On September 30, 2019, students from Dongbei University of Finance & Economics, China, visited and participated in the “AGU Fall Program 2019”, a short program hosted by Aoyama Gakuin University. The week’s program gave twenty-two Chinese students opportunities to visit the national parliament, the Tokyo stock exchange and the United Nations University; as well as providing the chance to hang out in Tokyo with AGU students. They also enjoyed exposure to such traditional Japanese culture as Japanese cooking, kimono, and the tea ceremony.

In the latter part of the program, all students took part in a workshop to exchange their views and experiences of Japan. Some of the things which surprised them in Tokyo were: the co-existence of old and modern buildings, the cash-based society, the iced water at restaurants, and the multi-purposeness of Japanese phrases (using “Thank you” to mean many different things); as well as public trash bins being few in number. Certainly some acute observations there!

The Dongbei University of Finance & Economics is located in Dalian, Liaoning province, China and is home to over 20,000 students. AGU signed the student exchange agreement with Dongbei University of Finance & Economics in July, 2019. The success of the fall program provides a positive start to the expected fruitful partnership between Dongbei University of Finance & Economics and AGU.