I sit here typing up this post on my final week in Japan as a foreign exchange student (while at the same time rocking out to some Bump of Chicken) and there’s a mixture of feelings going on. On the one hand, I’ve had an absolutely fantastic time here in Japan. I think I can say without reservation it has been the most eventful year of my life. Not only have I acquired the Japanese language, at least conversationally, I have made life-long friends and more memories than I have bothered to re-account on the blog here. On the other hand, I know that my time is up here and I have return home. I’m quite content with that, though, as I have many people back home I want to meet again, not the least of whom is my family. Besides, I have to graduate from college. If I ever want to return to Japan that’s a necessity.
I figured I’d use this post to give out some final advice to everyone who is thinking of studying abroad, gleaned from my year here. Of course it all boils down to want you want from your time in a foreign country, but this is what I found worked for me:
I gave all you guys the low-down on last semester’s classes, so I figured it would be a good idea to tell how you how things went this time around. Overall, this semester was just as successful as the last was and I had a good time in all of my classes. Once again, they centered around the Japanese language and the culture of Japan. So, let me give you the run down!
It’s been a long time coming but it’s finally here! Enjoy watching me ramble on about where I’ve been living this past year, the International House. Excuse the mess, please! :)
Note: The sound is pretty bad in the beginning because of the wind. Don’t worry, it gets better. ;)
It’s been a while since I wrote an actual post here, so I figured I’d let you all know how my Christmas/New Year’s break went. Honestly, I didn’t do a whole lot, especially in terms of travel – I stayed in Hirosaki the whole time and didn’t do anything particularly out of the ordinary. But I did do a few things that could be considered above average and/or “cultural experiences” and I’d love to share those with you now!
Hey all! I gave a presentation today in my Japanese culture class here in Hirosaki. I presented it in English, but I got some great help from my friend Lim in the handout translation. For anyone who’s interested, here’s the Japanese text of my presentation! It was about the Japanese influence on the American video game market, especially during the 80′s/NES era.
If you’ve been following my Twitter then you know that last weekend I went out to Morioka in Iwate prefecture to take the Japanese Language Placement Test. Even though I was going to take a test, the group of us who went down to Morioka had a really good time (don’t let Lim’s face in the above photo tell you otherwise) and I thought I would take a moment to let you know all about how it went down.
It’s been about a month and a half since I first got my first job here in Japan: teaching English at a “juku,” or “cram school” as it might be translated into English. The name of the place is A+ English School and they actually have a website. Yes, that’s me in that video on the front page. No, it’s not that embarrassing. :P Clicking around the site, you might notice it’s primarily a school for young children. We have students as young as 3 years old, all the way up to about 11 years old. In the course of working there, I’d had chances to teach and play with all of them. If you’re curious about teaching in Japan, or what kind of opportunities there will be for you to work as a foreign exchange student, then this post is for you!
The day was unsually sunny and warm for this time of year, so I decided to get out the camera and do what I’ve been putting off for a while: a video of my daily bike ride to school!
Now that fall is here and all the new students have arrived, the new semester is very much underway. I thought I would throw up a quick post on what classes I’m taking and what I’ve been up to around here in good old Hirosaki. Hit up the link below to read all about it!
It was a long time coming, but here it is! I think I’m going to leave it at the video, pictures and twittering in terms of talking about my trip with my parents. I haven’t been able to devote a lot of time to writing lately because of how busy I am with studying Japanese and the start of the new semester. Besides, with Twitter, photos and video, what more could I really say? I think down the road, this blog is going to shift to more cerebral topics instead of journaling day-to-day things. Like I said earlier, I’m past the stage where Japan is a happy wonderland and now in the getting-down-to-business stage. My Japanese class this semester is going to test my skills, I’m taking a literature course which has a decent load of books to read and the JLPT is coming up December (I’m going for level 3). Not that I’m complaining though. I’m getting real comfortable with day-to-day conversation and the sky’s the limit for how good I can get before I go back home. Time’s a wasting, back to studying!
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