Author Archives: Jillian Kennedy

About Jillian Kennedy

"All who wander are not lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien Hi Everyone! I’m just your average rising junior from California whose indescribable fear of flying is always seemingly at odds with her immense love of traveling. I will be spending my summer studying Japanese in Tokyo, Japan, while simultaneously trying to eat the most amount of teriyaki chicken humanly possible. I really like to use (parentheses) because I believe that they are the only way that my sarcastic humor can be truly communicated. Stay tuned for updates!

Please Prepare for Landing

I am covered in bug bites. I have eaten a multitude of questionable substances moonlighting as “food” and I have gotten lost so many times that it has passed the point of being funny. So, to sum up my experience in Japan so far, I couldn’t be any happier!

Admittedly, to some, what I have described above sounds like a ring of hell straight out of the likes of Dante’s Inferno. To me, it describes everything I’ve dreamed of and more. In only 12 days, Tokyo has expanded my horizons in every cliché way possible. The bug bites I have received have been well worth it because they were contracted while walking through a thousand year old shrine in Narita, and while sitting in Yoyogi Park listening to a Japanese comedy troupe perform while eating yakitori fresh from a street stand grill, and while hiking a river ravine in the mountain escape of Nikko. The aforementioned “questionable substances” were takoyaki, little deep friend balls of octopus that taste like they fell straight from fast food heaven, and dried crickets right off of a vendors stall. The times of complete confusion when being lost in the labyrinth ironically referred to as the Tokyo subway system are irreplaceable to me because it brought me so much closer to the people I have met on my program (because nothing makes you friends faster than being lost in the underbelly of a city in Asia together). These are all wonderful experiences that I could never have dreamed of before coming to study abroad, and could never have achieved had I decided to spend my summer on my couch binge watching Netflix (although I still greatly respect the practice).

Not only have I been experiencing so much, I have been learning so much of the Japanese language. I came twelve days ago knowing nothing. Like legit nothing, nada, as I somehow failed to notice that we needed to come knowing how to read and write hiragana and katakana, two of the three Japanese alphabets. So, I came completely and utterly clueless, and in only twelve days, I know both of those alphabets, a ton of vocabulary and have actually held basic conversations with locals (mostly revolving around how, “Yes, I am an American”, and, “No, I don’t know how to speak Japanese,”) but hey it still counts in my book! I am honestly astonished at how quickly my class is moving, but am even more astonished at how much I am retaining. Being able to learn in a class setting, then immediately get to utilize that knowledge while I am out and about traveling in Japan has reinforced it so much more than I could have imagined. It is so incredibly cool to speak even a little Japanese. It has given me confidence as a student that I can take on insurmountable challenges like learning a new language from scratch and as an traveler who can learn how to navigate a foreign country without knowing the language.

So far Japan has taught me to: not ask questions when it comes to trying food, make sure to always have bug spray handy, and to have at least one friend who can speak Japanese with you at all times (in case of an emergency). Most importantly however, Japan has taught me so far to never say no to any offer of an adventure, because you never know when that spur of the moment decision can lead to one of the best experiences of your life.

As for now that’s all, look for my next post my trip on my trips to Kyoto and Nikko.

P.S. If you ever get the chance to try rice from a vending machine, do it, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Here are some of my early pictures:

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I don’t think that I believed that I was going to be living in Japan until I actually got here. So, amidst pre-landing freak out, I managed to snap my first picture of my host country!

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Naritasan Shinshoji Temple: One of the most picturesque places I have ever been, where the cost of admission was my seemingly infinite number of mosquito bites.IMG_8465

Here is your average Tokyo train/subway. Some fun facts about this form of Japanese public transportation:

1. You aren’t supposed to eat or talk while in the train car,

2. Your cellphone is meant to be on silent/vibrate mode as to not disturb other passengers,

3. There are designated seats for the ill, pregnant, and elderly,

4. The average delay time for any train is only 30 seconds, making timeliness extremely important

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The food in Japan has been AMAZING! I have yet to have a bad meal, and every time I eat, there is something new and exciting to try. One of my favorite dishes has to be Udon, pictured above. While we have it back home in America, it’s nothing like what Noodle Houses in Tokyo serve.

