Okay. Before I begin my posts on Hokkaido and the activities I will be doing here, I need to get this off my chest. I waited two weeks before I would post this, just to avoid saying something stupid while in blinding rage. Now that I’ve calmed down from a rage to a very pissed off mood, I think it’s time to tell you what Hokkaido University (Hokudai for short) did to me recently. Many of you may already know what’s going on through my facebook and twitter status updates, but I feel it’s necessary to post the evidence to the public for all to see. I will first lay out all the emails, highlighting and bolding important key phrases, along with my responses. After that I will state the rumor, my angry rant, and the unfortunate outcome.
INTRODUCTION:
I have ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Basically in laymen terms, my brain’s working memory takes longer to process information, thus it takes me longer to complete tasks or do problem solving than it would for normal a person. However, this can be either a handicap or a blessing depending on the task at hand. In academics this is a serious handicap for ADHD kids or adults like myself. This is a common not so big of a deal disorder, and most people can live just fine with it given their lifestyles are forgiving enough. Either way I had to fill in this information on the medical form along with the medication I will be taking with me to Japan. In Japan, this is a recognized disorder and Ritalin is distributed with proper medical documents for ADHD patients, just like in the states, but much stricter.
THE EMAILS:
Email #1 (May 26th, 2010; 6 days before departure):
Ed:
I would redo the form. I already had to assure them it is was only a learning problem, but apparently my word doesn’t mean anything.
Best,
[Person A (UMass)]
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[Person A (UMass)] Quoting [Person B (UMass)]‘s e-mail
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Hi Edward:
Apparently, the information you put on the Medical Form about the ADHD has freaked out both the coordinator at Hokudai and the host families he/she has approached about hosting you. He/She is wondering if you would re-consider and
stay at the DK House instead.
Alternatively, you could re-do the Medical Form and put different information on it. I am attaching the form, and I will consult with [Person A (UMass)] about this matter. I am hoping that to get back to you ASAP.
[Person B (UMass)]
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[Person B (UMass)] Forwarding [Person D (Hokkaido Uni.)]‘s e-mail
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Hi,[Person B (UMass)]
Thank you very much for your email.
I would like to consult you about Mr Charlebois?.
He wants to stay at a host family’s house and have experiences of real Japanese life style.
And I definetly want his wish to come true!
However, as a side of host family, it’ s going to be a big challenge.
To be honest with you, I have asked some host families to have him stay with them.
But I couldn’t get any good answers.
I understand their feelings too.
They don’t know how to deal with that disease and there is also a big barrier to communicate with him whose first language is different from them.
I would like him to participate in HU summer session program.
But without detailed information about his ADHD, we cannot ask host family to
have him.
I also think it might not be possible for you to have his disease information because of privacy protection.
And I cannot ask you about it anymore.
So if it won’t be possible for us to have enough information about his disease, will it be OK for him to stay at DK house?
I am looking forward to hearing from you and since the starting date is getting really close I would like to finalize this matter by this week.
Thanks.
Best regards,
[Person D (Hokkaido Uni.)]
My Reaction to Email #1:
I lol’d hard that [Person D (Hokkaido Uni.)] called it a disease and thought nothing more of it. I decided to not bring my medication to Japan, just to be safe and to remove any fear or doubt, and stated so in the new medical form.
Email #2 (June 1st, 2010; 24 hours before departure):
Dear Ed:
I just heard back from Hokudai that they are insisting on receiving a letter from your doctor. I am wondering if you can quickly contact your doctor and ask them to write a letter about the ADHD in which the doctor should explain something along the lines of the following:
*this has become a commonly recognized problem in the U.S.
*it is not considered a barrier to being able to live in another culture
*it is not considered a barrier to being able to stay with a host family
*it has more to do with having a hard time settling down to study—or something like that
IF your doctor could fax it directly to the following number within the next 24 hrs., that would greatly save time:
[Person D (Hokkaido Uni.)]
Section for Student Exchange
Hokkaido University
Fax: XXX-XXX-XXXX-XXXX
Please let me know if you have been able to arrange this, and thank you.
Yours,
[Person B (UMass)]
My Reaction To Email #2:
I laughed again and shook my head, but did as they asked. I called my doctor and had the letter emailed by my father. Everything was all set. At this point I was less than 12 hours away from boarding a plane to Japan.
EMAIL #3 (June 9th, 2010; 7 days after arrival in Japan!):
Dear Edward,
I’m writing to you to follow-up on the situation involving your housing during the Hokkaido summer program. As I think you are aware, the Hokkaido International Services Office was having a difficult time placing you in a homestay, which you had requested, because your Hokudai health form indicated that you have ADHD. I’m sure you know that there are many misconceptions about ADHD in Japan, so that situations like this are, unfortunately, not uncommon. The ISO informed us late last Friday that they could not secure a homestay for you, and that you would be placed in the DK House during the program. I sent a strongly-worded email back to the ISO, indicating that the International Programs Office at UMass does not consider ADHD to be an impediment to studying abroad, that we send a number of students with ADHD abroad every year with absolutely no incident, and that [Person A (UMass)] and IPO fully support your participation in the program and in the homestay housing option, and that we consider this situation to be discriminatory. Unfortunately, the ISO has written back to say that, since homestays are in short supply this year to begin with, and that ADHD is only poorly understood in Japan, a homestay just couldn’t be found.
