Where Am I and How Did I Get Here? (Shelby)

Honestly speaking, I am a person with no sense of direction. I can’t read maps very well, probably because I can’t tell how far away something is even if you tell me, “It’s about 200 feet to your right.” I can’t visualize how far away 200 feet is unless you tell me that something, like a building or other landmark, is at the 200 feet mark. The only way that I can navigate even my home town and the areas around it is by visual cues. I know that I have to turn at the road with that specific pothole to get to my house. I have to take the exit with the terrible landscaping to get to Walmart. So when I’m dropped somewhere where I’ve never been before and have to find my way around, it takes a lot of time and a lot of mistakes to figure out the best route.

Creating my own maps made me really think and focus on the things that were around me. Over time, I would have remembered those places, like the super markets and the conbinis, but it would have taken a lot longer for me to remember where they were in association to everything else. At first, everything was overwhelming. I didn’t seem to ever know exactly where I was or where exactly I was supposed to go. There wasn’t anyone who really spoke English that could help me, and my Japanese isn’t good enough to fully understand if someone tells me how to go somewhere. I felt out of place, like I would never be able to find my way around, use the bus, or get anywhere new. After a week or so, I’d managed to figure out the bus, though. And I recognized the streets and stores that led to and were around my campuses.

First map attempt.

This all changed when I moved out of the university housing and into my host mother’s house. Right after learning the route to get to campus, I was suddenly thrust into a completely different side of the city in a very twisty neighborhood. Thankfully, I wasn’t alone in this move. Even though my host mother gave us maps and highlighted and explained the easiest routes for us to take to get to campus, I wouldn’t have been able to get there by myself. At least, not without using Google Maps the whole way. My housemate can read the maps and was able to recognize parts of the route much faster than I was, allowing us to find a quick route to campus. Without her help, I would have had a very tough time finding my way to campus, or I would have already spent a small fortune on bus fare.

The first place I learned how to get to.

I don’t really feel like a “part” of the city yet, but I think I’ll start to soon enough.

Finding the Way (Gray)

In the first couple days of my exploration of AIU and the surrounding area, I realized how close together most of my initial “points of interest” were. In the beginning I was looking for the essentials: where did I have class, where could I buy food and what the fastest paths across campus were. As I continued to look beyond AIU itself, through word of mouth I found things a little bit further out, like shrine about a 20 minute walk from campus, or the far edge of the prefectural public park. Just a short bus ride away was the Goshono area, with its variety of shops, gargantuan mall and a convenient shuttle into the main station of Akita City.

First map I made of the area.

Despite the diverse locations I’ve become more familiar with, a constant about Akita more generally is that there is an immense amount of greenery. When I walked the perimeter of the large mall in the area, I found that the other side of the road, if not small shopping centers, was largely overgrown green space. At the edges of AIU campus itself are forests of the cedar famous in this prefecture. I think that coming from American Suburbia, the amount and inescapability of the greenery here is very different from home.

AIU campus is home to lots of these crows.

In the beginning I felt more and more like an outsider the further I went from campus, with my height and very visibly foreign face setting me apart. Though as time progressed, although the situation did not change, I found myself caring less that I stuck out, as if my growing familiarity with the area, as well as my residence status, gave me as much as a right to those public spaces as any other person. I don’t think I will ever truly feel inconspicuous outside of AIU campus, but I’ve come to terms with that. AIU campus feels like a bubble, with everything I need for the semester contained inside it, so I can see how it would be easy for an international student to stay on campus most of the time.

Overall, throughout my journey in exploring and mapping my neighborhood thus far, I found that, unlike my small time in Tokyo earlier this summer, there are liminal spaces between “neighborhoods” here in Akita. Here, between larger more developed areas are stretches of farmland and residences that feel disconnected from what I consider to be in my “neighborhood”, so that the areas I do feel like are my “neighborhood” are small pockets inside of a larger structure that is less accessible to people without cars, as public transit only goes to certain places. I was surprised, all in all, that I did as much exploring as I have, and look forward to exploring even more throughout the semester.

Onwards into the unknown!

Expectations and Challenges while Abroad (Zowie)

The Beloit bell

As I set off on this journey I hope to learn about numerous things and develop new skills. A large goal of mine while I am abroad is to become self-sufficient while traveling especially since I will be traveling in Japan 3 weeks early, alone. Coming from Beloit College and living in Beloit my entire life I have had few chances to explore far from my home. I have only traveled far from my small town of Beloit once and it was not alone. The first time I left the United States was when I went to Japan earlier this summer, I was apart of Landscapes in Transitions project. This research project introduced me to rural Japan as it was located in Semboku City located in Akita Prefecture. During this time I didn’t get to directly experience much of the farmer's life so I look forward to going back to the same area I studied for study abroad. When in Japan I hope to learn how to use the transit system, practice my Japanese, learn more about Japanese culture, learn more about the landscape, rural Japan, and art. I hope during this time I am able to learn more about myself and what I am capable of on my own.

