Hey guys, sorry for seemingly disappearing off the face of the Earth with regards to blogging. But hey, I’d like to think I had a good reason for it *wink*wink*. If any of our old visitors are still coming here, they might remember me briefly talking about studying abroad in Japan this upcoming school year. Well, in less than 24 hours, I’ll be on a flight straight to Tokyo, and from there, I’ll be transferring to a flight that will go to the ancient capital of Kyoto. And I’ll be there for eight entire months! I’m obviously quite excited, or at least my inner anime fan is.
I guess this is the time I should be a gloating asshole and saying “Haha, shame you guys can’t come with me to Japan!”, but do you know what? Since I’ll be writing about my experiences in Japan on this blog, you guys can read what I write about, and then if you guys get jealous, that means you should definitely consider studying in Japan too. Think of my experiences as a taste test for you, and I’ll also be posting various bits of information about study abroad programs, scholarships, and so forth, all so that if you do decide to study abroad, there will be some easily-accessible resources available for you. Share the love, right?
So yea, long story short, I’ve been busy running around left and right like a frantic mouse (or something along those lines). Visa paperwork here, financial aid paperwork there, picking up passports elsewhere, and so forth. Not to mention, my study abroad program guidebook kept emphasizing how you won’t find your typical healthcare products + clothing sizes that you might have grown used to outside of Japan, so I’ve been running around buying bottles of shampoo, toothpaste, jackets, sweaters, etc. It’s been rather hectic, and I’d like to think that it somewhat justified my sudden disappearance from the blogosphere. I’m actually running a few last-minute loads of laundry before my flight tomorrow, so yea… >_>
Anyways, it looks like I might actually be able to blog anime as they air live(!) in Japan, so I’ll definitely take up some anime blogging again. Note though, since my typical anime posts take a long time to write up, I’ll probably change them up so that they’ll be a bit less time consuming. Oh, and I’ll probably cover fewer shows because, well, I’d rather use the time to explore Japan. As for the current season, so far I’ve been thinking of covering Sword Art Online, Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate, and Kokoro Connect. The only other shows I’d consider are Hyouka and Eureka Seven, though I’m already quite behind on those two. Well, I’ll have to see.
And finally, there’s the obligatory thank you I need to make towards both my school, Emory University, as well as various scholarships (such as Gilman) that helped with regards to financing this lengthy study abroad trip. Study abroad is expensive, but as I mentioned, there is plenty of help out there that could help pay for studying abroad (so don’t get discouraged!!). I’ll post up some guides with regards to studying abroad in the future, and hopefully it’ll help somebody out.
And with that, peace out! I’ve got some last-minute packing to do. ＿|￣|○
This series of posts, Adventures Abroad in Japan, was all possible in part due to the generous scholarship from the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. For anybody that is interested in Studying Abroad, do make sure to check them out!
Distant Paradise 