​2025 Japan Trip Reflection -  Emma C. Taylor

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In the days leading up to my trip to Kyoto, I was panicking. I didn’t know what type of clothes to pack, or what shoes I should bring, or if I should bring books. In the end, I got on the plane feeling anxious wondering if I made the right packing choices. As soon as I got to my host family’s house, I knew everything was going to be alright. They immediately welcomed me into their family. I was worried because I hadn’t had much Japanese food before, but I was pleasantly surprised.
My host mother cooked the best food, and they took me out to a wonderful restaurant. I enjoyed their company a lot, usually over dinner or when I got home from school. They were kind enough to buy me a cake and gifts for my birthday, which happened while I was still in Japan. I felt very happy and grateful to my host family. There wasn’t a single part of this trip that I didn’t enjoy.
I quickly made friends with people from all around the world, such as Poland and Switzerland, as well as American friends. We went to the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and many temples. I got addicted to Ichiran’s ramen, despite it being an hour commute from my house to get there, and ate a lot in the last week of my trip. I got to see the Osaka Manga Museum, and bought so many books for less than 1 dollar each.
I spent about 4 hours everyday Monday-Friday at Genki Japanese and Culture School studying Japanese, and I learned a lot from the experience. Between the immersion with my host family and immersion at school, I found myself greatly improving my Japanese. It no longer takes me a minute to come up with a few sentences in a conversation. The teachers were incredibly kind and knew how to capture the attention of all the students in the room. Due to the small class sizes, there was always time for questions and sometimes even side stories.
One of my favorite memories was the Tenjin Matsuri Festival in Osaka. I got dressed up in a kimono and went with friends to watch the fireworks show. Although I ended up sick from the heat, it was one of my fondest memories of my time in Japan.
I remember clearly the first day of school, how my host sister helped me get to school. In America, public transportation is scarce if you don’t live in a big city, so just being able to hop onto a train and go almost anywhere in the city was a dream. Instead
of paying for gas and driving 40 minutes, I could pay like 3 dollars and go from Osaka to Kyoto. Compared to America, everything was less expensive, so things like food and books were usually less than 5 dollars, and clothes were 20 despite being in a pretty high end mall. I am very grateful to KCC JEE for the opportunity to do something like this. On my own I wouldn’t have been able to afford 4 days of this let alone 4 weeks. It was the experience of a lifetime, and I will never forget the memories I made in Japan.

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