For the last month I’ve had the amazing opportunity of studying in Hakodate, Japan and although it has been among the most challenging experiences I have ever had, it has been extremely rewarding. Getting off the plane in Narita, I was full of excitement despite just disembarking from a 8 hour plane ride, that is until I had my first conversation. Though I understood that my Japanese was far from good, I was shocked to find that I couldn’t even ask simple questions, like where is the luggage carousel. That being said, making it through customs on my own was pretty terrifying ,but to my luck, with the little Japanese I could use and the english speaking information guides, I was able to make it through.
Though those few days in Tokyo went relatively well, I was fully aware that unlike Tokyo, Hakodate would be a lot more difficult to navigate through due to its smaller english speaking presence. On top of that, I knew that if I had any hope of making any real relationships with my host family, I would need to improve my Japanese drastically. Unfortunately, my first encounter with my host family, although endearing, was extremely awkward. As much as I wanted to speak to them and get to know them, I simply couldn’t and instead resigned myself to being silent. Thankfully however, my host family had been extremely understanding and welcoming which led to me taking more chances with my speaking skills. Soon after, I found that being in such an immersive environment caused me to learn on the go, teaching me to use the context of the situation to figure out what was being said. As a result, after a month of constant conversation, with the help of new grammar and vocabulary from class, I feel as if I can actually hold meaningful conversations about myself and interesting topics such as the differences between Japan and America.
Though even now, I feel as if I’m far from fluency, I hope by the end of my time here, I will be able to hold more intellectually stimulating conversations.