Welcome to Japan (P.S. Version)

Way before I started this personal blog, I had experience writing blogs through studying abroad in Japan. I was tasked with writing monthly posts about my experience for my college’s International Programs website. Long after the blogs were published, there was a lot of things that happened that I didn’t include in my posts. Inspired by Taylor Swift re-releasing her albums, I have decided to re-publish my old study abroad blogs 5 years later. These blogs include content that I didn’t include the first time, but I am now able to since I am no longer a student at my college. The reason is that if I were to have included it in my posts, everyone that would’ve read it would think I screwed up during my study abroad experience. However, I learned it is best to be vulnerable and open to your audiences rather than keeping it in. I also included some important suggestions and tips for those who want to study abroad either in Japan or another country. Consider this Japan Study Abroad Blogs: PS Version (PS standing for Pressure Shock). Just so you are clear, everything in italics is the original content of the blog, and everything that is regular font is added context. Also please excuse my old style of writing back from 2018; I was a young college student trying to navigate their way in a new country. Yes, Japan was the first country I have ever been to outside of the US, and I stayed in a city called Yokohama which is located one hour away from Tokyo.

Welcome to Japan sign at Narita Airport

はじめまして！(How do you do? Glad to meet you!). Sorry for the late post, but I have been getting used to this roller coaster ride of studying abroad (in Japan) which is normal for anyone living in a new country. Prior to leaving, I was worried my flight would get canceled/delayed due to a category 4 hurricane approaching my hometown of Hawaii. Luckily, the storm dissipated in time for my departure. The flight wasn’t too bad since the duration lasted only 7 hours. On August 28th, my journey started when I arrived in Narita Airport. As soon as I went through immigration customs and baggage claim, I arrived at the main gate and met two other current Linfield students and some KGU students known as “buddies.” One of my buddies was actually an exchange student last year at my university. Soon after, we were transported to our dorms where we got a tour. The next few days were filled with orientation, meeting the KGU International Center assistants, and a few trips. Here are a few highlights of some of the days during our arrival week:

Prior to Thursday, there was a lot more that happened once I arrived in Japan. I remember the moment I arrived that it felt really humid that day since it was currently summer, and that is how the weather usually is in Japan during that time. There were two other students from my college who were in the same study abroad program, along with a guy who was from Russia. As we were on our way to our dorms, I must have set my expectations a little too high. When I first learned where in Japan I was going to be staying, I pictured I would be located close to the ocean with a nice view. However, it turned out to be a small town called Oppama, and it wasn’t as modern to what I thought it would be. It looked like a rural setting that had a lot of the local people, and not as many foreigners.

The main thing I didn’t share in my blogs was the entire layout of the dorm and how it runs. Before entering the lobby, you have to scan your key to enter. Then before heading to your dorm, you must change your shoes and put them in the locker since that is the cultural norm for Japan. The dorm provides house slippers, but I wore my own since they didn’t fit my feet well. I am actually used to this because back home, it is also the norm to take off shoes before entering the house. After that, you have to scan your key again to use the elevators if you are heading up to the upper floors. Next to the elevator is a TV monitor that notifies you if a packaged has arrived or if the dorm manager wants to speak to you. About the different floors, the 1st and 2nd are for men, and the 3rd and 4th are for women. Genders are not allowed to mix when going through the different floors which is a lot different from the dorms back at my college where guys can visit the girls floor and vice versa. However, I think this is for safety reasons, and I was okay with that. Everyone has their own room which I was very satisfied with since living with roommates can be very difficult. The rooms are very small, but it comes with a desk, bed, AC/heater, and a balcony area where you can hang your laundry to dry. The bed was close to the ground, but all bedding is provided. However, the pillow is very uncomfortable which feels like you are sleeping on beans. I should have brought one when I arrived because after I slept the first night, my neck was all sore the next day.

