Happy New Year from Japan!

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ใ‚ใ‘ใพใ—ใฆใŠใ‚ใงใจใ†๏ผ

Happy New Year!

I can’t believe it’s already 2017 and here I have been in Japan for over 125 days!! It feels like I was making my departure video yesterday! To celebrate the new year I went to Kyoto, Japan and visited some historical Japanese sites including the Kiyomizu-dera temple from the Heian Period, completed in 778. Unfortunately, they were doing some restoration and so there was a bit of construction in the way of my photos but the feeling and memories I received were still wonderful! Also, I learned so many things about Japanese New Year’s traditions! For example:

Creating and sending new years postcards are a very common tradition here! You can buy all kinds of stationary to create these postcards called nengajou (ๅนด่ณ€็Šถ๏ผ‰are often sent to friends and family members.

Another tradition is to visit a temple or shrine. My friends took me to Kyoto because of this, as Kyoto has many beautiful temples to see!

Finally, I have been told it is a tradition to ring a bell at certain temples to represent a good new year, however, because of the crowds, we did not visit a temple with these bells. Believe it or not, it is very difficult to reach certain temples. Most are built uphill and require a lot of climbing, or walking where cars and taxis cannot go.

So, for my New Year’s celebration, we traveled to the Kiyomizu-dera temple, ate mochi, drank sake, and explored the historical city of Kyoto.

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I wish everyone a wonderful 2017, wherever you are in the world. I know I have been missing my home and family, but I remember that this is my once in a lifetime opportunity. I got to celebrate the new year in Japan, at a famous and historic temple. I know I won’t be able to do this again. I am blessed to have these photos and memories to look back on. I hope other international students are feeling the same. I know others must also feel homesick. Being away from home for an entire year is hard! I wish everyone around the world a wonderful and magical Happy New Year wherever you are. Remember this time, because by 2018 you may not be exploring and learning in a new country anymore.

A famous Japanese saying is ไธ€ๆœŸไธ€ไผš๏ผˆichigoichie) and it roughly translates to “once in this lifetime”. This phrase is often used in Japanese tea ceremony, for we will only experience each moment exactly a certain way, only one time in our lives. I love this phrase, and I think it’s a good way to describe one’s studying abroad!

Until next time!

 

Courtney Steele

<i>Hello in your host country language</i>: ใ“ใ‚“ใซใกใฏ (Kon'nichiwa) <i>University</i>: University of Toledo <i>Expected graduation year</i>: 2017 <i>Destination</i>: Nagoya, Japan <i>Program Provider</i>: The University of Toledo <i>Subject Matter, Major / minor</i>: Communication / Japanese <i> Language of Study, if any </i>: Japanese <i>Housing</i>: Apartment <i>Demographic background</i>: First-generation, Caucasian female <i>Future career aspirations</i>: Coordinator for International Relations or Assistant Language Teacher