By Cody Spencer, exchange student,
University of Nebraska at Kearney
The first thing I said to myself after I stepped out of the terminal at Narita Airport was "Where in the world am I." My hometown is a city of about 50,000 people, most of whom are cowboys. So when I first saw Japan it seemed quite a different place than back home. Back in America I have a lot of Japanese friends who taught me much about Japan before I came here, but everything I learned couldnﾕt prepare me for what was to come. After growing up in a small town, I was shocked by not only the new culture, but big city life as well.
My Japanese friends back in Nebraska had always sparked interests in my mind about Japan. Therefore, it has been my dream for quite sometime to travel to Japan and experience Japanese culture. I was beginning to think that it may not be possible until one day when I received an e-mail from my university's International Studies office. For the next few months I was so excited that sometimes I couldn't even sleep. But little did I know what I was about to experience.
The day that I arrived in Japan I felt like I was in another world and was beginning the adventure of a lifetime. Thankfully enough, the day I arrived in Japan one of my Japanese friends was in Tokyo to meet me. Seeing the size of Tokyo and the amount of people it contained was mind boggling. That day my friend took me exploring around Tokyo and I saw many culture differences that many Americans would believe were rather strange.
One thing in particular I noticed was Japan's obsession with fashion. Here in Japan many young people take their looks fairly seriously. Usually in America, men and women both care about their looks, but usually women care more seriously about them than men do. Here in Japan I noticed that many guys are just as serious, if not more so, as women are about how they look. I also witnessed many strange fashion trends that I had never seen in America. When I first saw how different many of the people in Japan actually are from people back in America I was actually quite scared.
Nebraska is fairly similar to some of Japanﾕs rural farming areas in population, but geographically Japan and Nebraska are quite different. In Nebraska most cities are no larger than 30,000 people and the entire stateﾕs population doesn't even equal that of the city of Sapporo. Most of Nebraska is prairie and wetlands which have been converted into faming land.
The state of Nebraska is larger than Japan itself, and when driving through Nebraska you can see corn field after corn field. In northern Nebraska there are forested areas, but they don't compare to the mountains and forests that I've seen here in Sapporo. Sapporo's beauty has amazed me because it is so different from back home, and the fact that it has been preserved so well in such a small place with so many people is astounding. I think that both Sapporo and Nebraska have their own natural beauty, but Sapporo is new to me, so it seems like an entirely new world. While I am living in Sapporo I am going to enjoy every bit of its culture and beauty that I can.
One of the greatest things that I have noticed since I have arrived in Japan is the massive improvement in my Japanese. I remember the first day that I arrived in Sapporo I went to Lawson to buy an international calling card, but I couldn't understand anything the clerk said. I had to get the help of a man from India who spoke Japanese as well as English. Also, when I went to places like Max Value I couldn't understand anything. Now after only three months my Japanese has improved extensively. When I go out into the city I never need assistance and I can almost always understand everything a clerk or restaurant staff person tells me. I think that my Japanese is good enough that I could probably travel anywhere in Japan without any problems.
I believe this is because of the culture submersion. I don't think there is any better way to learn a language than to be submerged into the culture. When one is submerged into a new culture they are literally forced to learn a new language or they will be shut out from that culture. After seeing the improvements in my Japanese and in the other exchange students' Japanese, I believe this to be the very best method for someone to learn a language.
One part of Sapporo's culture that I have really enjoyed are all of the festivals that they celebrate here. One festival in particular that I enjoyed was the Yosakoi Soran Matsuri. The first two days of the festival were cold and rainy, but everyone still did their dances. I was extremely impressed with this. Some of the dances that I witnessed at the festival were amazing. One thing that was quite fun was participating in one of the dances. In one section of the festival there was an area where anyone could join in and dance.
One of the other exchange students and I happened to be watching when a Japanese woman literally grabbed us and pushed us into the dance line telling us to join in. I thought that was very fun and it was a great experience. It is the little parts of Japanese culture like these that I enjoy. Although they may not seem big to Japanese people, they are pretty big and mean a lot to me because they are things that I could never do back in America.
After coming here I think I have adapted to the new culture fairly quickly. I believe this is because I knew that my time here would be short and I know that inside I want to enjoy every moment as much as possible. Honestly, if had the choice I would stay here longer than nine months. I don't think nine months is long enough for me to experience Japan like I truly would like to experience it.
If anyone gets the chance to travel to a foreign country, they should jump at the opportunity right away. Experiencing a new culture is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I believe it to be the best way to learn a new language. In the future I hope that I get the chance to return to Japan because I have really grown to love its amazing culture and beauty.