Why Japan?

This post comes from an edited section of an email that I sent someone. Enjoy!

First of all, lets look at my application essay.
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It is often quite difficult to understand why some people act differently than others. Having grown up in America and never leaving its shores, I have not had the opportunity to discover first hand why other cultures perform their daily tasks differently than Americans. I personally strive to see all people as equal and in order to do that, I must gain a perspective on how a different culture acts and why they do what they do. Japan, a country that I have been interested in for some time now, would serve as an excellent setting for me to learn about a different culture, which would also allow me to better understand diversity so that I may teach others that ‘different does not mean unequal.’

I am interested to learn and observe three main things about Japan itself including the language, society, and marketplace. I have taken six courses in the Japanese language over my high school and college career as well as an additional course that I will be taking this fall so I may practice the language before I visit Japan. Classes in a language can do only so much, though, as it is far more educational to witness a language being used in its home country. I seek to learn to speak, interpret and perhaps even read Japanese during my visit. Through these language skills, I can gain international acquaintances as well as opportunities in the business world.

I have heard that the Japanese society has a high sense of community, which brings them to look out for each other and be friendlier in general. This form of atmosphere intrigues me, as it displays the sense of equality that I seek. A few summers ago, I attended the Governor’s Honors Program, which gathered the brightest high school minds together for a six week period in order to have a college-like learning experience. During GHP, I noticed that virtually everyone greeted each other as they passed by whether they knew the person or not. After returning home from GHP, I found that hardly anyone would even acknowledge another person’s presence unless they knew him/her. I am interested to see how much the Japanese society differs from the American society by observing how they interact with each other. Though I do not expect to see everyone greeting each other, I hope to find the kinder atmosphere that I have heard about from my teachers.

Having seen various advertisements from Japan, I can tell that the marketplace in Japan is vastly different than the marketplace in America. Being in the school of business, I believe that understanding how a foreign market works will help me gain a better understanding of how businesses work worldwide. I am interested to observe how our cultural differences change the products on their market such as toys, foods, and technological devices. Gaining an understanding of the differences between Japanese and American products will help me learn more about the Japanese culture and understand how different countries have different needs.

My ultimate objective of visiting Japan is to learn to understand the differences between other cultures and learn to accept those differences as an equivalent way of life. I foresee my stay in Japan to be extremely educational (as well as fun) in not only what I have written about, but much more. I expect my journey to be a memorable experience that I will keep with me for the rest of my life. After my return, I trust that I will strive to get others to venture outside of their country’s boundaries to experience the same things for themselves.
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Though many view essays as an opportunity to test their BSing skills, I am proud to say that every word of my essay reflects my interest in Japan. I like knowing that I was accepted to the program through my genuine interests without having to embellish the truth in order to sound more applicable to them.

Apart from the items in my essay, I would like to speak about my history in terms of Japan. In my freshmen year of high school, I was faced with the decision of which language I would choose to take the following year. I knew that Spanish would not be a good choice considering that most people would take that language under the assumption that it was ‘easy to learn.’ I knew that the large Spanish class roster would cause the teachers to ensure that their class would not be as easy as the students hoped. With Spanish out of the picture, I had to choose between German, Latin, and Japanese. Latin had no practical use in my eyes since it was not spoken by any culture anymore and German did not seem as intriguing as Japanese did, so I chose to take Japanese. As my lessons in Japanese began, I found that I was in a bit of a learning curve. After I got over hurdle of proper pronunciation and the very basics of grammar, I quickly soared to the top of my class. It was at that point that my aspirations to visit Japan began.

I was also getting into some Japanese music at the time. I enjoyed hearing music that was slightly different than the music common to the United States. Even now, I have a vast collection of foreign music ranging from many different countries. As with most Japanese language students, I also had my interests in anime, however, I have always prided myself on not taking Japanese for the sake of anime. In fact, I only find interest in a handful of anime today.

My main interest in Japan right now is their culture. From what I understand, Japan has a more ‘ceremonial’ view on how they conduct themselves even in their more casual moments. I am interested to observe these differences and figure out why they were implemented by their culture. I am of course delighted that I will get the chance to do so.

Next, I would like to move on to the specifics about my stay at Kansai Gaidai. To start, I will be staying in the dorms at the school. There were two main factors that led me to decide to stay in the dorms. I currently live at home with my family and commute to school each day. Whenever I go somewhere, they want to know what, when, and where each of my activities are. I did not want to feel like I was still at home while I am in Japan , and I felt that living with a Japanese family would simulate my experience at home. I am also not able to eat breakfast because I become ill if I eat too soon after waking up. Since I would have to pay for breakfast by staying with a family, I would be wasting money. These two things made me choose to stay in the dorms.

Being in the dorms, however, has opened the option of still having a Japanese family to visit periodically. I have already applied for the program as well as a program to match me with a Japanese student to ‘buddy up’ with during my stay. In terms of the dorms, I have indicated my preference to stay in the ‘apartment-style’ dorms in Seminar House III. I liked the idea of sharing the bathroom with one person instead of fifteen.

My stay in Japan is being paid for pretty much in full by various scholarships that I have allotted. Let’s just say that the essay I attached had more than one use. Because I have an excess of savings for the trip, I purchased a digital camera and a laptop so I could easily record my experiences in Japan both in literature and photographically.

That should start you off in knowing the purpose of the trip. Cheers!