S3E35: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Daichi Sasayama of Japan

In this our thirty-fifth (35th) episode of Season 3, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews international student Daichi Sasayama about his experience here at Seattle Colleges and about life in the United States. 

1:19 - Meet Daichi!

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Transcript

Evan Franulovich  0:05  
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're here at Seattle Central College, in the great city of Seattle. We want to welcome yet another guest from the great country of Japan. We just did a couple weeks ago. We did a Japanese interview, but it's one of our big populations of students, so we're always happy to have them on the show. Thanks for being here. Can you please introduce yourself to the listeners, like who you are, where you're from, how long you been here, what you're studying? 

Daichi Sasayama  1:04  
Got it. Thank you for having me. 

Evan Franulovich  1:40  
Yeah, my pleasure. 

Daichi Sasayama  1:41  
Okay. My name is Daichi Sasayama, and I'm from Tokyo, Japan. I have already graduated Keio University. I'm excited to do this kind of conversation with you.

Evan Franulovich  1:55  
Yeah, thanks. And when did you arrive, what month?

Daichi Sasayama  2:01  
Last July.

Evan Franulovich  2:02  
So you have been here for quite a while. 

Daichi Sasayama  2:04  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  2:05  
Cool. And how was the weather when you got here?

Daichi Sasayama  2:07  
Okay, so that's a bit tough question. When I came to Seattle, that was in the summer, so I was freaking out for the weather in Seattle. Oh, my goodness, that was awesome. 

Evan Franulovich  2:25  
It was beautiful, right?

Daichi Sasayama  2:26  
You know, I haven't heard that Seattle's summer is really good. So firstly, I was surprised. 

Evan Franulovich  2:35  
Sure. 

Daichi Sasayama  2:36  
Good weather in summer. 

Evan Franulovich  2:37  
Yeah.

Daichi Sasayama  2:38  
But after that, you know...

Evan Franulovich  2:41  
It starts to go downhill. 

Daichi Sasayama  2:42  
Yeah, yeah. But I think it's fine, because it's not raining all day or every day, so I think it's fine.

Evan Franulovich  2:50  
Yeah, and right now Spring is in the air. 

Daichi Sasayama  2:53  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  2:53  
It's very nice. 

Daichi Sasayama  2:54  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  2:56  
Well, that's great. Well, glad you had a good experience in the summer. Did you get to work right away? Did you have a little time before you started classes? 

Daichi Sasayama  3:05  
Oh, so... 

Evan Franulovich  3:07  
Were you able to be a tourist a little bit? 

Daichi Sasayama  3:09  
Oh, yeah, I did a bit. 

Evan Franulovich  3:12  
Okay. 

Daichi Sasayama  3:12  
I went to some mountain. 

Evan Franulovich  3:17  
Yeah, like Mount Rainier?

Daichi Sasayama  3:18  
Yeah, not Mount Rainier, but similar one. Yeah, and I enjoyed Seattle. Yeah, that was a great experience.

Evan Franulovich  3:33  
Cool. Well, let's go back to the beginning story. You were in Japan as a young boy. Did you always dream about studying in another country? 

Daichi Sasayama  3:41  
Oh, actually, my English really sucked. 

Evan Franulovich  3:49  
Well, it's improved a lot. 

Daichi Sasayama  3:50  
Oh, thank you so much. Like two years ago, 2023, I couldn't speak English at all. 

Evan Franulovich  4:01  
Not at all? 

Daichi Sasayama  4:01  
Not at all. I could ask where the bathroom is. 

Evan Franulovich  4:07  
Did you take English as a class in Japan? 

Daichi Sasayama  4:10  
Yeah, I took it. But you know, English education in Japan is not that good. So we learned some grammar, vocabulary, but we don't learn how to speak with the person who can speak English. 

Evan Franulovich  4:29  
Right. 

Daichi Sasayama  4:31  
We don't learn how to listen in English. So it was a bit tough.

Evan Franulovich  4:39  
Yeah, but you've definitely improved. So did you go to a public or a private school in Japan? 

Daichi Sasayama  4:47  
Private school.

Evan Franulovich  4:48  
Private school. And when you were a high school student, did you go, 'Oh, I'm just going to do my university work in Japan.' 

Daichi Sasayama  4:57  
Yeah, absolutely. I didn't plan to go to America or other countries. 

Evan Franulovich  5:04  
What was the name of the university you went to? 

Daichi Sasayama  5:06  
Keio University. 

Evan Franulovich  5:08  
And that's in Tokyo?

Daichi Sasayama  5:09  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  5:10  
Nice. And what did you major in? 

Daichi Sasayama  5:12  
My major was law major. 

Evan Franulovich  5:14  
Oh, really? 

Daichi Sasayama  5:14  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  5:15  
So you can actually practice law in Japan?

Daichi Sasayama  5:18  
That is pre law. 

Evan Franulovich  5:20  
Oh, pre law. 

Daichi Sasayama  5:21  
I'm not a lawyer. 

Evan Franulovich  5:22  
Okay. 

Daichi Sasayama  5:23  
Not at all. But yeah, I was studying law major. 

Evan Franulovich  5:27  
So If you did want to practice law in Japan, you would have to go back and then go to a law school?

Daichi Sasayama  5:34  
Yeah, or just take the exam. So we have a like exam for being a lawyer, if I pass the exam, of course, after that, I have to do some kind of stuff, like practical class or something. But basically, I have to just pass that exam. 

