Written by on November 2, 2023

My LOVE to Munich — having been here for 2 months

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In Japan, we use three kinds of characters – chinese characters, hiragana and katakana. One difference between our characters and the alphabet might be the fact that every Chinese character has its meaning. It means that words with different characters but same pronunciation have different meanings.

Hello all, I am Ayano, an exchange student from Japan.

My name is written in chinese character 吉村 (Yoshimura – it’s my familyname) 綾乃 (Ayano – my firstname). My familyname 吉村 (Yoshimura) means “lucky village”. What’s a good familyname!

Celebrating being 20 years old with Japanese traditional clothes

Though I have lived in Tokyo for 21 years, now I live in Munich. I have been here 2 months so far (because I took a language course in September), and will be here another 8 months.

Fortunately I could join Oktoberfest!

So, why Munich? 

Major reason was that Germany seems to be a good place to learn about EU systems. 

For me, a Japanese, EU system that shares currency, partly politics and economy is interesting but a bit difficult to understand.

Also, LMU offers great opportunities to study media communication and religious studies.

That’s another big reason why I chose Munich.

I would like to explain about my studying later.

I enjoy my life in Munich a lot.

Munich is a city that I can live in easier than I expected –  it has many shops, transportation, and good parks.

Even walking around the city is fun. Buildings, roads, shops, and markets are very different from Tokyo.

From St. Peter Church. This is one of my favorite places — anyone agree with me?

I also enjoy parties here with friends.

For Halloween Party!

What I enjoy the most might be traveling.

As a Japanese, a citizen of island countries, it is amazing that people go to foreign countries by bus or train!

Not only the other countries, but in Germany there are many places to visit.

I went to London, Salzburg, Innsbruck and a little bit Köln and Brussels so far.

They were all great and I plan to go more!

Photo when I go hiking in Innsbruck with my friends. How amazing it is that we can go there by 2 hours by bus!

I need to mention about my studying. Actually in Japan I study law and politics (and a little bit of comparative religion) though now I study at IfKW.

One reason why I changed my major here is that my German ability was short of applying for these facilities.

Another reason, a more important one, is that I have such a strong interest in media that I am thinking of finding a job in a media company.

For me, working in the media seems to be attractive but responsible. 

I love going on trips and talking with various people. Working in the media enables me to do both, that’s why it is attractive for me.

On the other hand, how the media informs something to people affects a lot how people build their opinions. This is a responsible aspect of working in the media.

Here I want to learn how the media can and should change.

I am so excited about the school life in LMU IfKW!

I would be glad if you see how my life will be going on in this blog.