Traveling to Japan has always been a dream of mine and with going there being right around the corner life just doesn’t feel real. I am sure I will change a lot over the next six months, though how much I cannot tell you. My mind is going to open up to so much learning…
Category: Japan: Kansai Gaidai
First Post: Pre-departure to Japan
1 week before leaving for Osaka, I start thinking about how to prepare myself for challenges I would face while studying abroad. I know that living and studying in a foreign country could be very different in many aspects in terms of living behaviors and cultural values. Luckily, as a Chinese student, I find Japanese…
Japan Internship
My time at Kansai Gaidai as a student is over but not my time in Japan. I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to intern in Tokyo over the summer. Although I will be in Japan till August, it still was sad to see all my friends from all over the world leave…
Final Blog
During my time in Japan, I found a lot of different impressions from people about Chinese. Because of my identity, I could fit in society easily since Chinese and Japanese look similar. However, my identity also caused many people from other countries to ask questions about Chinese people such as they are rude and they talk…
Final Post — I’m home!
I still believe my identity impacts how I see and experience the world but in different ways than before I studied abroad. I think before I studied abroad I felt that I could only see the world through the filter of my identity and biases. But I realized while it is extremely hard to see…
Missing Home
I think that being homesick has been the worst part of being abroad. With every new experience, I think of ways I want to share it with my family and friends. Not only am I homesick for my family and friends in Florida, but I am so homesick for American food. It has been amazing…
Naritasan-fudoson Temple
Today I took a field trip to the Naritasan-fudoson Temple with my pilgrimage class. We got on the train from Hirakata station and headed to Korien station. When we first got down, I was a little disappointed because the weather was very gloomy. I had been looking forward to this trip because I thought it…
Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki
Over spring break I visited the cities of Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. My trip began with me taking the Shinkansen, a bullet train, for the first time towards Tokyo. It was interesting to utilize a form of transportation that I have never before needed to take. This particular trip forced me to become familiar with…
3rd Blog
During the time abroad so far, I haven’t felt I’m actually an outsider in Japan since everything is very similar to my own country: the way to take the train, my appearance, and the way people talk. I could easily get into society. This helps me learned that when people have similar culture and backgrounds, they…