Month: January 2024

Last Hurrahs and Coming Home from Japan – by Jade Harding

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Going on Trips while abroad?

By Jade Harding

January 28th, 2024

I’ve talked about how most of my time abroad was spent attending school. Luckily, though, my longer-term program also allowed students to stay in Japan during summer vacation! Like many others, I did my best to make good use of that time, and went on some trips. The best one was going to Kyoto, Osaka and Nara on the other side of the country for just under a week. I think Kyoto is pretty well known even abroad, as one of the largest tourist destinations in the country and a center of traditional architecture with beautiful shrines, temples, cherry trees and markets to explore.

Yasaka-Jinja, Kyoto–Beautiful at night!

Though, I found myself preferring Uji, a just slightly-less known destination right next to the main city of Kyoto known particularly for its green tea, but also housing a wealth of shrines and historic locations. As someone who likes to get slightly away from the more bustling areas, I loved Uji for having both the big attractions like the shopping street next to Byodo-in, and the quieter places like Kōshō-ji (pictured below) where I was able to explore away from the crowds.

興聖寺（Kōshō-ji）, Uji
And of course, don’t forget the Uji Matcha! 上林三入本店 三星園, outside Byodo-in

If anyone reading this is hoping to travel to the Kansai area and has interest in traditional architecture or matcha, I recommend adding Uji to your bucket list!

Packing and Prep — in Reverse

All things must pass, and getting ready to go home was tough in a different way than preparing to leave for Japan. A lot of people have a tougher time packing, due to unavoidable accumulation of Stuff—for Japan in particular, I noticed some folks with exceedingly large volumes of manga and/or crane-game stuffed animals. Unless you came with an empty bag or two, it’s highly probable that you will be leaving with more than you came with. Depending on your budget, it may even be worth planning on bringing an extra bag home, or packing fewer things in the first place that you’ll need to bring back. Having to pack away the items I’d accumulated over my trip was a good moment to look back, but also felt like a kind of closure signaling that the trip was really coming to an end. Depending on the items, it may also be good to post a box home; I sent one full of Japanese-language books, which cost a lot less to get there, even after shipping.

One other note, depending on your program length, it may be necessary to book your returning flight separately from your departing flight. That mainly applies to programs that are half a year or more. It also depends on the specifics of the programs, such as whether you have to arrange airplane tickets in the first place. There could also be some variability in when students return home; in the case of my program you were allowed to stay until the dorm rooms had to be cleared out for the next batch of students, but could leave any time after the semester ended depending on your own circumstances. In my case, I was able to book my departure and return flights together due to knowing the start and end dates well in advance, and therefore took the exact same route in reverse on my way home, after staying at the dorm for as long as I could.

So, I packed my bags, closed my temporary bank account, said my goodbyes, and after half a year took the train back to Narita for the day-long journey home.

Being Home Again

Coming back home has been wonderful. Of course it is just nice to be home, but I also feel a greater appreciation for how different it feels to live here. Climate is one area where home definitely wins, and I was immediately happy to be free of Japan’s sweltering, simmering, stifling summer. However, I can’t help but look back and miss Tokyo. I tried my best to be appreciative of the opportunity I had and spend as much of my time as possible learning and having experiences that I could remember, and I was able to fit in more than I ever expected before leaving. But half a year is hardly enough time to take in the whole of Tokyo, much less an entire country. I hope to return in the not-too distant future if at all possible, both to see more of what Japan has to offer and revisit my favorite places once again.

To borrow the words from a presentation I heard before leaving, expect not to shut up about your time abroad.

What do you miss?

A couple of things I’ve missed since getting home,

Food!

Japanese food is wonderful, and I got used to eating it every day. But sadly, it’s much less common where I live in America, and this was a transition I felt sharply on my return. I hardly craved American food while in Japan, though there were some exceptions (see: maple bars, baked beans). But upon getting home, I wanted nothing more than some miso soup. Since getting back I have been making frequent trips to Asian markets to gather ingredients and learn how to make my favorite dishes. This has been easier than I expected. There are many ingredients like Shiso and various mushrooms common in Japan that are difficult to find, especially fresh. However, I have been able to work around that and slowly introduce those close to me to real Japanese food, from curry to tonkatsu, soba, ramen, croquettes and more. Food is a wonderful thing to bring back, a great way to experience Japan again from home, and a lot of fun!

Using Japanese

A tough thing from coming back from a country that speaks a different language, and getting used to using that language daily, is that inevitably you will have less opportunity to use it. This is difficult if you, like me, want to continue to learn and grow your usage of that language. So, since getting back I have had to continue to be proactive about finding opportunities to use Japanese, as well as returning to my self study, which I mostly abandoned while being surrounded by it and taking actual courses. This is an area that depends on your goals, but I would generally advise finding ways to keep consistently engaging with the language, even if it doesn’t involve speaking. The best way to hold vocabulary in your mind is to hear it every now and then!

And that is the end of my journey. I hope that through my posts here I was able to clear up some expectations about what it is actually like to go abroad, or just convey my own experiences to anyone looking into following a similar path. Thank you to anyone who read along, and well wishes to those who go abroad!

