09/02/2020

On Wednesday, August 19th, 2020, an online international talk was held, and 36 Japanese students, international students, and faculty and staff members joined via Zoom.

Mr. Javier Asensio (Master's first year ) who is from Spain introduced his country "Spain", and talked about the history, industry, culture, food, and more in English! Initially, Javier told us that he was interested in Japanese culture and anime, so he began to study Japanese on his own and is studying Japanese at the UoA.

He said that the Spaniards have lived in the Iberian Peninsula for about 3,500 years and later ruled by the Romans and Muslims, who united as Spain in 1492.

In 2018, Spain was selected as the second most popular tourist country in the world. He talked about popular places such as the Sagrada Familia, the Cathedral of Córdoba, and the Alhambra Palace of Islamic cultural architecture, and also introduced famous artists such as Picasso, Dali, and Goya.

"La Tomatina", a tomato throwing festival, and the Holy week events of Mr. Javier's hometown Cartagena were also introduced with music. For food, he talked about paellas, tortillas, tapas, and Mr. Javier's favorite dish, called "Caldero" (curry). Lastly, he talked about the current issues Spain is facing: the economic situation, the monarchy and republicanism, and the Catalan independence movement.

His talk was very interesting and we could learn about Spain more deeply through his talk. The next International Talk will be held in October. Enjoy it!