Article Advice vs. Reality

January 31, 2017

Before I came to Japan, I had read dozens of articles giving advice to future study-abroad students. One of the tips I had seen the most often was to befriend the locals of your host country so that you’re more exposed to the language and culture of that country. To be honest, though, I haven’t been doing a very good job taking this advice; a majority of my friends in Japan are other international students. The only locals I’ve met so far and regularly keep in touch with are my host family and the Japanese students at Oberlin University. I met these students during events hosted by the university, such as the weekend trip at Lake Yamanaka by Mount Fuji. I also met several Japanese students by working at an English conversation café, where Japanese students come to practice speaking in English. Whenever I meet these students outside of the café, we speak mostly in Japanese, but sometimes in English.

Another tip these study-abroad advice articles often mentioned was to create a realistic budget and to stick to it. Because study-abroad students get very excited about being in a new country, they tend to end up not wisely managing their money and spend it all. Surprisingly enough, sticking to a budget was a lot easier than I’d expected. Because I live with a host family, I don’t have to worry about budgeting for groceries or housing costs. And because most Japanese clothing and shoe brands don’t fit me, clothes and shoes (which I usually spent the most money on back in the U.S.) aren’t a problem.
On average, I spend about 2000 yen (or $20) per week, and that money is used to buy dinner on days when I have late classes. Therefore, I have a decent amount of money saved for things like shopping at Akihabara or splurging on something I’ve wanted or even buying souvenirs for my friends and family back home. For example, one of the most interesting (and possibly the silliest) things I’ve bought here is a toilet paper memo roll. Basically, it’s like a Post-It in the form of toilet paper. Possibly the strangest souvenir ever, but I thought it was hilarious.

Written By

Yvette Ortiz

Hello! My name is Yvette, and I am a fifth-year student here at Northeastern. For my final semester as an undergrad, I decided to study abroad in Tokyo, Japan. One of the main reasons I chose to go abroad was my desire to push myself out of my comfort zone, and I figured traveling alone to a foreign country where my native language is rarely used would be a pretty effective way of doing that. Aside from improving my Japanese, my main study-abroad goal is to not be afraid of making mistakes. Since I will be immersed in a completely different culture, I will receive ample opportunities to initiate conversations with native Japanese speakers. I’ll probably make tons of mistakes, but that's okay, because that's what normally happens when you're learning a foreign language while living in a foreign country.