Back to the laundry, it wasn’t difficult to use. Prior to studying abroad, I had to attend an orientation and there was a powerpoint where it included a photo of the washing machine and what buttons to use. The washing machine was free, but the dryers cost money so that is why you have to use the balcony to dry your clothes. What I did was that I put my clothes in the dryer for about 30 minutes, and then hung them out to airdry. For the bathrooms, no soap is provided so you have to bring your own. They did have shower stalls, but they also had a public onsen (Japanese public bath). If you wanted to use the onsen, you need to take off all your clothes and wash yourself prior to entering. Also, the water is very hot so just take caution as you are entering. I never used it because I wasn’t brave enough to strip naked in public, and I could always hear girls laughing in there. Now for the common areas of the dorm, they do have a dining area but it was smaller compared to the one my college. Every time you come in, you have to sign in the keypad and take your ticket that has your name and room number. For the most part, the food was much better than what I ate at my college, but sometimes it was a little difficult to get used to what was served. There was a monthly menu, but it was all in Japanese so I didn’t really know what was served until I saw it in front of me. Once you are done, you do have to take your dishes, rinse them out and put them in the sink. Back at my college, all I did was put them on a conveyor belt. The dining room is open every day, except for Sundays, for breakfast and dinner. There are also common rooms that have a microwave and toaster oven, and a smaller kitchen area if you want to cook on your own. However, you need to provide your own cooking utensils.

For trash and recycling, it was very complicated since Japan has their own way of organizing their own trash. Basically, trash is separated into a few categories such as, burnable, non-burnable, and recyclables. If you have plastic bottles, you must remove the label, take off the cap and put it in a separate container, dump out the liquid, and put it the PET bottles area. If you have food scraps, that goes in the burnable trash along with tissues and paper. Again, this was difficult and you have to put more effort into sorting your garbage compared to what you normally do in the US. I tried my best to sort my trash every time, and I never got called out for it. Then again, the dorm manager could never tell whose trash it is considering it is a dormitory not an apartment. However, he stressed that he deals with the trash, and to not make his job harder by putting it in the right place. In general, you have to get used to carrying around your trash in Japan since there are hardly any trash bins in public, and they like to keep the streets clean.

As you can see, living in a dorm in Japan is way different than living in one back in the US. I would say it was very strict based on the many rules and restrictions. You also had to get permission to be out of the dorms overnight by filling out a slip that you had to submit to the front desk prior to leaving. They did have a curfew of midnight, and you have to be in the dorm before then because that is when the gates are locked. As I mentioned earlier, it is run by a dorm manager, and his wife (who was in charge of the cooking). They didn’t really like me in particular only because I was struggling for the first time getting used to all the cultural norms. Plus, they spoke no English at all making it harder to ask for help most of the time (especially on the first day). As I said, I was familiar with the custom of taking off your shoes in the dorm, but one day I put on my slippers and went to return the house slippers to the front desk. What I did wrong was that I walked on the hardwood floor with my slippers instead of going on the carpet. At first, I didn’t understand what the dorm manager was telling me, but after one of the Japanese students (who spoke fluent English) told me, I felt really bad. Then the dorm manager made me wipe my slippers with a towel thinking I was a “dirty foreigner.” The dorm manager’s wife did not make things better because for some reason she would always call me out only because I am Japanese with a Japanese last name. There were resident advisors, or RA’s but they were called floor leaders instead. The dorm’s location is a 10-minute walk from campus which was something else I had to get used to since the dorms back home were all on-campus. That means I had to give myself a lot of time to get to my classes on time, but I was pretty good with that. (Recently, I looked on my exchange university’s website, and I discovered there was a new dormitory for international students that opened a couple years ago. It looked like a much bigger residence area, and it was in close proximity to the campus by a 2-minute walk. I was so jealous wishing I had that type of dorm back when I was in Japan. I am not sure if the old dorm I lived in is still being used for the Japanese students, or it had been turned into something else. However, let’s get back to my time studying abroad).

