My Life in Japan: Traveling to Japan: The First Few Days

Hello friends and family!

Traveling to Japan was much different than I anticipated. First off, I assumed the actual travel to Japan would be taxing and difficult, however, after the 13 hour flight, I was no worse for the wear, aside from some swelling in my lower extremities.

Throughout my travel, I wasn't feeling over stressed at any point, but, rather a strange numbness. The airport in South Korea was a little misleading to me, simply because everything was written in English and all the stores took USD. Even the airport in Japan didn't give me that feeling of being a minorty, but then again, I was in the international wing with many other exchange students. All of this continued on the bus ride to the university seminar houses, or dorms. I was on a bus full of American and Swedish exchange students, and I was beginning to feel a bit 'ripped-off'. Where was the culture shock I had heard of?

The first feelings of fear leaked in when I walked into my seminar house, was asked to take my shoes off, and was led by my sweet, little okaasan (a house mother of sorts) up to my temporary housing. It was when she left me alone with a 20-page orientation manual and said 'yomu'(read) that I truly started to panic. Where could I find food? Where were my roommates? I felt much better when one of my roommates, a student from the DC area came to the room and offered to take me to campus, about a 20 minute walk, to eat dinner with her, but still I had a daunting checklist of paperwork and fees to pay. I was stressed when at dinner every other student seemed to be years ahead of me because they had arrived 2 days earlier. The showed me around campus and discussed all the things they had already done and the different places off campus that they had found.

When I finally came back from campus, I was nearly hyperventilating. I sat on the couch surrounded by new women I had met and had a panic attack. Japan wasn't right for me, I had way to much to do and no idea how to do it, how was I ever going to find any way to survive here, and different ways to find food? It was then that I sat back, took a deep breath, and realized I had only been in country for 6 hours.

I decided at 8:30 PM that it was time for bed, so I rolled out my futon, put it together and hopped in. It was the best night sleep I had ever had. I woke up early, without an alarm clock at 7AM. The day was very productive, starting with a good breakfast of jello and soyjoy... the only food I could recognize and eat in my vulnerable mental state. After the University's official welcome, I was calmed a bit when what was expected of me was clearly stated. After I started accomplishing the little things- finding my own food, finding a bank, reuniting with my fellow Valpo students who were equally overwhelmed- things were looking very up.

The evening concluded with a fun trip to Kapasushi Restaurant for my first sushi in Japan. Sitting with my friends enjoying Japanese sushi from mystery meat to hamburger sushi, I felt better. I started to enjoy the culture I had been dropped into and experiencing the culture in a positive way, the way I had originally intended to!

I found a shortcut path to the campus through a traditional, quiet, beautiful Japanese neighborhood. The walk in itself was a calming experience and the people in the neighborhood would greet me as I walked past. The list of humorous and poorly phrased 'engrish' translations was building and building, making my mood brighter and brighter. So now I am excited to experience this culture minus the panic, and am happy to have you all read along on my experiences!