The first time I lived in Japan was when I was seventeen. I had graduated high school three months prior at the age of sixteen, youngest of my graduating class, and was eager to get out of the country and off into the unknown.
I studied abroad through an organization known as Rotary Youth Exchange, with whom I still volunteer. Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE), a part of the greater Rotary Club International, is a nonprofit charity organization in which Rotary Clubs (largely made up of successful local businessmen and women) sponsor a student to go overseas as a high school exchange student, offsetting the majority of the costs associated with other study abroad programs. Rotary itself is known on a global scale for its charity work, so in being sent overseas as a part of this organization I was given an amazing opportunity to act as an ambassador for the U.S. and become part of an amazing support system.
Over the past 100 years, Rotary Youth Exchange clubs around the world have sent tens of thousands of students overseas, from the most rural regions of Kyrgyzstan to bustling Sao Paolo, Brazil. Any Rotex (any student who has successfully completed the RYE program) can tell you that every exchange is different, and mine was no exception.
I studied abroad in Yonago-shi, Tottori Prefecture: the single-most rural prefecture of Japan, it leads the country in its output of pears, leeks, and other various fruits and vegetables. As you can imagine, it was nothing like what I expected.
I had first gone to Japan with the expectation of subway cars and crowded cities, trains and taxis and buildings taller than I could imagine. Reality proved me wrong when I arrived in a city even less crowded than my own hometown and with twice as much open land. While there were trains, I rarely rode them and only ever rode on the subway when visiting major cities such as Tokyo or Osaka. Those two cities are what epitomize most people’s idea of what ‘Japan’ means, but this is because most people lack a dynamic understanding of the country and its culture. When I think of Japan now, my mind thinks of Mt. Daisen before Mt. Fuji, and I’m able to recall all the little facts and nuances that no guidebook about the San-in region will ever tell you.
My relationship with this country is still evolving, as it will continue to do over the next six months, years, and decades to follow. Going to Japan the first time I brought with me various cultural baggage and lenses through which I filtered my experiences, gradually recycling and dispensing of them as time passed. Though I may have rid myself of most of this baggage last time I am sure there is still plenty that I will be bringing with me, and I can only rely upon the skills and experience I’ve gathered up to now to sort through these new experiences and give insight.
Starting in August I will be in Osaka, Japan and I can hardly believe it. Having been through a similar process once before, I’ve already begun the pre-departure checklist. For those of you unfamiliar with the checklist, it looks something like this:
Buy TicketSchool Paperwork- Visa Stuff
- $$$$$$$
- Try to pack
- Fail to pack
- Assume Fetal Position/cry
- Repeat steps 3-7 until departure
In all seriousness though, I’m the kind of person who starts packing a full month early and re-packs about three times before I actually leave, constantly removing, adding, and removing even more junk until I have achieved the ultimate configuration of stuff that can fit inside a single suitcase, only to leave my watch on the counter as I rush off to the airport. Hopefully this time around I’ll remember everything.
I would just like to say before I end this post:
Thank you Rollins College for giving me the chance to go back to my home-away-from-home!