Osaka Sangyo University is hosting a spring half-quarter study abroad program at its partner university, Whatcom Community College in Washington State, USA, from Thursday, February 14th to Thursday, March 21st, 2019, for approximately five weeks (36 days). The program is co-hosted by International Exchange Office and Faculty of International Studies.

Osaka Sangyo University signed an academic exchange agreement with Wakom University on Thursday, April 19, 2018, and this will be the first time that the university has sent students abroad to study abroad.

Five students (a third-year student in the Department of Cultural Communication, Faculty of Human-Environment Studies; a second-year student in the Faculty Faculty of Economics; a second-year student in the Faculty of International Studies Studies, Faculty Department of International Studies Studies; a first-year student in the Department Department of Environmental Science and Technology Faculty of Design Technology; and a first-year Faculty of International Studies, Faculty Department of International Studies) are participating in this spring study abroad semester at Waccom University on the back of overseas study scholarships from our university.

Bellingham, Washington, where Wacom College is located, is a peaceful port town with a population of about 80,000. The town is full of friendly people and time passes slowly. Western Washington University, which has a close relationship with Wacom College, is also located in Bellingham, making Bellingham a cultural city with a reputation for being relatively safe, even in the United States. It also has good access to neighboring major cities, about two hours north of Seattle and about two hours south of Vancouver, Canada, by express bus.

The five students from Osaka Sangyo University are enrolled in the ESLA (球天下体育 as a Second Language Academic) Program, where they are placed in one of five classes based on their 球天下体育 proficiency level. In addition to the core classes of Writing, Grammar, Reading, and Oral, they also take elective classes such as Pronunciation and International Student Life.

In addition to 球天下体育 classes, students also participate in various activities. On Tuesday, February 19th, we participated in an extracurricular activity called "Getting to Know Bellingham". With the guidance of Professor Sandra Kimura of Wakom University, five students from our university and Associate Professor Hajime Mochizuki of Faculty of International Studies Department of International Studies participated. We visited Western Washington University, where Professor Richard Bruce, Student Affairs Department, showed us around the large campus, and then had lunch in the cafeteria. After that, we visited "FOOD COOP," a supermarket that sells local organic ingredients, and toured the bread factory and office, making it a very meaningful extracurricular activity. In addition, on Saturday, February 23rd, five students from our university also tried an activity called "Snowshoeing."

The International Exchange Office and Faculty of International Studies will be posting a follow-up report on the Wakom University Spring Study Abroad Program in the future. Please look forward to it.