Hello, I’m Roksoliana and I’m 20 years old. I grew up in a small city in Lviv region called Novoyavorisk. I came to Japan last year May.
The first time I have heard about the opportunity to go to Japan was from my university professor. Being a philology student major in Japanese, it was if not the best, one of the best chance for me to achieve my dreams. Luckily, a friend of mine introduced JSUS program to me. Also we received an invitation for Ukrainian students from Nihongo Center to study in Japanese language school in Kyoto. But since the academic semester was already starting, we were told that it would be better to come as soon as possible. Then, the moment I knew about having this opportunity I didn’t hesitate to take up this offer. From the moment I received an invitation to Japanese language school “Nihongo Center” until the time I came to Japan, it only took me less than two weeks.
After coming to Kyoto, for those first few weeks, I actually couldn’t believe. It feels unreal.
My life changed in one moment and I’m so grateful for having such an amazing opportunity and all the continuous support we are receiving since the day we came to Japan, especially from Nihongo Center, JSUS organization, Kyoto city and Nippon Foundation. They are also providing financial support and making sure that we feel stable and secure here in Japan. We are also receiving a lot of different kinds of support such as food, necessities and many more. It’s heartwarming while being so far away from home which is now in danger, this kind of cheer also helps us a lot emotionally. I’m so thankful to all those people who are staying with Ukrainian students and are supporting us in every way.
After living in Japan for a several months I feel I have already got used to live here. While studying, working part-time, I’m thinking about my plans for future. For now, my priority is to become fluent in Japanese. After graduating from Nihongo Center I would like to study arts and design / animation as I have an interest in it and want to work in this field. But it’s also hard for me to share my exact plans either to stay and work in Japan or go back to Ukraine after the situation gets better. But there is one thing that I know for sure – I want to work and help in creating close ties and to build an even better relationship between Japan and Ukraine.
