いってきます - I'm going and coming back

I've learned more in the past few months than I could comprehend, explain, or sum up and I feel like the Japanese culture far exceeds any type of living that I've ever experienced… I'll fly back home soon in a week and do what I'm expected to do in America but it's not really going to be the same..  As it's starting to get cooler here with a decrease in temperature I have to understand that I'm flying back to lots of snow, and I'm not looking forward to that.  I’m also just not looking forward to going back to my American lifestyle and facing reality.  I've made Hirakata Japan my home and wish for more than anything that I could have more time here. Some of my views and outlooks on life have changed dramatically and I’ve started to adapt to different perspectives.  My impressions of Japan have wondered and changed more in the last month as I feel like I can finally stand my ground here.  When I first arrived I was fixated around the fact that I stood out and would get noticed for having blonde hair and being a foreigner, I didn’t like that people would point and stare. And although standing out was intimidating and challenging in the beginning, I was able to quickly adapt and blend in with everyone else with time.  And with the more Japanese I learned and could use throughout daily conversations, the more comfortable I felt with my surroundings. After being able to understand and pronounce commonly used words and expressions, the development of the rest of the language followed naturally to me. Being able to communicate with Japanese people was a great advantage, giving me confidence and allowing me to experience what the country had to offer first hand.

I’m upset that I’m leaving at the peak of my fluency and comfort.  I’m sad that I’ll be leaving all of my new friends that I’ve made from all over the world.  I’m sad that I won’t be able to eat authentic Japanese food whenever I want to, or bike to Kapa sushi at my convenience.  I’m sad that I’ll be leaving behind my Japanese roommate who has taught me so much about the culture and has influenced me beyond her knowledge.  This list could go on and on and I could talk about all the things that I’ll miss but in the end it’s not really the end.  I’ve learned that I’d really like to come back and live and work in Japan at some point.  I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity of this study abroad experience and want to encourage other students to travel and open their minds up to other cultures. When you really just emerge yourself in the culture that you’re living in, that’s what gives the value to your abroad experience.  “When one looks back over human existence, however, it is very evident that all cultures has developed through an initial resistance against adaptation to the reality in which man finds himself.” – Beatrice Hinkle