My last semester of college, I took an International Human Resources Management study abroad course to Japan and Taiwan to fulfill my international business minor. The day after graduating, I woke up at 4 AM in my empty dorm room and headed to the airport with my friend, Kaitlin to embark on a two-week, study abroad trip to Taiwan and Japan. As part of our class requirements, we had to create “blog posts” of our experiences. This chronicles the first part of my Japan Trip including the long flight, Tokyo Stock Exchange, and unique foods.
International travel alone versus with a class is very different. With a class, you have a more rigid schedule with class time built in and less flexibility to do what you want when you want. You also have to deal with a large group of people who don’t always agree on the best use of free time and have different travel styles. On the other hand, you have access to many irreplaceable experiences that you wouldn’t get without the connections that your professors and school have.
Our final assignment was to create “blog post” journal entries of our experiences abroad. I’m so thankful they had us do this because rereading it brought back so many memories that I had forgotten. As we are currently months deep into a pandemic where international travel is scarce to say the least, I figured I would post my assignment for those who, like me, are dealing with a great deal of wanderlust. This also goes out to those college students that aren’t as fortunate to be able to make study abroad trips of their own right now. I hope this inspires you to jump in and plan a trip, as soon as it’s safe.
4/16/2017
Last year at this time, I was preparing to go abroad for the first time to Switzerland and France for my International Marketing study abroad trip. I was much more nervous as I couldn’t entirely grasp the concept of what it would be like to be in another country. I remember asking questions to a friend from high school who had been to France twice, and even showed up with a notebook page of questions to the apartment of a friend from RMU (my college) who used to live in Switzerland. Thinking back, I find it all a little bit funny because once I was there, it seemed like none of it was really that big of a deal.
Now, I am much calmer. I know the answers to many of my questions. I now understand that you can use the ATMs in the other countries to obtain the local currency and that your cards will also work most places. I know that you can usually figure things out, and when you can’t, it ends up being a funny story. But most importantly, I learned that, as with any trip, your expectations are never quite the reality, and that even the littlest things become the sweetest memories. I had an unforgettable journey last May, and I know that I will certainly be able to say the same about this May.
Now, instead of just finishing up my second year at RMU and planning to come back to stay on campus for my internship in downtown Pittsburgh, I will be coming back as a college graduate to move to Charlotte, NC for my first real, full-time job. This time, I am looking at my study abroad experience more as a celebration of my three successful years at RMU that bred two degrees and a minor. My greatest concerns are of the insanely long plane ride and the quick readjustment that my body will have to face concerning the time difference in order to get everything in order for me to move and start my career in NC. I know that with this trip, I will have a blast exploring the beauty of Japan and Taiwan with two great professors, one of my best friends, and a whole group of awesome people that I have yet to befriend.
5/5/2017
Today was the day of our pre-orientation party. I was awake most of the previous night as I was up until 5 AM packing and 6 AM writing a final paper for my Organizational Leadership/Community Advisor class requirements. I was able to sleep for an hour and then drove from home (approx. 2 hours away) to campus.
Upon arriving, I met my study abroad classmates in Massey hall. Orientation lasted almost the whole time, but it was very enjoyable. We did a few icebreaker activities and gained a lot of useful information regarding our trip. We received a booklet with a detailed itinerary, tips, and other relevant information. I was very impressed by the organization and preparedness of the whole process.
After orientation, I was very excited despite being exhausted. I learned about more itinerary items that I had not been aware of, only adding to my enthusiasm towards traveling to Asia for the first time. I was ecstatic to hear about the sky lanterns! As a finance major, I am also looking forward to the stock exchanges, currency conversions, and banks. Bring on the 13 hour flight!
While I was packing, my boyfriend, now husband, asked me what the strangest food was that I had ever eaten. Thinking back, the best that I could come up with was the duck that I had during my welcome dinner my first night in Paris, almost exactly a year ago. As I was packing to embark on a journey to Asia, I decided that I would return to the U.S. with a much more interesting answer to his question. Consequently, I decided to take photos of all of my meals and “food chronicle,” so that I had evidence to accompany my stories.
5/9/2017
Boy oh boy was today a busy day.
Kaitlin, Sara, and I are all sharing a room in the Richmond Hotel Premier in Musashikosugi. It has three full-size beds despite only being made for two, but we are quite comfortable. Last night, most people went out to the Grandtree Mall food court to get dinner after our long, 13-hour flight. Sara and I decided to stay back, shower, and go to bed all before 9 PM. I am so happy that I made that decision because I was exhausted and was able to pass out and wake up very well rested.
