Maybe you have guessed today's topic: The big why!
I have been asked so many questions:
Why do you want to go to Japan?
Why did you choose Japan?
Why aren't you going to America?
Why are you even going?
Why are your parents letting you go?
But nobody asked me the most important question:
Why the hell did you even get picked?
Yes, followers, friends and family, I myself am still wondering about the fact that I was even chosen to go to Japan.
Courtesy to YFU Germany!
In this public rant, I will explain to you why I chose Japan and how it aaaall went down.
I have been asked so many questions:
Why do you want to go to Japan?
Why did you choose Japan?
Why aren't you going to America?
Why are you even going?
Why are your parents letting you go?
But nobody asked me the most important question:
Why the hell did you even get picked?
Yes, followers, friends and family, I myself am still wondering about the fact that I was even chosen to go to Japan.
Courtesy to YFU Germany!
In this public rant, I will explain to you why I chose Japan and how it aaaall went down.
My story begins with a last minute decision. I always knew I would go to university somewhere foreign, but waiting for the arrival of that moment was horrible. I was simply
- as my fictional husband Sherlock Holmes would say.
I was bored of the same old routine, the same classes, the same schedule, the same city, the same cluster of repetition.
Mom then suggested an exchange year.
In that moment, I have never felt more proud of her. She asked, whether I wanted to go to England or America. Hm. Both interesting options, although I opted for something a bit more unusual, which included completely adapting to a totally different mentality and culture - Japan.
From this point on, the paperwork started!
I was pretty surprised I was accepted, since I almost blew past the deadline (; ̄ェ ̄)
Nevertheless, countless self-introductions, essays and interviews later, I received all the material needed to apply for a visum ~
It was an amazing journey; for the first time I got a glimpse of what being an adult meant, it almost felt like a job interview and I know of some people who sadly didn't meet the criteria :/
Few teenagers decide to go to Japan, I didn't except there to be many exchange students at the one-week-Orientation in Germany - although I was pleasantly surprised!
More than 30 'Japanese', around five 'Chinese', five 'Koreans' and three 'Indians' gathered!!!!
And I felt pretty much supreme o(`ω´ )o You know, because we were always the smallest number and BAM suddenly we're the majority. . .
The week was so interesting and fun, the people were (still are!) absolutely amazing - I met two of my closest friends there and our relationship got only better in Japan!
We all had one goal, we all shared the same experience, we all came together as a big, supporting family, and that was one of the reasons I finished my exchange year as successfully.
If you are unsure whether to do this experience, I can only say to you, yes, do it! It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, you will widen your horizons and meet different kinds people, my life will never be the same after that year!
Now to answer the questions first posed above:
1. Why did you want to go to Japan?
I am very interested in cultures and customs, the idea of the unknown is really appealing to an adventurous mind
like mine (*^^*)
2. Why did you choose Japan?
Well, because of the mentioned difference between our mentality and theirs, en plus, I LOVE FOOD.
3. Why didn't you go to America?
I wanted to, I really did! When I visited New York I thought to myself, this is the place I see myself in 10 years in.
But I wanted more, more from life, a complete change of perspective and I didn't think America could offer me that.
4. Why were you even going?
The same old routine got to me, I am used to constant change because I moved and changed countries so many times. I don't like to be confined to one place only, I need the freedom to travel and explore.
5. Why did your parents let you go?
In Romania, my parents didn't enjoy the kinds of freedom I do now, since the government was a dictature at the time.
But times have changed, so have my parents. They have responsibilities, they cannot just take off and leave - I can. Mom and Dad wanted me to live the life they never could have, they fully supported me the whole way, from the beginning till the end, and I couldn't wish for better parents. It must've been as hard for them seeing me go as for me to go, but they never once complained.
They saw the exchange year as an enrichment to my future, and it is true - They are surprised by how I've grown up and faced many challenges and seen how it changed me.
I am not the same person I was one year ago. If you need proof, visit my uncontinued old blog to compare that lil dipshit to today's big dipshit, okay?
BUT REMEMBER NOT TO JUDGE ME, MKAY? Σ(゚д゚lll)
I was bored of the same old routine, the same classes, the same schedule, the same city, the same cluster of repetition.
Mom then suggested an exchange year.
In that moment, I have never felt more proud of her. She asked, whether I wanted to go to England or America. Hm. Both interesting options, although I opted for something a bit more unusual, which included completely adapting to a totally different mentality and culture - Japan.
From this point on, the paperwork started!
I was pretty surprised I was accepted, since I almost blew past the deadline (; ̄ェ ̄)
Nevertheless, countless self-introductions, essays and interviews later, I received all the material needed to apply for a visum ~
It was an amazing journey; for the first time I got a glimpse of what being an adult meant, it almost felt like a job interview and I know of some people who sadly didn't meet the criteria :/
Few teenagers decide to go to Japan, I didn't except there to be many exchange students at the one-week-Orientation in Germany - although I was pleasantly surprised!
More than 30 'Japanese', around five 'Chinese', five 'Koreans' and three 'Indians' gathered!!!!
And I felt pretty much supreme o(`ω´ )o You know, because we were always the smallest number and BAM suddenly we're the majority. . .
The week was so interesting and fun, the people were (still are!) absolutely amazing - I met two of my closest friends there and our relationship got only better in Japan!
We all had one goal, we all shared the same experience, we all came together as a big, supporting family, and that was one of the reasons I finished my exchange year as successfully.
If you are unsure whether to do this experience, I can only say to you, yes, do it! It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, you will widen your horizons and meet different kinds people, my life will never be the same after that year!
Now to answer the questions first posed above:
1. Why did you want to go to Japan?
I am very interested in cultures and customs, the idea of the unknown is really appealing to an adventurous mind
like mine (*^^*)
2. Why did you choose Japan?
Well, because of the mentioned difference between our mentality and theirs, en plus, I LOVE FOOD.
3. Why didn't you go to America?
I wanted to, I really did! When I visited New York I thought to myself, this is the place I see myself in 10 years in.
But I wanted more, more from life, a complete change of perspective and I didn't think America could offer me that.
4. Why were you even going?
The same old routine got to me, I am used to constant change because I moved and changed countries so many times. I don't like to be confined to one place only, I need the freedom to travel and explore.
5. Why did your parents let you go?
In Romania, my parents didn't enjoy the kinds of freedom I do now, since the government was a dictature at the time.
But times have changed, so have my parents. They have responsibilities, they cannot just take off and leave - I can. Mom and Dad wanted me to live the life they never could have, they fully supported me the whole way, from the beginning till the end, and I couldn't wish for better parents. It must've been as hard for them seeing me go as for me to go, but they never once complained.
They saw the exchange year as an enrichment to my future, and it is true - They are surprised by how I've grown up and faced many challenges and seen how it changed me.
I am not the same person I was one year ago. If you need proof, visit my uncontinued old blog to compare that lil dipshit to today's big dipshit, okay?
BUT REMEMBER NOT TO JUDGE ME, MKAY? Σ(゚д゚lll)