End of Program: What Surprised You Abroad in Japan, by Jade Harding

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By Jade Harding

There’s a lot to get used to abroad. One of the best things about a longer study abroad program is that you have plenty of time. It allows you to get past the tourist honeymoon period where everything is new, and to actually get an understanding of what life is like. Likewise, the way I thought about my time abroad changed over the course of my program. You don’t know what you don’t know, but there are a few things I didn’t know, think much about, or understand fully beforehand.

How Much Freedom Did You Have?

This is a major benefit of longer programs. School tends to be closer to the experience a normal student has, and structured activities aimed at exchange students are more spread out, if present at all. As such, you are pretty free to spend your free time on exploring, on self-structured activities, to join clubs, or to just stay home for a day. Before leaving I had expected more of my time to be accounted for, more similar to short term programs, so I found this freedom refreshing, and especially later in the program tried to make use of it to learn as much as I could about Japan. Like I’ve talked about before, I was able to put my emphasis on getting out of my English bubble to just explore the city, and although I couldn’t possibly see everything there was to see I think I did pretty well.

Work or Internships?

This is a more direct area where I wish I had thought more about how I would be spending my time day-by-day while abroad. Particularly for programs over six months, a lot of students get a job or internship while abroad, in addition to their college classes. I did not and as such cannot speak from experience, but for anyone going to Japan, know that you get one easy chance to open the door to working while you are there. If you do not say you might get a part time job while in the country at the airport upon your arrival, it will be very tough to decide to do so later.

Culture Shock?

I was blessed with having studied Japanese for about four and a half years before my study abroad program. In the course of that, I thought I had gained a pretty decent understanding of Japanese culture. However, you can only learn so much from the other side of the world, and actually being there was different. My home college tells exchange students about culture shock and how to deal with it before going, but I have always had a hard time wrapping my mind around it. Having gone to a country quite different from America, I can say that the closest feeling I got was a kind of anxiety about the difference in the way things are just expected to be done. That said, I was generally able to overcome these with my language ability (another reason to learn!) or accepting the difference until it became familiar–because that is what culture shock is: being confronted with a way of doing things you haven’t seen before or have trouble understanding. So, be accepting. After all, it isn’t home.

There are some easy examples, like getting used to using military time on the regular in conversation, or learning to speak metric as an American. Other things are difficult to understand until you are actually there, like the feeling of walking through a dense city residential area that has probably been occupied since before your home country existed, with roads just barely wide enough for cars and houses built up to the curb. For some confusion that put me going places way too early on the regular, Tokyo runs on a different schedule than home. I found that many retail stores and restaurants would open late in the day–to me at least–and the city would stay awake late into the night.

Though, there was one area that was completely different from home,

Food！

If you find yourself in another country, a fantastic way to get to know it is through the food, both the dishes themselves and the culture around it. Something that surprised me was the relative prevalence of eating out in Japan. In my experience in America, eating out feels like a treat, as well as costing a lot more than cooking something myself at home. In Tokyo, as well as the sheer number of options you would rightly expect to find in a massive city, I found it much easier and cheaper to eat at restaurants. This especially applies if you are getting food on your own, which is common at, for instance, ramen restaurants.

There was also an interesting difference in the scope of restaurants. In America, menus will tend to have a large variety of options, regardless of the type of food. Of course, there are restaurants like that in Tokyo. However many, particularly restaurants serving food more unique to Japan (for lack of a better term), will tend to have smaller menus. It is easy to find entire stores that only sell curry or pudding or ramen, or even cafes that only have one food item on the menu that changes depending on the day.

In terms of new cultural experiences, food is also a really easy and fulfilling way to experiment. Try everything! Food was fantastic to bring back with me, and a great way to remember my time in Japan. Picked up a few recipes too.

つけ麺 えん寺 吉祥寺総本店 (Tsukemen En-ji in Kichijoji, Tokyo)
らぁめん 真風　吉祥寺　(Ramen Maji, also in Kichijoji Tokyo)
Desert! ならまち 招福庵 (Shofukutei in Naramachi, Nara)

Pre-Departure: Goal-Setting & Planning for Costa Rica, by Anna Hedrick

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Anna

“My room is a disaster!” I told my friend, just mere days before I jet-set to another continent for my study abroad adventure. Recently, my days have been filled with packing and errand-running, so naturally my room is completely cluttered as I gradually fill my suitcase and carry-on. This Friday, Jan. 3, I embark on a 2-day journey to arrive in San José, Costa Rica.

Packed and ready to go! I love using packing cubes.

I’m excited to study abroad with International Studies Abroad (ISA) for winter quarter. Here are the goals that guided me in selecting this program. I questioned myself, “What am I hoping to get out of study abroad? What are my goals and interests?”

  • Improve my Spanish language skills and proficiency
  • Develop greater cultural awareness and understanding
  • Explore Costa Rica and visit as many places as I can
  • Connect with and support the local community through service-learning
  • Experience self-growth, personally and professionally, by pushing myself outside my comfort zone

The list has evolved over time. To this day, I continue to reflect upon these goals and how I will implement them into my study abroad experience. As a Spanish major, I aim to develop fluency in the language, especially in terms of conversation and listening comprehension. I’m grateful to take the course “Advanced Grammar and Conversation” – my final elective for my degree – and participate in service-learning, which is similar to volunteer work with a local organization.

