How Studying Abroad as an Introvert Changed My Life
Moving to the countryside of Japan expanded my horizons
This past spring, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Japan, a trip that would take me to the other side of the globe from my hometown in Charlotte, North Carolina, to a small city in Akita prefecture.
I am a introverted person and the idea I had when going to college was that I just needed to finish a 4-year degree and get out. Eventually, one of my close friends from high school mentioned a study abroad they would be going to in the fall to Sweden. That started me thinking.
Soon enough, I made my decision I wanted to study in Japan. Whether it was because of the language barrier or some other reason, I was the only one going to Japan that year.
Understandably, I was excited, but nervous at the same time. The prospect of being able to live in Japan, somewhere I have always wanted to travel to, filled me with joy, but the idea of being so far away from home and going alone shook me to my core. But the decision had been made, and there was no going back.
I knew deep down this experience would change me for the better, and get me out of my comfort zone in a way that I never had before. After all, this was my first time traveling by myself, much less to another country.
Spring came and as I stepped off the plane from a long flight over the Pacific Ocean, the sensation hit me and all I could do was look around the monorail car as it traveled from Haneda airport to Tokyo Station. It happened to be rush hour in Tokyo by the time I made it to the subway. As each businessman and businesswoman rushed by going to work, I remained focused on getting to my destination with little sleep.
Nevertheless, I made it onto the Komachi Shinkansen, a Japanese bullet train that pulled the Akita Shinkansen with it up to Morioka. I watched the landscape whiz by me as the bullet train barreled down the tracks at 200 miles per hour. From the suburban streets of Tokyo to the farm fields of the Japanese countryside, I sat in silence watching it all.
When the train arrived in Akita, a small bus with only 6 students was shuttled to the campus at Akita International University (AIU) where we would stay for the next 4 months. AIU was located in the countryside of Akita, across from the prefecture’s central park. The only noise that could be heard was from the Akita airport located a couple of miles from the school.
I approached this experience believing that I was out of my depth and that I would not be able to meet anyone on campus or interact with anyone. However, it was just the opposite. While studying in Japan, I met people from across the world who helped me experience what Japan had to offer. My Japanese suitemates took me to karaoke bars and taught me useful phrases to use when I went to the local mall. My fellow exchange students and I took trips across the country to Osaka and Tokyo where we ate new foods and interacted with residents within the city.
The best part of my time abroad was the university sponsored trips around the prefecture where we had the opportunity to talk with Akita locals and learn about the rich culture within the prefecture. Akita had so many different pieces of tradition each from different regions of the prefecture, it was a beautiful place to spend four months in.
Overall, I did not realize it at the time, but through these experiences, I was changing as a person with every little step. Each time I took a trip to the nearby mall to go to the CD store to look at more J-pop albums, I was interacting with people and talking with them in a language that was unfamiliar to me, each time putting me outside my comfort zone having to have the courage to put myself out there and be willing to make a mistake in the language.
Every time I would make a mistake, the store clerk, the waitress, or someone else was always willing to help me, and it put me in a better position to learn from every experience when I left campus.
Although I am now back in the United States, in a state where Japanese probably is not one of the top five languages spoken, I can take my experiences putting myself out there and apply them in different ways.
After returning to my home university, I have already made more connections with other people than I had in my first two years there. I got a job on campus and started to pick up hobbies with some new friends. I was able to learn more about myself as a person because of the experience of studying abroad.
I encourage everyone who can to study abroad and expand their horizons beyond the United States. The world is out there, you must find it for yourself, no one else can do it for you.
