By Amanda Gragg (exchange student)

I am a junior at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, USA. Originally I come from Shelbyville, a small town that is located in Indiana. I thought Muncie was a big town when I first moved there. Now that I have come to Sapporo, I can see that I was wrong. Muncie is much smaller than Sapporo. Shelbyville has a population of 17,900, and Muncie has a population of about 66,500. Compared to Sapporo, both of those towns are very small!

The scenery is also very different. Indiana has many small towns. It also has many corn fields, soybeans, and wheat. Agriculture is the main industry in Indiana. Fields are all that you see there, so it surprises me to see the mountains here on my way to school. As a matter of fact, I have never seen real mountains before. My family's house is completely surrounded by fields that run for miles, and the nearest neighbor is nearly half a mile away, or 800 meters. Here my neighbors are in the next room. The closest convenience store is 20 minutes away by car where I live in Indiana, but in Sapporo I can take less than a 5-minute walk to the convenience store. At first I was somewhat frightened of leaving my home, but I think Sapporo is a nice place to live. The people here are kind and helpful, and the gardens and parks are beautiful.

I must also admit that the food in Japan is a little intimidating. I am used to American home cooking, such as steak, all sorts of potatoes, and barbeque chicken. I am also a big fan of fast food restaurants, so moving here was quite a change. People eat a lot of fish in Sapporo, but they don't eat much fish in Indiana. It is a landlocked state, so oceans are not nearby to supply fresh seafood. I am exposed to so many new things, and I know I am learning from my experiences here and also having a wonderful time.

I was able to come to Sapporo by receiving a scholarship from Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO). The way that I received the scholarship was quite a surprise, and a great blessing. One Monday in February, my professor in Indiana told me he had received a scholarship opportunity by fax that needed immediate attention. I had previously discussed coming to Sapporo with this professor, but had decided that it was not financially possible for me to study abroad for such a long period of time. Then this scholarship that paid for all living expenses came out of nowhere! I turned in the application two days later to my professor, and I found out by the end of that same week that I received the scholarship and was coming to Japan. My life was turned upside down all in one week!

Now that I am here, I am very much enjoying my life here. I have met people from all over the world on campus. I like my classes, even though at times they are difficult. During the week I attend class with my English-speaking friends, and learn many new things about the Japanese language and culture. We take time to see the sights of Hokkaido on the weekends and on our time off from school. This city looks so huge to me, and I am not used to being near such large and nice shopping areas. I enjoy shopping downtown and also walking in Odori Park. The festivals are all very lively and exciting, and I am glad to be here to witness them myself, rather than watching videos of them back in Indiana. Seeing what Japan is really like firsthand is much better than any video I could ever watch on television.