Volleyball and patriotic Estonians

Ryota, an exchange student from Japan, was so kind to take the time to write a little piece on his life in Estonia!

My name is Ryota Okamoto. I’m from Japan. My hobbies are doing sports and reading books. I’m really an athlete: I often play volleyball and baseball with my friends. Volleyball is my favourite! Therefore I also joined a club in Estonia where I play every day after school. I also love physical education classes at school. The team I play in is the strongest in Tartu so I aspire to become a champion this year as well. Baseball is a very popular sport in Japan and I used to play that when I was an elementary school student. 

In Japan I lived in a school dormitory and shared a room with my friend. I like science and maths related subjects (my favourites are astronomy and physics, although the latter is very hard to study in Estonian) as I want to become a civil engineer. My host father’s occupation is also civil engineering so I am very lucky. It also motivates me to study Estonian!

The school I go to in Estonia is called Miina Härma. The school has a long history and a very high level: the students are very smart! I try to speak to them although I feel my English is not very good. I already have good friends and we have movie nights together.

I have noticed several differences between Japanese and Estonian people. I think that Estonians are more patriotic than Japanese people. It seems that preserving the Estonian language and culture is very important to them. The people seem smart, hard-working and care about their country’s future.

PS. Estonia’s potatoe chips are cheap and taste great!

All the best,

Ryota from Japan (exchange student in Estonia 2014 / 2015)