After we got a tour of the dorm, we went out to do some shopping for our dorm essentials. This is when I should’ve bought a bath towel because I didn’t pack one assuming they would be provided. I tried to ask one of the residents that was assisting me, but she couldn’t understand because my Japanese wasn’t that great, and she knew no English at all. That was the first time I encountered a language barrier, and I felt helpless because I couldn’t communicate my needs to someone. Luckily, my floor leader was able to speak English (she was also one of the leaders of the school’s English club), and I was able to borrow a towel from her. At this point, she thought I was idiot for not packing a towel and for not buying one earlier.

The next morning, I woke up, and found a huge green beetle on my blanket. I was shocked, but did my best to not move around as much to disturb the beetle. I showed it to my floor leader, and she was able to get rid of the bug on my blanket. Then, I had breakfast for the first time in Japan, and this is what I meant when I said I had difficulty getting used to the food. A typical Japanese breakfast mostly contains salad, fish, and vegetables; way different than an American breakfast which is usually not as healthy. I tried eating it, but it just wasn’t my thing. Therefore, I ended up not eating breakfast in the dining room for the remainder of the semester, and just had cereal and milk in my room. After that, we headed to campus for the first time where we had orientation. Then, we had a tour of the campus, and met our international student assistants called “buddies.” These are student volunteers that are assigned to help international students as they are studying abroad. As I mentioned earlier, I knew one of them that was an exchange student at my own college. The other one was the one I had trouble communicating with at the dorm the first night, and I didn’t meet the third one until after I started classes.

For the campus itself, it is a bit smaller and less green compared to my campus back in the US. However, they do have more places to eat on-campus such as their own 7-Eleven as well as three different cafeterias and two cafes. For their library, they have a section of English-language books, that is surprisingly named after our university. (This university and our university are the first exchange program and the longest by over 40 years). There was also a gym and a health center, but I never visited those areas. After that, I went with my buddies to get other dorm essentials at this mall complex called Aeon. The other students went to get their rail cards, but I already had one. Before I left for Japan, my aunty and uncle gave me several of these that I could use. These will be really important since many people in Japan travel using the train system. There are two types of passes: Passmo and Suica; you can use either one. While I was walking to the mall complex and back to my dorm, it was extremely hot like 98 degrees, and I shouldn’t have worn leggings that day.

Suica rail card. One of two rail cards in Japan

Thursday 8/30- I learned how to use the rail system for the first time going to downtown Yokohama. In Japan, almost everyone uses the rail system as a mode of transportation to work and school. Riding it will take some getting used to since I felt a little dizzy from standing while the train is moving. The trains can also get crowded at times especially during rush hour, and you must offer your seat to elderly or people with infants to be polite. In downtown Yokohama, some of us went to get International sim cards for the smartphones. After that we had lunch at a place called Ichiran Ramen. It is an unique restaurant because you order from a vending machine and then you eat at your own private booth. I enjoyed this “antisocial” experience where I can just focus on the taste of the delicious ramen all by myself. Then we did a little shopping at mall called JoinUS. We went to a café where one of the program assistants treated us all to drinks. This shows how sincere and kind people can be in Japan.

The kiosk machine at Ichiran

The individual booth

A bowl of Ichiran Ramen

Prior to going on the train, one of the international staff members took us to the municipal offices to get our residency cards. As for the International sim card, I didn’t end up getting one because I wasn’t really sure if I needed a sim card based on my mobile carrier. I currently have T-mobile, and their International plan was 25 cents per minute for a phone call, but I mostly texted my parents. I also did have an app called Line where I chatted to anyone in Japan, including my host family that I met later on. For the most part, I was able to use my phone without any problems. Later that day, I got my sheets replaced with new ones after the beetle incident. However, the dorm manager wanted to see me, and I thought I was in big trouble since I had to go his office. It turns out that there were these two guys who were probably from the manufacturers of my bedsheets, and they apologized to me that my sheets were contaminated with an insect. They did speak English, and it was sort of an odd meeting, but at the same time I was satisfied that they cared about my wellbeing. It showed that people in Japan are very respectful to each other, and when they mess up, they take a lot of effort to apologize.