Evan Franulovich  6:01  
Okay. 

Daichi Sasayama  6:01  
But I have another way to keep doing law major, which is going to grad school. 

Evan Franulovich  6:11  
Okay. 

Daichi Sasayama  6:12  
For law majors.

Evan Franulovich  6:17  
It doesn't sound like that's what you're planning to do though, right? 

Daichi Sasayama  6:20  
Absolutely. 

Evan Franulovich  6:20  
Okay. So, you applied after you graduated from university right away, or did you work a little in Japan before you? 

Daichi Sasayama  6:28  
I didn't work in Japan. When I was in Keio University, I decided to go to UC Berkeley as a kind of action student. 

Evan Franulovich  6:42  
Right. 

Daichi Sasayama  6:43  
And when I received the offer from UC Berkeley, I decided to graduate Keio University. So there is kind of like conflict, a gap between Keio University and UC Berkeley. 

Evan Franulovich  7:01  
How long was it? 

Daichi Sasayama  7:03  
It was half a month. 

Evan Franulovich  7:04  
Oh, that's not much.

Daichi Sasayama  7:06  
Actually, I had a one year gap year. 

Evan Franulovich  7:11  
Oh, okay. So you graduated and then you applied? 

Daichi Sasayama  7:16  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  7:16  
Did you apply while you were in university? 

Daichi Sasayama  7:21  
I kind of like stopped going to Keio University for one year. 

Evan Franulovich  7:28  
Okay. 

Daichi Sasayama  7:28  
And during that time I went to UC Berkeley. 

Evan Franulovich  7:31  
Gotcha. 

Daichi Sasayama  7:32  
And then during the UC Berkeley, I graduated Keio University. 

Evan Franulovich  7:37  
Oh, you did? 

Daichi Sasayama  7:37  
Yeah, I did. 

Evan Franulovich  7:38  
So you didn't go home to graduate with a cap and gown? 

Daichi Sasayama  7:44  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  7:45  
They just mail you your diploma. 

Daichi Sasayama  7:46  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  7:47  
Okay, so, what did you think of California? 

Daichi Sasayama  7:50  
Oh, that was quite awesome. 

Evan Franulovich  7:53  
Yeah, I love California. 

Daichi Sasayama  7:55  
The weather is really good. 

Evan Franulovich  7:56  
It's really great, yeah.

Daichi Sasayama  7:58  
Yeah, and also UC Berkeley is in the Bay Area. 

Evan Franulovich  8:02  
Yes. 

Daichi Sasayama  8:03  
So I can reach out to a lot of people who are doing startups or AI or some kind of stuff. 

Evan Franulovich  8:13  
For sure. 

Daichi Sasayama  8:13  
That was really awesome. At that time, I couldn't speak English very well. So I couldn't experience a lot of stuff, so that was my kind of regret.

Evan Franulovich  8:32  
But you kept working at your English. 

Daichi Sasayama  8:34  
Yes.

Evan Franulovich  8:35  
At Berkeley, did you take academic courses, or did you just take English courses?

Daichi Sasayama  8:39  
I took academic courses. 

Evan Franulovich  8:41  
Oh, you did. 

Daichi Sasayama  8:41  
That was business.

Evan Franulovich  8:44  
That's a great school. 

Daichi Sasayama  8:46  
Yeah, absolutely. 

Evan Franulovich  8:46  
Did you consider just staying and continue your studies there?

Daichi Sasayama  8:50  
I wanted to do that. But, it's really hard.

Evan Franulovich  8:55  
It's difficult. 

Daichi Sasayama  8:57  
Yeah, and also I thought that I have to make my foundation, which was English. 

Evan Franulovich  9:08  
Yeah, yeah. 

Daichi Sasayama  9:08  
So I decided to come here.

Evan Franulovich  9:11  
Okay, so how did you hear about Seattle Colleges? 

Daichi Sasayama  9:14  
Oh, yeah, in Seattle, there's so many tech companies. 

Evan Franulovich  9:22  
That's true. 

Daichi Sasayama  9:22  
Yeah, and I wanted to start learning computer science. 

Evan Franulovich  9:27  
Oh, okay. 

Daichi Sasayama  9:27  
So, I was looking for the school which allowed me to do computer science as an international student. 

Evan Franulovich  9:38  
Right. 

Daichi Sasayama  9:39  
So, that's why I chose Seattle Colleges.

Evan Franulovich  9:43  
Sure. But you know, San Francisco area is high tech area too. Apple computers, so many great big companies. Did you look at some of the colleges around there? 

Daichi Sasayama  9:56  
Oh, yeah. Actually, I got a scholarship from the Japanese agency... 

Evan Franulovich  10:05  
Oh, nice. 

Daichi Sasayama  10:05  
...before coming here. 

Evan Franulovich  10:06  
Yeah, yeah. 

Daichi Sasayama  10:08  
That is also the reason why I came here. 

Evan Franulovich  10:15  
Yeah, scholarships are always nice. 

Daichi Sasayama  10:17  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  10:18  
Shout out to the agency. Did you have good experience with the agency? 

Daichi Sasayama  10:22  
Yeah, absolutely. 

Evan Franulovich  10:23  
So we can send a shout out to... who is your agent?

Daichi Sasayama  10:28  
ICC. 

Evan Franulovich  10:29  
Okay. 

