Arrival in Japan

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What an amazing and emotional journey this has been!

My date to depart for Japan came so quickly, that there was unfortunately any time to create a pre-departure entry. Instead, I will write about my journey to Japan today. Travelling to Japan has been a dream of mine ever since I was a child. I always wanted to study abroad in Japan, but I never seriously gave it much thought after seeing how expensive it was. And yet, here I am, studying abroad in Japan, and living out my dream! Even though I was super excited about heading to Japan, I wasnโ€™t prepared for the emotions that arose as I said my goodbyes to my family; reality set in that I would be away from home for the first time in my life, and very far at that. However, Iโ€™m lucky enough to be sharing my experience abroad with my twin sister, so we got through the emotions together! After a grueling 14 hour and 20 minute flight, my arrival in Tokyo instantly brought on the excitement again! Navigating through Narita International Airport was an adventure itself, as it required me to put my Japanese skills to the test in order to reach my hotel! After successfully boarding the limousine bus to my hotel in Tokyo, I got to enjoy the scenery and how it differs from my hometown in Miami, Florida. To see with my own eyes the many things that I thought I would only see on TV or the Internet is just so surreal! Even more surreal is the view of Tokyo Tower from my hotel room! Knowing that my arrival in Tokyo is just the beginning has me even more excited about what awaits me in Kyoto!

Shalisha Witherspoon

Konnichiwa! My name is Shalisha Witherspoon, and I'm currently a senior majoring in IT (Software development track) and minoring in Japanese Language and Literature at Florida International University (FIU) I also work at FIU as an Undergraduate Researcher for the High Performance Database Research Center. I'm one of six children, and I happen to be a twin! I was also homeschooled my entire life. My interests include drawing, video games, programming, and above all, Japanese! Ever since I was a child, I was fascinated with Japanese culture thanks to TV and comic books. As my interest grew, I learned to draw in the Japanese art style and created my own comics. Soon afterwards, I began researching Japanese history and culture, and finally, I began studying the language. After formally studying Japanese for 2 years, I will finally fulfill a life-long dream and study Japanese in Japan this summer! The school I will be attending is Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, where I will complete my Japanese language studies and take a culture class fully in Japanese! Even better, I will be going abroad with my identical twin sister! This will be my first time out of the country, so I'm grateful to have been blessed to experience this amazing opportunity with my twin! I hope to one day work for a software company in Japan, particularly Nintendo since I'm studying game programming and have grown up playing their games; studying abroad will help me get one step closer to reaching that goal! I look forward to sharing my amazing experience in Japan!