20 days left — I can’t wait!

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Hello everyone!

I guess I’ll kick off this blog with a short introduction along with some of my thoughts about the upcoming exciting semester.  My name is Quynh Quach, and I’m currently a junior at Pacific University (GO BOXERS!) majoring in Biology and minoring in Japanese.  I’ve been planning to study abroad since I was freshman, and Japan was the natural pick since I’ve been studying the language since highschool. The university I’ll be enroll in is called Kansai Gaidai University, a huge international studies school, located in Hirakata near Kyoto and Osaka.

After years of planning my schedules and classes to make sure I can spend a semester abroad  and still graduate on time (since I can’t take biology classes abroad), the time has come!  Even though I will miss my family and some of the comfort of living at home, my excitement overides it all.  Compared to what my college life have been so far, I think KGU will be a big change, living in the dorms, going to school with about 10 times as many students as Pacific, and all of them speaking in a foreign language..Oh wait, the WHOLE country will be talking in another language and practicing a different culture. Yeah, you could say I’m a bit nervous.  Nevertheless, I am filled with expectations for my time in Japan, there are so many things I wish to learn and do while I’m there, I feel like 4 months is not going to be enough time!

Anyway, before I go on too long and bore you, I’ll end this introductory blog here. Please look forward to future entries! If you guys have any comments or questions, feel free to ask!

See you later!

Quynh Quach

Hi! My name is Quynh Quach, and I am currently a sophomore at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. I am majoring in Biology and minoring in Japanese, and I am aiming to become a physicianโ€™s assistant in the near future. My family moved to Oregon ten years ago from Vietnam, and being able to live and attend school in the United States has taught me that a studentโ€™s life is not all academic, but there are experiences to be gained outside of the classroom as well. Therefore, studying abroad has been one of the things I have always wanted to do, and being in college has given me a chance to make this real. I am applying to study at Kansai Gaidai University in Hirakata, Japan. Being able to study in Japan will greatly help me improve my Japanese as well as broaden my understanding about one of the oldest Asian cultures and societies. The experience of studying abroad will be invaluable not only to my academic career, but also my personal life thereafter.