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  20:15  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  20:16  
Well, some students, they like, split. They'll take some classes here, some classes there, especially if they have a hard time getting into a class, they can maybe find it up there. Now that you've been on two of the campuses, have you been to South as well? What do you think?

Tatsuya Nakamura  20:31  
Yeah, It's big. First impression was big. 

Evan Franulovich  20:35  
Yeah, it's spread out. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  20:36  
Yeah, compared to Central. 

Evan Franulovich  20:38  
Yeah. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  20:40  
And it's kind of complicated too.

Evan Franulovich  20:44  
Oh, you mean it's location. It's out there in West Seattle. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  20:47  
Yeah. And, you know, I went there for orientation. 

Evan Franulovich  20:52  
Oh, you did? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  20:53  
Yeah, I work as a international ambassador.

Evan Franulovich  20:56  
Sure, sure. Of course you do. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  20:59  
So that was my first time going to South. 

Evan Franulovich  21:01  
Right. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  21:02  
Yeah. I was like, 'Oh, I'm lost.'

Evan Franulovich  21:05  
Yeah. South is one of our campuses. It's a little further out, takes like, 45 minutes on the bus, maybe an hour. But it's really pretty. It's just spread out, so it's a little more traditional and more tranquil, I would say. I mean, Central is in the heart of the city. So it's kind of exciting. Well, that's cool. So let's talk about how did you get hired to be an international ambassador? What was the process?

Tatsuya Nakamura  21:31  
Yeah. I tried to find a job on campus. Then I checked the Instagram international ambassadors Instagram account. 

Evan Franulovich  21:44  
That's a really great idea. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  21:45  
Yep, they're hiring at that time. Uh huh. So I submitted, like, the form... 

Evan Franulovich  21:53  
Yeah. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  21:54  
...to get an interviewed. It was seven people.

Evan Franulovich  22:00  
All at once? Oh, like you were all sitting in a group? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  22:04  
So we had a group interview and an individual interview. Okay, so group interview wasseparated by three by three. 

Evan Franulovich  22:11  
Okay. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  22:17  
Other IA and supervisors.

Evan Franulovich  22:20  
Okay, sure. And you got hired, obviously. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  22:24  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  22:25  
And did you have a choice which campus you would be an international ambassador, or you wanted to be at Central? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  22:31  
I can be only central only. Yeah, my main campus is Central.

Evan Franulovich  22:36  
Sure, sure, sure, sure. And how's it been?

Tatsuya Nakamura  22:40  
Yeah, it's going well, actually. 

Evan Franulovich  22:42  
Yeah? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  22:43  
Yeah, last quarter was my first quarter as an IA. 

Evan Franulovich  22:49  
Yeah, yeah. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  22:50  
I was kind of nervous, and I didn't know what should I do. But, now I'm working as a big event coordinator and marketing. 

Evan Franulovich  23:00  
Right, right. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  23:01  
So it's going well.

Evan Franulovich  23:03  
That's pretty cool. We have orientation coming up here the first part of April, so you'll be part of the team that does orientation, right? So if you guys are coming to Seattle Colleges and you're a new student, you'll go through what's called orientation the week before classes start, and the International ambassadors are there to answer your questions. Make you feel comfortable, new friends. So if you're graduating, then your job, your position will be open soon? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  23:03  
Yep, so we're gonna hire students in spring. 

Evan Franulovich  23:37  
Is it just your position, or will there be other positions too?

Tatsuya Nakamura  23:44  
Yeah, I'm not really sure I can say that or not. 

Evan Franulovich  23:47  
Okay. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  23:49  
We have hired five students, probably. 

Evan Franulovich  23:53  
Oh, that's a lot. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  23:54  
South, North, Central. 

Evan Franulovich  23:56  
Because we have graduating students.

Tatsuya Nakamura  23:58  
A lot of graduating students. 

Evan Franulovich  23:59  
Right. So if you guys are a current student here at Seattle Colleges, be on the lookout.

Tatsuya Nakamura  24:05  
Yeah, we are gonna hire students. 

Evan Franulovich  24:08  
Yeah, great. Do you know if Nagi is? He's graduating, yeah. So, yeah, there'll be one at North, one at South, one at Central, at least two more.

Tatsuya Nakamura  24:18  
Two North, two central. 

Evan Franulovich  24:20  
Oh my gosh, we're replacing everybody, it sounds like. So get on the horn and keep an eye open for when those jobs become available, because you can apply paid position. How many hours do you work a week? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  24:34  
13 hours. 

Evan Franulovich  24:35  
That's great. So you're just rich. You just walk around dollar bills hanging out of your pockets. Do you have a car? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  24:44  
No.

Evan Franulovich  24:44  
No car. Did you think about it?

Tatsuya Nakamura  24:47  
Yeah, I thought so. I thought I can buy but I don't have license here. 

Evan Franulovich  24:53  
Sure. You could go get a license. I mean, Seattle is such a great city for public transportation. I mean, there's really not many places you can't get to. So having a car is super not necessary. But yeah, so what's your plan after you graduate then? Where are you gonna go? What are you gonna do?