The schedule for every day in Japan is that we are to be down to breakfast by around 7 AM and be ready to go by 8 AM. Kaitlin, Sara, and I all woke up at 3:30 in the morning and then went back to sleep and woke up again naturally at 5:30 AM. We all got ready and went down to the breakfast room which is located on the 5th floor, 3 floors down from our room 818. It was set up in a buffet-style fashion and I was shocked to find that many of our choices were actually dinner foods.
I tried a healthy array including bacon bread (recommended by Ryan and proved disappointing), mega runny scrambled eggs (which were actually very good), yummy lo mein that tasted like shrimp, and breakfast potatoes. I then went on to try a light, syrupy kiwi fruit dip, lemon custard cake, and purple rice bean ball (odd mix of sweet and sticky mixed with refried beans). My meal was very filling and I left excited to try breakfast for the next day.
The metro in Tokyo reminded me a lot of the one in Paris. It has a crazy amount of lines and stations, but is navigated in a similar fashion. The big difference is that it is much, much cleaner. We were given cards that had a Penguin on them and say “Suica.” There was money preloaded and it was very convenient to load more money as necessary to pay for trips. They were also able to be used in the local marts and vending machines.
Before traveling to Japan, we were warned about rush hour on the metro from 7:30-9:30 AM and around 5:30-7:30 PM. No amount of warning could have prepared us for the feeling of being pushed and crammed into a sweaty, hot cart that left you unable to move and closer to strangers than you ever hoped to be. My face was stuck against Kaitlin’s back, with my cheek left unable to move in her hair. I was practically on top of Sara, and we were both struggling a little to get air due to our height. Towards the end of the trip Sara and I burst into laughter (and tears) when I told her that someone’s arm had been conveniently resting between my butt cheeks.
Our first adventure was to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The inner finance geek was bubbling out in both Kaitlin and I as we were excited to see for ourselves what we had been learning about in our classes for the past three years. (P.S. I also geeked out a little when I understood the conversion of my dollars to yen at the current spot rate and was able to hold the currency). The Stock Exchange was neat to see, but it was honestly a little disappointing as we had expected to see crazy trading floors with people in suits talking on their phones and running around and the posts where you can buy stock. However, instead, we were just greeted with two big screens and a running banner screen.
I learned the following cultural lessons during this visit:
1. All businesses keep their air conditioning very low to conserve energy.
2. The custom of bowing is current and applicable.
3. Increases in stock price are displayed in red, while decreases are green.
4. Like Europe, it is very difficult to find water. In Japan, most businesses and restaurants don’t even sell it. It can be bought for around 110 Yen in local vending machines and grocery stores. 5. Everything is done on the left versus the right: driving, walking, stairs, and escalators (pass on the right).
Our next stop was at a large department store called Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi. We learned that the elevators in Japan are reallyyy slow, moreseo the wait for the elevator rather than the actual ride. We also learned that they have different floors like B1 and R1 (Basement 1 and Roof 1?). This reminded me of the negative floors in Europe. These particular elevators, and the building itself, were extremely difficult to navigate. We were all starving, and spent the majority of our time traveling around in a group trying to decide on something.
Throughout the store, there were a few samples in which I tried a mango Italian ice/gelatin (veryyy good), a shrimp dumpling (take it or leave it), and green tea. I noticed that the green tea here was much brighter than ours in the US. I found this sample to be bitter and unenjoyable, and later learned that this is how almost all of the green tea in Japan is. It’s much more concentrated, bitter, and is made from a powder. It is often called “Matcha.”
Kaitlin, Kristen, and I ended up getting pasta. My lasagna was delicious, much better than the typical kind in the US. There wasn’t seating anywhere, so we ate on benches in a place that we probably shouldn’t have. One thing to be noted was that in one of the stores we heard Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
Our next stop was the Bank of Japan, a Central Bank. Our tour guide kept reiterating that there were two buildings: the old and new one. Ironically, the building that he continued to refer to as new was built in the ’70s. The offices didn’t look much different from the ones in the US, other than the floor that we were on where the workers were against the wall in an “L” shape, with walking space and elevators more in the middle. There was a little section that he showed us that had elephant ancestor tusks, that were found in Japan at that very location around 10,000 years ago.
The one elevator that we got on had a messed up sensor, so we almost had a few mishaps. We were also taken down to see the old vault that was made up of three doors. The farthest was made in Japan, then the UK, then in Pennsylvania, which I thought was pretty cool. The vault was ginormous and weighed around 25 tons.
Side note: As we were previously warned, the toilets in Japan are much more complex than those in America. It is taboo to hear a woman use the restroom, so there is a music button that makes flushing sounds. Sometimes this is automatic, and other times it must be pressed. There are also heated toilet seats, deodorizer (sometimes), and water sprays than can be set at different intensities. I have also seen other amenities like seat cleaning wipes.
