Final Impressions of Japan

So, it is time to come to an end as a International Student at Kansai Gaidai. Outside of learning the muzukashi, difficult, language of Japanese, I have learned a lot from the society around me. The definite do's and don'ts while being a foreigner in Japan.

I began this journey, thinking that I knew more about Japan than the average Joe, thinking that the outside is always tale-tell of what is ahead.


(Photo at the 1000 Tori Shrine in Kyoto by Rochelle R.)

But the longer I lived here, the more I saw that there is something, seemlingly hidden, in the Japanese culture in which even Japanese people didn't have a quick answer for why things were. My inquisition of the culture had not only myself wondering, but the native people wondering. The explanation of everyday life to a Foreigner, had also made the Japanese people, I asked, reflect upon their own lives.


(Photo by Rochelle R.)

Questioning everything became one theme of my study abroad here in Japan. Without it, I would still be completely ignorant and really shallow in my knowledge of the REAL JAPAN.

(Offering to the Horse God Photo by Rochelle R.)
(The subject in this photograph confused me too until for the many times I went to shrines, but when I finally asked about it, it made sense)

Now as I pack, I have changed my attitude about Japan. Instead of being the Foreinger, who thought she knew more about Japan than most visitors, I am now the more humbled Foreigner, who does knows a bit more than she did before, but who understands that what she does know is nothing compared to the knowledge of the entire reality of Japan. Questioning is the key to understanding. Questioning is the key to leave the world of ignoriance. Questioning is the key to better understanding.



(Where's Waldo? Photo by Rochelle R.)