What I learned though study abroad
What I learned from studying abroad at the University of OregonTechnology has changed everything around us. Nowadays, you can do almost everything digitally, including study, making friends, talking, and meeting people. However, I believe that one major experience must be had in person, and that is studying abroad in a new country and being far away from your home country.I am Yukimi Murata, a Kansai University student majoring in Foreign language education, and I just finished studying abroad at the University of Oregon in the United States. I used to spend my days dreaming of studying abroad, making vision boards. When I signed up to Study Abroad, I never thought that this experience would change who I was so quickly. Even though I only spent one school term, the person I was and the person I am now are two drastically different people. It took a while until I turned all of my lists into reality, but moving from an island country to one of the most developed countries on the globe during the pandemic taught me many things. Every single moment was real, raw, and impactful, but only as I have continued to unpack what I learned from study abroad have I come to truly realize the depth of the lessons I learned in Oregon. Here are the top 3 things that I have learned from my experience of being a student overseas.One of the most important lessons I took away from Oregon was learning to love what I did not understand. To love the strange, or at least the peculiar to me. That sounds silly perhaps, but I learned to love the customs I did not quite get the hang of, the conversations I could not quite follow, anything that made me scratch my head in confusion. Living in the United States, away from my family and close friends, in an environment where I could not speak a word of Japanese, was mentally very unsettling. I was constantly anxious and fearful about everything I did. I was afraid to speak my unpolished English. I remember the first day of the linguistic class with no international students, not sure what was happening, confused, frightened, tired, hungry, and wanting my bed, but still able to look around and love where I was, love that everything had brought me here. I might not understand the jokes they were laughing at, but I loved that they were laughing. Often our first reaction to something we do not understand is fear or anger. However, studying abroad helped me to be curious since every side of the environment is different, and I had to face and overcome the changes. Why should I judge what I do not understand? Let me love my confusion, the puzzles, the mysteries to uncover.I also learned to let go of many things, precisely the expectation of perfection and my own high opinion of myself. While I could strive for excellence in my academics and volunteer work as a Japanese conversation partner, I would often end up lost on my way to school and could not possibly speak with friends without making grammatical mistakes. And that was ok—errors helped me to learn. As I wrote above, I was afraid to talk in English and start a conversation with somebody since I got scared that they might be disappointed by my poor English. Hence, I pretended to be a quiet girl with my mouth bonded shut, but one of my classmates gave me awareness. He is now my boyfriend, and he talked to me after class, so I was forced to speak English. Meeting and talking to him, who willingly and generously tried to hear my broken English, made me realize that I was the only one who had been holding myself back with the fear of speaking unperfect English. Since then, I have become no longer afraid of expressing myself to others, I enjoy my life, and I had made many friends before I knew it. I sometimes had to let go of the need to be right or even to be fully understood, but that flexibility enriched my life in Oregon.Another big lesson from studying abroad is the importance of independence. While it is possible to live and travel with people I know, I found that there are many times when I must learn how to navigate my new lifestyle all on my own. Living abroad in a different country with unfamiliar cultural norms can be daunting. On the other hand, I learned how to be independent by facing and working through challenges and I became more comfortable with my potential. Living alone in a foreign country has made me realize how much my family and friends support me; then, the friends I met in Oregon, gave me humor and insights that were not in my mind before, which made me think about how I want to become and how I should become. This is not always a good thing, and sometimes being immersed in a new culture makes me lose sight of who I am. That is why it is essential to always think about who I am and what I want to be and do things in a way that respects my personality, in other words, to be independent.Lastly, studying abroad has changed me. I will study abroad again, but I am sure that I will never go home the same. I might have another incredible experience, see beautiful things, and meet extraordinary people. No one at home will understand this, and I may have to keep this secret world all to myself like I do now. As a person who has completely fallen in love with the taste of this unique experience that I am only acquainted with, I cannot wait for the following study abroad opportunity to come true.Thank you so much for reading my vlog! Have a great day