Daichi Sasayama  10:30  
Yeah, that is really great company. So if you are interested in coming to the Seattle Colleges, look up the ICC consultant.

Evan Franulovich  10:42  
Yeah, cool. Did you actually go to their offices, or did you communicate with them all online? 

Daichi Sasayama  10:52  
Oh, both of them. There is definitely like office in person. 

Evan Franulovich  10:58  
Okay. 

Daichi Sasayama  10:58  
So, you can go there and then you can talk with them. But, you can also talk with them online. 

Evan Franulovich  11:07  
Okay, sure. 

Daichi Sasayama  11:08  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  11:11  
Our representative who is in charge of Japan, Mizue, did you meet her before you came here, or did you not meet her until you got here? 

Daichi Sasayama  11:20  
I didn't. 

Evan Franulovich  11:22  
Well, I know she travels there quite often, so it's a chance maybe you'd ran into her while you're there. Okay, they helped you get into Seattle Colleges. So you finished up at Berkeley and then moved up. 

Daichi Sasayama  11:36  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  11:36  
What was your housing situation in at Berkeley? Did they put you in dorms? 

Daichi Sasayama  11:41  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  11:41  
Oh, they did. 

Daichi Sasayama  11:42  
I went to International House. 

Evan Franulovich  11:44  
Gotcha.

Daichi Sasayama  11:45  
There's so many type of country students. 

Evan Franulovich  11:48  
I'm sure. 

Daichi Sasayama  11:50  
So I felt diversity... 

Evan Franulovich  11:53  
For sure. 

Daichi Sasayama  11:54  
...In that dorm. 

Evan Franulovich  11:55  
Yeah. 

Daichi Sasayama  11:55  
And that was really helpful for me to understand what is the diversity.

Evan Franulovich  12:01  
Yeah, students from all over the world want to go to Berkeley, It's a great school. How many international students do they have? 

Daichi Sasayama  12:09  
Wow, I think it was 600-700 in that dorm. So that was awesome.

Evan Franulovich  12:17  
So no domestic students at all, It was only international students in that dorm? 

Daichi Sasayama  12:21  
Actually, there are some domestic students as well. 

Evan Franulovich  12:26  
Cool. 

Daichi Sasayama  12:27  
Because international students want to learn what American culture is. 

Evan Franulovich  12:37  
Sure. 

Daichi Sasayama  12:38  
That's why international houses allow domestic students to stay in the international houses as well.

Evan Franulovich  12:47  
Cool. So maybe some of those domestic students, they're studying like international business, or they're studying something global, so that makes sense. Cool. So you moved up here, do you have a car? Did you drive yourself up here?

Daichi Sasayama  13:00  
I didn't have a car, but I rented a car. 

Evan Franulovich  13:04  
Oh, you did. 

Daichi Sasayama  13:04  
I came to Seattle from San Francisco using a car for 14 hours, I think. 

Evan Franulovich  13:13  
I know it's a long drive. 

Daichi Sasayama  13:14  
Yeah, it was a long drive,

Evan Franulovich  13:16  
Did you do it in one straight shot, or did you break it up into a couple days? 

Daichi Sasayama  13:21  
I stopped. 

Evan Franulovich  13:25  
Oh, okay. 

Daichi Sasayama  13:27  
For one night. 

Evan Franulovich  13:33  
You know, a really beautiful drive is to go up the coast of California, you see the redwoods. Did you do anything like that, or did you just come up the freeway?

Daichi Sasayama  13:43  
I was looking at that, but not that much.

Evan Franulovich  13:47  
Well, if you get the opportunity, that part of the coastline, from north, from San Francisco all the way up to the Oregon border. And then, of course, Oregon's beautiful as well, it's really nice. 

Daichi Sasayama  13:57  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  13:58  
Well, cool. So you got here, and what are you doing for housing here?

Daichi Sasayama  14:06  
Sorry, what do you mean?

Evan Franulovich  14:08  
Do you have an apartment in Seattle? Do you live in the dormitory? 

Daichi Sasayama  14:12  
Yeah, I'm living in an apartment, nearby Seattle Central College. 

Evan Franulovich  14:16  
Okay. By yourself? Do you have roommates? 

Daichi Sasayama  14:18  
By myself. 

Evan Franulovich  14:19  
Nice. 

Daichi Sasayama  14:20  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  14:20  
So it's like a studio, one bedroom? 

Daichi Sasayama  14:22  
Studio, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  14:23  
Was it easy to find?

Daichi Sasayama  14:25  
It was really hard. 

Evan Franulovich  14:26  
Was it? 

Daichi Sasayama  14:28  
I couldn't see the apartment in person because I was in Berkeley. 

Evan Franulovich  14:32  
Yeah, yeah. 

Daichi Sasayama  14:33  
I also came back to Japan before coming to Seattle, so I couldn't see the apartment in person. 

Evan Franulovich  14:41  
So you signed up for your apartment before you even arrived here. 

Daichi Sasayama  14:44  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  14:45  
Wow, that's brave. 

Daichi Sasayama  14:46  
Yeah, absolutely. 

Evan Franulovich  14:47  
But as it turned out okay? 

Daichi Sasayama  14:49  
I think so. 

Evan Franulovich  14:50  
Cool. So how far is it from the school? 

Daichi Sasayama  14:52  
Oh, it's just 10 minutes. 

Evan Franulovich  14:55  
Oh, super close. 

