Author Archives: kcd5059

Welcome to Japan

Well, it’s been exactly one week since I stepped off of my 11 hour flight from Portland, Oregon all the way to Narita Airport in Japan. I feel like I’ve been here a month though… in a good way! I’ve been experiencing new things every day and it feels like I have learned more about myself and the rest of the world in this past week than in my entire lifetime! As soon as I stepped foot off of that plane, the newness was overwhelming and I was immediately given many opportunities to use my skills in Japanese. Going through immigration and customs, exchanging dollars to yen, shipping some luggage to my apartment, buying a bus ticket to Mito, and checking into my hotel, etc.. all of these experiences had me using Japanese in some way. Though I will admit that everyone I spoke to had at least some handle of the English language and I did use that as a crutch. I was in a kind of shock at being in a new place that night, so I most certainly wasn’t at my best. Fortunately, everyone was extremely patient and kind to me as I fumbled with my words. Since there was a typhoon occurring as we arrived, one of the teachers at Ibaraki that lives near the bus station came to check to make sure that we arrived safely and even called a taxi for us to take us to the hotel. The next morning, two volunteer students from the university came to pick us up and take us to the International Student Housing (we call it kaikan) to move in. Then we immediately had to fill out paperwork for Internet, electricity, and gas bills with the help of volunteers and tutors that live at kaikan. I was so surprised at how helpful everyone was then. I was under the impression that we would pretty much be on our own at Ibaraki, but that is absolutely not the case. The other students living in the area have taken us to the nearby shops and restaurants so that we know where they are and can get there easily. They help us get the things we need if we don’t know how to get it. Simply put, everyone here is amazing and I have been having a blast thanks to them.

There is a whole lot more to this story than I can write about. Since I haven’t had much time to stop and write, I am more than a little backlogged with information. I also have no Internet in my room yet, though I expect to have it tomorrow. If so, I will most certainly write more. Though I don’t feel as lost as I thought I would here in Mito, I have never felt more motivated to study and practice speaking Japanese. It has become very apparent just how much more I have to learn about Japanese. There are some people here that seem all but fluent in Japanese and in some cases three or four other languages. Compared to them, I feel like I am taking Japanese 001 all over again. So, for now I will just study and practice and make friends  in doing so.


Location: Japan, Ibaraki Prefecture, Mito City

Introduction

Hello everyone!

This is the first of many entries to this GeoBlog that will serve as a kind of journal for my adventures in Japan!
I have been studying Penn State for four years now (starting my 5th one this fall) and I have been studying Japanese for the last two of those years along with Telecommunications as my second major. I started out with the summer intensive sessions for my Japanese classes so I’ve actually taken three years worth Japanese. Hopefully it will be enough to make settling into Japan and making friends relatively smooth.
I will be studying at Ibaraki University in Mito city (which is located in the Ibaraki Prefecture, map below). My program begins on October 1, 2012 and ends on August 08, 2013. So I will be in Japan for about 10 months. I expect to fly over there at the end of September, but in the meantime I have been studying the rest of the Tobira textbook and working part-time jobs to save up money.

My goal for studying abroad is to, of course, practice Japanese as much as I can and move closer to becoming fluent in it. I also want to get a better understanding of the culture and expand my knowledge of the world as a whole. Studying in Japan is my first step towards this knowledge. I will see new things and meet new people and experience a part of the world that I have not had the chance to before. For someone like me who has never been out of my own country before, it will be an amazing adventure.
I am very much looking forward to going to Japan and I really can’t wait to fly out. I have been looking forward to this ever since I began college and making this happen is like a dream come true. Hopefully I will have plenty of pictures and hopefully even more videos to post come October!

Location: United States, Pennsylvania, State College