Sun, Rain, Animal Statues

By:

Hannah Crace

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Hannah Crace

<i>Home Institution</i>: University of Tennessee <i>Academic Major / Minor</i>: Marketing / Japanese <i>Destination</i>: Osaka, Japan <i>"Hello" in your host country's language</i>: ใ“ใ‚“ใซใกใฏ <i>Program Provider</i>: CET Academic Programs <i>Demographics</i>: African American/Black, Multi-Racial, First-Generation American, First-Generation College Student, LGBTQ+, Person with a disability <i>Future Career Goals</i>: My aspirations are to work and live in Japan after I graduate, I would like to participate in the JET program and expand my fluency of Japanese, while also contributing to future children's knowledge in the English language. As a marketing major I would like make connections in Japan, understanding the differences between Japanese marketing and American Marketing. I would also love to expand my roots in the video game industry possibly working for Nintendo's marketing team or other well known Japanese companies. I am passionate about the people I meet and hope to share cultural experience about the United states, along with learning about Japanese culture. I want to connect and be connected to people, creating an environment where everyone involved can learn and grow past the person they previously were. <i>Top Three Study Abroad Goals</i>: Increase fluency of Japanese to Advanced; Increase cross-cultural exposure between Japan and the U.S.; Integrate into Japanese society

Sun: when I first got here to Japan, and how bright everything was, and I feel I had to like the sun because everyone else likes the sun. I feel when I first got here to Japan that there are stuff people wanted to do, and even if I wanted to do something else, I’d always follow the sun because it felt like the more “logical” and practical choice. whatever that means. The sun was at the time, the logical choice for me, itโ€™s bright and warm, and the flowers bloom. Though I found myself wanting the opposite of the sun, and though following the sun felt comfortable, what did I want to do. I began my time here abroad, following a crowd, like anyone does. Iโ€™m in a foreign country that speaks a foreign language. Iโ€™m still learning that part is scary not feeling like you donโ€™t know your way around. So relationships form quicker, and days go by faster when you feel like there are those you can rely on.

Rain: I love the rain; there really is a calm I feel that resonates with the entire world. there is a certain quietness that is just international. Japan as whole is way quieter than America, but Rain makes everything just that much quieter, everyone is calmer, and people have places to go but it’s not hustle and bustle like when itโ€™s sunny. The cloud overcast is so beautiful in Japan and makes everything feel brighter as strange as that sounds, it places and overcast on the sights that I don’t believe you can find anywhere else. I went somewhere in the rain despite what others say about it. “Rain is gross, inconvenient, messy” I feel quite the opposite. Japan rain, is different than Tennessee rain. It brings out a smell in the air that when you breathe it in you think โ€˜Japanโ€™ and I havenโ€™t gotten that smell anywhere else before.

Animal statues:

long-story short I saw a lot of animal statues today, and Animals feel way more praised and respected here in Japan, the symbolism and importance really resonate with my inner self, and it has allowed me to identify so much about myself while abroad. Being able to connect to what I truly enjoyed, has really helped me become more independent in Japan. Becoming independent as a young adult I believe has been one of the hardest struggles for me, the hardest part was accepting I wasnโ€™t truly independent while studying abroad. Being a First-Generation college student, I feel I was forced into independence in a unhealthy manner where I still felt required to be attached to people but I was basically paying my own bills. Studying abroad has allowed me to take the back seat from a hectic chaotic life of living pay-check too pay-check and allowing myself to sit back and discover who I am.