In my second year at UVM, I started taking Japanese courses out of curiosity about learning a new language, but I never imagined that I would choose Japanese as a minor at that time. The more I studied Japanese, the more interest I developed. My study abroad experiences at Doshisha University in Kyoto and International Christian University in Tokyo deepened my curiosity about Japanese society and culture. It motivated me to learn even more Japanese so I could communicate better with native speakers. After graduation, I started my first job in Tokyo, working for a mobile insurance and tech company called Asurion. Working in Tokyo was a valuable experience that I will never forget. It was fantastic to work with Japanese colleagues every day and to experience the true culture of Japan, which I had only learned about through videos and books.

When I first started Japanese at UVM, I never imagined that I would be working in Tokyo after graduation. I am originally from South Korea and returned home after working in Tokyo for two years. Now, I am using the experiences and knowledge I gained at UVM and in Tokyo to work for my parents' company, GIB Co., Ltd. I travel to Japan, Germany, and France several times a year for business. It's amazing how the Japanese courses at UVM have had such a positive impact on my life.

As a student majoring in Japanese at UVM, studying abroad at Kansai Gaidai was the perfect complement to my degree and strengthened both my studies and my experience. I was able to grow so much as a person by traveling on my own to a foreign country and learning how to get around. Kansai Gaidai offers an ideal environment for international students, as they have a strong international program, allowing you to meet students from around the world and become friends with local Japanese students. Additionally, the university's location is perfect, situated right between the bustling city of Osaka (with great nightlife and shopping) and the beautiful old capital of Kyoto, both easily accessible by train. I then attended Aoyama Gakuin in Tokyo for my second semester abroad, and I can honestly say that although both places have a lot to offer, I was glad I was able to experience the Kansai region and study at Kansai Gaidai. While experiencing all that the Kansai region has to offer, you will significantly improve your language skills and make friends from around the world.

Describing my study abroad experience at Toyo University, located in the heart (or one of the major arteries—I'm not too sure; I never took anatomy or geography) of the largest city in the world, in one short paragraph was as hard as trying to swim to Japan from California. But I did my best! Class time was short; in all honesty, I spent almost no time in the classroom and all my time exploring the city, going on trips, or just hanging out. (But the learning part was real—I had friends who went from not knowing ANY Japanese to having conversations in only one semester; those professors really knew what they were doing.) Not only was class time brief, but it was also really fun. The professors understood that we were studying abroad and that the last thing we wanted to do was sit in class, so we went on field trips to places we, as foreigners, never would have thought to visit (and they were amazing!). The lectures were delivered with a large amount of passion and zeal, so even the earliest class at 10:05 was a blast.

For field trips, we visited places like the Cup Ramen Museum, where we got to make our own ramen noodles, and the Disaster Prevention Museum, where we experienced a simulated earthquake and wore full-body rain suits to experience typhoon conditions! Living in the city was one of the greatest decisions I made. I honestly didn’t think I would like it at first; I chose to go to UVM because it was a campus and not exactly a city, but still a “city.” However, Tokyo was amazing. There were days when I wanted to do something but didn’t know what, so I would just go for a walk to the park, and there would be some kind of festival going on, or I would find a side street I had never seen before and venture down it to discover some historical site, shrine, or small museum. I lived there for a year, and there was honestly so much I never saw and probably would never see, just because it was so vast and there were always new things to do and see.

But one thing I want you to take away from this is that everyone would say, “It’ll change your life,” but that’s not it. “Japan” doesn’t change your life; YOU change your life in Japan, and that made everything worthwhile.

I first became interested in teaching English abroad when I was younger, and my grandma told me about her experience teaching English in South Korea. It seemed like such an adventurous and fun thing to do, so I was really excited to call and tell my grandma the news that I was taking a page from her book and going to live in Japan. I started studying Japanese at UVM because of Haruki Murakami. He was a world-famous modern Japanese novelist whose books I was obsessed with. I wanted to learn more about the language in which his books were originally written, and I found Japanese to be very beautiful and interesting.

But very soon after starting my Japanese class, I was bitten by the bug of Japanese literature and language and added Asian Studies as another major to accompany the English one I was already working on. I took classes on Japanese history, literature, modern culture, language, and even other Asian religions and philosophies. I think I ended up taking more classes than I even needed for that major. As proof that I couldn’t get enough and that I was a true Japanese literature geek, my friends formed a short summer book club to read and discuss Murakami novels with our professor after graduation. So, it was only natural that in my sophomore year, I wanted to apply to study abroad in Japan. My friend and I completed the rigorous study abroad and visa application process and soon found ourselves on a plane to Tokyo to start at a Japanese university.