Daichi Sasayama  14:56  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  14:58  
So Capitol Hill, do you like this part of town? 

Daichi Sasayama  15:00  
Yeah, I like it. There's some sketchy things in Capitol Hill. But, not that sketchy.

Evan Franulovich  15:09  
No, it's pretty good. I mean, there is some interesting people out here. 

Daichi Sasayama  15:13  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  15:14  
But there's lots of live music, and there's cafes and great restaurants and stuff. Any good Japanese restaurants that you found?

Daichi Sasayama  15:21  
Oh, I found a really good Japanese restaurant around Fremont. 

Evan Franulovich  15:30  
Fremont. 

Daichi Sasayama  15:31  
Okay, nearby Fremont, like between Fremont and UW. Which is not in Capital Hill. 

Evan Franulovich  15:39  
Great part of town.

Daichi Sasayama  15:40  
Actually, I found a Tambo, which is Japanese ramen shop in Capitol Hill. That is awesome.

Evan Franulovich  15:47  
It's really good. 

Daichi Sasayama  15:47  
Yeah, it's very good. 

Evan Franulovich  15:48  
Okay. Because sometimes I talk to international students, they go, 'Yeah, it's Japanese, but not really Japanese.' But this one is pretty good? 

Daichi Sasayama  15:55  
Yeah, that one's really good. 

Evan Franulovich  15:56  
All right, give it a shot. Well, that's cool. So you started in International Program's short term certificate, and that has five focus areas. Which focus area did you do, Is it the global business?

Daichi Sasayama  16:12  
I'm focusing on computer science. 

Evan Franulovich  16:15  
Oh, you are in the computer science one. Great. We've had a number of students that are here for short term certificates. But what I want to clarify is, when you do the short term certificate, you get to pick all your classes, or are there some classes you are required to take? 

Daichi Sasayama  16:34  
We have to take some classes. 

Evan Franulovich  16:36  
Oh, you do. 

Daichi Sasayama  16:36  
Yeah, for that course. But I can also take a couple classes. You can take both of them, but not that much. 

Evan Franulovich  16:52  
Right. 

Daichi Sasayama  16:53  
I mean, classes that aren't computer science are not allowed.

Evan Franulovich  16:58  
Oh, so you can't take a history class, for example.

Daichi Sasayama  17:03  
Yeah, yeah.

Evan Franulovich  17:06  
So what kinds of classes have you taken so far it

Daichi Sasayama  17:09  
I took, computer science. 

Evan Franulovich  17:12  
Sure. 

Daichi Sasayama  17:13  
Python, Java, Information Technology class, English 101, which is really fundamental. And I took a statistics one.

Evan Franulovich  17:35  
Oh, math class. 

Daichi Sasayama  17:37  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  17:38  
Was that a difficult class, easy class?

Daichi Sasayama  17:42  
For Japanese people, I think it's not that difficult. 

Evan Franulovich  17:47  
Not too difficult. 

Daichi Sasayama  17:47  
We learn a lot of math... 

Evan Franulovich  17:51  
Yes, you do. 

Daichi Sasayama  17:52  
...in High School. 

Evan Franulovich  17:54  
Is the way the teachers teach in the classroom, different than what you were used to say at your university in Tokyo?

Daichi Sasayama  18:04  
Yeah, I think so. The class is really small and we can discuss with the professor or classmates. 

Evan Franulovich  18:14  
Right. 

Daichi Sasayama  18:15  
So that is really different from Japanese university.

Evan Franulovich  18:21  
Well, how do they do it in Japan, much bigger classes?

Daichi Sasayama  18:29  
Like Seattle Central College is not that big of a university. So, for example, if you go to a four years university in the US, of course you can see the big classes. 

Evan Franulovich  18:42  
Right. 

Daichi Sasayama  18:42  
So, kind of like that. So Keio University in Japan has also big classes, but also small classes. 

Evan Franulovich  18:53  
Gotcha. So usually universities in the United States, the classes that you would take in the first two years of your degree tend to be larger. Not the case so much at community colleges. That's one of the benefits of a community college. Class sizes are smaller, and then usually when you get into your junior and senior year, those classes are a little more specialized, so they tend to be smaller. I'm guessing it's probably like that a little bit in Japan.

Daichi Sasayama  19:23  
Yeah, I think so. 

Evan Franulovich  19:25  
Well, cool. You hadn't taken any of those programming languages before? 

Daichi Sasayama  19:32  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  19:33  
How do you find coding in Python or Java? 

Daichi Sasayama  19:37  
Okay, so last year, as I said, I went to UC Berkeley. 

Evan Franulovich  19:42  
Yes. 

Daichi Sasayama  19:42  
And I took just one class, which was computer science one. 

Evan Franulovich  19:46  
Okay. 

Daichi Sasayama  19:47  
But it wasn't a super difficult one. So I just learned, what is Python or what is computer science programming. So I learned a bit from that class. But after that, I was learning computer science, especially Python, in online courses. 

Evan Franulovich  19:47  
Online but not associated with the university? 

Daichi Sasayama  20:13  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  20:13  
Okay, gotcha. Do you feel pretty proficient in Python now?

Daichi Sasayama  20:20  
I hope to say that, but I don't think I know enough to say that. 

Evan Franulovich  20:26  
Not yet. Well, keep working on it. That's great. So you are thinking that you'll maybe not finish your short term certificate, but instead switch to something else. What are you thinking about doing from here on now?

