Japanese Reflections
Some thoughts about myself after spending a semester in Tokyo.
For the past four months I've been living as a study abroad student in Tokyo, Japan. I'm going home in less than 48 hours and it's actually pretty scary. It's really hard to believe that I'm going home and will be back in the States with people speaking English and...everything. It's so surreal. I feel like I've been here for years and besides the fact that I don't speak Japanese I feel very assimilated into this culture. And it is very sad to be leaving.
When I first came here I had no idea what to expect, but I assumed it would end up being a semester that was fun but I upon returning home I would just go back to my ordinary life. Like after summer camp when I had lots of fun but never maintained contact with my friends. Not this time. I've made some very good friends and have had the time of my life here. It has easily been the best, and my favorite, college semester. I'm actually looking forward to being home and having everyone ask "How was Japan?" in that voice that they say "How is college?" after your freshman year. Because this time I can say "it was amazing" in that excited voice that they're expecting and it doesn't feel awkward.
For the past week I've had a giant "Beauty and the Geek" marathon and watched seasons 1-4 back to back in about 4 or 5 days. Though this experience is nothing like that, the changes I've observed in myself are along the same lines of the changes in the geeks on the show. I've become a little less anxious and neurotic and more comfortable in social situations. I feel much more comfortable in my own skin around people besides my family and best friends than I did before. I never thought those kind of changes could happen to me in a semester but they have. I just hope that I can take what I've learned and apply it to life back in America.
My time left in Japan is ticking away slowly and though I am more than ecstatic to see my best friends again, I will sorely miss life here in Tokyo. It's punctuality, its cleanliness, its politeness, cheeriness...everything about this crazy culture. Even more, I will miss my friends here. I had to say goodbye to my best friend tonight and it still hasn't hit me that I most likely won't see him again until the fall. Tomorrow will be filled with cleaning and packing and saying goodbyes and on Friday I'm off to the airport for a long, long trip home. I will remember this semester forever and I have no regrets in choosing to come here. I just wish it could live on a little bit longer.
For the past four months I've been living as a study abroad student in Tokyo, Japan. I'm going home in less than 48 hours and it's actually pretty scary. It's really hard to believe that I'm going home and will be back in the States with people speaking English and...everything. It's so surreal. I feel like I've been here for years and besides the fact that I don't speak Japanese I feel very assimilated into this culture. And it is very sad to be leaving.
When I first came here I had no idea what to expect, but I assumed it would end up being a semester that was fun but I upon returning home I would just go back to my ordinary life. Like after summer camp when I had lots of fun but never maintained contact with my friends. Not this time. I've made some very good friends and have had the time of my life here. It has easily been the best, and my favorite, college semester. I'm actually looking forward to being home and having everyone ask "How was Japan?" in that voice that they say "How is college?" after your freshman year. Because this time I can say "it was amazing" in that excited voice that they're expecting and it doesn't feel awkward.
For the past week I've had a giant "Beauty and the Geek" marathon and watched seasons 1-4 back to back in about 4 or 5 days. Though this experience is nothing like that, the changes I've observed in myself are along the same lines of the changes in the geeks on the show. I've become a little less anxious and neurotic and more comfortable in social situations. I feel much more comfortable in my own skin around people besides my family and best friends than I did before. I never thought those kind of changes could happen to me in a semester but they have. I just hope that I can take what I've learned and apply it to life back in America.
My time left in Japan is ticking away slowly and though I am more than ecstatic to see my best friends again, I will sorely miss life here in Tokyo. It's punctuality, its cleanliness, its politeness, cheeriness...everything about this crazy culture. Even more, I will miss my friends here. I had to say goodbye to my best friend tonight and it still hasn't hit me that I most likely won't see him again until the fall. Tomorrow will be filled with cleaning and packing and saying goodbyes and on Friday I'm off to the airport for a long, long trip home. I will remember this semester forever and I have no regrets in choosing to come here. I just wish it could live on a little bit longer.