Dispatches from a Year Abroad

In between his senior year of high school and his freshman year of college at Wesleyan University, Tai Taliaoa, KIPP Bayview Alumni 2012, applied to spend a year abroad in Japan through the Rotary Club.  In the KTC Newsletter this year, we’ll be featuring some of the highlights and lessons learned from his time in Japan, as he begins his journey through college halfway across the globe.

Konichiwa!

Do you know what konichiwa means? For those of you who haven’t heard, konichiwa (koh-NEE-chee-wah) means good afternoon. In Japan, people generally use three of many forms of aisatsu, or greetings, depending on the time of the day: konichiwa or ohaiyougozaimasu (oh-hah-YOH go-zigh-moss) for “good morning” and oyasuminasai (oh-yah-soo-mee-nah-sigh) for “good night.” Try to remember these words and their meanings, since I might test you on them next time!

 
October has been a month of many exciting and stressful moments.  I definitely appreciate being able to relax with my friends and family and dog since recently finishing my midterm examinations. Midterms were just as I thought they would be: difficult. To put it simply, it was a humbling experience. Despite my best efforts to study, my worst enemy, Kanji, which are written Japanese characters, thwarted my efforts. Seeing unfamiliar Kanji that I couldn’t read prevented me from being able to answer questions on all of my examinations, regardless if I knew the answer to the question or not. 

Sadly, I failed all the tests. Kanji, without a doubt, will be the most difficult part of learning the language since Japanese characters have no similarities to English letters. 

Fortunately for me, my schedule will change now that midterms are over. Two of my classes, Japanese History and Japanese Classics, will be replaced with studying the language instead. During these classes, I’ll go to the library and learn Kanji, Japanese Grammar, Japanese Words, and some Japanese History with English teachers for the remainder of the school year.  This will definitely improve my Japanese skills tremendously, and I intend to take full advantage of it.

Lastly, I’d like to tell all of you about my trip with my Host Rotary Club to the newly built and amazing Tokyo Skytree. From the top of the 2,080-foot tower, visitors get a beautiful sky view of Tokyo, and inside of the tower are restaurants and shops. Seeing a night view of Tokyo from so high up in the sky was one of the most beautiful and memorable experiences I’ll have for the rest of my life; not to mention eating good food at Tokyo Skytree’s restaurant, taking pictures with my host dad at the photo machines, and buying souvenirs for my family back home.  Overall, my trip to Tokyo Skytree was wonderful, and I hope to visit there again soon.

From the top of the Tokyo Skytree

My host family and host Rotary club are all amazing and wonderful people, similar to my amazing sponsor Rotary club and family back home. I couldn’t be any luckier to be around such great people in my life, whether they come from Japan or America or anywhere in the world.

I hope all of you are doing well back in the Bay!

Cheers,

Tai