Tatsuya Nakamura  25:09  
I'm gonna go back to Japan and find a job related to marketing or business. 

Evan Franulovich  25:16  
Cool. Do you have a place in mind? Are you just gonna go see what's available? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  25:20  
I'm gonna see what's available. 

Evan Franulovich  25:22  
All right. In Yokohama? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  25:24  
Yeah, or Tokyo. 

Evan Franulovich  25:25  
Or Tokyo, okay. Have you ever lived in Tokyo before? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  25:29  
Nah. 

Evan Franulovich  25:29  
It's the big city, right? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  25:30  
Yeah, my friend lived there, so I lived with him just for a month or month and a half.

Evan Franulovich  25:38  
Now, I've heard rent is crazy expensive in Tokyo. Way worse than Seattle.

Tatsuya Nakamura  25:43  
Yeah, kind of the same, probably.

Evan Franulovich  25:45  
Kind of the same. It is expensive to live in American cities. It's true. That's great. Well, so Oh, do you hear that? That means it's Trivia Time. This part of the show, we ask you five questions. If you get them, all right, you go on a wall of fame, and if you don't, you're gonna have to cry yourself to sleep tonight. So it's not a big deal. So let's start with question number one: The first question is, Seattle is within the state of Washington. To the south of Washington is another state. What's the name of that state? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  26:20  
California? 

Evan Franulovich  26:21  
What's the state between Washington and California? There's one between them. You're correct. It's California is to the south. But what's the state just to the south? It's tough question. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  26:35  
Yeah, it is. 

Evan Franulovich  26:36  
It's where I was born. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  26:40  
I must to correct then.

Evan Franulovich  26:42  
Here's a hint.

Tatsuya Nakamura  26:44  
Ohio?

Evan Franulovich  26:45  
No, a different O. The state of Oregon. Yeah, check it out. Have you done much traveling? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  26:55  
No, only Seattle. 

Evan Franulovich  26:56  
Well, before you go back to Japan, maybe get on the train, go down to like Portland, or go to California or something, see another city. A lot of good places to go. LA is always nice.

Tatsuya Nakamura  26:56  
Yeah, I plan to go to Atlanta. 

Evan Franulovich  27:10  
Oh, you do? Well, you have friends in Atlanta. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  27:13  
Yeah, but I didn't go.

Evan Franulovich  27:14  
Well be prepared for the heat, because Atlanta is going to be warm for sure. All right. Question number two: Seattle has a big ocean just between us and the country of Japan. What is the name of that ocean? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  27:31  
Well... Yeah, I know the ocean, but... Pacific? 

Evan Franulovich  27:40  
Yes, the Pacific. Nice job. It was an easier question, so I know it's almost too easy. Yeah, very good. All right. Question number three: If I am an international student, I need to take enough credits to maintain my visa status. How many credits do I need to take? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  27:59  
12. 

Evan Franulovich  27:59  
That's correct. And when I graduate, if I want to receive my diploma, what do I have to do?

Tatsuya Nakamura  28:10  
Submit the form? 

Evan Franulovich  28:12  
Yes. What's the form? Do you remember what that is? It's like a application for graduation. So if you're going to graduate soon, make sure you put in the form, because that's kind of important. Good. Well, the last question I usually ask is, what was last movie you saw? But you've already told me that you don't watch too many movies or television. So do you read? Are you a book reader? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  28:34  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  28:35  
Oh my gosh, this is tough. All right. Well, let's do this. Can you tell me your favorite celebrity? Who is your favorite celebrity? Whether Japanese or American, doesn't matter, or could be Moroccan for how it matters.

Tatsuya Nakamura  28:50  
Well, I played badamington when I was junior high school. 

Evan Franulovich  28:59  
Yeah, yeah. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  29:00  
So my favorite one is Linden, who is Chinese player. 

Evan Franulovich  29:07  
Uh huh. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  29:08  
Yeah, he was really nice. 

Evan Franulovich  29:11  
You've met him? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  29:11  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  29:12  
Okay. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  29:13  
I want it. 

Evan Franulovich  29:14  
I am sure, yeah, yeah. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  29:16  
He retired.

Evan Franulovich  29:16  
Okay. Did he play in the Olympics?

Tatsuya Nakamura  29:20  
He won the world finals five times. 

Evan Franulovich  29:24  
Wow. Yeah, that's pretty good. So you must be a pretty good badminton player.

Tatsuya Nakamura  29:29  
Not really. 

Evan Franulovich  29:30  
I don't know. I think he's being modest.

Tatsuya Nakamura  29:33  
We had a badminton tournament yesterday at Central. 

Evan Franulovich  29:34  
Oh, I didn't know that. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  29:35  
Yeah, we had. Yeah, I joined that. 

Evan Franulovich  29:42  
Yeah? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  29:43  
Yeah, I was taking place.

