They thought they would spend their spring quarter in Japan. So, Ohio State students Sarah Kniss, a junior in Japanese, and Adele Reeves, a junior in Japanese and art, bought their airline tickets and even video games to entertain themselves during the almost 15-hour flight.
Yet on Jan. 29, less than two months before they were supposed to leave the country, the 10 OSU students going on the study abroad trip received an e-mail stating the trip was canceled.
The trip for Kobe, Japan, was canceled because the main coordinator and associate professor of linguistics, Mineharu Nakayama, was unable to attend – his wife developed cancer and he chose not to travel, according to the e-mail from the Office of International Affairs.
“My heart fell into my stomach and dissolved in the acid,” Reeves said when she first learned the trip was canceled. “I wanted to go to bed and turn into goo. And I did do that, except the turning into goo part,” Reeves said.
Kniss also described her reaction. “I think my brain fell into my stomach,” she said when she first read the e-mail.
Reeves and Kniss said they were disappointed with the program coordinators’ inability to find a replacement for Nakayama.
“After all this stuff that we have done, the program should have been guaranteed,” Reeves said, “We don’t blame (Nakayama). We love him. We just think this program, the departure, was poorly planned,” she said.
“I did not expect having to schedule for next quarter, and the windows have already opened,” Reeves said.
Maureen Miller, director of communications for the OIA, said that after several talks, Nakayama, the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and the OIA reached a collective decision that the trip had to be canceled.
Miller said she did not know whether the decision was made in a meeting or through e-mail. Attempts to contact Nakayama were unsuccessful by deadline.
“All efforts were made to find another professor who could function in that lead faculty role, but unfortunately we were unable to find a substitute so the program had to be canceled,” Miller said.
Miller explained that because this trip offers extensive courses in Japanese for juniors and seniors, “it makes it more difficult to identify a faculty member to leave for 10 weeks and teach these courses.”
Out of the estimated $10,000 cost for the trip, according to the OIA, the students had only paid their application fees of $150 and deposit fees of $500. Reeves said the OIA will reimburse both the application and deposit fees.
However, some students, such as Reeves and Kniss, had already purchased their airline tickets for roughly $1,000 and the OIA will not reimburse students for these, Miller said.
“We provided a letter that students can use at the airlines,” she said. “We’re hopeful the airlines will refund those tickets.”
Some airlines are reluctant to give refunds for discounted tickets. Both Kniss and Reeves bought their tickets with Northwest Airlines through the discounted online student ticket provider, studentuniverse.com.
Geri Kalele, a travel agent for Student Universe, said Northwest Airlines’ tickets are the only non-refundable tickets offered through their Web site.
Kalele said the client pays a $225 cancellation fee and the rest of the ticket cost is placed into a credit that can be used for other trips using only Northwest Airlines. The credit is valid for only one year.
With other airlines, the purchaser pays roughly $75 to $105 in cancellation fees, determined by domestic or international flight, and receives a refund of the remaining ticket cost, Kalele said.
Kniss said if she is not able to receive a refund, she will place the amount into a credit and travel to Japan with her father during spring break. Reeves said she will continue to request a refund.
The Kobe, Japan study abroad program was set for March 21 through May 30. The program would take place at the Kobe Shoin Women’s University, but there were several trips planned for different Japanese cities including Kyoto and Osaka, Reeves said.
She said this is the first time they have had to cancel a study abroad trip because the main professor could not attend. Miller said the OIA has canceled other trips for other reasons but not very often. The exact number of cancellations for the last couple of years was not provided.
When asked if these students would receive priority selection the next time the trip is offered in 2010, Miller said if the students are still enrolled and still fulfill the program requirements, they would be considered. However, Miller said she had no knowledge whether there would be priority selection for these students.
Ingrid Rivera can be reached at [email protected].