Friday 8/31- The next day we took a placement test for our Japanese language classes. After that we had a bento lunch with our Japanese lecturers. It was nice getting to know our lecturers before classes started, and were all fascinated by our interests and our background. It is similar at Linfield when we get the 1:1 student-teacher ratio, and they want to remember us.

About the placement test, it wasn’t that bad, but it was a bit difficult especially during the speaking portion. Unfortunately, I didn’t end up in the advanced classes which I was hoping for. I knew I should’ve practiced my Japanese more over the summer, but I was busy working my first job. There was only one person in our group that ended up being in the advanced classes, and the rest of us were in the intermediate. However, I remember that my Japanese professor said that some review is good when taking the Japanese language classes.

Saturday 9/01- We met with our KGU buddies and went to various places around Yokohama. First, we walked around Yokohama Baseball Stadium, and through Chinatown. After that, we went into separate groups and did our own activities. For lunch, my buddies and I went to this Hawaiian restaurant called Sun Aloha Minato Mirai for a little taste of home. The one thing I like about Japan is that it has a great relationship with Hawaii, so I hope to find some bits of Hawaii here. Then, we went to the famous Cup of Noodle Museum where it was all about the famous ramen cup and its creator, Momofuku Ando. I learned that Momofuku Ando was a great innovator by using creative thinking and curiosity to create a successful product. The day ended by going to CosmoWorld amusement park where I rode the famous Cosmo Clock ferris wheel and a cool water ride.

Yokohama Bay Bridge

Cup-of-Noodle Museum

City of Yokohama

Cosmo Clock Ferris Wheel

Sunday 9/02- The next day, we spent time with our buddies again by going to Enoshima, a small island located off the Shonan coast of Kanagawa Prefecture. From there, we went to the Enoshima aquarium where we saw lots of fish and marine life. There was even penguins and otters! After we that we had a lunch break, and it was off to the Enoshima Shrine. It was really nice, but it turned out be a long hike for me. I should have worn more comfortable clothes especially since the weather in Japan is very humid during this time of the year.

Entrance of Enoshima Aquarium

Enoshima Shrine

I wasn’t in a really good mood the entire day mostly because I was hungry and once again, it felt very humid. I dressed a little bit warm because the weather looked a bit dreary since it was still typhoon season, but it never rained at all. When I got to the temple, I had no idea what I was supposed to do. All I was thinking about was wanting soft-serve ice cream after seeing many shops with the icon. It also didn't help that my English-speaking buddy was absent, and I had to deal with my other buddy that I couldn't communicate with. There was also this incident where one of the students and their buddy got into trouble for fooling around. They were at this shop where they were taking funny pictures, and a man came to them upset. He told the buddy that they should’ve known better since they were Japanese, and they shouldn’t hang around with “stupid foreigners” like us. After a long “hike” at the shrine, we all went to have dinner at a sushi restaurant where the food is served on a conveyor belt.

So far, I have been having an interesting experience in Japan. My only issue is the language barrier. Japanese can be a difficult language especially when people are talking really fast. Sometimes, I feel intimidated when I listen to them speak, and I don’t know what to say because I know so little. And not a lot of people speak English except for a few that speak broken English. I wished I had reviewed more during the summer. Hopefully, I will improve and become fluent before the end of this program. Until next time, じゃまた！(See you later)!

That is my re-published version of my first study abroad blog. The only place where I spoke the hard truth was in the last paragraph where I talked about the language barrier. I struggled with this numerous times. I apologized that it was a bit long, but I had so much I wanted to add that I didn’t include the first time around. I will be posting these re-published versions for the next few months, so keep an eye out for them.