Finally back home and getting back to normal. I am no longer jetlagged, but already missing certain things from Japan (cheap food, not tipping, heated toilet seats, etc.) What’s the biggest impact this experience has had on you? The biggest thing I gained from this experience in my opinion is the new sense of confidence. I had to push myself so much to go out and do new things and I never regretted it. I also felt like I constantly stuck out everywhere I went, so I got used to it. Don’t get me wrong, I am more than happy…
October 10-26 New Word/Phrase I Learned: This time I want to talk about a word/phrase I didn’t learn while in Japan: you’re welcome. Every time I thanked someone, they would either thank me back or say “iieh, iieh” as in no, no or no worries. Something Surprising/Interesting: I got pretty used to driving on the left side of the road 🙂 One of the school visits we did was a school in a small town outside of Kushiro with only a few students in each class. We saw an English class with two students, a science class with 3. It was…
New Word/Phrase I Learned: I can’t think of any specific new ones, but I’ve definitely been using Daijobou desu (I’m good) a lot! People have been very polite here, and offer to help me with quite a few things, so I often tell them I’m alright and thank them. Something Surprising/Interesting: How often I’ve seen the red-crowned cranes every time we drive out of the city! They’re really everywhere, but always in the hardest places to photograph. We also had the opportunity to see one of the top high schools of Kushiro. It is a special science school and we…
September 8-23 New Word/Phrase I Learned: Guruguru – an onomatopoeia for a stomach rumbling to indicate you’re hungry. Something Surprising/Interesting: Japanese schoolkids are quite similar to ours in terms of how they act. However, something different was that many of the kids wear facemasks to hide their faces if they’re really shy. Something I tried: I ate an entire melon/cantaloupe myself (they are quite famous in Hokkaido) and it was absolutely delicious! Even if they are slightly expensive, they are so juicy and sweet. As a group, we went out on a day trip to Jozankei and Boyo Nakayama. I…
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been three weeks since I arrived in Sapporo – time has really flown by! For this first blog post, I’ve decided to reflect on my experience so far by organizing it into three categories: Hokkaido University of Education (HUE) Our schedule during the first few weeks included Japanese language classes and seminars at our host university, Hokkaido University of Education, known locally as Kyokudai. We took five Japanese classes in total, each focused on essential “survival” phrases for everyday life (e.g., ordering food, telling time, and classroom language). Japanese has definitely been a…