Daichi Sasayama  20:43  
I'm planning to apply for an associate degree. 

Evan Franulovich  20:49  
Okay. 

Daichi Sasayama  20:55  
Usually we say associate degree, right? 

Evan Franulovich  20:58  
Yes. 

Daichi Sasayama  20:58  
What I want to take is applied associate degree. So, I have already graduated university in Japan, I received bachelor degree in Japan. So basically, I can take associate degree again in the US. So that's why I have to change a bit, not associate degree, but applied associate degree that is the kind of strategy for a student who has already taken the bachelor degree in Japan.

Evan Franulovich  21:41  
And it's a very different area of study. I mean, you did law and computer science is so different, so that kind of makes sense to me. The applied degree part of it suggests that you'll be able to graduate and then go right to work. 

Daichi Sasayama  21:54  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  21:55  
Yeah, gotcha. And is that kind of your goal? 

Daichi Sasayama  21:58  
Yeah, actually, after finishing my short strategic program I can work at a company in the US for one year. 

Evan Franulovich  22:10  
Yes, that's right. 

Daichi Sasayama  22:11  
I'm planning to work for a year after the applied associate degree.

Evan Franulovich  22:19  
Oh, gotcha. Oh, so you'll do OPT. 

Daichi Sasayama  22:23  
Yeah, I hope so. I'm looking for it. 

Evan Franulovich  22:25  
Right, right. So you haven't identified a company that you want to work for yet? 

Daichi Sasayama  22:32  
I'm still looking for it. 

Evan Franulovich  22:34  
If you could just pick, where would you really love to work?

Daichi Sasayama  22:40  
Oh, that's a really good question. I am doing computer science, so I would love to go to a tech company.

Evan Franulovich  22:51  
Sure. 

Daichi Sasayama  22:52  
Yeah, for sure. But I'm also interested in the business side. Last year I was studying business. So my first priority is a tech company. 

Evan Franulovich  23:06  
Like Microsoft. 

Daichi Sasayama  23:07  
That's awesome. My second priority is to go to the business side company using computer science knowledge. 

Evan Franulovich  23:20  
Sure, sure. 

Daichi Sasayama  23:21  
That is really good for me.

Evan Franulovich  23:24  
Cool. Well, we have Nintendo America in Seattle. That would be cool. 

Daichi Sasayama  23:30  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  23:31  
Then you have that connection between home and here. 

Daichi Sasayama  23:33  
Actually, I was talking with person who is working at Nintendo. He said that if you don't have professional skills, it might be hard. 

Evan Franulovich  23:43  
It might be tough. Yeah, I don't know how big that company is, but I think it's pretty good size. But, yeah, they're looking for skills. But you know, you still have a little bit of time, maybe you'll develop some skills. 

Daichi Sasayama  23:58  
Absolutely. 

Evan Franulovich  23:59  
Who knows? Well, that's really cool. You've been here, you have settled into an apartment. Have you made a lot of friends? 

Daichi Sasayama  24:09  
Yeah, absolutely. 

Evan Franulovich  24:11  
And how do you do that?

Daichi Sasayama  24:12  
Oh, I went to a Japanese community in Seattle, and I met some friend who is same age as me, so at the time, we were at the same age, and then we hang out. 

Evan Franulovich  24:31  
Sure.

Daichi Sasayama  24:35  
So after that, we were friends. 

Evan Franulovich  24:38  
Right, right. 

Daichi Sasayama  24:40  
We went to snowboard couple months ago, and yesterday, we did a Nabe party. 

Evan Franulovich  24:50  
What party? 

Daichi Sasayama  24:51  
Nabe party. 

Evan Franulovich  24:52  
What's a Nabe party? 

Daichi Sasayama  24:52  
Sorry, it's a hot pot. 

Evan Franulovich  24:54  
Oh, cool. 

Daichi Sasayama  24:56  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  24:57  
Nice. And where was that? 

Daichi Sasayama  25:01  
Where was that? 

Evan Franulovich  25:02  
Yeah, is there a restaurant that specialized in that?

Daichi Sasayama  25:05  
It was in my friend's house. 

Evan Franulovich  25:07  
Oh, cool. So snowboarding, let's go to snowboarding real fast, because I'm a snowboarder. Where did you go?

Daichi Sasayama  25:14  
I went to... give me one second. I went to Stevens. 

Evan Franulovich  25:21  
Oh, okay.

Daichi Sasayama  25:22  
That was really great. 

Evan Franulovich  25:25  
The snow was good? 

Daichi Sasayama  25:26  
Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  25:27  
Because I've heard this year, this winter, the snow has been crazy in Japan, like so much snow, that's been really amazing. Do you snowboard in Japan a lot? 

Daichi Sasayama  25:37  
Yes, absolutely.

Evan Franulovich  25:39  
Oh, cool. 

Daichi Sasayama  25:41  
The snow in Japan is really good, but I would say snow in Seattle is also really good. 

Evan Franulovich  25:50  
But does it feel different? Is it faster, slower, stickier?

Daichi Sasayama  25:55  
A bit, the snow in Japan is a bit more powdery. 

Evan Franulovich  26:02  
Dry? 

Daichi Sasayama  26:02  
Yeah, dry and powder snow. 

Evan Franulovich  26:04  
Gotcha. 

