By Melissa Gilstrap

Nebraska: cows, corn, and flat land. Not exactly the same thing as Japan. When you come from a small town, such as myself, itﾕs hard to imagine yourself as one day ending up halfway across the world, especially in a place so different from Nebraska.

All my life I've had the urge to travel to new places and experience new things. But I never thought it would happen so quickly in my first year of college. I thought I would end up finishing college and getting my degree before I would even leave the country. All of that changed one January morning. An opportunity of a lifetime was set before me and without hesitation I seized it. Little did I know of what was to lie ahead of me.

I knew no Japanese, except the basic "ichi, ni, san." I was scared out of my wits when I flew into the airport and stepped off the plane. I didn't know where to go or which bus would take me where. It was quite an interesting experience trying to find the right bus to get me to the other airport. On the bus ride from Narita to Haneda, it was mind boggling to see how large Tokyo was in comparison to my hometown. There is probably the same amount of people living in one apartment complex as there are in my hometown. Maybe even more. I saw dozens upon dozens of residential areas made up of mostly apartment buildings instead of houses, with small rooms, some barely the size of my dorm room back home. I thought to myself again, "Why in the world did I come to Japan?" It was one of the scariest days in my life. I felt like a little kid in this giant store who got lost. It was terrifying, to say the least.

Nebraska is basically flat. Sure, we have some hills here and there, but nothing in comparison to Japan. Left and right you can see cornfields, cows, and more cornfields. It's like an endless sea of corn, and there's the occasional town every 6 or 7 miles in between. Some of the tallest buildings in Nebraska are the corn and grain elevators and the water towers. And itﾕs not uncommon to see a tractor or combine driving down the side of the road. So, naturally, I was in awe of the beautiful scenery of mountains around Sapporo. And I love every bit of it. There's no doubt in my mind why so many people reside in this area. Compared to Nebraska, Sapporo is like a whole other world. The atmosphere and ambiance, the fashion, the cleanliness of the city, the food, and even the public transportation is so much different.

I never knew how many festivals the Japanese celebrated in Japan. And I was surprised to find out there were so many. One event I really enjoyed shortly after I came to Japan was the Sakura Festival, the first of many that I celebrated. The trees were so beautiful, and I wish I could be here again next year to see them bloom again. It was so pleasant just sitting under the trees and talking with my friends, even if the weather was still a bit chilly at that time. It was the first time I tried sushi, and I must say, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I was a bit apprehensive at first. When I think of sushi, I think "raw fish," not anything wrapped in seaweed with rice. Being from the Midwest, it's not exactly the first thing on my list to try. I tried it anyway, and to my astonishment, I really enjoyed it. It wasn't what I had anticipated sushi to taste like. But, then again, nothing here is the same as I had expected.

For me, the biggest thing I had to get used to after I came here was the public transportation system. I was boggled as to how it operated and where you buy tickets and what buttons to push. I didn't know how much the bus cost or which bus would take me where. Back home in Nebraska, I was so used to just grabbing my car keys and jumping in my car to get somewhere. It was as easy as that. I wasn't used to walking anywhere but class and then back to my dorm room. Here, it's a short walk to the bus stop, then a ride to the subway station, and then trying to figure out how many more stops until I get off the train. It was so hard suddenly going from knowing every street in my town to barely even being able to pronounce the name of a street.

It's taken me a few months to get used to things, but I've finally gotten the hang of it. I'm sure when I go back home to Nebraska things will seem strange to me. I'll have to get used to driving on the other side of the road and actually taking regular classes again. I've enjoyed every bit of my time spent here, and I can't wait to come back. Going to a strange country where you don't have any knowledge of the customs, culture, or language is quite the undertaking, hardly a simple task in itself. But, I was more than happy to have had the opportunity to do it.