One Year Later: Reflections

This week marked the first time in 12 months that I couldn't say, "This time last year, I was in Japan." I have a lot of mixed feelings about that. I try to keep true to the adage "Don't be sad because it's over, smile because it happened." But, every now and then, when looking through pictures on Facebook or photos for this blog, there happens this overwhelming wave of nostalgia and it's a shame to think that its all in the past.

Sure, I most definitely have plans to return, hopefully within the next two years, but by then it will be as part of the real world. Traveling abroad as a student is an entirely different experience from traveling as a part of a job. I think I was able to get a richer understanding of Japanese culture because I was able to simply be there and take it all in. 

Students have a unique opportunity when it comes to studying abroad. It's the one time in your life when you can take a trip to (almost) anywhere in the world and see a place completely different from your own and you can apply for student loans to do it. Don't get me wrong, studying abroad is not a cheap affair. When I landed back in the US, I had a wiped out bank account and $23 in my pocket. On top of that, the student loan debt I accrued won't be anything to sneeze at. But, I can honestly say, for the experience I had, it was worth every single yen.

Even though its been a year, I still don't feel completely re-acclimated to American culture, and I don't know that I ever will. I was born and raised in the States for more than 20 years, but after getting a taste of living somewhere different, especially somewhere as fantastic as the Land of the Rising Sun, I don't envision a future scenario where I could spend the next 20 years in one place again.

Will I live the rest of my life in Japan after I return? I'm not sure. I lived there as a student, without any responsibility but to myself to make sure I stayed on top of the classes I came to take. So until I experience life in Japan without being sealed in the vacuum of being a ryuugakusei, a foreign-exchange student, I can't say that I truly know what life is like there. I want a complete understanding of what I experienced. What's it like to work and live in this country I fell in love with? That answer is what I hope lies in the future.

One year ago, I was getting of the plane at the airport in Detroit, where I would be catching my connecting flight back to my hometown of Cincinnati. Not a day has gone by since where I don't think back to that summer and the school year I spent in one of the greatest countries in the world. Perhaps I was seeing things through rose-colored glasses, having spent most of my time as a student without additional obligations like work or bills. I don't know. But I want to. One thing I do know for certain is when I exited the plane and made my way towards customs, even amongst the excitement of reuniting with family and friends and familiar surroundings, I had no doubt - I have to go back.

Useful phrase in this week's post:

Ryuugakusei - りゅうがくせい - 留学生

Meaning: Foreign exchange student