Community Development

This semester I took mostly Japanese courses. Compared to last semester, I was studying by myself a lot in the library. In addition, a lot of my Japanese classes conflicted with the school events, so I was unable to sign up for them. The only other course I took this semester that was not Japanese was this course called "Community Development."
  
I signed up for "Community Development" because as an exchange student, I did not have that much classes with Japanese students. Also Keli'i recommended this class to me after taking this class during the fall semester. I did not know what to expect when I signed up for this course, but I am happy I took this course because I made a lot of great friends, and I realized that I want to do something in the future where I can cause positive impact on the community.  

For this course, I had to learn about the definition of community development, find examples of how community development is related to Japan, and give a presentation with Japanese students in Japanese about what we learned about the rural areas in Akita and how can we improve a community like Akita.

Halfway through my First Semester

Although studying at Akita International University (AIU) is fun, I am sad to know that despite meeting all of these great people I may not see them for while. This semester I got to go to a "Ninja Park" for my birthday, got lost in Japan, and I got the opportunity to live by myself without relying on my parents too much.

Recently I have been feeling culture shock because I miss certain things from Hawaii like food, family, dog, and friends, but I think I am slowly getting adjusted to life in Japan. As of right now, I still think I do not want to live in Hawaii because I want to experience some place different, but I am not sure if Japan is where I want to live yet.

According to my friend from Hawaii that has lived in Japan for five years due to the JET Program, it is difficult for foreigners to apply for citizenship in Japan because the Japanese people do a thorough search before approving foreigners as Japanese citizens. Some people that apply for citizenship in Japan find the process humiliating.

In addition, there is a lot of food and cultural traditions that can only be found in Hawaii, so I know may miss that. Therefore my current plan is to learn as much as I can about Hawaii so that regardless of where I live, I can still enjoy the things I like about Hawaii. I want to be able to make delicious Hawaii food like poke (raw fish cubes), lomi salmon, malasadas, and meat-jun.

Lake Tazawa and Kakunodate

Here are pictures from a Lake Tazawa and a Kakunodate trip on Friday that I had with the other international students. The trip was free for international students but the full-time students had to pay. We had several stops on the way and my friends and I took plenty of pictures. 

First Post in Japan

I have finally made it to Japan. The last few days have been pretty busy so I was unable to post anything. The university is pretty nice, and I am happy to be here. I like how this university is smaller compared to the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In addition, both the Japanese and international students are friendly, and I have learned a lot of interesting facts about the other states in the United States, Japan, and other countries.