Daichi Sasayama  26:05  
That is really awesome. But I don't I don't dislike snow in Seattle as well. That is also really powder snow. 

Evan Franulovich  26:15  
Yeah, it kind of depends on the time of year. We're getting into spring right now. I used to live on Mount Hood. 

Daichi Sasayama  26:24  
Okay. 

Evan Franulovich  26:24  
And we snowboard it all the time. And as it got into spring, the snow would get wetter. 

Daichi Sasayama  26:30  
Oh, yeah? 

Evan Franulovich  26:32  
And sometimes it would be a little stickier. I mean, you're it's still good snowboarding, but it's definitely better, like in January, February, where it's a little drier, powdery. So, I mean, it's still fun to go in the spring, because the weather is beautiful usually, and there's not as many people usually. How did you get out there? Did your friend have a car? 

Daichi Sasayama  26:52  
Yeah, he has. 

Evan Franulovich  26:55  
I haven't been for a while, was it expensive? 

Daichi Sasayama  26:59  
Yeah, it was quite expensive, especially Stevens. 

Evan Franulovich  27:02  
Yeah.

Daichi Sasayama  27:03  
Stevens is a really huge snowboarding place. 

Evan Franulovich  27:08  
Yeah, yeah. 

Daichi Sasayama  27:08  
So the lift ticket was very expensive. 

Evan Franulovich  27:12  
How much was it? 

Daichi Sasayama  27:13  
Totally, I didn't have the equipment.

Evan Franulovich  27:17  
Oh, so you had to rent.

Daichi Sasayama  27:19  
The lift ticket, I spent $250. 

Evan Franulovich  27:27  
Ouch. 

Daichi Sasayama  27:28  
Yeah, ouch. 

Evan Franulovich  27:29  
That's a lot of money. 

Daichi Sasayama  27:31  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  27:32  
For the lift ticket and just the gear rental, it's $250?

Daichi Sasayama  27:38  
Yeah, yeah.

Evan Franulovich  27:39  
Did that include lunch, because that's a lot of money. 

Daichi Sasayama  27:41  
No, no, unfortunately. 

Evan Franulovich  27:45  
And what were the hours that you could snowboard? 

Daichi Sasayama  27:49  
All day. 

Evan Franulovich  27:50  
So it's all day, so it's like 9am-3pm or 9am-5pm?

Daichi Sasayama  27:55  
9am-4pm.

Evan Franulovich  27:56  
Yeah, okay, so that's pretty good. 

Daichi Sasayama  27:58  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  27:58  
But still, that's a lot of money. Mount Baker, up north has some really great snowboarding. I think their base right now the amount of snow is, like over 200 inches. So it's a ton of snow up there right now.

Daichi Sasayama  28:12  
I see. 

Evan Franulovich  28:12  
Yeah, it's really great. And you know, if you go further south, like Mount Hood, there's a lot of great places to ski. Well, cool. Do you think you'll get out again this season? It's really expensive.

Daichi Sasayama  28:26  
Probably not. 

Evan Franulovich  28:30  
Right. They have activities if you just want to go play in the snow. In the spring, they usually have a bus that goes up and you go tubing and that kind of stuff. So that's another opportunity to go up and play in the snow if you don't snowboard. They offer quite a few activities to international students. Have you participated in any of those? 

Daichi Sasayama  28:50  
Yeah, I participated in the de stressful party.

Evan Franulovich  28:58  
Yes. 

Daichi Sasayama  28:59  
In the Mac center.

Evan Franulovich  29:00  
Yeah, right across the street. 

Daichi Sasayama  29:02  
I participated. 

Evan Franulovich  29:04  
And what was it? What did they do? 

Daichi Sasayama  29:06  
Oh, they gave us a few snacks. That was awesome. 

Evan Franulovich  29:14  
I always liked the food. 

Daichi Sasayama  29:15  
Yep. And we did kind of bee stuff, like creating some kind of nest, or some kind of object.

Evan Franulovich  29:24  
Sure, sure.

Daichi Sasayama  29:24  
 I'm not sure, but I didn't do that something.

Evan Franulovich  29:30  
Do they have massage? 

Daichi Sasayama  29:32  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  29:33  
Nothing like that. 

Daichi Sasayama  29:34  
They don't. 

Evan Franulovich  29:35  
Oh, too bad. Well, they do that kind of thing, especially as it gets close to exams, they'll do de stress kinds of stuff, and I know they've also done things like hot chocolates. Oh, that's always kind of fun. 

Daichi Sasayama  29:48  
Yeah, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  29:49  
Well, cool. So what are your plans? Are you going to study through the summer, or do you finish at the end of spring?

Daichi Sasayama  29:58  
I'm thinking of it. 

Evan Franulovich  29:59  
Yeah. 

Daichi Sasayama  30:00  
I'm gonna probably finish my short certificate program next quarter, like spring quarter.

Evan Franulovich  30:09  
Okay, spring. 

Daichi Sasayama  30:09  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  30:10  
And will you walk in the graduation and receive your certificate? 

Daichi Sasayama  30:15  
I think so. 

Evan Franulovich  30:15  
Yeah, that'll be cool. I think this year our graduation is being held at the University of Washington. 

Daichi Sasayama  30:21  
Oh. 

Evan Franulovich  30:22  
So if you get a chance, it's a great opportunity. 

Daichi Sasayama  30:25  
That's awesome.

