As I Set Out on this Journey (Keaton)

As I set out on this journey, I look forward to the exercises I will have and the skills I will learn.

Coming from a small city in Wisconsin, moving to Osaka, Japan will feel different from what I am used to. The city, along with the college, is much bigger than my hometown of Neenah, Wisconsin and my collegetown of Beloit, Wisconsin. Size is not the only aspect that is different. Food, transportation, and laws will all change when I move there. While I have been to larger cities before, this will be the first time I will stay there for an extended period of time. I am looking forward to discovering the town and adjusting to this larger home. While living in a big city is one thing, living in a foreign country is another. I have never traveled to a foreign country before, so living in one for five months is nerve-rattling to say the least. Everything from the plane ride to living with a host family, will be completely new to me, but I can not wait to start.

During my time in Japan, I plan to improve on different aspects of my work-in-progress language. I hope to grow in parts of Japanese that I struggle with, like speaking and listening. At the same time, my more comfortable skills, reading and writing, will be tested in their native and modern environment. While living with a host family and talking with a speaking partner, I will be able to exercise these trouble spots more often. I will also become more comfortable with everyday encounters like asking for directions and ordering food. While this comfort level will take a while to achieve, I will try my best to feel challenged while enjoying this new experience I am grateful for having.

With the support from my peers and my family, I am going halfway across the world to gain new experiences and improved skills to grow as a person. Wish me luck!




Taken on the bus from the airport. I'm not used to mountains and ocean, either!

Eastward Bound (Rylee)

As I embark on this journey I am filled with eagerness to return to Tokyo. I have been compiling a list of every place no matter how insignificant or touristy that peaks my interest that I see while watching NHK World, YouTube, reading other blogs and hearing anecdotes from fellow students. Tokyo in its vastness is like a concrete jungle of sorts by constantly changing and containing a microcosm every step you take, so there is always much I feel that I miss from my previous visits and others I want to see again.

Taking it easy.

However, it may be a double-edged sword to have so much outside of your doorstep that it makes one worry to a slight degree about being overwhelmed. The ability to get away from the hustle and bustle has been easily afforded to me by living in a rural farm town, and to be within a short driving distance from it even while attending college in an already modestly small city makes avoiding distractions easy. I have certainly spent a fair amount of time in Tokyo totaling more than three weeks, but the laid-back nature of Beloit will be something I will miss. Maybe Tokyo will eventually dull down my senses enough to spare its distractions allowing me to keep studying those pesky kanji characters every night. Staying in Tokyo for a year will create some mental hurdles by having to manage Tokyo’s captivating nature, yet the city will create countless memories with the friends I will meet and already have met by chatting with my assigned Rikkyo buddy group.