I will be volunteering at a music and cultural center, called SiNEM (Sistema Naciónal de Educación Musical), which translates to “Nacional System of Music Education”. The center provides music education to local youth, and is located in the Desamparados area of San José, is part of a larger public park – Parque de Libertad (“Liberty Park”) – dedicated to providing opportunities for education, recreation, and cultural growth for the all ages in the community. I applied and was accepted to volunteer there, and I am grateful to learn more about Costa Rican music and traditions, and to engage with native-speakers and locals.

Throughout my studies at WWU, I’ve learned about Latin American history and culture, and I strive to deepen this knowledge. I’ve already absorbed some information about Costa Rican history and culture by reading articles online and attending my orientations. One aspect of Costa Rican culture that stands out to me is the concept of pura vida which translates to “pure life”. Essentially, it is a phrase that means enjoying a relaxed life and appreciating the simple things. In a social scenario, one might ask, “¿Cómo estás?” or “How are you?” and the other person might reply, “¡Pura vida!” The phrase evokes joy, well-being, and peace. As someone who is quite used to a fast-paced, productivity-driven existence, I think that embracing pura vida as a mindset and lifestyle is just what I need.

I’m most excited about meeting new people and practicing my Spanish every day. There is only so much one can learn within a classroom, and I believe that linguistic and cultural immersion is critical for attaining language fluency. I look forward to meeting my host mom, eating meals with her, and asking for advice. In my classes, I hope to make friends, both local and international students. We all hail from diverse walks of life, and broadening my perspectives is a fundamental part of this experience.

I’m most nervous about transportation and making my way around the city. Costa Rica has a bus system throughout the country, but bus stops are not always clearly marked, and arrival/departure times can vary. While I will walk to school everyday, I will need to use public transportation to arrive at my service-learning site. My plan is to ask ISA on-site staff and my host mom for recommendations. After living in San José for weeks, I think I will get used to getting around the city.

In addition, I’ve developed a “toolbox” of skills or strategies to manage challenges that may arise, including:

  • Flexibility when things don’t go as expected; maintaining an open-mind and adapting to the situation.
  • Patience with myself and others; this is a new experience and being kind to myself is important – even in difficult moments and especially when I make mistakes.
  • Gratitude for each experience, moment, etc.; it’s important to remind myself of how lucky I am to travel and visit another country. This is a rare opportunity and I express gratitude toward the people and places I’ve encountered.

After months of planning and preparing to study abroad, I’m thankful to be able to study and live in another country. Studying abroad has been one of my dreams since high-school, and each passing day makes my travel aspirations seem more real. This blog will share my journey and experiences while I’m in Costa Rica. Thanks for reading!

Post Program Epilogue – Prague- by McKenzie Harris

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After four months, I’m back home.

^me with my cat^

It feels so comforting to be back in my old room, to be with my family, and to have a few weeks of unproductive mindless downtime before going back to school. I expected to feel very sad after leaving Prague, and I do miss my friends from UNYP, but I am mostly happy to be home. The glow of all my happy memories from the last few months has kept me feeling grateful, not sad.

This last blog post is what it says in the title—an epilogue, and a reflection on the whole semester abroad.

From WWU’s travel writing program writing prompts:

If I had the chance to go back in time, I would probably do almost everything the same way. I might have tried a little harder to look for an affordable program at Charles University, but my experience at the University of New York in Prague was fine. One thing I could have definitely done better was getting to know people who weren’t studying abroad. Almost all of my friends were only staying in Prague for a semester, and I neglected the chance to talk to full-time students in class. It’s hard to definitively list more things I wish I had done differently, because I know that I did the best I could with the time that I had. Sure, I could have been stricter in my plans and fit more Prague sightseeing into my weeks, but that may have taken away from my ability to be present and spontaneous. I could have spent more time with my friends, but that may have burned up my social battery.

In the future, I would like to travel abroad again. I may not study abroad again, since I graduate after next year, but I think another semi-long-term trip abroad is possible for me (ex: peacecorps). On the other hand, I’ve realized that I really like my home, and I found it hard to be away from my roots. Because of this, studying abroad has shown me that I don’t want to live abroad for a long time period. One semester was the perfect length for me. I know that my experience living abroad for several months will help me in any future trips abroad, and for that I’m grateful.

Main takeaways:

I’ve recorded my biggest takeaways in this blog throughout the semester, so to get their full scope, I’d recommend looking at what I’ve written over the last few months. Here are some of my most notable takeaways that I’ve written about, and where to find them:

Vignettes

One prompt for this post-program post was “What has this experience meant to me?” I think meaning is shown well through memory, so to sort of answer that question, I’ll record some of my favorite memories from this fall.

^ A group of strangers, soon to be friends, stand with me on the walls of Prague castle. We look out over the orange and green expanse of Prague’s skyline, feeling like we have all the time in the world to explore it.

^ My roommates and I walk together in the arched gothic halls of the St. Agnes Convent, in our fanciest outfits, before listening to a string quintet as part of Prague’s Dvořákova festival. Some of us have wine glasses in our hands, and our hushed voices mingle with the clicks of our heels in the echoing rooms.

^ The spired cathedral crowns the hill above us as we follow an overgrown cobblestone path down to the creek. A cat follows us. We’re not in a rush; we have all day to meander through the town of Kutná Hora. For once, the sunlight’s warmth is welcome as we shiver against the first breezes of autumn.

