Tom Schumacher Tom Schumacher’s interest in Japan began while at secondary school when several members of his extended family moved there to work. He has studied Japanese for ten years, beginning in the fifth form (year 11) at Francis Douglas Memorial College NZ in Wellington. During his time at Francis Douglas he was awarded an NZIIU exchange and spent six months at Ashiya City near Kobe, where he experienced first hand Japanese culture, language and Japanese High School life. He attended Kwansei Gakuen, where he made many friends, travelled, and became interested in Japanese Shinto Religion. Tom is currently studying towards a BCA in Commercial Law and International Business which he will complete at the end of this year (2005), and is also in the third year of Japanese at Victoria University. Along with his studies he works part time at the ANZ Customer Contact Centre where he takes calls from Japanese speakers, and also calls Japanese customers at their request. Though demanding work, as he is always needing to update his vocabulary list of business and banking jargon, Tom enjoys the challenge and says he learns new things everyday. Tom has recently returned from an extended period of travel in Japan and Asia. He believes that the passion and immense appreciation the Japanese have for a foreigner learning and speaking their language not only provides great encouragement but also the desire to continue learning this fascinating and awesome language! Profiled by Angela Clouston, 2005