Changing Impressions

So since you've been in Japan so long, what do you think now?....


After being in Japan for about 8 months as an International student studying Japanese and Japanese culture at Kansai Gaidai for the fall semester of 2009,
and the Spring semester of 2010, there have been some impressions of Japan that in my perspective has been instilled in me throughout my stay here.

The fact that everyone in Japan are very polite to each other and use Keigo(really formal japanese) is something at first I didnt understand and sort of arkward. But as time progressed I realized that Japanese people are in general polite because of their culture. In America, we are polite but not to the extreme that Japan is. We do not have Keigo although we have a form of speech that is polite. After being here for so long, I realize I will miss being treated with the utmost respect by everyone in their speech as opposed to the sort of formal speech that is used back home.

Another impression that is instilled in me is the fact that people take off their shoes when entering their house, room, bathroom and even certain places such as resturants and are given slippers. In America, there is no place that one will be allowed to take their shoes off except for their own house. And sometimes I realized that even some people go into their house with their shoes and even their bedroom and sit on their beds with it on! This is something I now see with a slight disgust and my instilled japanese notion of keeping things cleaned is something I will have to get used to when going back.

One last thing that I will miss will be able to see mountains and parks and shrines everywhere. The closest thing to a shrine or temple I have in America is a church, and since I live in N.Y.C, there is no mountains. Being able to look out my window or wherever I go, being able to know that behind these mass globs of buildings and concrete there is a park or mountain filled with beautiful scenery is something that will be nostalgic to me.

There are probably so many more impressions of Japan that I will miss and had made animpact on me and my life. There are times when hearing my fellow students talk to eachother about when they are leaving makes my stomache turn and make me think about everything but that has stopped me from really thinking about this topic. However, Japan has made a huge impression on how I view people, language, way of thinking, ways of doing things and just daily life that I will never forget. Living in Japan I believe has made me a more open-minded person and this experience with my friends from all over the world is something that in my heart I will never forget. I am forever grateful. Thank you Kansai Gaidai, and thank you Japan!