^ I sit with my friend at the edge of a pond, which we found in the midst of a sprawling wooded park. While admiring the light on the water, we gasp as a golden koi drifts out from under the lily pads and glides around us. Once it leaves, we sit for a while longer, talking softly and enjoying the reeds and swaying trees.

^ It’s hard to hear ourselves think over the waves of chatter and laughter flowing across the table at our friendsgiving potluck. But that doesn’t stop us from continuing happy conversations with the people next to us—leaning close to share jokes and loudly compliment every homemade dish. I enjoy Sea’s pasta, and no one can get enough of Todd’s lasagna.

^ After weeks of rehearsal, the school choir that “adopted” me performs our winter concert. My friends (and their friends) take up two full rows of seats, and I feel proud to be sharing our festive music with them. The Czech Museum of Music is built so that every note and chord reverberates through the space, echoing after we finish singing.

^ Captivated, bordering on reverential, I listen to Hozier’s “Cherry Wine.” The whole audience sings along, and our voices are so indistinct that they merge into one. An unspoken connection tethers us all for a moment until the song ends.

^ Reflections of streetlights glisten on the waters of the Vltava as I walk along the bank with my friends. Prague is frosted, and quiet, as if the snow muffles the busy city. A faint fog seems to bring everything closer. We wander around, half believing ourselves to be in Narnia.

Photo Recap

I’ll end this post with some of my favorite pictures from this semester. I’ll make them from most to least recent, just like my Photos page, because that way we can end this blog with the beginning. I always like a good circular ending—don’t you?

From Petřín Hill
I finally found a group of swans!
Snowy Pražský Hrad
Wenceslas Square (Václavské náměstí) in the snow on film
Swan by Charles Bridge
A lot of pictures of Charles Bridge, right? But the light in this one was too good not to include
Pigeon-feeding
Just a normal selfie, but it’s the only picture I have with Barbara and I like it
Bohemian Switzerland National Park (below pic as well)
The tree caught the light just right
Český Krumlov
Cindy taking pictures of Český Krumlov
From Fisherman’s Bastion in Budapest
Statue fountain in Budapest
Hungary’s parliament building
I like that I caught them mid-laugh!
The wall on the hill of Kutná Hora
St. Barbara’s Cathedral, Kutná Hora
The walls next to Prague Castle
On the roof of the Czech National Museum
My favorite park: Grébovka, aka Havlíčkovy sady
Basilica of St. Ludmila at Náměstí Míru
My first glimpse of Prague from the incoming airplane 🙂

Dear reader, thanks for staying with me through this whole post, and for the whole saga of my travels! It means a lot.

Now that we’re officially done: Goodbye Prague! Until next time, na shledanou.

Logistical tips for studying abroad in Prague, by McKenzie Harris

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By: Mckenzie Harris – Prague

This post had to come eventually! It will be fairly boring to anyone who isn’t planning an upcoming study abroad trip, so please don’t feel obligated to read this if you’re just following along with my pictures and updates about my trip. The following post will include various practical things I’ve learned about traveling to a new country, including language learning, cell service/technology, packing, and shopping. My very first post (“The calm before the storm”) shares some of my pre-departure tasks and how I prepared for my trip; I will repeat some things from that post but I still recommend reading it.

Packing

I decided to bring one large suitcase, one small suitcase, and a backpack to Prague. I tend to overpack, so it took a lot of deliberating and precise folding to finagle everything I wanted to bring into that luggage. I had to be very picky about what I brought, but that being said, I also think it’s important to bring sentimental and comforting things with you. After all, when you study abroad, your host location will be your home for several months, so it’s important to make it feel like a home, not a hotel. For reference, I brought some framed pictures for my desk, some non-framed pictures to tape on my wall, a small Wonder Woman plastic figure from my mom, and my boyfriend’s oversized puffer coat.

Despite being very strict about what clothes I brought, I still have clothing items that I rarely wear. So one tip is: if you’re trying to lighten your packing load, pay special attention to your clothes, because that’s usually the category where you can remove the most things without causing problems. I know a favored solution to the packing problem is buying things at your host location, but I wanted to avoid that as much as possible. I didn’t want to spend money on redundant things and then have to throw them out or bring them home in extra luggage. I decided to only buy toiletries here (shampoo, conditioner, soap, etc), and packed everything else I needed.

The things I’m most grateful to have brought are:

  • my nice camera
  • an extra folded-up duffel bag (for the trip home)
  • extra bags for shopping
  • my pictures
  • a portable charger
  • a small padlock
  • winter gear
  • small first aid kit
  • my kindle
^my pile of things that I packed^

Technology

For international cell service, I decided to leave my family’s Verizon plan because its international charges were too high. I got Google Fi instead, and used its “flexible” plan so I paid monthly based on how much data I used. I recommend this option if you’ll only be away for 2-3 months, but not longer, because after around 2 months, Google Fi told me it was canceling my international coverage since I wasn’t using it in the US. Apparently, that little stipulation was in the fine print that I didn’t read carefully enough. As an alternative, I recommend trying an e-sim card, because they’re digital and they usually allow you to keep your existing phone number. Another option is to buy a physical sim card once you get to your location. A group of friends of mine did this and got a big family plan at a local T-Mobile in Prague, so they got to split the cost of the plan. They call themselves “sim siblings.”

