Japan

Japan 2012

Who Let the 16 Year Old's Loose?

My first experience going overseas was way back in my high school years. I was 16, junior year, and I had befriended the group of exchange students that attended my American school. Hearing their stories made me want to partake in my very own travel abroad adventure, and so that summer I decided try my luck at being an exchange student. It was a pretty impressive situation being that I found out about the summer exchange program, got all my paperwork together, wrote my scholarship essays, and submitted my application all in the span of 5 days. At that point in my life I had made up my mind that this was something I wanted to do and nothing was going to stop me.

Lo and behold, a month later I got the exciting phone call saying that I had won the Okinawa Peace Scholarship and that I was leaving for Japan in approximately one month's time. On the other hand, my poor mother (American) just about had a heart attack when I told her I was going to be living in Japan for the summer.

Upon arriving in Japan, all of us American students stayed in Tokyo for several days to complete our induction orientation. After that, we parted ways to meet our new families all throughout the country. My placement was in Okinawa, one of the main islands in Southern Japanese waters. I remember stepping off the plane and thinking how completely thrilled I was to actually be in Japan AND how close I was to meeting my host family.

When we got to the end of customs and were finally released, the first thing we encountered was the giant crowd of host families holding up signs with their host child's name on it. I was so nervous that I could hardly read the signs. It took me a good 15 minutes to find my family but once I did the realization kicked in that these wonderful people were my new family. I can wholeheartedly say that my host family was the BEST host family! My family consisted of a mother (お母さん), father (お父さん), sister (her name was ゆな), and brother (though I only met him once because he was in college). I loved (and still do) my host family so much. The funny thing is, my host mom was so much like my real mom that I immediately felt comfortable with her. I was also able to bond with grandma (おばあちゃん) and grandpa (おじいちゃん). My maternal grandma actually spoke fluent English because she worked on the military base that is stationed on the island. It was nice for me because we got to have some pretty great conversations and she helped me a lot to understand certain things. Even to this day, I still send them postcards from places I travel to and send them messages to let them know they're in my heart.

During my time in Japan, I learned so much about the culture, language, food, and life of the Okinawan people. My new "daily life" included going to school with my sister, Yuna, hanging out with friends (友達) after school, shopping with my mother, and having fun chats with my father at dinner. On the weekends, I spent a good amount of time with friends, going to the beach, and exploring the island with my mom. I had a couple of friends, Natsumi and Fumiyasu, that I became quite close with during my stay. There were also my school friends, Karin and Nanami, that I often had really fun chats with about popular American culture. To this day, I still think about all of the wonderful times we shared together. I don't think any of them actually know just how much those memories mean to me and how thankful I am to have met and befriended them. My family and friends will always and forever hold a very special place in my heart.

This entry is shorter and less detailed than what I would have liked to write mostly because it's been so long, 7 years ago to be exact. I will say however, that the feelings of appreciation, love, friendship, and happiness are still very much present. I still think about my family and friends, and hope to one day return to see everyone again. I want to catch up and make more memories while I still can and before my friends move away or become too busy.

One of the main things that living in Japan had taught me was that, even though you can be from separate sides of the earth, people are people, and if you put effort into actually wanting to learn about their culture, they will open their arms to you and invite you in with loving smiles. This was the start of my curiosity to explore the world and learn about other cultures and it was also the trip that taught me the most about how to be a culturally "conscious" and respectful traveler.

Traveling is a wonderful thing, but doing a foreign exchange program allows you to truly integrate into the life of another culture and create human connections unlike any other. I highly recommend to anyone who has the chance to go on an exchange program to take that opportunity and live life in a new land because what you gain from it will forever be priceless. 

~RMW