I am so sorry, Edward, that this is the outcome of the situation, as I know that a homestay experience can be terrific way to learn a host country’s language and culture. [Person B (UMass)] tells me that you have been traveling and visiting friends in Japan this past week, so we are hopeful that this has provided you with a good taste of the homestay experience. I also know that living at DK House places an additional financial burden on you; a burden which this office feels is unfair, under these circumstances. Therefore, the International Programs Office will be absorbing the additional $120 housing fee charged for DK House, plus we will be awarding you a $500 summer scholarship, to defray the cost of your meals. The $500 will be applied to your Bursar’s account within the next couple of weeks. If you are enrolled in Excess Express, then the money should be transferred into your checking account.
Best of luck on your program!
[Person C (UMass Big Wig)]
My Reaction To Email #3:
Whaaaaa….tttt!? :’( Never have I felt so useless or angry at my own ADHD after reading that letter. It’s bad enough I hear others in the states say its a fake disability or some other stupid ignorant crap. RRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE! WWWWWWWWRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYY!!!
THE RUMOR & MY RANT…WELL… RAGE ACTUALLY:
First, I need to point this out. The entire purpose of this trip was solely on Japanese speech practice and listening comprehension. It was the one thing I fell short in for my abilities in the Japanese language. I made this very clear in my “Statement of Purpose” letter to Hokkaido University and in my homestay biography form I had to fill out.
My goal was to spend two weeks in Tokyo, to relax and prepare for my host family. Then four weeks of intensive Japanese speech practice with my host family. Finally, (this part was suppose to be a surprise for you readers actually), go on a six week backpack trip and travel throughout all of Japan to concrete in what I’ve learned from my host family. That is how important the host family was for me, my money was invested on them to make this worth my while.
Unfortunately, it did not turn out that way. Instead Hokkaido University did the following:
Lets, take a look at the last two. First the no available host families. Disregarding the evidence in the emails that they do have host families available for me. Last week during a Hokkaido tour I was offered by a Hokudai Student Exchange Rep., the opportunity to meet with an available host family to practice my speech once in awhile! Interesting! Second, is the use of lower level reps. as a shield. This may just be a rumor, but I’ve been hearing that there was an email battle, (probably between [Person C (UMass Big Wig)] and the Hokudai Office), which ended with the Hokudai Office dodging any more complaints by directing them to poor [Person D (Hokkaido Uni.)]. How thoughtful of them!
Honestly I want to sue the bastards for the laws they broke and the crap they put me through, but for now I must wait.
What about the other stuff the Hokkaido Program offers? The field trips and cultural activities I could do on my own for many times cheaper than the tuition I paid for. The Japanese classes I’m forced to take are useless. They are two, almost three years below my own level; literally introductory Japanese courses. Thanks, but no thanks.
THE UNFORTUNATE OUTCOME:
So with all the crap that has gone on, things finally settled down after about a week now. About two days ago I finally realized I had a huge financial crisis on my hands. Although UMass was extremely kind enough to adsorb the surprise bill from Hokudai, and give me a $500 scholarship for a month of food. It is still not enough to make this trip worth while. How so you ask?
Now, if there is one thing I’m good at, it’s being extremely stubborn on not giving up, even when I want to. So being that I have no host family to practice my Japanese with, I must go to the only other place there is for Japanese conversation. The bars and clubs. I hate bars and clubs, especially clubs! Plus, I can’t always drink because of my medication. The only exception to this is ABC; Amherst Brewing Company in Massachusetts. I did originally intend to go to the bars for my research on Sapporo Brewery wiki, but not nearly as frequent as I must now. This means that I have to spend a lot more money than what I have budgeted myself for, and my practice has to be un-medicated. I can see it now; un-medicated ADHD kid heavily buzzed trying to learn Japanese. Yeah, that is going to go over very well. I could just not drink the alcohol, but then I won’t make any conversation friends here, one thing Japan is obnoxious about, is making sure they shove as much alcohol down your throat as possible. I swear they can out drink the Irish. My tolerance is just under a quart of 3.3% alcohol level beer in one hour, they can double that… with 5% alcohol level beer.
So what I did to make this all work out, is to make a big sacrifice to my trip plans. I canceled my six week backpack trip and paid a $150 fee to change my flight date to the earliest I could get after the Hokudai program is over. So hopefully, I will learn something from my bar conversations instead of just slurs. I will be back for the month of August with no job until September. Did I mention I hate bars and clubs? Yeah I did!
So thank you Hokkadio University for bending me over and shoving !@#$%^&* way up there. It’s comfortable just like you said. I’ll just tack this tiny financial conundrum onto my already $90+K tuition debt I’m already in. No really, it’s not a big deal, thank you… for wasting my money and time!
OTHER THOUGHTS:
There is one positive thing I learned from all of this. When I saw the introductory level of other students from other universities attending this program, I was absolutely shocked. Their Japanese abilities after one year schooling was horrible in comparison to my own schools curriculum. Although I still think my Japanese department needs improvement, we truly are miles ahead of almost every university in the states. Plus, on a separate note, my school stood up for me and even footed my surprise bill from Hokkaido. This makes me proud to be called a University of Massachusetts Amherst student!
Oh yeah, and here’s is a fortune I got from the Hokkaido Jingu when I was still in rage that I thought was fitting for this post.
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