Studying Abroad: the Ups, the Downs, and Finally Feeling “At home”! (Part 3 of a 4 Part Series)

Part 3: “Now is the time to go for it!”

Now that you feel confident you may start to feel lazy and not have as much urge and energy to try out new things. Heck, you’ve been trying and learning new things on a daily basis since the 1^st day you stepped onto new land. DON’T give in to the temptation of just feeling “comfortable” and not exploring what you may have been too scared to try or said you would try later (but we all know that sometimes it means NEVER).

There are many "unexpected" places you should visit while being in a new country- like the Sankyu Sand Dunes in Tottori, Japan. Who knew Japan had deserts?!

During the first 2-3 months in Japan, I made a list of places I wanted to go and things I wanted to do. While there are many that I have checked off, there are still a lot of empty boxes; boxes that have unexplored areas I want to check out. Although I can’t freely go to each one every day because of school, the weekends and free days are the perfect time to check them out. I’ll admit, there are times when curling up in a blanket and having a Korean drama binge marathon seems more tempting (and there have been a couple times when I did drama binge), I know I could be eating the ‘catch of the day’ at Tsukiji Market or people watching in Harajuku and Omotesando. While I know not everyone may not agree with me, I would rather spend more of my time out with my friends discovering whatever Japan has to offer over being pent up in my room or a classroom between 3-6 hours a day, 4-6 days a week.

海鮮丼(seafood bowl) at Tsukiji Market

Choices, choices... debating which crepe to eat at Santa Monica Crepes, Harajuku

End of Part 3