Category: Japan

The Journey Leading up to and Arriving in Japan

Published on by Katie SandovalLeave a comment

Week 10 was one of the busiest weeks I’ve ever had as a junior at DU. With finals approaching, I had to finish assignments almost a week ahead, make time to study for exams, and prepare for my upcoming study abroad experience—all at once. It pushed me to my limits, but looking back, I’m both relieved it’s over and proud of myself for making it through.

Once I was done with my coursework, I jumped straight into packing. Since I’d be spending nearly five months at Doshisha University in Kyoto, I wanted to pack light. I brought a few sets of clothes, some winter gear (since the first week of March in Japan is still chilly), necessities, a few books, a power converter, chargers, medicine, power banks, and some snacks for the journey.

Then came the travel itself: nearly 15 hours in the air with three friends and a few other classmates. The first flight, from Denver to San Francisco, was fine. But next flight from San Francisco to Osaka was rough. I hadn’t slept well the night before, and about five hours in—halfway through the flight—I started feeling unwell. A headache, no appetite, just overall exhaustion, but I would distract myself from watching movies, talking with my friends, and trying to take a nap here and there.

Landing in Osaka also brought its own challenges. We had to go through customs, which was stressful. We had been given paperwork to fill out on the plane, but I didn’t realize that, at least in Japan that I know of, you can actually complete the customs forms online before your flight (wish I noticed that sooner as it would have taken a lot of stress off). On top of that, I had to ask if one of my over-the-counter medicines was okay to bring. Despite studying Japanese for almost three years, my speaking skills aren’t great, so communicating was not easy. Thankfully, the customs officers were patient and helped me through the process. In the end, my medicine was ok to bring, and from there it was just a matter of picking up our checked bags and finding our hotel.

A few people had decided to take a bus to Kyoto to stay at a hotel there. However, we decided to stay in hotel in the airport as we were exhausted from the fight. By the time we settled in, it had been about two days of nonstop travel and preparation. It was exhausting but being with friends, all of us helping each other out, made navigating everything a little easier. Now, I am looking forward to getting everything ready for the next 5 months of my life here in Japan.

Moving 6,000 Miles Away is Hard

Published on by kragenwildLeave a comment

Hey! My name is Kragen, and I am writing this from my capsule hotel in Kyoto, on my first night in Japan. I still can’t really believe it. Two planes, two busses, a 15 hour time change, and I’m here. I feel like I’m dreaming, in every sense of the word, due in part because I haven’t slept in 45 hours and can feel myself entering a kind of psychosis, and because I really have been dreaming of this for years. I have a few days before classes start, so I think I should talk about my pre-departure experience. But before that, enjoy these pictures of my very cozy hotel.

Jesse, realizing what I booked for us
POV of the room

Prior to leaving, I was quite a mess. Studying abroad is not just an immense feat of planning, but also a massive mental weight. You can prepare for months, but there just isn’t enough time to properly think of everything, to build a plan so perfect that nothing goes wrong. There will always be something you forget, something you didn’t think of — something that surprises you. And it’s not just that. There are dozens of forms to fill out, visas to apply to, hoops to jump through. After getting caught up in trying to prepare perfectly, I recognized, in hindsight, that I should’ve let go of the idea, and spent more of my time saying goodbye and being around the ones I love while I still had them. The night I left, I started realizing all the little things in my life that I took for granted, which I was about to leave behind. It made me appreciate things more. I’m not very good with being present, but on that final day, knowing a chapter was ending, and that another one was about to begin, there was nothing else to think about but the moment. Saying goodbye was hard, but it would’ve been much harder if I hadn’t been getting wined and dined the whole time.

Chicken sandwich with my girlfriend
Chicken nuggets with my family

A far less reflective part of traveling is packing, which in itself is a skill. A skill I do not have. Packing was particularly tough because, unlike a vacation, my stay is pretty much permanent. I needed to pick my life up, just as it was, and plop it back down thousands of miles away. I’ve never done that before. Not only that, but I needed to completely oust the life I was living back in America. I’ve heard that housing isn’t very fond of you leaving all your stuff in the dorm all summer. I knew it would be painful, the simultaneous moving-and-packing maneuver, but I still wasn’t prepared for just how much it would suck. Others might not find it as hard, but I had the brilliant idea of buying the largest and most precariously built LEGO set ever made, without ever considering that I would eventually need to move the 5,000 piece hunk of plastic.

All of my LEGOs wrapped up, banana for scale
The van heading home with all my extra stuff

Now, finally, all that is behind me, and this new chapter I’ve been blabbing on about has actually begun. I’m here in Japan. I feel extremely jetlagged, like I’m out of place, and like my head is screwed on backwards after all that travel. You know that feeling when there’s something you’re forgetting, but you can’t remember what? That’s been my default since I got here. I think I just need a little time to assimilate. Until next time!