It's hard for me to believe that I have been in Japan for six months. This is definitely the longest time I have ever been away from home. Of course, the longer one is away, the more he or she wonders where home really is. I don't own any land back home. I don't even have a car anymore. I guess "home" will always be back in Illinois, but honestly I have grown rather accustomed to life here in Tokyo.
When I look at what I have accomplished over the last six months, it is not very impressive. I have learned some new words in Japanese and rememorized the periods of ancient Japanese history. I have gone to see some new places and visited some old friends. However, the time has really passed quickly.
Japanese people always ask me why I came to Japan. Since I find it difficult to answer the question why (isn't it the hardest question?), I generally start by saying, "I don't know." That's is partly true. However, since I am receiving a scholarship for my study here I had to come up with some pretty good reasons for spending Rotary's money. If I look back at the essay that I wrote before coming, I notice that I have made little progress towards my goals.
Sure I have met a lot of nice people, taught them about my side of the world, and learned about their side of the world. However, as far learning Japanese and working in Japan, I am not sure that I am even interested in these goals anymore. Soon after coming to Japan, I started thinking about how much time the average Japanese "salaryman" is expected to spend socializing with fellow employees and customers. Now I have no problem with socializing with coworkers now and then, but I am not a big drinker and I don't know that I could handle all the relationship building that is necessary in Japan. Sure there are some jobs where you don't need it, but anyway... I am still thinking about whether I really want to work in Japan.
As for Japanese language, honestly I think it is the most enjoyable part of studying abroad. I love a good challenge and learning a language is never easy. Somehow it is just a lot of fun to speak in another language and learn new words every day. However, as many of my friends at Waseda have been saying, "Why are we learning Japanese anyway?" Sure it is necessary while we are here in Japan, but will we ever use it in the future? Learning a language is quite a big commitment, so one has to come up with lots of excuses for wasting all that time. I thought I had enough excuses, but some days I wish I had learned French or Spanish instead.
And so goes the life of an exchange student. Although my classes at Waseda will end in June, I have decided to stay for the remaining two months on my visa and look for an interesting job. I wanted to get an "internship" type job where I could get some good experience in a serious job position, however this American institution is contrary to the Japanese hierarchy system, so there are no interns here. I will probably end up spending July and August working at McDonald's in Roppongi. At any rate, I have six more months of fun to look forward to. I would like to say that I plan to be more productive in the second half of my term, but honestly my drive is slowly down. Lately I prefer to spend time chatting with friends rather than learning new Chinese characters. Go figure. Until next time.