Describe your program socially and academically.
Annelise: One of the reasons I chose to go abroad with IES was that they seemed pretty middle-of-the-road academically. You don’t go abroad just to spend all your time with your nose in a book, right? The only class I took, Japanese Language, was from 9 to 12 weekday mornings. Because we spent so long in class every day, the homework load was relatively light, which left us plenty of time to explore Tokyo. There were also two lectures from guest speakers, one on deconstructing pop culture and one on Japanese comedy, both of which were fun and informative.
Socially, my fellow IESers were quite a mixed bag of people! Although not all of us saw eye-to-eye, a group bond had definitely formed by the end of the trip. Bonding experiences between my friends and I included sighting j-drama stars, going drinking with musicians we met in the park, and, of course, simply relaxing in the dorm’s common room or bathtub (not joking).
Describe your favorite must-have food that you tried abroad.
Annelise: Cooking and eating – especially eating – Japanese food is one of my hobbies, so naturally food was a major part of my experience in Japan. I could ramble forever about everything I ate, but let me zero in on one dish in particular: katsudon. For the uninitiated, katsudon is made by deep frying a breadcrumb-crusted pork cutlet and placing it, along with a sauce of egg, onion, mirin, and soy sauce, over a bed of rice in a bowl.
As katsudon is one of my favorite foods, one of my goals in Japan was to try as many katsudon as possible, without eating so much that I hated it. I was vocal enough about my katsudon obsession that my friends nicknamed me Katsu Dan (to be said the same way that Forrest Gump says “Lieutenant Dan”). Ultimately, the best katsudon I ate came from a small restaurant in the Akihabara train station – but really, they were all delicious.
Did you run into a language barrier? Did you ever think you knew more/less of the language?
Annelise: Interestingly enough, I felt that I knew both more and less Japanese than I thought I did. Getting around Tokyo and interacting with its inhabitants was much easier than I expected. I could order sushi, ask where places were, and chat about my home life or what I did the day before with relative ease. Once I even gave an old Japanese lady directions – though to be fair we were standing in front of a map, so it wasn’t that difficult. On the other hand, it was hard to get to know people well; I simply didn’t have the vocabulary to discuss hope and dreams, tell funny stories, or ask about serious topics.
If you could do-over one thing, what would it be?
Annelise: If I could do-over one thing, it would be to go out on my own more often. I found that Japanese people were more likely to talk to me if I wasn’t surrounded by other English-speaking foreigners. And really, isn’t practicing language skills one of the main reasons that people study abroad? When I would go out on my own, usually to shops or restaurants, people would ask me where I was from, what I was doing in Tokyo, that my hair was cool and whether it was naturally curly. Even with my relatively low level of Japanese, having simple conversations like these was fun and good practice. I really should have had the courage to strike out on my own much sooner.
How has this experience impacted your future? Describe a goal you set and how you went about accomplishing it.
Annelise: I combined these two questions because my main goal in going to Japan was to figure out an answer to the first question. In my first year at college I had a mini-existential crisis during which I had to re-evaluate what I wanted to study and what I could see myself doing after college. I had never taken Japanese classes before that year, but I was greatly enjoying them. I wanted to know: Could I see myself living in Japan after college? How intensely should I pursue my language studies? The answer was unequivocally “do it do it do it!!!” and my major, post-college plans, and even the less-definable stuff like my friendships, self-image, and daydreams have changed because of it.