Essay review

Expectations and assumptions about unique country; "Land of the Rising Sun"

If someone doesn't want to stick in expat bubble you have to adjust to new life in foreign country. At the beginning it could be very challenging but time is essence.
In this essay I want to talk about my initial experience and perception about Japan. I will elaborate about more about my way of adjusting to new environment and how I dealt with challenges that I faced.

Japan is (for me) everything you could love in a country. It is great tourist destination for many people from modern skyscrapers and historical temples and castles way back from Nara period. I also believe that Japan is filled with morals, value and respect. For instance, when addressing elders or people who are in upper position you have to use different words and even you bow differently.

After deciding myself where I want to go I started having that assumptions in my mind. Whether I am going to enjoy my life in Japan or not. My father seeing me questioning my plan sat down with me and had a quick chat after that I was determined. What he told me is that everything depends entirely on what kind of person you are and what kind of life you want to live. And, don't expect things to be easy. Nothing is easy. I knew that studying here will enable me for me to be the best and help me to reach my dreams and ambitions.

The reason I wanted to go Japan was that , I was lucky to get to know Japanese people who are full of spirit and motivation and being able to spend time with them I had general understanding about Japanese culture, history and customs . The initial customs I learned from my Japanese friends were table manners, bowing and safety. Usually expectations about country come from movies, songs, people, even products. For instance, watching all Hollywood movies people usually say I love US and coming there they would get disappointed because they have created unreal expectations from movies or other sources in their minds. I didn't want to base my expectations on anything so not to have those false expectations. I just wanted to explore on my own way.

My first night in Japan it felt exciting and romantic; new food, different people, unique language and atmosphere. And here I am in Japan almost for three months. Well, these past three months were one of the challenging and simultaneously enjoying moments in my life. At the beginning it seemed difficult to adapt due to the characteristics of Japan that it makes unique, different from other countries. Lots of things I found strange or uncomfortable at first.

I had to start my life from zero, adjust to new place, time zone, food, water and so on. However, I tend to adjust fast and the processes weren't really difficult as I imagined. First thing I found difficult was weather. From entering airport gate it felt so humid to me and it seemed that I couldn't even breathe. Even though, after couple of days I got used to the weather. I just drank lots of water and exercised.

The next thing was food. I feel lucky when it comes to food because I really like exotic food and love trying various cuisines. I don’t have problem with Japanese food However, the products in the supermarket are all mostly in Japanese and mostly in kanji. It still bit challenging when it comes to grocery shopping.

In the beginning everyone has that confusing feelings about a new country or new city and I worried about what may happen but acknowledged the fact that I don´t know this place yet and have to explore more. I felt like there is nothing to do at all but when I started going out every day, socializing, integrating and exploring I found XXX a very interesting and friendly city with lots of parks, restaurants and malls. After my classes have started XXX even became more populous and lively.

One of the challenging periods was finals week. Acknowledging fact that I took many classes it was a bit hard to manage my time and follow the deadlines. However, I did my best and focused only on my classes. It felt like I don’t have life at all except studying. However, my friends and family supported me morally which was a great help.

To sum up, travelers or foreigners have to let go of false stereotypes and assumptions travelling abroad and to stay humble, respectable to the host countries culture and people. I think I am on my way of transition and accepting changes. It is easier to transit to new environment when you try to accept the changes. On my own experience I can say that living abroad can be really challenging but when you try to immerse with the culture and people of the host country it could be a life altering.