We had an incredible five months. We lived in a share house apartment in Asakusa and got to meet people from all over the world. We took Japanese classes during the week and explored Japan every weekend. We even got part-time jobs as English conversation tutors at our university. We had so many fun new experiences and were very sad to leave Japan when the semester finished. So much so, that after being back in the U.S. for a little while, I knew I wanted to try to return to Japan. I applied to the JET Program, a program that assigned English speakers to be Assistant Language Teachers in Japanese public schools. When the March results came out, I was ecstatic to find out that I was assigned to be one out of the 84 English teachers living and working in Takasaki, Gunma. I have been teaching at my elementary school there for eight months, and I loved it so much that I just recently decided to stay there for a second year. Since I worked at an elementary school, I was actually more of a T1 teacher instead of an assistant, meaning I planned and ran all my own lessons (about 16 a week) with the assistance of the homeroom teachers. But I loved every second of it. I worked at a smaller school with about 200 kids. So now I had 200 little best friends who loved to play English games with me, brought me random rock and acorn gifts after recess, played tag and dodgeball with me outside, drew Pokémon with me, and played seemingly endless games of Rock-Paper-Scissors. I felt so lucky that I was happy to go to work every morning because of these crazy amazing kids, and I was so glad I pushed myself to have a completely new and scary adventure. Of course, living alone in a foreign country could be very difficult at times, but I thought that the experiences I had there would be some of the most important of my life.

Ever since I was in middle school, I was interested in Japan, but when I first arrived at UVM in 2012, I had very different aspirations. However, after taking Professor Ikeda’s Japanese Popular Culture class, and meeting the other department faculty at the various events hosted by the program and Japanese House, I decided to take the plunge and change to a Japanese major. After taking lectures with hundreds of students who I would never really get to know, taking small classes with other Japanese learners and the amazing faculty was a wonderful experience. The language courses are well-paced and rewarding, and in my five years at UVM, I never had more intellectually challenging and interesting courses than when I took Professor Ikeda’s Japanese Literature courses. There are also a ton of opportunities to learn about Japan through classes offered in collaboration with other departments as well, such as Samurai in History and Film, offered by Professor Erik Esselstrom in the History department. On top of the coursework, there were so many opportunities within the department outside of class, such as the Anime Club, Taiko Club, and all kinds of guest lecturers and community events.

The highlight of my Japanese Program experience, however, has to be studying abroad. I spent one year living in a quiet corner of Tokyo, studying at Toyo University through ISEP.  There, I had the time of my life improving my Japanese alongside students from all over the world, as well as taking classes with Japanese students. I even worked as a staff member at the English Community Zone, an English-only lounge for students studying English to hang out and ask questions. It was my time abroad that allowed me to put all I had learned at UVM into practice, and helped me decide to return to Japan after I graduated. On top of becoming much stronger in Japanese, I made tons of friends and connections for life and learned what it’s like to live in Japan, not just visit as a tourist.

After I returned to UVM for my senior year, I was able to maintain my progress in Japanese through the challenging 5th-year curriculum offered by the program, conducted entirely in Japanese. My time spent in the program came to a head when I applied for and was accepted, as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) for the JET Programme, where college graduates from around the world are offered jobs teaching English across Japan. I now live and work as an assistant teacher for an elementary school in the beautiful seaside town of Akkeshi, on the southern coast of Hokkaido. I use the Japanese I learned at UVM every day, planning lessons with my homeroom teachers, or translating documents for my Board of Education at the town hall. If you had told me on my first day at UVM that a few years later I would be sitting here writing this at my desk in Japan, having just watched my first year of students graduate, I’m not sure if I would have believed you. But, thanks to all of the support and knowledge I gained through UVM’s Japanese Program, here we are!

"Studying abroad in Osaka for my junior year was by far the most rewarding decision I've made in my academic career. Being alone in a foreign country was intimidating at first; I was forced to use my Japanese language skills every step of the way. Through complete immersion, however, I rapidly increased my listening and reading comprehension skills. I participated in a Speaking Partner program and was able to practice speaking Japanese in a casual setting on a regular basis. My confidence in speaking Japanese has vastly improved; I used to be extremely shy but I immediately began coming out of my shell the moment I landed in Kansai Airport and needed to figure everything out on my own, from reading kanji on signs to asking strangers for directions . . . I loved exploring by myself and striking up conversations with the Japanese locals; you can learn so much more from speaking with somebody than you ever could through textbooks alone."

"I have always been interested in learning languages and had been studying Russian for several years but during my second year at UVM, I decided to take Japanese due to my prior interest in Japan, its language, and culture. Study abroad was always something I wanted to do, and during the second semester of my third year I went to Aoyama Gakuin, located in the center of Tokyo. . . . It is instantly and constantly rewarding to be in a country whose citizens speak the language you are studying . . . While I worked hard in my classes, especially my Japanese classes, there was also a lot of time to travel and explore outside of Tokyo. I went to many rural areas around Tokyo as well as Matsumoto Castle, Mount Fuji, Kyoto, and Osaka. Each one of these trips not only was a fun way to experience more aspects of Japanese culture but taught me so much about Japan and Japanese."