Zoe Goldenfeld (AY 2018-2019)

August 21, 2019

Hello! My name is Zoe, and I’m a senior with a major in East Asian Languages and Cultures and a minor in Informatics. I wanted to do the study abroad in Japan for several reasons: I wanted to improve my Japanese, learn about and experience Japanese culture firsthand, and because I had always dreamed about living in Japan someday.

Through the YiJ program, I got to do a homestay and live with a Japanese family. This experience taught me so many wonderful things you can’t learn in a classroom: Japanese meal etiquette, how to sort your trash, how to eat sashimi, and of course the wonders of the kotatsu. The homestay also allowed for me to fully immerse myself in Japanese. Instead of returning to a dorm with other international students after classes, I would go home and chat with my host parents in Japanese about class or the weather or what was on TV. In this way I was constantly learning and speaking Japanese, both formally in the classroom and informally at home and out with friends. On most days I didn’t even speak English at all.

Living in Japan helped me to become more self-confident and independent. At the start of the program, I was nervous to go places by myself, but received advice from a former student that it was best to go out by yourself, because if you went with another international student, you would just end up speaking English. This turned out to be great advice. I went to a bar by myself for the first time and ended up talking to so many different people and making so many new friends I was encouraged to go back and try again, and again, and again with different restaurants, bars, concerts, and cafes.

Each time I tried going somewhere new bolstered my self-confidence as I realized that I was perfectly capable of doing things I never would have done back in America. I also improved my Japanese skills greatly, as I was always meeting new people and having interesting conversations. People stopped asking me “are you a tourist?” and started asking me “how long have you lived in Japan?” At some places I even became a regular and came to be good friends with the bartenders and several other regular customers.

This program has helped me so much. I’ve delved deeper into my hobbies and interests and found what makes me happy. I’ve learned what it’s like to live away from home, independent of my parents and hometown. I’ve learned about Japanese language, culture, history, art, and even economics through classes at Konan University.

I have visited culturally and historically significant sites, like a one-thousand year old hot spring bath or the oldest wooden structure in the world. Better yet, I’ve actually understood the significance of these sites, and been able to appreciate them fully, from learning about them in class. I’ve made great friends, got to see bands a younger fifteen-year-old me would have died to see play live, and have even met and had drinks with one of my favorite musicians. I had a wonderful time, academically and emotionally, and I can’t wait to return to Japan after graduation.