Peter Heitzelmannさん（ドイツ・ビュルツブルグ大学 第6学年次）

My experiences actually started a year before I even travelled to Japan. I always wanted to spend some time in another country during university but until the fall of 2018, I never really got around to organize anything like a semester abroad. When I visited an evening lecture organised by our university to inform us on our international exchange options I first heard about my university’s partnership with Hyogo college of medicine. I always wanted to visit Japan.

Even though I wasn’t too hopeful that I would get the chance to participate in the exchange I applied and after I had sent my CV, my letter of recommendation, my letter of motivation, proof of my English skills and my university grades, I had an Interview. Even though I was really nervous it went well and a week later I was thrilled to learn that I got the internship. Not only I was told I got a spot at the Hyogo College of Medicine for a month, I also learned that my university would give me around 2000 euros to support me during this time. They also told me that I should tell my colleges that there are still spots free and I was glad that two of my friends applied and got the chance to go to Japan with me.

During the next year before my Internship started in February of 2020, I was lucky to meet a lot of Japanese outgoing Students that came to Würzburg and show them around the City I have come to think of as my home.

Then, the time came for me to leave for Japan together with my friend and fellow student David. Shamefully epidemic of COVID-19 somewhat overshadowed our departure and I was getting unsure whether I would be able to leave for Japan or not. But in the end, we rebooked our flights so we would fly directly from Munich to Osaka and we were off.

Once we arrived at Osaka Airport, we were greeted by our Driver, who took us directly to the Hyogo College Hospital where we meet Ms .Kyoko Torii. We have already had a lot of email contact with Ms. Torii and even before coming to Japan she was always helpful and forthcoming especially when it came to the problems concerning COVID-19. She showed us the little house we would stay in the next month courtesy of the College. It was beautiful, had everything we needed and was perfectly located on the hospital grounds. Afterwards Ms. Torii took us to meet booth the head of the hospital and the doctors that would be responsible for us during the next few weeks. After that Ms. Torii gave us the meal vouchers we could use in the university cafeteria to buy our lunch every day, which was great tasting Japanese food.

The public transportation in the area was fantastic, easy to understand and affordable, especially after realizing that you can buy a Hanshin line tourist pass at any Big Camera store for just 500 yen and travel the Hanshin line between Kobe and Osaka the entire day. The train station Mukogawa is a five-minute walk away from the International housing and the express train to Umeda or Namba, which are both great districts in Osaka, only takes about 30 minutes. The same goes for Kobe in the other direction.

After a great first weekend, I started my internship in the Pediatrics department, where I had very full timetable with different departments every morning and afternoon. This way, I got to learn a lot and got to know many new people. Not just other students of my age that I’m still happy to call my friends but also doctors who were great teachers and who went above and beyond to show me every part of their department, even some of campus, and every aspect of the work they do every day. I can honestly say that I am happy with my decision and that I have learned a lot. I especially loved my time in the Pediatrics ICU and the Pediatric surgery departments.

The second part of my internship I spent in the ICU department, where my schedule was not as full but my time was no less informative especially the morning rounds with both the ICU doctors and the infectiologists. I got to see a part of medicine that was really interesting to me and where I could really see myself some time.

Even though there were a lot of similarities between hospitals in Japan and in Germany, it was also fantastic to learn about the differences between the two systems. Like how the professional education to become a specified doctor differs, or how Japanese citizens were insured and how people pay for the cost of their treatment. And even though it was sometimes hard to communicate especially if the subject needed some very specific vocabulary, I was grateful to have been thought so many things.

When I wasn’t in the hospital, I spent most of my evenings in Osaka exploring either on my own or with my friend David. Even though most museums and other cultural sights were already closed because the COVID-19 cases were rising all over the world there were still a lot to see and the day to day city live wasn’t impacted at all. I especially loved taking a train to Namba station and walking around Namba with its alternative fashion shops and second-hand boutiques. The atmosphere there was great especially around America Mura, the „American village “. Every evening I discovered something new, walking around these great high-rise buildings where you could turn a corner and find an oasis of tranquillity around a little shrine right in the hustle and bustle of such a huge city. Or I spent my time eating great new dish in one of Osaka’s many fantastic restaurants or street food parlours.

At night I often either went to one of Nishinomiya’s many Onsen or bathhouses to relax in the hot water or I went to an izakaya with my friends to get a few drinks, always meeting new people when we did. Especially memorable was the first night, when we wanted to eat some Okonomiyaki, which is a famous dish for the area. We went to Oke which was close to the Hospital. We ended up having a fantastic evening with the people there who even payed for our meal in the end.

This pretty much set the tone for my time in Japan, with every person I met being more then welcoming and helpful. During our internship we have been invited to several restaurants to a fantastic barbecue at a friend’s house and we have received such wonderful gifts from the people we have met that I almost felt bad in the end.

Our weekends we spent traveling around the Kansai area with the “Japan Railway Kansai Area Passes” we bought beforehand. We spent a few days in Kyoto sleeping in a capsule hotel trying to see as much of this beautiful city, with its ancient roads and beautiful shrines, as possible. The train ride to Kyoto was very short and comfortable, just like the ones to Nara and Kobe which are also big cities definitely worth visiting. Nara was especially beautiful because we got to feed the free roaming deer while the cherry trees were starting to bloom.

But even though the area is densely populated and you could take a train from Kyoto to Kobe without every actually entering the country side, Kansai was also very rich in natural sights. You can hike up the 1k high Mt. Rokko and have a fantastic view over the entire area of Osaka and Kobe. And probably the most amazing trip I took was to Koya-San, the Spiritual center of the Shinto-Buddhism and the only place you can stay in a Buddhist Temple as a mere tourist which was also our last trip outside of Osaka.

At the end of our internship the COVID-19 Pandemic had worsened globally, which we haven’t really noticed because the situation in Japan was still well under control and in most cities, life went on as usual. But our families and friends got more and more nervous as the lockdown at home worsened. During our last trip we realised that our flights had been cancelled and thus began long phone calls with our families and Lufthansa to find a new way back home. Even though we still wanted to travel the rest of Japan after our Internship we quickly realised that this wasn’t a good idea, so we concentrated on planning how to get home. Thankfully Ms. Torii helped us out in every way possible.

In the end, me and David left quite fast after organising a direct flight from Osaka to Amsterdam after we spent a week longer in Osaka then we had planed without traveling through Japan. And even though the last few days were stressful and my trip was cut short, I am grateful that I had an amazing time in which I learned a lot, meeting fantastic people, made great friends and got to know Japanese