Other technology tips:

  • Bring multiple outlet adaptors, or a single adapter with multiple charging ports, because I only brought one and had to buy another when I realized I couldn’t charge my phone and laptop at the same time.
  • A portable charger comes in very handy!
  • I recommend bringing any kind of camera that you have, to take higher quality pictures and avoid using up your phone battery while traveling.

Language learning:

I tried to learn some Czech over the summer to prepare for my semester in Prague. Here are the main tools I used:

  • On Spotify: Czech music playlists, and the One Minute Czech podcast
  • I kept a notebook where I wrote down everything I learned, and brought that notebook with me everywhere
  • Duolingo
  • Quizlet (after writing what I learned in my notebook, I made a ton of flashcards so I could test myself)
  • Czech With Katerina (youtube channel): this was the most important tool I used, because Katerina has almost 30 episodes of Czech language instruction, along with free worksheets that you can print and fill out every episode. She even has little quizzes!

I learned quite a few words/phrases over the summer, but interestingly, I’ve hardly learned any more since I got here. For one thing, since I’m at an English-speaking school, I’m not surrounded by Czech-speaking people. In addition, after I learned basic greetings and etiquette over the summer, the sheer volume of vocabulary and grammar rules beyond that was so overwhelming that I haven’t really made any progress since I arrived. I have gotten to use the Czech that I do know, however, which has been fun. One thing I like is that the Czech locals will usually begin a conversation in Czech, not English, even if they can tell I’m a foreigner. I appreciate that they let me initiate a conversation in Czech, even if I then follow it with an embarrassing display of my ignorance of the language 🙂

^my czech notebook^

Some miscellaneous tips

  • Public transport may seem overwhelming at first, but google maps and apple maps have a transit feature that will tell you exactly how to get where you need to go. Follow them, and pay attention to which side of the street you need to be on depending on the direction you’re traveling.
  • If you’re coming to Europe from the USA, you may need to get used to shopping more frequently and in smaller “batches” than in America. Since I’m sharing a small food storage space with 5 roommates, I can’t buy very much food at one time, so I shop more frequently than I do at home.
  • Seeing everything labeled in a different language can be confusing, but google translate has a photo option that translates the words in your picture. I use this almost every day for shopping, cooking, etc.
  • do some research on your host area ahead of time, so you can prepare for the climate, understand the locals, and start a list of things you want to do (especially things that will require planning).

If there are any students reading this who have further questions about preparing to study abroad, feel free to reach out to me!

Life in Another Country: Settling in Japan, by Jade Harding

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By: Jade Harding

High rise buildings, walls of people, events for every season, massive gardens and surprisingly quaint parks; anything you have the will to look for.

Shinjuku image city tokyo cat

Settling-in

For a refresher: I studied abroad in Tokyo, Japan for half a year via an exchange program. There are a multitude of ways to study abroad and even more places to go, but I hope that by describing my time abroad, I can provide some expectations to people who are considering the same path. This is the post for anyone who wants an example of what studying abroad was actually like for someone who went to Tokyo.

I am generally a pretty quiet person, and if left to my own devices I’ll just stay home. I wanted to make my time in Japan a little different, using it as an opportunity to grow. A lot of people have some goals for their time abroad, and aside from academics I had two: exploration, and actually talking to people, which were especially important while settling in. 

Getting out there and exploring the city was a neverending font of fulfilling activities. Quick tip, if you expect to be doing some exploration and don’t have a portable power bank to charge your phone with, I recommend getting one. I didn’t until after arriving, but it saved me on multiple occasions. I was lucky enough to land in an incredibly walkable city with widespread access to public transport that is easy to learn and use, but spending a long time away from the house is bad for battery. It’s difficult to express the dynamic of the sheer density of Tokyo with its surprisingly tight scale, or at least that’s how it felt to me, an American used to having plenty of wide open space. You have access to just about anything you could want within an hour or two by train, or if you want to see the sights, a few hours by foot. Both are great! That is exactly how I spent my weekends, particularly in the early days of my program, getting a grasp of what the city is actually like by going to new places, from touristy spots like Asakusa or Ginza, quieter neighborhoods like Sangenjaya, or areas lively with locals like Kichijoji.

Inokashira Park

How did you get around?

It’s worth checking into the quality of public transport at your destination, or whether your program provides any transportation. An easy way to gauge the public transport is to find a bunch of places nearby you want to go to, and look into the travel time to get there using the different options available. In the case of my program, exchange students had the option to rent a bicycle, though I would say that you don’t need one given the walkability of the city. Whatever options there are, learn them and make full use to explore new places. That’s a big part of studying abroad, after all.

Finding opportunities to use Japanese

The other goal of actually talking to people had a lot to do with my study abroad location being a non-English speaking country. I won’t say that going straight abroad is the best way to learn a language from scratch, but if you go in with a strong foundation, it is easily the quickest way to increase your vocabulary and confidence with speaking. But, in order to do that, you have to actually interact with people (and things) in the language, without sticking inside a bubble of exchange students, and preferably without relying on English as a crutch—a language I assume you know if you are reading this. A quick way to find local students is to join a club. I did, and that was one of my best opportunities to interact with them outside of, say, structured events arranged for exchange students. Some programs may also put you into homestays, or, as my program did, a dorm that’s shared between exchange students and locals. That was an opportunity to see people every day and interact with them, and also helped get me out of my bubble.

Do I actually need to know Japanese?

