Adventures in Japan: Richard Goes East
The most prominent goal I had by far in going to college was to eventually realize my dream of studying abroad in Japan. On August 11, 2013, my adventure finally began as I flew off to attend Oberlin University in Tokyo, Japan. Being able to accomplish just this was amazing for me, but I was able to continue on to bigger and better things while I was there.
I had wanted to participate in club activities which were outside the International Club, and eventually ended up learning the Okinawan traditional dance of Eisaa(エイサー). Not only was I able to use my Japanese on a daily basis to learn about an unique culture, but I also ended up traveling around the region doing performance in front of large crowds. Outside of traveling around the region, I was also able to travel to completely different areas throughout Japan. One of my best friends happened to be from Kumamoto, in the southern portion of Japan. I was invited to stay three days at his family's house where I was able to enjoy a tour of the main attractions throughout the prefecture such as going to Kumamoto-Jo, hiking around Mount Aso, and enjoy the various famous hot springs around the area. Furthermore, I also spent time in the northern portion of Japan exploring Fukushima-ken where I got to see one of the original samurai schools and experience one of the castles which made a last stand against the Meiji government, Tsuruga-jo. I also got to make some personal achievements and connections while in Japan as well. As a music game enthusiast, I was introduced through my friends to Maimai, a game which is unique to Japan. Because of Maimai I made plenty of friends from varying backgrounds including 35 year old businessmen and first-year high school students. I traveled around to attend tournaments, and even won one within my short period abroad. I will go back to Japan this August for the JET program, and from that point forward I will be able to continue to check off items on my "To-do List". For instance, even though I was able to practice Eisaa, I never got the chance to go to Okinawa to see live performances. Most importantly, everything I did while I was in Japan allowed me to build relationships with people. There were difficult times, such as when everyone was talking too quickly around me and I felt like I was drowning within the conversation, but after using language learning strategies like preparing what I wanted to say beforehand, I was eventually able to adapt to a variety of scenarios. The development of these relationships, some good, some bad, taught me valuable lessons in communication which I can take forward with me when I build healthy, working relations with my future colleagues. If you would like to see some of the pictures from my adventures in Japan, please click here |