こんにちは、みなさん！
Hello everyone! My name is Darcie
Knight and I am a student at Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka Japan. Fukuoka
is a large city located on the island of Kyushu, Japan's southern island. I am
working hard trying to learn Japanese language and culture. My dragon has been
learning along with me, her name is 花火
or Hanabi, which means firework in Japanese (it is actually my favorite
Japanese word).
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| Hanabi studying Japanese. She is trying her best! |
Living in Japan has been fun but it also has its difficulties.
Fukuoka is a really good city to live in if you are a student. The cost of
living is not as high as other places in Japan and transportation around the
city is easy to navigate. There is plenty to see and do in just this one part
of Japan. Once I become better at Japanese, I feel like Fukuoka would be a
place I could live in again someday. Seinan is a great college to go to. I live
in an international dorm with people from all over the world. I have made so
many new friends from different countries who same similar passions about
Japan. Classes here are also interesting. I take Japanese four times a week and
also other cultural classes such as Japanese history, traditional theater and
dance, and a class about manga and anime. I am even taking judo, which is super
tough but also fun!
I have managed to go on so many
adventures since I came to Japan in January! My first big trip was to Tokyo
during a break in February. Tokyo is so different from Fukuoka. It is bigger,
more complex, and filled with a lot more people from all over the world, like
New York City or Paris. I was overwhelmed with just how many people there! I
went to many famous places in Tokyo. I saw the Tokyo sky tree and went to the
largest fish markets in Japan (I think it's also one of the largest in the world)
to eat real, fresh sushi.
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| Sushi at Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo |
I went to Akihabara twice, since it was one of my
number one places to visit in Japan. I am a huge lover of Japanese anime, and
Akihabara is the center for it, so I spent hours running around and collecting
as much anime merchandise as possible (maybe even a little too much). I also
went to Shibuya, which reminded me of Times Square, and visited the imperial
palace. Tokyo was an interesting and a fun experience, however, I would never
live in such a big and confusing city. I actually prefer Fukuoka.
My next big adventure was a
school trip my college organized for international students and Japanese
students to explore the island of Kyushu. I loved this trip because I got to
see more of the island that I live and study on. On the trip, we went to a
pottery place out in the country and painted our own plates. We went to Yufuin
in Oita prefecture, which was near the mountains, and visited the crowded
tourist area near a popular lake. I ate ice-cream made from the local limes,
which is one of the foods the area is known for, and saw a bakery that was a
recreation of the bread shop in the movie Kiki's Delivery Service! We then
stayed the night at a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, in Kumamoto. I got to
wear a yukata and have a really amazing meal with everyone in a very Japanese
setting.
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| Group photo of students from the Kyushu trip wearing yukata at a ryokan in Kumamoto |
I also went to an onsen or hot spring for the first time. The onsen
was my favorite part, it was surreal sitting in an outdoor spring looking up at
mountains. The only thing was I had to be naked in front of a bunch of other
women for the first time in my life, but I got over it since onsen is something
you just have to experience when coming to Japan. The next day we went back to
Oita prefecture and visited an historical town called Hita Mameda Machi, famous
for being a government center during the edo period and for producing the
Japanese dolls seen on Girls Day. While here, I somehow ended up on the news! I
was interviewed while viewing an old exhibit of Japanese dolls, and later while
eating lunch, I saw myself on TV for the first time! It was shocking. On the
last part of the trip we went to Dazaifu, a famous shrine where people come to
pray to do well in school and their studies. I hope being there helped me a
little for my future studies in Japan. The Kyushu trip was a great memory for
me, not only did I get to see more of the island but I bonded with the other
international students and made new Japanese friends that also came on the trip.
So far, it has been one of my favorite adventures here in Japan.