As a tourist, you can get by in Japan with English alone. But, as a resident, especially for a longer period, you will have a tough time without speaking the native tongue. For this reason, a lot of longer programs will require a basic level of language ability, but bear in mind that textbook learning is different from the real thing.  I studied Japanese for about four years before my abroad program, and it benefitted me immensely. You do not need to be fluent in a language to study abroad, but the more you know, the more you can make use of it to make the time you spend abroad more effective. And if you are still relatively new to learning the language, adjust your expectations–don’t go in with the expectation of walking away fluent, just try to understand as much as you can and see how far you go.

Personally, being able to interact freely with locals, go out on my own with confidence that I could find my way or do what I wanted without needing help, and use that as an opportunity to strengthen my skills further was incredibly beneficial. 

Next time, I’ll talk about what changed as I continued with my program.

Paying for Study Abroad, by Jade Harding

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By: Jade Harding

It’s a tourist trap, but..

The Finances

In my experience as a student in the US, studying abroad can, luckily, be surprisingly inexpensive! I feel like getting into the weeds a little, so I’m going to consider the financial side of study abroad from the perspective of someone looking to go abroad, who knows about their program and location. Some things to immediately look at are the cost of living and program type. In the case of Japan, the cost of living in Tokyo is approximately half of Seattle, Washington. Therefore, you would plan on spending about half as much on expenses like food and rent in Tokyo than if you lived in Seattle. Note that the reverse could be true for your destination, with the cost of living being more than if you stayed home. This information is easy to find and cross-compare online, so check for your destination! I wouldn’t advise this as a method of choosing your program or location unless money is a primary concern, but it will give you a rough idea what to expect prices to be when you get there. 

As for the kind of program, this is once again highly individual. In my case, the program was a half a year, so relatively long, and the college arranged a dorm with set rent and meals included for most days of the week. As such, I was able to factor in that cost immediately. It is also worth considering transport; for a program in Japan, a substantial cost is the airplane. I’d advise reserving a flight the instant you know when you will need to be in the country, as the closer to departure you reserve, the more expensive flights will be. 

Scholarships??

In order to afford studying abroad, there are many scholarships available; simply too many to detail here. There are probably some local to your area which your study abroad department or google could refer you to, as well as country-wide options. Many are specific to certain critical languages, or meant to encourage students to go to underrepresented areas that are of critical interest. My general advice would be to look for something that appeals to people in your specific circumstances, like financial need, study abroad location, or skills. For one specific example, if you live in the US and receive a Pell grant, you can apply for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, offered by the US state department to support students with financial need who want to study abroad. Disclosure: I received this scholarship, and without it I would not have studied abroad, nor would I be writing this blog. As of writing, the program will provide an award of up to five thousand dollars, depending on financial need and program length, which does not need to be repaid. Including me, the Gilman scholarship has supported over 41 thousand students. I’ll include a promotional pamphlet below for more information about it. If you qualify, it is worth looking into, and if you don’t I can guarantee that there are more out there to look into. Some study abroad programs also offer scholarships specific to that program. For instance, my host college offered two scholarships that incoming students could apply for to cover costs like rent and food.

How do I budget?

I want to take some time to explain how I thought about budgeting before and after my trip abroad. A lot of costs are going to be included in the program–i.e. tuition–but a lot is also under your control. Especially if you are doing a longer term program, going in with a budget that you can adjust over the length of your stay can make the process easier. Personally, I built a spreadsheet! One sheet with a budget, and another tracking actual spending—yes, I counted my receipts, and understand completely if you don’t want to. This is what worked for me, and everyone’s system will be different. That said, I’m going to delve into my own system a bit as an example. 

I didn’t record each transaction individually, just keeping track of total spending in overall categories—food, rent, shopping, travel etc.. If your program arranges aspects like housing you should be able to find out most major expenses beforehand, and you have control over how much you want to spend on shopping, personal travel during the program, etc.. At the end of the month I compared the budget to how much I actually had, and based on that adjusted the budget (or my spending). Having a rough budget prepared also tells you whether you need scholarships, how much you would need, or if you should work while abroad to supplement savings and/or scholarships.

With that in mind, here’s what ended up being the main framework through which I made spending choices while abroad: I separated out the categories in my budget that were under my control—areas like food or shopping, not rent or tuition. I took that number, divided it by 31, and the result was a goal for the average amount of discretionary spending I wanted to aim for day by day, let’s say $30. On my handy spreadsheet, I took my actual spending, added it up, and converted it to an average over the month so far. If I was two weeks into the month and my current average was $20 per day over those fourteen days, I could splurge on a daytrip. If it was $40, I would hold off and explore something nearby instead, unless I could reduce spending on other things for the rest of the month. Being above $30 doesn’t mean I need to spend $0 until it’s back on track, it means that I need to spend less than $30 per day unless I have a good reason to do otherwise. Similarly, having some leeway means I can spend some not-entirely-necessary money without feeling any guilt. My main point here is that I worried about the trend, whether I was below or above that average, not the specific amount I spent each day.

So, look into the options! Studying abroad can be expensive, or if you choose the right program and location, it can be cheaper than staying home. Making a budget can take some time, but having one ready will give you a tool to determine how realistic going abroad actually is, convey your circumstances clearly, and make decisions while abroad. At least, that’s what it did for me.

