The main hard skill I learned while away was conversational proficiency in Japanese. Although I am not exceptionally fluent, I was able to navigate most days without the need of a translator with the limited Japanese I knew. That is, I was able to ask for help is needed or hold a very basic conversation with Japanese students if I wanted to. This skill could be translated as a grasp of several languages including English under the skills portion of my resume. I could then explain in an interview that this skill would be important given my desired field of work especially since I would be working with people from diverse backgrounds.
I feel excited and relieved to be back home with my family and on campus. But I will admit I miss my international friends the most about my host university and going on adventures with them. I think they made the experience worth it and even better overall. I think I will also miss the quality and cheap cafeteria food.
The top three soft skills I improved on while abroad were flexibility, teamwork, and time management. There were often situations I had to navigate with my international friends together to reach a solution. That was often in the form of a language barrier, a culture shock or even school life. Given our different backgrounds, upbringings, and forms of thinking it was interesting seeing how each one of us would approach an issue and go on about solving it. But the semester at NUFS helped me improve my time management given I had to cook, clean, grocery shop and fulfill additional university responsibilities along with schoolwork. As I had shown in my blog, I often stuck to a very strict schedule to be a successful student. I could then explain to my future employer that as someone from a different background having some sort of fluency in various languages will make it easier to work with people from diverse backgrounds.
Most of my expectations I had for my academic program were not met. For example, I did not get to visit other Asian countries outside of Japan, as I had previously hoped for. Most Japanese students were very shy and reserved but there were a couple of instances my friends and I were approached by other students. I did not become fluent only somewhat conversational but still learned very basic Japanese. The instructors were very strict and demanded a lot of us as students academically especially since it was the intensive section. But I did make a couple of Japanese friends as I had wanted and had great discussions with them personally.
My expectation of there being a high level of diversity at the university was not met but compared to Tech it was a bit larger compared to what I was used to seeing. But I was able to connect with students who were interested in fashion and experiment a bit with my personal style this semester.
The best part about being home is being able to eat Mexican food every day and eating spicy food. I also miss the low stimulating environment and quiet especially since I live in a rural part of the U.S. But I think no longer seeing my friends is the most difficult and going on little adventures at night and weekends is what I miss the most.
I wish I had found out I needed a SIM from the university earlier especially since my SIM was carrier locked. Then I would have been able to go out on my own and explore a lot more. I wish I would have enrolled in the semi-intensive Japanese class and cultural classes so I would not have spent as much time studying most days because I might have also had more time to travel and explore Japan.
I go out with friends and family a lot more and try to exercise as much as possible. Before I would often spend most of my time working on school because I didn’t think there was a point to spending time with friends or family. But studying abroad made me realize time and quality time is often fleeting especially with those you care about.
I miss the endless number of cafes in Aichi that I would visit and there were still many I wanted to visit that I didn’t get the chance because of school.
Reverse culture shock for me means getting back into that routine of working and school without the exploration part. But mainly it’s switching from one routine from one environment I just finished getting used to to a different yet familiar environment but having to remind myself of the rules and customs all over again.
Here is my general advise for students who are preparing to study away in Japan I want to be honest and say if you are a European or White presenting foreigner compared to a Brown, Black or Ethnic presenting foreigner you will have very different experiences especially if you are a woman compared to a man. Many students who were Black, Brown, or Ethnic looking women shared similar experiences as foreigner students in Japan. But overall, I think what I did not get used to the constant staring especially when Japanese people would talk about me or other international/foreign friends in front of us and they thought we didn’t understand. Learn to cook basic recipes because there will be days you might not want to walk for dinner or just want to spend a day resting in your dorm. If you are an introvert or very shy it is still possible to study abroad but it will be a challenge at first to make friends and that is completely normal. I did not make any friends at first but once I found my friends it was a great experience. For students who plan to go to Tech the same thing applies friend wise. You will or might not make friends at first, that is normal but once you do those few people will be your friends for the rest of your life. There will be students who will be your class friends but outside you will not hangout at all but that is ok. Expect to work on school all day every day and because of the difficulty of many upper-level classes you will rarely have free time.
