Shaylynn went Kansai

During my stay in Japan, I don’t know exactly what I was expecting to find.  I didn’t really want to have expectations to meet, just take opportunities as they came along.  Didn’t come with too much to ask for I thought.  Just some interesting experiences and to reexperience Japan in a way I hadn’t before.  I’d say this experience was something completely different then when I came here in 2005.  Not only has the scenery changed, but the situation as well.  I know a lot more Japanese than I used to know thanks to my continuation of Japanese studies.  I know a lot more of the area in Japan because of my travels.  I know a lot more Japanese people than I used to know.  In fact, I know a lot more of my international community of peers thanks to Kansai Gaidai and my home university, University of South Florida.  So, all in all, I felt like I knew a lot more coming into it this time, and I was able to learn a lot more this time.  I don’t know whether that’s due to the length of time I spent here, or the people I spent the time with, but it seemed to have well-benefited me either way.

One of my opinions that have changed is being a minority.  Just because you can’t tell who is foreign around you, doesn’t mean you are the only foreigner around.  So I have green eyes and brown hair, and most of my fellow Kansai Gaidai peers would have to same problem as me.  Looking like we definitely aren’t from around here.  But to tell you the truth, I met a lot of foreign people who look closer to Japanese, but still are not.  For example, many of the friends I kept in my company were Korean.  A couple of my other friends, were half-Japanese and half-something-else.

So who here is foreign? Well... All of us actually.

As this goes to show, it’s harder to just tell who is who just by looking at them.  I don’t feel so out of place in places like Osaka or Tokyo anymore.  I feel like anybody else.  I’m either lost and looking around, or confident and able to find my way about with ease.  It’s not feeling out of place in the crowd though.  However, I will admit, I was in a smaller city last time and 6 years is also a long time.  Things may have changed among the Japanese, I’m sure.  I can’t really tell.  The feeling is very different having come back after so long to live in such a large city.

Another thing is school.  Not so much that it’s different from what I expected…  Well partly so.  So Japanese language classes, with punishment tactics rather than rewarding, followed by American lectures in the evening.  It felt kind of backwards.  I was also suprised with the schedules being so much to accomodate both Americans, other foreigners, and still try to navigate through the onslaught of Japanese holidays as well.  The school schedule has been anything but easy to try and figure out.  Especially during the exam times.  During midterm’s week, I missed one of my exams cause I thought it was at the normal class time, and then I had to take it afterward at the teacher’s office.  Talk about confusing.

Halloween event at Kansai Gaidai.

I was also finally able to formulate an opinion about Tokyo, since I had never been before this trip.  It’s definitely different, but so is everywhere else in Japan to a foreigner like me.  However, after living in Osaka, I do see the tremendous weirdness that is Tokyo.  There are also a lot of gaikoukujin (foreigners) wandering about the major tourist attractions.  I’m glad I did it though.  I figure there’s still much of Tokyo left to uncover.

Meeting up with classmates in Tokyo, Korea Town.

Shibuya streets on a crowded weekend.

I’ve had many ups and many downs this semester.  It’s hard to go through everything I’ve done and everything that’s changed me, but I will say my experiences shaped my views.  That’s part of but not limited to school life, classes, trips, events, and social connections.  I leave next week for America.  I hope that when I come back, I’ll see a whole new side of Japan all over again.

My friends and I are spelling "Kansai Gaidai" with ourselves.

~ by Shaylynn on .