Seeing the World in a New Light

Studying abroad never crossed my mind until I heard and saw videos on Youtube about it. Originally I thought that studying abroad was only something you would see on television, but I was wrong. When I heard of YFU, I knew then that I could make my dream a reality. The application process is fairly simple and requires a application fee. During the process one thing I liked was that YFU was there and were really supportive of me. They made sure I was on time with due dates and such. And really they made sure I was ready for a journey of a life time. One of the biggest issues is about money and how much it was cost. Lucky for me and most of the students we were about to get scholarships. For me the scholarship that I had was the Japan American Friendship Scholarship that covers most of the tuition, leaving us to pay $3,000 of the $12,000.
Once I was abroad in Japan, we all go through this honeymoon phase and after that we notice that exchange isn't all rainbows and unicorns. For me, I went through this rough patch where I wasn't fully able to communicate with my classmates. First of all, I don't know a lot of Japanese and secondly my shyness got in the way. Leading me to another good point of YFU, they did a good job placing me in a school and host family that was so kind and supportive. There was a teacher at my school who really helped my through my predicament and helped me see what I had to do in order to better improve my situation. Also at home, my family was always there to make me laugh and after a rough day they would be there to make me laugh. My host family really made me feel like I was their daughter and sister! I felt like I belonged and they were my home. Once I was able to make friends and connections with my classmates I really felt like I was a part of the Japanese school system. This particular experience really helped me get out of my comfort zone and due to this I was able to be not so shy anymore. Still on the topic about placement, is that you don't learn of where you will be staying and attending school until about a month or so before. The wait is pretty long, it is to insure that you are placed into a home that is best suited to you. Also, I was placed into Yamanashi prefecture, and to most people they probably have never heard of it, but I think that's one of the beauties about YFU you are placed into a area that best suits your taste and your preferences, but its also good to be open minded about it too. For me I really didn't have a preference as to where I'll live while in Japan all I wanted was to experience as many things as possible and I believe being ope minded about the whole experience in general will lead to more opportunities to see the world in a new light.
Overall, I believe that YFU is a good program to consider when finding a study abroad program. You get to become more independent, you get to broaden your horizons, and get to see the world in a new light thus making one world of cultural understanding.