Evan Franulovich  29:46  
How many people did you play?

Tatsuya Nakamura  29:47  
Um, so that was doubles. I played against four doubles. 

Evan Franulovich  29:54  
Well, that's pretty good. That's a lot. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  29:56  
Yeah, we had 18 doubles team. 

Evan Franulovich  29:59  
Wow, I did not hear about this. I'm kind of sad that I didn't hear about it, because I would have gone over and filmed some of it. That would have been great. Who won? Who was the who were the winners?

Tatsuya Nakamura  30:09  
Chinese guy and Vietnamese guy. I don't know their names, they are pretty good.

Evan Franulovich  30:14  
Yeah. So I've probably told this story before, but I'll tell you again. When I used to be in the translation business, and I went down to the San Francisco area for a trade show. And I was really getting into badminton. I felt like I was getting pretty good. And so I took the train out to University of California, Berkeley, because they have a badminton club out there. And I went in, and they were very welcoming. They're like, welcome to our club. They were very excited to see someone come out. And I thought, Oh, this will be great. And I played, and I got destroyed over and over again. I could hardly even score. I was so terrible. Yeah, it's a tough sport. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  30:58  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  30:58  
Well, I'm glad you played with badminton. That's really cool sport. I love it. I wish I was better. Maybe we should play one of these days, and you can just make me humble. Well, cool. So the last thing I always do on in this interview, I always ask our student guests to maybe say a few words, maybe 15-20 seconds in your first language. In your case, it would be Japanese. A lot of people out in the world have heard Japanese before, so this won't be too foreign for them. Maybe you know you have some different words, or maybe you have kind of a local dialect or something. So yeah, whatever you want to do, you can say hi to your friends back home, or you could give encouragement to students back in Japan about community colleges, whatever you want to say, 10-20 seconds is plenty.

Tatsuya Nakamura  31:45  
In Japanese, right? 

Evan Franulovich  31:46  
In Japanese, yeah. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  31:47  
Okay. Well, I'm kind of nervous. 

Evan Franulovich  31:53  
Sorry to put you on the spot.

Tatsuya Nakamura  31:56  
What should I do? What should I say? 

Evan Franulovich  31:58  
You know, whatever you feel someone should know, if they're thinking about coming to the US, I would think that's a good thing. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  32:06  
Oh, coming to US. *Kyle's advice in Japanese*

Evan Franulovich  32:23  
Cool. All right. Mizue will tell me what you said, so hopefully it's good.

Tatsuya Nakamura  32:30  
Yeah. I said, 'Hello, Japanese guys, Seattle is really nice place, so let's start it together.' 

Evan Franulovich  32:36  
Yeah, cool. I love it, yeah. Okay. And then now you've been here two and a half, you're getting ready to finish and graduate. You have a lot of experience, so you are like the wise man on the hill. So if you were going to share your wisdom, one piece of advice that a young person back in Japan who's thinking about coming to the United States. Maybe they've considered Seattle, or they're coming to Seattle, maybe they've thought about community college. What was the one piece of advice you would offer them?

Tatsuya Nakamura  32:36  
Well, yeah. If you would like to improve your English skills, do not care about other people's opinion. That opinion especially.

Evan Franulovich  33:24  
That's really good advice, actually. Practicing second language is scary. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  33:30  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  33:31  
Because you don't want to make mistakes or look stupid or anything, so you just have to go for it. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  33:35  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  33:36  
But you don't seem to have any problem. You're very comfortable speaking English, which is cool. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  33:41  
Yeah, kind of. 

Evan Franulovich  33:41  
Were you nervous when you first got here? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  33:43  
Yeah, kind of. 

Evan Franulovich  33:44  
Were you? 

Tatsuya Nakamura  33:45  
Um huh.

Evan Franulovich  33:46  
But now, no problem. 

Tatsuya Nakamura  33:50  
If this podcast was Japanese, I would probably deny it.

Evan Franulovich  33:55  
That's cool. Well, it's been really great to get to know you. Thanks for coming on the show. Thanks for being here at Seattle Colleges. We wish you the best. Now you're graduating, so keep in touch with us if you ever make it back to the States. We'd love to do an alumni podcast to see how things worked out for you. Let us know what you do. Mizue always goes to Japan, maybe she'll see you again in the country, that would be cool. All right, guys, don't forget to like, subscribe and share these podcasts as many people as you can. We're here every Wednesday. Want you to come back, learn all about international education, learn about Seattle. Thanks again to our guest, and we'll see you here next week. Bye, bye!

'Conversations with!' is painstakingly crafted for you by the Seattle Colleges International Programs department and supported by the lovely folks here on our campus. This show is produced and edited by me, Evan Franulovich. We welcome your emails and questions about coming to Seattle Colleges. Please reach out to us via our website or just give us a rating and a review on Apple podcasts as this helps others discover the show. Also, don't forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or YouTube at Seattle Colleges Intl, that's Seattle Colleges Intl. And be sure to check out all of the shows here on 'Conversations with!' Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai