Getting Ready For Japan

Studying Abroad can be a lot of work, totally overwhelming, and scary, so I thought I'd give you a rundown of what I've done thus far to get ready for it. I am in no way saying you have to do any of this, but I am documenting my experience so maybe you can learn from it.


Fall of 2007 (First semester of college)
- Talked to the head of the Study Abroad department about going to Asia, namely Japan.
- Began to attend "Japanese Table," which was made to help reinforce what we learned in class. I guess you could say it was kind of like a "Japanese Club."
- Started making plans to go on the summer trip to Japan.
- To help prepare me, I took Japanese I, Chinese I (Kanji), and Japanese Pop Culture.


Spring of 2008 (Second semester of college)
- Continued my talks with Study Abroad.
- Continued attending Japanese Table.
- Continued with my summer trip meetings.
- Continuing my preparation, I took Japanese II, Eastern Religious Traditions, Chinese Culture (give me a wider view of Asia as a whole), and an independent study on Shinto.


Summer of 2008
- Traveled to Japan with my Sensei, the Study Abroad adviser, and 27 other students. It was my first airplane ride, first time out of the country, and first time going to Japan. It what helped me decide that I really wanted to do this.


Fall of 2008 (Third semester of college)
- Continued my talks with Study Abroad, filled out A TON of paperwork, and had it all sent over to Japan. It wasn't until around this time that I finally decided on which university I wanted to go to.
- Attended a couple of meetings designed for Study Abroad students, met another student who was planning on going to the same university, and got some advice from my Sensei and a student who went to the university the previous semester.
- Through the student who went there previously, I got in contact with a student (who is fluent in English) from the university and have gotten lots of advice and help from him, especially with a couple of forms that were in Japanese.
- Continued Japanese Table.
- I took Japanese III and the minimum amount of hours (12) so that I could focus on spending more time with Japanese.


Spring of 2009 (Fourth semester of college)
Well, that would be now. I've been listening to my Sensei's podcasts and YouTubers like Gimmeabreakman, Hikosaemon, and tokyojosh. Since all I'm doing is waiting around for my acceptance letter so I can get my visa, now is an awesome time to study.

I won't lie, I get distracted, and things do come up on occasion, but I still manage to find time. I'm also ordering Genki I, Genki II, Minna no Nihongo I, Minna no Nihongo II, Minna No Nihongo: Kanji I, and Minna no Nihongo: Kanji II. "How are you going to use all of those?!" Well, I'm glad I pretended you asked.

My main goal is to get down a lot of vocab, so I'll make a bunch of flashcards using the dictionaries. My second goal is to run through verb conjugation, which will be assisted by my Sensei's podcasts. I also want to learn as much kanji as I can, at least for recognition.