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Shibuya, Japan: During my stay I will be in the Shibuya “neighborhood” of Tokyo. Shibuya has a vibrant center known for shopping, eating and entertainment. It’s usually portrayed by Shibuya Crossing, one of the busiest intersections in the world. Here is a picture of when I first began to explore!

 


Location: Narita, Japan

Vamos a…. Japan?

*Disclaimer*: I have been in Tokyo, Japan, for two weeks now; and, while this post was written before I arrived, due to the lack of free Wifi for desperate American college students to mooch off of, I was only able to post now.

As I sat in my Political Science class back in late February, I pondered the direction my future was taking. I was frustrated because I hadn’t yet heard back about my applications for summer internships (albeit prematurely), and my extreme lack of patience and my bad habit of thinking way too far into the future became a dangerous combination. So rather than listening to the ongoing lecture on the history of government formation in post-partition India (sorry, Professor) I decided to look into something totally unexpected: studying abroad. I closed down my Facebook homepage (again, sorry Prof.) and went over to the Global Studies site to think about studying abroad over the summer. From my brief research, I decided that studying abroad was the answer to all my questions, that Tokyo would be my destination, and that I could most definitely take on whatever this six-week excursion would entail. So, by the end of that same hour and fifteen minute class, I had begun the application and made the life-changing decision to go abroad (I promise that I do usually pay attention in class).

Spending six weeks learning the Japanese language in Tokyo was not how I expected to spend my summer. I had envisioned a typical summer: spending weekdays interning in an office and weekends relaxing at the beach at my hometown in California. I’ve spent my life growing up there, and my time abroad has only consisted school-sponsored and family short trips. On top of all that, I’ve spent the past nine years taking Spanish classes and am pursuing a Spanish minor at school. So, I began to think, “What business do I have in even going to Tokyo and trying to learn an entirely new language in a country I’ve never been before?” Other than my interest in global cultures as an International Relations major and my interest in Asia having had been to China and Korea before, I really didn’t have a connection to the place I was studying or even the subject I would be learning. I then decided then that the point of the program would be this: I would have a learning experience to take me outside of my comfort zone and beyond the borders of a typical classroom. Thenceforth, I used this as my mind set for my new adventure.

A short four months later I find myself here, two days away from my 11-½ hour flight across the Pacific. I sit surrounded by a pile of clothes, those freshly bought and old-time favorites, in an effort to discover what is considered appropriate attire for “plum rain season.” Alongside me is a first aid kit crafted by my mom so large that it would make UHS jealous in order to prepare for the bizarre lack of access sometimes to basic medicines in my host country. I am having to make the difficult decision as to which Penn State sweatshirt to pack as my Dad astutely advises me that with an average temperature of 80 degrees and high humidity, I won’t be needing all five of the ones I brought home. I switch between an overwhelming excitement in anticipation of this new experience and an immeasurable fear of a “What I have gotten myself into?” kind of way. Even though I sometimes look at my near empty suitcase as a metaphor for the unknown that comes along with living in a foreign country ( indeed, a tad dramatic), I keep reminding myself that my love of travel, language, and culture are what inspired me to make this journey in the first place. I can’t wait to eat the fresh sushi at Tsukiji fish market, to look over the Tokyo skyline from Tokyo Skytree, to shop in Harajuku, and to sing away at karaoke in Shinjuku. These are the things that are helping me to  to pack because I know that while the unexpected that awaits me in Tokyo is daunting, I’m a million times more excited than anything else.

So now that my trip is looming near, the nerves that had been building have almost seemed to evaporate. For every worry that I think of, I think of three more things that I am excited about experiencing in Japan. I think of the food, the culture, the language, and the new friends and experiences that I am going accumulate while I am there, and I am beginning to get peace of mind. Even though I am nervous for this new adventure, I can’t help but be thrilled at what lies ahead. Hopefully I’ll have some great stories for Geoblog, and can help inspire others to take a leap just like I did (or at least get a laugh out of the tribulations I’m sure to incur with my nonexistent Japanese).

So, Sayonara America! See you in seven weeks, and let the adventure begin!
P.S. Please make sure that nothing happens to Chipotle while I’m gone!

 


Location: Orange County, California