Have you ever wondered what it would be like to immerse yourself in a culture unfamiliar to your everyday life? Gaze at the pretty sunsets on the Verrazano Bridge in Florence, Italy? Take the Shinkansen and experience rush hour in Tokyo, Japan? Well I’m telling you that you can do that. You can, but not all at once.
I am a student at Queens College who has been accepted as an exchange student to Rikkyo University in Tokyo, Japan! I was overjoyed when I first heard news of my acceptance! You would not believe how happy I was, it’s been a dream of mine to study in Japan since my high school years –and to have that dream come true was, and still is, exhilarating!
I have friends who tell me that they wish they were able to go someplace else to study, and I asked them why not. The usual responses were; “I don’t have enough money.” “I’m going to graduate soon.” “There’s just not enough time.” Something around those lines. But I have to tell you that there are ways around those, a lot of ways. You’ll just have to go and find your own way – visiting the study abroad office could probably help a lot. [Or you can just leave a comment and ask me, I’d be glad to help the best I can in starting you off on your adventures.]
I enjoy promoting the study abroad experience, since it is a once in a lifetime type deal. After graduate school it’s a bit harder to get out there, but not impossible. There are still courses you can take and thing you can do to get your abroad experience. Ah, the interesting things you experience when you immerse yourself in a different culture, especially when you haven’t traveled much to anyplace almost your entire life.
Since this is my first post, I won’t lie, I’m wondering what I should write. I can go on for paragraphs without end about the things I’ve done and will be doing here, but that would be WAY TOO MUCH. Let’s start on the simple things and we can build up along the way.
I am going to be studying in Tokyo for about six months, no my classes haven’t started yet. But I have been here about about 2 weeks. My orientation starts on the 14th of September, and my classes start the 24. I know, “lucky”. But not so much as you would think. My final exams end on February 4th, so spring semester basically starts over in the states – and I would miss about a week of classes, which should be “fun”. As you follow my blog you’ll explore the wonders about being an international student living in Japan, along with me – and let me tell you now! There are a lot of strange things here…