Evan Franulovich  30:27  
That's what I've heard, I haven't verified it yet. We can ask after we're done here. Have you been to the UW campus? 

Daichi Sasayama  30:33  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  30:34  
Have you seen the cherry blossom? 

Daichi Sasayama  30:35  
Oh, yeah, I did. 

Evan Franulovich  30:36  
It's really nice right now.

Daichi Sasayama  30:39  
Yeah, I was freaking out. 

Evan Franulovich  30:40  
Yeah, it's really cool. 

Daichi Sasayama  30:41  
That's really good, yeah.

Evan Franulovich  30:43  
Very nice. Oh, you hear that? It means it's Trivia Time. This is the part of the show where we ask you five questions. If you get them all right, then you're on our wall of fame. If you don't get them all right, it's okay, don't worry about it. So let's get started with the first one. The first question should be pretty easy. Between the state of Washington, where you live now, and the country of Japan, is a large body of water. What is that large body of water? 

Daichi Sasayama  31:12  
Oh, the sea? 

Evan Franulovich  31:13  
Yeah, what is that?

Daichi Sasayama  31:17  
Deep water.

Evan Franulovich  31:18  
No. What's the name of the water? 

Daichi Sasayama  31:20  
Oh, Pacific. 

Evan Franulovich  31:25  
Yes, it's the Pacific Ocean. Big bunch of water. Good, super easy, right? 

Daichi Sasayama  31:31  
Okay. 

Evan Franulovich  31:32  
Second question, around the city of Seattle, we have three national parks. Can you name one of those national parks? 

Daichi Sasayama  31:40  
Olympic. 

Evan Franulovich  31:40  
Olympic National Park. Nice. That's a little more challenging. Do you know the other two?

Daichi Sasayama  31:48  
I heard that, but I forgot. 

Evan Franulovich  31:50  
Mount Rainier, and then North Cascades National. 

Daichi Sasayama  31:54  
I haven't heard that. 

Evan Franulovich  31:55  
Yeah, it's beautiful, you should check them out. Very cool. Number three, if you want to drive in the United States, what do you have to do?

Daichi Sasayama  32:06  
Well, I have to take a driver license in the US. 

Evan Franulovich  32:11  
Yeah. 

Daichi Sasayama  32:12  
And I have to get insurance. 

Evan Franulovich  32:15  
Yes, exactly. 

Daichi Sasayama  32:16  
Okay. 

Evan Franulovich  32:17  
Did you take the driver's test? 

Daichi Sasayama  32:19  
Oh, yeah. I took the driver license exam in California. 

Evan Franulovich  32:26  
Oh, you did. So you have a California license?

Daichi Sasayama  32:29  
Yeah, I had. It's expired. 

Evan Franulovich  32:34  
Gotcha. 

Daichi Sasayama  32:34  
But in Washington, Japanese people don't have to take the driver license exam. 

Evan Franulovich  32:43  
Interesting. 

Daichi Sasayama  32:44  
Because probably Japan and Washington state have an agreement.

Evan Franulovich  32:50  
Oh, I didn't know that.

Daichi Sasayama  32:53  
We can transfer Japanese driver license to Washington driver license. We don't have to take any exam. 

Evan Franulovich  33:01  
Cool. 

Daichi Sasayama  33:02  
We just have to take eye exam, and that's it. 

Evan Franulovich  33:07  
Oh, that's super easy. 

Daichi Sasayama  33:09  
Yeah, yeah.

Evan Franulovich  33:10  
So you got your driver's license in Japan. 

Daichi Sasayama  33:13  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  33:13  
What's the what's a driver's test like in Japan? 

Daichi Sasayama  33:17  
Oh, that is pretty strict. 

Evan Franulovich  33:20  
Is it? 

Daichi Sasayama  33:20  
Yeah, we have to spend a lot of time to get a driver license. So usually we're gonna go to the driver license school... 

Evan Franulovich  33:34  
Okay. 

Daichi Sasayama  33:35  
...to take the driver license exam. So that takes maybe two months, three months.

Evan Franulovich  33:44  
So it's not too bad. 

Daichi Sasayama  33:45  
Yeah, not too bad. But we have to pass two exams.

Evan Franulovich  33:51  
Written and a practical?

Daichi Sasayama  33:55  
Sorry, actually, we have four exams. 

Evan Franulovich  33:57  
Oh. 

Daichi Sasayama  33:58  
So written exam, pre written exam, pre driving driving exam, and then written exam, driving exam. 

Evan Franulovich  34:09  
Wow. 

Daichi Sasayama  34:10  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  34:11  
Is that expensive? 

Daichi Sasayama  34:13  
Yeah, it's very expensive. 

Evan Franulovich  34:14  
Wow. So do you drive back in Japan? Do you have a car? 

Daichi Sasayama  34:17  
Yeah, I did a lot. 

Evan Franulovich  34:18  
Oh, cool. 

Daichi Sasayama  34:19  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  34:21  
Do you like drifting? 

Daichi Sasayama  34:23  
Drifting? 

Evan Franulovich  34:24  
Do you do drifting? 

Daichi Sasayama  34:25  
No, never. 

Evan Franulovich  34:28  
We see in a lot of the video games, cars sliding on the ground and stuff. That would be cool. 

Daichi Sasayama  34:35  
Never. 