Before Leaving for Japan, by Jade Harding

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By: Jade Harding

This week, I’m going to talk about my single largest point of stress before going abroad: the trials and tribulations of getting a VISA. My study abroad program was my first time abroad, so this was completely new territory for me with a lot to learn, and I made mistakes. I’ll leave this record in the hopes of setting some expectations about the pathway to actually getting abroad.

I haven’t been abroad, how do I schedule my flight?

My study abroad program wasn’t just my first time abroad, but also the first time I had to arrange a flight. That made me quite nervous. Some programs may arrange this for you, but if you have to, you mainly need to know the destination airport, your nearest airport and how many checked-bags you want to bring with you. The biggest tip is to reserve your flight at least three months out from departure. The closer you get, the more expensive the flight is going to be, particularly within about two weeks. However, you also cannot reserve the flight until you are accepted into your program and know the destination, so some patience is involved. Additionally as I’ll talk about below, you are likely not going to receive your VISA until close to departure, so expect to reserve a flight before that process is finished.

How Tough is it to Get a VISA?

For shorter programs, a VISA often won’t be needed. Assuming you aren’t working, you can be in Japan for three months without needing to get one. But, for programs over three months, getting a hold of one can be a primary point of concern (and stress). The exact process is going to vary by country and consulate. For programs in Japan originating from the US, VISA procurement goes thus: apply to your program in Japan, if you are accepted and there aren’t any sudden global disruptions the host institution will get a Certificate of Eligibility (CoE) from the Japanese government. The certificate certifies your eligibility for a VISA, as well as setting the duration you can stay in the country. The host institution will send this certificate directly to you, in the post. This certificate must then be sent or carried, along with all the other necessary application materials, to your local Japanese consulate. If that process goes well, they will send you a VISA (after a 5 day processing time in the case of my local consulate) and you will be able to be in the country for the period of your stay. This process has a decent number of steps, but is fairly simple as long as you submit the right forms. The constraint is time; the process is entirely dependent on the timeline of the host institution, government, and local consulate. This can be stressful, especially when something goes wrong because a lot is simply out of your hands. For me, the most difficult part of the process was patience.

Double Check your Paperwork

The easiest place to mess up this process, and where I did, is the paperwork. In the paperwork given to my host institution there were some mistakes in my shipping information. They didn’t catch the mess-up, and it translated into the CoE getting held up in shipping for about five days. Now I must stress, the timeline from when the CoE arrives to departure can be tight; even without being held up, it would have arrived just over two weeks before my planned departure. A delay in shipping means a delay in it arriving at the embassy, delaying the VISA arriving to your waiting hands. In my case, the CoE arrived a week and a half before my departure. My only option was to send it to the embassy the same day, which I did. After arriving there it took a week or so to process, and arrived on the afternoon of my planned morning-departure day. Where I live, delaying flights is expensive and would use up a decent chunk of the savings I was intending to use while abroad. But after going back forth worrying while staring at the shipping info, I decided to push the flight back by ~3 days, the most I could without impacting the program. They generally outline a period during which you need to arrive, such as during a particular week, and I ended up entering the country at the very end of that period.

Read Your Insurance

Important fact, most study abroad programs require or encourage the purchasing of study abroad travel insurance. The primary purpose of the insurance is to help you in case you are injured or have some kind of accident while abroad. But, I noticed a clause in my program to pay for remedies in the case of delayed departure due to VISA procurement issues. The pushed back flight cost about four times as much as the original, so this was a delight to notice afterwards and retroactively reduced my stress level by about half, putting the finances back on track.

tl;dr: If your study abroad program does not require you to get study abroad insurance, it is worth the cost. If you have it, read through what the policy covers!

Why Study Abroad? by Jade Harding

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Who is this for?

By: Jade Harding

Studying abroad lets you grow as a person by allowing you to experience living independently in a new culture, and is highly dependent on both program and location. Today, you can study abroad anywhere on the globe, and all programs are different in terms of factors like length, rigor and cost. I’m hoping to give some specific information on the kind of program I attended, along with my thoughts on why studying abroad is good. If you are curious about what kinds of options are out there, looking into something similar, or just want to hear someone’s experience, I hope I can answer some questions!

Here, I’ll be covering why I think studying abroad is good and introducing how exchange programs work.

Hello World!

Should I go Abroad?

A lot of students worry whether they can or should study abroad, so I think that’s a good place to start. I’d recommend it, and there are many reasons to do so. You may have heard some of them from your local study abroad department or other students already. The reasons I’ve heard are:

I’ll be breaking them down below.

By studying abroad, you can learn and gain new skills. A lot of this comes from immersion in a new culture, but a lot comes from the classes you’ll be spending most of your time on while there. If you have a destination or destinations in mind, it’s important to research what you will actually be doing. What courses can you take? Are there any courses you would take at your home university that you won’t be able to by studying abroad, or any that you could only take abroad? Always keep in mind that studying abroad is education, not a vacation.

The most common subject to learn abroad is language. If you are interested in traveling to an area that speaks a language you don’t, be aware that many universities have courses for exchange students that are taught in English. In my experience, these are generally language courses or about the host country’s culture. These classes are a great option if you want to learn a language by going abroad, but need some structured learning to supplement the pure immersion. If you do speak the language and aren’t interested in strengthening it in class, taking courses that apply to your major or minor may make a study abroad program easier to fit into your college path.

