From 10 April until 14 April, I was working at Kobe University within the scope of an Erasmus+ staff mobility. My main tasks for this mobility were as follows:

I obtained both of my degrees, undergraduate and graduate, in Japanese Studies and therefore I have already spent significant time in Kansai before, but never stayed for more than a few hours in the city of Kobe and had never been to Kobe University. Thus, I was even more excited to get to know the surroundings of one of the most popular universities for our exchange students.

The cooperation agreement between Trier University and Kobe University has existed since 2015. Several students from both universities have participated in the exchange: the largest group of students from Trier University being in Kobe at present. Two out of six students returned home after one semester and four students remain at Kobe for a second semester.

Before the Corona pandemic, there was an ongoing mutual exchange of staff members and professors as well. Unfortunately, the pandemic brought a disruption of active exchange, and we are now working on achieving a mutually beneficial future.

During my time at Kobe University, I belonged to the Global Engagement Division which also organized my mobility and supported me throughout the week. I also spent significant time with staff responsible for International Exchange and faculty members of Business Administration, Economics and the School of Language and Communication (SOLAC).

Moreover, I gave two presentations during my stay:

a)　a general presentation on the Erasmus+ program for administrative and faculty staff of Kobe University. I held the 　　　presentation in Japanese and was strongly supported by Ms. Arita and Mr. Uwagawa from the Global Engagement Division.
　b)　a presentation for possible exchange students at Kobe University about staying at Trier University. This was also held in 　　　Japanese.

In addition, I had the opportunity to get a taste of several courses at Kobe University and to learn about different, highly interesting approaches to preparing students from Japan for studying abroad and to experience the merging of foreign exchange students and Japanese students at Kobe University first-hand. I was particularly impressed by the approach of a group work-based seminar comparing the EU and Japan.

My expectations of this staff mobility were more than exceeded by the possibility to engage with so many people working at different fields at Kobe University. It was also very interesting and nice to meet those in person with whom I had been in contact for a long time and throughout the pandemic, namely Ms. Goto, Ms. Yamamoto, and Ms. Konda from the International Exchange Division.

Personal contact, which has been so rare in recent years, is precisely the factor that has made university cooperation so successful over a long period of time and it was exciting for me to experience on how many levels the contact between Kobe and Trier exists beyond the exchange of students. For example, I was very happy about Prof. Hiroko Masumoto's visit during my presentation on the University of Trier. Ms. Masumoto, who is a professor for German literature, had spent a few months as a fellow at Trier University between 2018 and 2019 and knows the university and the International Office of Trier University well.

Additionally, I gained insights by being able to observe the structure of the sections of Kobe University which work on international relations. Comparing differences and similarities between Kobe and Trier helped me to understand key factors for the communication between a Japanese and German university. On top of this, it was a very challenging yet fulfilling experience to exhaust my knowledge of the Japanese language by explaining such complex matters as the Erasmus+ program.

My special thanks go out to Ms. Arita and Mr. Uwagawa for their continuous support before and during my stay, as well as to the team of the International Exchange Division. I really enjoyed my time at Kobe University thanks to the welcoming members of the university staff.

As a Japanese Studies graduate, an Erasmus+ participant, as someone who has in total spent more than two years in Japan on different occasions and as someone working in the field of Internationalization, I would like to end this report by saying:

人生を変えたいなら、海外へ！

（企画部国際連携課）