Japan was a very interesting place to visit. I stayed at the Japan Center for Michigan Universities (JCMU) in Hikone, Shiga prefecture. It was right on Lake Biwa, so it was very similar to Michigan in that regard. It gave me all kinds of new opportunities and experiences to draw on later. 

I gained skills and proficiency in the Japanese language. It is a very different language, so it took some time to get used to. It was interesting to see the differences in rules and phrasing. Unlike the other languages I have studied, like Spanish, it was definitely more difficult. The biggest challenge was the writing system, as it was completely new to me. It was a bit of a challenge towards the beginning but was really fun and got easier the more characters I learned.

I got to experience a lot of different things outside of class as well. This was the first time I rode on a train as opposed to a subway. It took about an hour to get to Kyoto as a major city, so I went there often. There were all kinds of markets I went to there, such as the one in the courtyard of a temple with all kinds of local crafts. It had a variety of goods and stalls. I also went to a street market, with the shops being opened towards the street like stalls, with tables of goods to attract customers. There were also all kinds of restaurants selling Japanese specialties. I went to a baseball game in Osaka. Some of my classmates went with me and we had a good time exploring the city. I also got tickets to a soccer match. The crowds at the games behaved differently than those in the states, with some people bringing their own instruments to form a band and playing to during the opponents’ turn.

I was able to try all kinds of food. My favorite place was an udon shop just down the road from the school. It tasted great, had all kinds of options for broth and toppings and was a great price per bowl. I also went to multiple ramen shops and had all kinds, including salt, chicken, shoyu, and pork-based broths. At the second market I went to, I got skewers of beef rib that were salt grilled. At a temple, I had maccha ice cream which was very interesting. The bitterness of the green tea was balanced by the sweetness of the ice cream and made it an amazing combination. I regularly got food at convenience stores as well. They had much better food than similar stores in the US. My favorite was fried chicken. It was boneless wings that had soy sauce mixed into the batter and then fried.

It made me realize that there were all kinds of similarities between our countries even though they’re so far apart. I want to travel after graduation, and this experience will help me prepare for living in all kinds of new places.

• Name: Matthew Spencer
• Status: Junior
• Major: English
• Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
• Program: Japanese Language and Culture with JCMU