Commonly Asked Questions

As I have been preparing for my study abroad trip to Japan, I have been asked a few questions over and over again. I understand where they are coming from, but sometimes it's nice to be asked different questions sometimes. So, to all those people that will ask me from the beginning of summer to even now, I am going to write down my response (which hasn't change much - or barely).


(In no particular order)
1. Are you excited?
Well, this is an obvious one. Duh, of course I am excited!! This is a once in a lifetime (maybe twice for some people - looking at you, Lizzie Brennan!!) for a person to experience. It's a time to expand my horizons, figure out who I am as a person, see the world, experience something that I wouldn't be able to in good old PA. So, the answer is... yes!

2. Are you nervous?
Well, this answer is yes as well. Traveling by myself frightens me. I have only flown once to California with Chao♥, but he did most of the hard work. ^^;; See picture below~ But the weird part is... I am nervous for the same exact reasons I am excited. I'll be in a whole new society, with whole new social rules (most of which I follow in the first place), and maybe a new change in character.

3. Are you prepared to go?
If you ask my mother, she'll say "no." As for me, I'll go with... "no" as well. XD I am a procrastinator. I will admit this. I have everything in my mind, which everyone knows is not the most reliable, just not on paper. Although, before typing this up, I did create a document on my computer gathering useful information on what I should and shouldn't bring. So that's a good start I think? Mentally, I'm good; physically, not so much.

4. Can you speak the language?
Hahahahahahahahahaha, good one!! XD As much as I would love to say "yes," I can't exactly say "no" either. I like calling myself "an advanced beginner." To me, though I have more ability than a newbie in speaking Japanese, I don't have the skills to call myself a professional or even an intermediate speaker. I am still learning the basics and foundations of the language. And let's admit it, we in America are still learning vocabulary words and blank on them throughout our lifetime. There are times when I blank for a few seconds on how to spell or say the simplest of words. For example, Google has helped me so many times on spelling. Thanks you Chrome, I would have had multiple spelling errors in my posts already - including this one.

5. Isn't it difficult?
Well, duh. It's a whole 'nother language with a whole 'nother writing system. It's cray cray~!!! For example, most US students take up Spanish or French during their schooling years. Those two languages are similar to ours in the basic sense - or at least to me that is; they use an alphabet similar to ours, some similar sentence patterns, similar words here and there. But that about other languages like Japanese and Chinese? They don't follow our sentence patterns all the time (for the Japanese, barely any of the time), different writing system (curse you, hiragana and katakana... and curse you even more so kanji!!!), and pronunciations with the words. Yes, we have words that are pronounced differently than how they are spelled/different pronunciation for the same spelled word (e.g. red/read/read). The Japanese and Chinese have tones to go along with their words (more so the Chinese than Japanese, that is). The Japanese in particular have words that once you combine the characters, they produce a new sound. For example, the word "like/fond of" in Japanese is "suki/すき/好き." When read separately the "su/す/好" part would sound like the name "Sue." The "ki/き" would sound like the "key" you use to unlock a door. However, put together, they produce a new sound; instead of Sue-Key, you would get a sound similar to "ski" like you do on the slopes during the winter. Yes, there are words like that in the English language and probably in many others, but I find it more in the Japanese language.

6. Where is it you are going?
Japan. To be more specific, Akita, Japan. To be even more specific, Akita International University (AIU for short) in Yuwa, Akita City, Akita, Japan.

7. What's the time difference?
13 Hours from PA time to Japan time. Bad at math? Well, if it's 2 pm in PA, then it's 3 am in Japan. This is listed here only so people won't be calling me and disturbing my roommate in the middle of our night.

8. Will you miss your friends and family.
This is a definitely yes. Of course, I am going to miss my family and friends. I have never been away from home for so long without being able to come home when I want/need to. I love my family and friends~ but, I need to do my thing, ya know what I'm saying. ;D I will definitely miss my family, friends, and (this goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway) Chao~ I will miss them a lot!! <3 9. How will you communicate with the people back home?
Easy, Skype/Facebook/here. Few people will be getting letters or postcards while I'm there as well. Hopefully postage won't be too expensive. I am hoping to send my parents some items from Japan (like candy of something), but if it costs too much, then they can forget it. :p Hehe~

10. Are the classes you'll take going to be in Japanese?
Please refer to question number 4. At AIU, most classes are taught in English, except the language programs there. So every class I'll be taking will be in English, except Japanese. I do not have the skills to take on a full Japanese language class - every class. My Japanese level would not be able to handle that... especially the science class I am forced to take :/

11. What about you and Chao?
I believe that we can survive the craziness of one of us going away for a couple months. We survived freshman year of college, which breaks up many couples, and survived sophomore year of college, which was probably our (by "our" I mean "mostly my") most emotional year. We gotten to the point where we are completely comfortable being ourselves in front of one another. Like freshman year, study abroad can make or break a couple. It just depends on how well the couple can survive in a long-distance relationship, staying loyal the entire duration, and how often they keep in contact. Though I got to see him every few weeks (about every other weekend), we made sure to keep in contact and to let the other person know what is on our mind. This ensured that there would be little awkwardness when we finally get to see each other. And I am positive that we will continue doing that and that is why we were able to stay together during these rough years. Well, it also helps that we are in love with one another. ;)

Any more questions? Or any questions did I forget?