Evan Franulovich  34:36  
All right, good deal. They probably wouldn't want you drifting in the United States. So keep an eye on that. Okay, question number four: We have a baseball team in the city of Seattle. As you know, baseball is very popular in both our countries. What is the name of our baseball team? 

Daichi Sasayama  34:56  
Mariners.

Evan Franulovich  34:57  
The mariners. Yay! And have you been to a game yet? 

Daichi Sasayama  35:00  
Yes, I did. 

Evan Franulovich  35:01  
Yeah? Which game did you go to?

Daichi Sasayama  35:04  
Oh, that was last year. 

Evan Franulovich  35:11  
Oh, last year. 

Daichi Sasayama  35:12  
Yeah, but I went to one.

Evan Franulovich  35:14  
Cool. Well, baseball season just started, always starts in the spring, and go all summer long, so lots of opportunities. And the international students have an event coming up where you get a really cheap ticket. 

Daichi Sasayama  35:27  
Wow. 

Evan Franulovich  35:27  
They take all the international students that sign up, so you could go to a game.

Daichi Sasayama  35:32  
That's pretty good.

Evan Franulovich  35:33  
Yeah, yeah. Great way to meet new people and hang out. It's really fun. 

Daichi Sasayama  35:37  
Oh, that's awesome. 

Evan Franulovich  35:38  
Yeah, I can't remember the date though, I'm sorry to say. 

Daichi Sasayama  35:39  
Yeah, it's okay.

Evan Franulovich  35:41  
Check it out, if you're an international student already here you can check with the International Programs Office or talk to an international ambassador or something. Well, cool. Good job. Last question: What was the last movie you saw in the theater?

Daichi Sasayama  35:56  
Oh, give me one second. Movie, right? Oh, I think I watched a Japanese movie, which is Ghibli. Do you know that? It's a really famous Japanese animation. 

Evan Franulovich  36:39  
And was it in California you saw this, or you saw it here in Seattle? 

Daichi Sasayama  36:43  
I think in Japan. 

Evan Franulovich  36:45  
Oh, you said in Japan. Oh, so you haven't been to a theater yet? 

Daichi Sasayama  36:49  
Oh, yeah, I haven't been there. 

Evan Franulovich  36:51  
Yeah, check it out. So I'd be curious to know, are the theaters here much different than they are in Japan? 

Daichi Sasayama  36:57  
Oh, I haven't tried it. 

Evan Franulovich  36:59  
Yeah, give it a shot. It'd be interesting to know. When I lived in Europe, I found that European theaters are quite a bit different the way they do things. And I also lived in China for four years, and going to the movie theaters in China felt different too. Just interesting little things that are different. Japanese animation is pretty popular here in the US as well. There's a lot of people that I know of it. Nice. Well, great. That was a good job. Last two things we do is, I always ask our international students to maybe say something in their first language. Of course, yours would be Japanese. Do you speak any other languages or just English and Japanese? That's a lot already. 

Daichi Sasayama  37:42  
Thank you for saying that. 

Evan Franulovich  37:44  
Plenty of work. So yeah, maybe 10 or 20 seconds, you can either say hi to someone back home or give some advice, or whatever you want to do. 

Daichi Sasayama  37:51  
Okay. (*Daichi's advice in Japanese*)

Evan Franulovich  38:10  
Nice job! Final question of the day, you have been in the United States, both in California, been in Seattle now for a while. You have a little bit of experience. So those kids back in your region, whether it's Japan or Korea or whatever they're thinking about becoming an international student, maybe they're thinking about Seattle. What kind of advice would you give them since you've been through it?

Daichi Sasayama  38:31  
Okay, so I think for international students, I would say like listening skills and speaking skills are very important, because writing and reading is okay, because we have ChatGPT right now. 

Evan Franulovich  38:53  
Yeah. 

Daichi Sasayama  38:54  
We can still learn how to read or how to write while being an international student. But listening skills and speaking skills, if you don't have them, you can't take any classes. 

Evan Franulovich  39:12  
Right. 

Daichi Sasayama  39:12  
Yeah, you can't do anything in the US. So listening skills and speaking skills are quite important. 

Evan Franulovich  39:19  
Yeah, there's no app for that. 

Daichi Sasayama  39:20  
Yeah, absolutely. 

Evan Franulovich  39:23  
That's good advice. I always recommend to students, work on your English as much as you can while you're still in your country, before you come to the US, because it'll just make your life so much easier. And also, if your English scores are not quite college ready, that's not a barrier to coming here, because we have our institute of English. But if you spend any time in the Institute of English, it costs money and takes time, and if you get everything done ahead of time, it speeds up the process. 

Daichi Sasayama  39:54  
I agree with that. 

Evan Franulovich  39:55  
Yeah, good advice. Great job! Well, thanks so much for coming on this show. We really appreciate it. 

Daichi Sasayama  40:01  
Thank you for having me. That was awesome. 

Evan Franulovich  40:03  
Yep, good luck with the spring quarter, which is coming up, and maybe we'll see at the baseball game. 

Daichi Sasayama  40:07  
Oh yeah, it's awesome. Thank you so much. 

Evan Franulovich  40:09  
And you guys, don't forget to come back every Wednesday, right here at 'Conversations with!' We try to be here every Wednesday, join us. Thanks so much, don't forget to like, share and subscribe. Have a great week. 

Daichi Sasayama  40:24  
Thank you. 

Evan Franulovich  40:24  
All right, take care. 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