The rural countryside has mountain terrain which is significantly different from the glad Midwest where I live.

Furthermore, I do expect to be challenged culturally, socially, academically, personally, and in ways I have not even thought of yet. I feel my greatest challenge will be practicing my Japanese in my daily life. Since my classes are taught in English and the school is international I may end up speaking English more than I planned. I will constantly have to push myself to practice my Japanese at every opportunity I get. Even though I was able to experience Japan for a short period of time I feel very clumsy when I was trying to adjust to cultural differences and when speaking Japanese. I also am very hesitant to try new things because I am not sure what is the “correct” way to do them. I understand it is okay to make mistakes while I am here, but I do not want to do things that come off as rude and not notice. There are many differences between the way I grew up and the way that society is in Japan.

Additionally, I know I will get lost more than find the right way the first time, I can barely get around Chicago’s transit system successfully. Becoming better acquainted with public transportation can open up many more opportunities for me in Japan because of how extensive the transit system is. During the three weeks I will be conducting my own project, I will have a great opportunity to get great use out of the rail system. I hope by the end I will become more confident in traveling alone.

Tokachi Station

I think my biggest personal challenge will be meeting new people and creating lasting relationships after I leave. I find interacting with people mentally and physically exhausting. I need to be with myself the majority of the time otherwise I find it difficult to focus and keep going every day. In Japan, I do not have the same support system as in Beloit so i will have to be very intentional with what I do and how I spend my time as a means to maintain my well being. I plan to join some extracurricular activities but I do not plan to spend much time going to side events or social gatherings just for the sake of meeting people.

Overall, I plan to make the most out of my abroad experience. I know I will be challenged in many ways while I am here whether it be culturally, socially, academically, or personally. As this is the first time I have truly been on my own, and it is in a different country, I hope to learn more about Japan and about myself during this abroad experience.

Journeys, Goals and Packing Up (Gray)

As I set out on this journey, I feel as though no preparation I could possibly do would adequately prepare me for what I’m about to do. I am a nervous traveller, easily flustered by the smallest trevails, and though I’ve been studying the language for a long time and can get around alive, am awkward and stilted in conversation with native speakers. Where I am now as a student of the language is a strange position where I still need to work on my memorization of kanji and translating what I want to say into coherent statements. I am only shakily sure of my ability to navigate the interpersonal relationships I will have to create when I arrive, as existing in a culture I’m not native to may be a challenge. I’m hoping to learn more of the academic phrases in Japanese and the cultural terrain of AIU as it compares to the rest of Japan and to Beloit, with the hope that I can bring things I’ve learned outside the classroom back to Beloit in the spring.

My other home away from home.

I think that the key to getting over the homesickness I’m already feeling is to throw myself at studies and clubs, and try to fill up my time as much as possible. I want to be productive and make the most of my time there, so I’m hoping that I will have opportunities that I can seize, including field trips and the ability to get out into the community.

I think it helps that I have been to Akita before, earlier this summer, so the lay of the campus isn’t a complete mystery to me. The area around, going towards Akita City proper, feels like a world away based on the short time I was there before. I hope to learn as much as I can about how the city and surrounding area are different from the places my classmates are studying in, as well as how the other students at AIU navigate the community differently than I do.

I will be happy to be back in Japan!

Here's the the start of a new journey!

Perspective as you Grow (Shelby)

When I originally thought about studying abroad, I thought about it in terms of learning about an entire culture during my time there. I thought that I would be able to increase my language ability through simple exposure. But after studying, not only Japanese and Japanese history, but everything that I’ve studied so far, I’ve realized that my view of studying abroad, and really studying anywhere, was very superficial.

Akita Prefecture Kiritampo

While I will be able to learn more about Japanese culture, I will be mainly in one corner of Japan, where they have their own nuances of Japanese life and language. They have their own history, important places, landmarks, and ways of living. I’ve come to realize in my two years of college that I want to learn these things. I want to learn what aspects of history the Kansai region focuses on, what places and daily habits are unique to them. I want to learn the differences between the “standard” Japanese and the infamous Kansai-ben.

Grasshopper

None of these things will give up their secrets without a little work on my part. Not only will it be necessary to seek the histories and landmarks out on my own, but I have to overcome the language barrier I face in order to understand the importance of these things. Even with what I have learned before coming here language wise, it is a very different than what is used in everyday life.