My First Big Trip Alone (Victor)

As I set out on this journey I hope to push myself further outside of my comfort zone than ever before. I’ve never been away from home for so long without so much as a weekend back with my family but this time I won’t see my house again for four months. 

Final Look

Of course furthering my language skills is always my goal for studying abroad but I also want to learn to communicate with people that grew up in a completely different environment than I did. It will be challenging to adapt to Japanese culture, as much as I research ahead of time, I can never truly understand what it will feel like to be there until several days or weeks after I’ve gotten off the plane with no reasonable way to change my mind and go home.

Being so far from my friends and family, I expect to be challenged with loneliness and isolation greater than I’ve ever experienced. I won’t be able to text my parents during the day and get a snappy reply, I’ll have to plan calls ahead of time, I’ve never had to do that before. Years ago, I went on a trip to China with my 8th grade Chinese class and I didn’t have much communication back home then either, but I was surrounded by my English speaking classmates and a nice teacher that was constantly checking in on us. I’m mostly alone on this journey, and that’s scary.

Mt. Fuji from the air

But I also hope to learn how to overcome fears like this and be able to go on more adventures after this one.

Welcome to Kansai Airport, Osaka