Melissa Chan

Hi everyone, I’m Melissa. I was born in Canada, but I spent most of my life in Hong Kong. I am fluent in English and Cantonese. Right now I’m a third year Linguistics student with a minor in Japanese. As a Linguistics student, I love learning new languages. I wanted to learn Japanese back in high school, because of the beautiful calligraphy and also anime.

I have visited Japan when I was 13. In my memory, Japan is a really nice country, I eagerly want to go back again. I can’t believe that I am going back again as a Japanese learner. This will be my second time going to Japan, I am both nervous and excited. I get to work with Japanese students in this program, but I have little confidence when it comes to speaking Japanese with native speakers. I am also very excited to meet a lot of people and make long-lasting friendships in this trip. Through meeting new people, I believe it will also help strengthen my Japanese speaking and listening abilities.

I have a lot of hobbies, other than watching animes and dramas, I love doing different kind of sports. I workout regularly and I always go hiking with my family on weekend. I enjoy doing sports, because I think this is the best way to release stress and keep me calm. Besides, I like photography and I always bring my camera with me. So be sure to follow me on different social medias, I will be posting pictures of food and scenery throughout the trip.

Throughout my stay in Japan, I plan on travelling to Osaka and Kyoto after the program. After taking a course on Japanese history, I really want to visit some of the historical relics, including the Osaka Castle, Kinkakuji and Kiyomizu-dera. I believe seeing the real building will help us understand the history better. Besides, life would not be perfect without food. I cannot wait to try different Japanese foods. I am ready for my “see-food” diet in Japan.

Thanks for reading!
よろしくお願いします！