Difficulties of Studying Abroad and Moving On
travel·@hannahrrr·
0.000 HBDDifficulties of Studying Abroad and Moving On
I have decided to write my first Steemit post about the complexities of my study abroad experience in Japan.
I studied and lived in Japan from June 2016 to January 2017
It has almost been a full year since I returned from my study abroad experience.
So why am I still talking about it?
Good question. I have done a lot of reflecting on my time in Japan and decided that I want to be done discussing this subject. During the end of my junior year in college as well as the start of my senior year, I have done 2 lengthy presentations and 2 lengthy papers on my time in Japan. To be frank, I know I will have many more travel experiences in my lifetime and this is definitely not one to dwell on.
There were a few things however that I would like to write about. I have written in academic papers quite a bit about all of the culture shock and descriptions of negative experiences I had while in Japan, but not much about what I learned from it.
I believe that people experience countries differently, an aspect of the country that I viewed as difficult, another person could be neutral about. I went into my experience with a naive attitude, that lead me to have more difficulties than others in my same exact situation.
On my flight to Japan I was feeling a lot of emotions, but mostly I was ready to leave. I was so desperate to leave the US, and I was feeling so discontent with the life I was living in the United States. I read many articles online about how this was not the right mentality to go about studying abroad or living/moving abroad in general. I thought that because I was aware of this and that I could acknowledge the fact that I running away to another country and away from my problems, that I would end up being okay. I found out, however, running away to another country is not going to solve any of your problems. If you are miserable and frustrated at home, you will be miserable and frustrated and have a cultural barrier to deal with while abroad. I wanted to leave the US so badly, I wanted new and exciting experiences. To be honest, I was naïve in the sense that I expected to find my second home. Watching videos or reading about a country and actually living there are two very different things. I thought I knew so much about Japan. I saw extremely glamorized versions of Japan and couldn't fathom that it wouldn't be a magical place that I would want to live in forever.
I have spent many months reflecting on my time in Japan and pondering the question “would I ever go back?” I definitely know I love Japan, it holds a special place in my heart, however my initial answer was “I could travel there but never live there.” I still hold that same mentality today, however, I find myself wanting to spend a lot of time exploring the parts of Japan I never got to see. Being a well informed tourist instead of a temporary resident would be a lot less stressful and hold less pressures from myself. When I lived in Japan, I really expected to become part of society. I really wanted to be able to adapt and eventually be able to work and live in Japan. My expectations were shattered when I found out that it wasn't something I would want after all.
Japanese society is one that I didn't find to mesh with my own ideals and values. However, with all the bad things, there was a lot of good. Despite my less favorable experiences in Japan, it is still a country that I want to revisit one day. I developed a stronger sense of what I want to do in the future and how I want to travel. My time in Japan has encouraged me to experience many locations all over the world before simply watching a video and deciding that one place is going to be my second home. Through the trial and error of living in a foreign country by myself, I was able to gain more independence and confidence in my abilities. If I am able to survive by myself in a foreign country for six months, what else can I achieve? I encountered many obstacles and was able to use problem-solving skills and interpersonal skills to overcome them. I learned many things about travel and about the people you meet while traveling. I learned about the difficulties of trying to adapt to another culture that is so different from your own.
Even though this is the first post you're reading about this subject, it is a subject for me that has been dragged out for too long. I didn't feel as though I could do a post about an overview of my study abroad experience. I wouldn't do it justice because of the lack of passion I feel for the subject.
From this whole experience, I learned more about myself and how I want to travel. I hope to make more travel posts in the future, but as of now I am finishing up my degree! After that I'll be free to put the lessons I learned into action.
Thank you for reading!