Exploring Japan
Over the past Fall Semester, TCU was joined by 7 students from different universities, who came to Japan with a desire to learn and understand Japanese culture and life in Japan. They were able to spend a semester at TCU through the East Asia Institute program, where they could experience real life in Japan!
They have been a part of daily life at TCU and have been able to make wonderful memories. Two of them have kindly shared their own experiences of their adventures in Japan!
First up is Elijah Henry Wheeler.
He is from the US and goes to Covenant College in Georgia.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
“I love seeing how various things affect people differently”
He enjoys reading about people and seeing how their life changes in relation to the way they are affected by their environments. In particular, he enjoys reading historical novels.
He has also been enjoying learning Japanese and being able to actively use his learnings in daily life while here in Japan!
What were you looking forward to the most before coming to Japan?
Since Elijah has been enjoying learning about Japanese culture, he was looking forward to visiting Japanese temples and shrines and experiencing Japan to its fullest. Japanese culture has always fascinated him, so he has been looking forward to understanding real life in Japan through this chance at first-hand experience.
What made you choose to come to Japan?
Elijah’s journey of coming to Japan has been an interesting one. He first got into learning about Japanese culture through the Ghibli movie, Totoro. He later had the desire to learn Japanese and began to study in his personal time, and through this, his curiosity towards Japan grew. Eventually, after entering University, he saw a chance to come to Japan through a short-term program at TCU.
He had never imagined to be able to come to Japan with an opportunity to learn, but through God’s providence and guidance even through unexpected challenges, he was able to finally come to Japan!
What has been your favorite experience in Japan?
All the students who came to TCU on the EAI program, visited ‘Boso no Mura’, where they were able to dress up as Samurais! This happened to be one of Elijah’s favorite memories as it was a wonderful experience where they also explored the village museum.
He also happened to spend his birthday here in Japan and was able to visit Enoshima Island. This turned out to be a truly memorable trip as he saw Mt.Fuji and explored Kamakura Street markets, which he shared were suuuper fun!!
He also had a fun time exploring the scenic areas of Japan like Mt.Mitake and Nikko, where he spent hours hiking in nature enjoying beautiful views.
What was your biggest challenge after coming to Japan?
Being in Japan, a new environment, with Japanese, a new language was quite a big challenge. It turned out to be especially difficult when all signs outdoors were in Japanese. But the trash system in Japan seemed to be the most different. Compared to Elijah’s hometown sorting and organizing trash came as a new experience in Japan. However, even with the differences he was able to adapt well, with help from the people around him who gave good introductions to this new style of life.
How did you feel about life in TCU and Japan so far?
Elijah has enjoyed life in TCU, including the classes, circles, and various chances for fellowship!
In particular, he enjoyed all his Japanese classes. He shared that he could learn practical Japanese which helped him through his stay in Japan. He also mentioned his Japanese teacher, Miyako Kobayashi, to whom he expressed great gratitude, for being so devoted to teaching Japanese and helping him apply the language in daily life. He also loved her Japanese dad jokes!!
Thank you for coming to TCU! I’m so glad that you could spend time exploring Japan and learning more about Japanese culture! We hope you can come back to visit us in Japan!
Next up is Enmian Wan.
She usually goes by Rebecca, and was born in Guangzhou, a city in China. She is a sophomore student studying abroad in Kentucky, America.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I am an art student, so I love doing arts in my free time. I especially like doing oil painting, but if I don’t have my tools with me, then I usually do digital arts using my iPad.
What were you looking forward to the most before coming to Japan?
I was most excited about fireworks! Before coming to Japan, I have seen videos of 花火大会 in Japan, and I really want to see it in person. In fact, I’ve been dreaming to see one in Japan for years already. And I did get the chance to see it! It was so beautiful and impressing, it became one of my most memorable experiences in life!
What is your favorite food from home? What kind of Japanese food do you like?
My favorite food from home is hotpot! It is hot and spicy, and we usually eat it with a group of people surrounding the pot together. It is a bit uncommon to eat hotpot by one person alone. But I think food in Japan is not too much different from my home, we both eat rice and drink soup in normal meals. So, I really enjoy Japanese food! My favorite dish is udon, although I’ve tried udon before in my home country already, but Japanese udon is so good! I would really come back to Japan for it!
What made you choose to come to Japan?
Since I am a person who has a dream to travel to more countries, and I am also very interested in Japanese culture, so I’ve been wanting to come to Japan for a long time! All the sightseeing, foods, traditions, and culture are so attractive to me. So, I took this precious chance to study in Japan, while I could explore the country while also studying.
What has been your favorite experience in Japan?
The fireworks! That’s an amazing experience, also an experience that I’ve been dreaming of seeing for a long time. And of course it didn’t let me down, that was so impressive, I can clearly remember all the beautiful fireworks that day. This is the most memorial experience for me in Japan, and because I get to see it together with my good friend!
What was your biggest challenge after coming to Japan?
The biggest challenge is actually the onsen! In China, only people from the north have a similar onsen culture like Japan. But I came from the southern part of China, where all people enjoy onsen wearing swimsuits. And it’s such a big cultural shock and difference when I experienced onsen in Japan. But it was also a good experience at the same time since the onsen is so comfortable and enjoyable, it’s just a bit hard at the beginning to accept this culture, it might look very weird for people to wear swimsuits in the onsen in Japan!
How did you feel about life in TCU and Japan so far?
I definitely love the life here, three months is too short! I made amazing friends here, the kind of friends that I could call them my best friends. And I get to experience all the things I’ve been dreaming about for a long time. I really love it here, this semester here in Japan is my happiest time in my life so far, a time that I would never forget, and I will definitely come back and meet everyone again someday in the future!
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences in Japan! I’m so glad that you could see the fireworks that you had been dreaming about!! We hope you can come back to visit us at TCU!
Written by Joanne
