Hello listeners and welcome back to the English with Neil podcast.
This is your host, Neil Humphrey.
And in this episode I'm going to talk about my experience studying abroad when I was a college student.
So in 2008, When I was in, I think, my second or third year of college, I really became interested in the Japanese language.
So when I was younger, in elementary school, from elementary school all the way to high school, I played music.
I played in a school band.
I played trumpet for about nine years.
I was pretty good at trumpet.
And so my ears were always attuned to sounds, to tones.
And when I was 18, really something just caught my my ear about the Japanese language, and so that was my first start of learning a new language.
It was Japanese, and so something about the language really caught my ear and I found out that my college offered Japanese classes.
So I enrolled in some classes and I just I absolutely fell in love with it.
I fell in love with the language, I fell in love with the culture, and so after I think it was my Second year of college, I decided that I really want to go to Japan because I love the language and I want to be a fluent speaker.
I wanted to master the language.
And so I talked to my father and he agreed to pay for half of everything.
So at that time I was working a part-time job, but I got another part-time job, so I can save up enough money to go study in Japan.
So I had a second part-time job.
I was saving up a lot of money.
I was doing a lot of research on Japan and just the culture, the history of the language and after six months i finally got enough money saved up to enroll in the program.
So my dad went, went half with me on everything and i believe it was I forgot, but I think it was a summertime because it was really, really hot when I got here.
It was super hot.
It was very humid.
So humid means the air is very wet.
So it's hot and it's wet.
It might feel like a jungle.
So when I got here it was very humid and I had never experienced weather like that before, because back home in San Francisco it's very cold and it's very dry.
And so this weather was a big surprise to me when I got off the plane.
So when I got off the plane, there was someone there from the language school and it was about 10 of us, and we took the train to our dormitory.
So I stayed in a dormitory with about 10 other people.
I had dorm mates from the U.S., from Korea, and from Malaysia.
So a dormitory is basically like a place where you.
It's like a big house that You share with other people, but you have your own room.
So on my floor there were about I think there was like five rooms and I had one of the rooms.
And the people that were next door were from Malaysia and the US and Korea.
So it was a very good experience, not only being in Japan, but just meeting people from other countries.
And the good thing?
The good thing is that a lot of them spoke English, so it was really easy to communicate with my dorm mates.
And so every night we would hang out together, we would have dinner together and just socialize and have a good time.
And during the day would be at school.
So we would wake up early in the morning, make our breakfast and then we can either walk or take the train to school.
Sometimes i walked just because i just wanted to experience japan.
I wanted to see you know what life in japan was like.
So usually I walked to school and we were in school until about 2 pm, 1 or 2 pm.
And after that, we were pretty much free to do our own thing.
So me and my classmates, we would go out and try different restaurants and Just really explore the area.
So I went to a school in this area of Japan.
In Tokyo called Shinjuku.
Which is very crowded.
There's a lot of people there.
A lot of activity.
The funny thing was.
My dorm was next to this area called Kabukicho, which is like a red light district.
Red light just means there's a lot of nightlife, a lot of gang activity, a lot of bars and the bar scene clubs.
And so it was just really interesting living in that area, because I got to see another side of Japan.
So that was that was really interesting.
And I I did this program for three months and it was like really like a turning point for me because when I went back home I realized that I love the language and I wanted to come back here to live.
So I went back home.
And I majored in Japanese studies and I got a degree in Japanese language studies.
And luckily I was able to come back here and work and live.
I've been here for 11 years and it has been great.
But going back to my study abroad experience, although I had a really, really good time.
I had a really good time.
I did have some regrets when I came back home.
I had to admit that although...
I was able to explore Japan and really take in the culture.
I really wasn't the best student.
I mean, I was there to study, but I wasn't the best student.
I was studying in different ways.
So instead of studying from my textbook, I would really just go outside and that would be my education just really taking in the culture.
And I felt kind of bad about that because I really wanted to to have better language skills when I went back home.
So I did regret that.
I regret not putting more effort into my studies.
So that was one thing that I regretted, and the other thing I regretted was just not Not being more open and meeting more people while I was there.
Because like I said, my doormates, they all spoke English.
So I pretty much hung around them most of the time.
So I really didn't go out and try to use Japanese and try to meet people and make friends.
And so I kind of regretted that.
But luckily, I got a second chance.
I'm here now.
And so everything is good.
Even though speaking English may be very embarrassing, Even though you may not have a lot of confidence in your skills, Try to use the language as much as possible, Because you don't want to have any regrets when you go back to your hometown.
You're just going to be thinking man, I should have did this, or I should have did that, or I should have said this.
And that's a bad feeling to have.
So if you're planning to go abroad and study or maybe you are abroad.
Treat that time preciously because you might not get it back.
That might be the only time that you have to be there in that new country.
So if you have an opportunity.
Try to use English as much as possible so when you go back you'll feel good about yourself.
You'll feel good about the effort that you made.
You'll feel good about the connections that you made and it'll motivate you to study even harder.
So that is it everyone.
That is my experience studying abroad in Japan.
If you have an opportunity, I highly suggest that you go to another country and study, because it'll be a life-changing experience.
It'll be something that you'll never forget.
All right, everyone.
Thank you for tuning in today.
I look forward to speaking with you in the next one.
Take care, everyone, and talk to you soon.
Peace.
