Be Prepared

I was in Japan for a full year, and it was the hardest and most fulfilling experience, even now, that I have ever done. I had studied Japanese for a year and a half before leaving, and had extensive classes on culture and more cultural aspects of the language. Even so, when I arrived I still had considerable trouble with the language and culture. Fortunately, my first meeting with my family was with my host sister, who spoke a fair amount of English. That lasted for one day, before we went to Tokyo and she left me with my host parents, who spoke no English. We met in Tokyo, but lived on the west coast in a small fishing village. No one there spoke English, but my host family was amazing and we'd always have a dictionary on the table, so as we struggled to speak one of us would use the dictionary to look up a word, and doing that everyday helped me learn really quickly. School was definitely the hardest part of my year abroad. I had been placed in an honours courses at my high school, so all the other students were very focused on studies and I didn't make any friends in my course. I was also expected to participate in all school work, and I was graded on my math, chemistry and biology classes, and also helped teach the English classes. My host school was very supporting and wonderful, but the classes and work was overwhelming at times, and it was also expected of me to participate in clubs. This program is not for people who don't like challenges. I was very fortunate in my placement, both with school and family, and even so life was very difficult. I loved being there, travelling, meeting new people and getting to learn the language and culture, but it left very little time to relax. I would recommend this program to everyone who is looking for a true challenge and a wonderful experience that will make you truly grow.