Before I knew it, my summer had already passed by so quickly that I was finishing up my final packing and would soon be departing for Japan. I had checked the weather in Japan on the day I would be arriving and saw that it would be around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, so not too hot or cold, so I just wore a pretty simple outfit with a sweater. I went up to the airport with my partner Charlene, who had also been accepted to the same school as me, so we were both pretty lucky. And from there on, we pretty much explored Japan together. The plane ride was about ten hours and was a direct flight to Narita Airport. I wanted to brush up on my Japanese during this time, but ended up watching random movies for most of the trip. Once we had landed, I had made sure that I had everything that I brought with me or might have stowed away in the small cubbies on most seats. With everything double checked, I was ready for the year to come. The first thing I remember getting off of the plane was the weather. The sky was overcast and it was slightly raining, and also very humid. So not the greatest of weather. We soon got on a bus that took us to the immigration part of the airport. It was very busy, but we got all of documents ready and went to go stand in one of the long immigration lines. After about an hour of waiting in line, we were soon told that we were in the wrong line and had to be in a different immigration line due to our student visas. This again took about an hour, so make sure that you’re in the correct line the first time so you can avoid the same mistakes I did. While in this line, I recognized someone who was in my Japanese class at SDSU the previous semester. We approached them and found out that they were also going to YNU for the same program as us. This was Jess and she become a good friend of ours throughout our program.So if you see anyone familiar or if it seems they’re on the same path as you, try approaching them and you may find out they have the same plans as you.
Once we had finally gotten through immigration, it was off to baggage claim. Due to the long wait at immigration, our luggage was already set off to the side and ready to go. Because we had landed in Tokyo, we had to take an hour long bus to Yokohama. This bus ride is still a clear memory to me as it was the first time I really travelled outside of the U.S. and this solidified that I was going to be in a completely different environment for the next year as I gazed out the window at all of the passing sights along the way. Once we had arrived at the Yokohama station, I met my tutor from YNU, Masa, and Charlene’s tutor Suzuka, and Jess’s tutor was unable to make it at that time. They helped us with our heavy luggage and guided us through the complex Yokohama station that all seemed like a blur for the first time. We soon arrived at the platform for the subway that would take us to the dorms. We then got off at our station, Gumyouji, and they took us to the dorm and helped us get our baggage to our rooms (mine was on the 3rd floor and there was no elevator in the building). They then helped us with getting our keys, linens, and so on. The night eventually wound down, and at that time it was still hard for me believe where I was, but that feeling soon faded and I knew I was ready for this experience. Comments are closed.
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AuthorI am Kyle Sablan and I studied abroad at Yokohama National University (YNU) during the 2016-2017 academic year. This blog was created as one of the requirements for receiving the Gilman Scholarship. The purpose of this blog is to share my personal experience with everybody and encourage interest in studying abroad. Archives
April 2018
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