These toilets are very common in Japan, with around 80% of households owning them. These toilets are Western style; however, there is an older version that is essentially a hole in the floor that requires you to get low to the ground to use. At the Bank of Japan, I had the privilege of experiencing these “squatting potties,” as it was the only option available.
From there, we traveled to the Imperial Palace & Garden, where we met our beloved tour guide Chu. He was a short, quiet Japanese man that slowed us down immensely but was absolutely adorable. We only had 50 minutes, so we were only able to see the palace. Much to our disappointment, we discovered that there isn’t actually much left of the palace.
By this time, everyone was complaining of sore feet, but we were forced to persevere through our group dinner. The dinner was a traditional Japanese dinner, held at a restaurant very near our hotel. Before entering our platform, we had to take off our shoes. A few of our professors’ friends joined us, which was very nice.
Our dinner was scheduled for 8 PM, so naturally I would’ve preferred to go to sleep than eat; however, my desire to experience the culture and be able to tell of a weird food that I ate forced me to chow down a multi-course dinner. First, we had salad with ginger dressing, which was delightful, and smoked mackerel with potato salad. I loved the potato salad, but the fish was my least favorite. Multiple courses and much self-coaching later, I was able to say that I tried (and mostly enjoyed) an array of raw fish including tuna and salmon, along with other ethnic foods like bamboo.
Afterwards, we were able to go back to our hotel, shower, and get ready for the next day. One noteable thing about our hotel, was that you had to place the room key card in a holder in order for the lights to operate. We would soon discover that that was the trend in all of our hotels. After that long day it wasn’t difficult to fall asleep, so that’s what I did.
Kanpai!
FitBit step count: 22,902
5/10/2017
Today also ended up being a day with a lot of walking, but for a lot more enjoyable reasons.
First, we visited IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) where we learned about the accounting standards that most of the world operates under. Then, we were met at the Yokohama Station by our faithful tour guide Chu. We had very limited time to find food, so we all ran off in different directions.
The area outside of the station was very culturally beautiful. Due to the time crunch, I ended up eating at KFC with Ryan. I ordered a chicken sandwich with potato wedges and Coke. The lady didn’t quite understand my order and I ended up with a chicken sandwich that looked like it was covered in barbecue sauce, but tasted very sweet, with mayo as the sauce. I was happy about the misunderstanding because my sandwich was delicious. Ryan and I ate upstairs and then ran into a multi-level, “dollar-store” type place before meeting up with some others (who elected to eat at Wendy’s) and making our way back to the station to head to the Nissan Yokohama Plant.
In order the get to the plant, we had about a 20-minute walk. The sky was overcast which made for nice walking weather. The inside of the plant was really hot and I actually ended up taking off my jacket. We had a walking tour of the museum part and got to see a lot of engines and two really nice, old cars. Our Nissan guide was cute in a little girl kind of way. She showed us a robot that drew a picture of Hello Kitty next to a Nissan car.
We were then escorted across the street where we saw the inside of the actual assembly line of the Japanese Nissan motors. I learned that the American cars are manufactured elsewhere, due to the steering wheel being on the opposite side of the vehicle. I left amazed at the intricacies of building a car and couldn’t stop thinking about how intelligent people are to have invented such things.
While last semester was still in session, we had to give a presentation on two cultural things that we could do while abroad, one for each country. The purpose was to get us to do research about the countries we would be visiting, not necessarily to actually implement them. For Japan, Sara, Kaitlin, and I presented that we should go to Tokyo Disneyland. We knew the chances of going were slim and our packed itinerary was there to confirm that we were dreaming.
After seeing that we were free after the Nissan Plant, we began talking about possibly going. It was 4 PM at that time and if we could figure out how to navigate the intricacies of the Tokyo Metro Station, we just might make it by 6 PM for the Starlight Pass. I used my knowledge of the Paris Metro and before we knew it, a group of 11 of us were on our way to the happiest place in Tokyo.
We arrived a little after 6 PM and got in for only 4200 Yen, way cheaper than in the U.S. Kaitlin and I split off from the group and I wore out our map trying to maximize our experience and time there.
In three hours, I can successfully say that we rode Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, Peter Pan’s Flying Adventure, Dumbo’s Flying Elephants, and Big Thunder Mountain. Much to my disappointment, Space Mountain was closed, but the rest made up for it. We were also able to take pics in front of the castle, watch fireworks, eat Mickey pizza, and buy souvenirs all in three hours time. We returned safely to our hotel by around midnight.
Overall, I’d say that today ended up being a pretty ~magical~ day.
FitBit step count: 25,118
To read about the rest of my Japan trip click here!
Have you ever been to Japan? Did you learn anything interesting or see anything you want to add to your bucket list? Let me know in the comments below!