You can also apply study abroad experience to your career. This is true even if none of your classes are directly applicable to your major—as was my case. Studying abroad can give you more diverse skills outside of your major, like language ability. Some use their time abroad to do internships and gain work experience, although that is highly dependent on the intensity of the main abroad program and the destination. More generally, cultural understanding, communication, and the ability to adjust to new circumstances are all valued soft skills that I learned abroad!

How Does an Exchange Work?

I studied abroad on an exchange program in Japan for six months. I’ll be speaking more about life there later, but to describe the program type in more detail, an exchange program means that two students, one from each university, study abroad for a semester or full year, generally each paying the others’ tuition for that period. Therefore, the tuition for an exchange program is equal to the tuition of your home university, unlike short-term or independent programs which often require the student to pay tuition while abroad in order to hold their place as a student. Because the cost of tuition is the same, it is actually possible to save money by going abroad instead of studying at your home university. 

An exchange program is longer term, so they offer a lot of opportunity for taking a variety of classes and experiencing a high level of immersion in a new culture. Because I went to a country where I speak the language, I was able to take courses aimed at local students, as well as the language courses set aside for exchange students. This, combined with living in a dorm whose residents included local Japanese students, allowed for consistent contact with locals. This interaction, as well as a focus on exploration and trying new things, helped me change a lot as a person over the course of my program, becoming more outgoing and able to handle myself in unknown situations. And of course learn some Japanese too!

Winter in Prague, A Story told through Photos, by McKenzie Harris

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McKenzie Harris

December 9th, 2023

From snow-covered statues, to foggy mornings, to Christmas markets, Prague in the winter feels like a fantasy land. Equal parts cozy and formidable, the city captures the duality of the season. Sometimes I feel like a child, looking at Christmas lights and catching snow on my mittens, but sometimes I feel like a traveler wandering through a forbidding and ancient realm of eternal winter.

In this post, I’ll be showing off Prague with pictures from the winter season so far.

^ Kicking off the holidays, the Náměstí Míru Christmas market in my neighborhood opened last month while my parents were visiting. Above are pictures from its first night! ^

^Above are scenes from the Vltava river bank on a chilly November afternoon^

^ Prague being its “dark academia” self ^

^ winter-themed people-shaped cute things ^

^ Friendsgiving potluck ^

^ The grand opening and tree lighting at the main Christmas market in Old Town Square ^

Below are more miscellaneous snowy pictures!

^from the walk to school^

^my apartment^

^ Prague castle ^

^ entrance to Charles Bridge ^

^ my friends at Václavské Náměstí ^

Czech Republic: A day trip to Kutná Hora: featuring gothic beauty, human bones, and many cats, by McKenzie Harris

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McKenzie Harris

September 30th, 2023

On Sunday, we woke to the first fall chill of the season. It was as if the wind knew we were going to the perfect autumn destination: Kutná Hora, a town perched on a hill, crowned by an imposing gothic cathedral, and best known for an ossuary decorated with bones.

Kutná Hora is a town of around 20,000 people located an hour’s train ride east of Prague. It originally rose to prosperity in the 1300s, because it was home to a silver mine. Its most famous historical sites also date back to the medieval time period, including St. Barbara’s Cathedral and Sedlec Ossuary. I could tell, during the long walks through the town, that the architectural feats were more than just beautiful; they were rooted in a history much deeper than my own.

We arrived in Kutná Hora around 11 am, with 10 hours to spend as we wished. Our abundance of time allowed us to move slowly—to wander in any direction we felt pulled—and as a result, the whole day had a relaxing and explorative feeling that made the trip so enjoyable. Because of the perfect weather (sunny with some stormy clouds rolling over, and warm with a chill), we walked almost everywhere. In fact, my friend’s apple watch clocked us at 8 miles total!

For the rest of this entry, I’ll let the pictures tell the story of our trip:

^spot the 3 west coast license plates on the wall of the coffee shop we went to for breakfast!^

^we started with the statue-guarded walkway to St. Barbara’s Cathedral^

^Megan, Cierra, and Grace^

^the view of the terraced hillside from the statue walkway^

^St. Barbara’s Cathedral looks good from any angle^

^This was taken moments after I took the picture above this one^

foreshadowing for our later trip to the Bone Church^

^somehow this tree in front of the cathedral reminds me of something out of Lord of the Rings^

^the garden in front of St. Barbara’s^

^the top of the hill was covered in lawns and flowerbeds, with some sculptures^

^and some other cool buildings^

pictures from our walk to the next cathedral^

^Church of the Assumption at Sedlec^

The next stop was the Bone Church (Sedlec Ossuary), but pictures were not allowed.

^a graveyard wrapped around the outside of the bone church, and just beyond the walls was a playground–we all thought it was an interesting contrast^

^a combination of buses and walking got us back to the main town center^

Having previously seen an overgrown cobblestone path leading down the hill from St Barbara’s, we decided to follow it. The following pictures are what we found…

^cat #1!^

^As the night got darker and clouds rolled in, St. Barbara’s Cathedral took on an imposing and dark fantasy-esque appearance^

^left to right: Todd, Cierra, Grace, Megan, me (pc: Cindy)^

^these are the terraces we could see from the cathedral!^

^cat #3!^

We ended the night with dinner at an Italian restaurant, took the train home, and slept very soundly.