[samurai007]

I'm one of those people who didn't know any Japanese besides "arigato" when I stepped off the plane. I didn't have time in my busy university schedule to take any Japanese classes, and while I had some interest in Japan (as well as Europe, Australia, and other places), it wasn't a burning interest.

But I'd grown up all my life in a rural town, never had a chance to travel, and I really wanted to see the world a bit, experience a different culture, see new things and meet new people. I was poor, so I knew I'd have to work wherever I went, and I began to research teaching jobs in other countries. Taiwan, South Korea, and some European countries all had fairly minor programs at the time, but nothing could compare to the size and organization of the JET program. A speaker from JET came to my university and gave a presentation, and after hearing about it from them, I was hooked. I applied, and 9 months of applications and interviews later, there I was in Narita airport!

I traded English for Japanese lessons with a local group of tour guides (who I became good friends with), and pretty soon I could read hiragana and katakana, count, ask directions, etc. No deep conversations, and if the other person spoke too quickly I was lost, and lots of times I had to guess the entire sentence from understanding a word or 2, but I got by. I was able to travel all over Japan by myself, shop in markets and stores, and so on, though it did become frustrating at times not being able to read a sign or a newspaper, or really tell someone how you're feeling and why, etc. You learn to use a lot of visual clues... for instance, nearly everything in a supermarket has a picture on the label that will show you what it is, or you can just tell beef from pork from chicken by looking at it, same with milk, bread, fruits and vegetables.

I stayed in Japan for 2 years, and while JET would have allowed me to stay 1 more year, I decided it was time to come home. The frustration about lack of deep communication was starting to build, I had already visited pretty much every place I'd wanted to see, I'd gone to so many shrines and temples that I was "templed out", I'd had a dispute with my host school over some issues with my apartment, I was missing my friends and family, and my brother was getting married in 3 months and the school had already said they would not allow me to fly home for it because it was during school time, not vacation time. For all those reasons and more, I figured it was better to leave then while I still loved my time in Japan rather than stay and become too homesick and resentful.

Now, after being back in the US for 10 years, it'd be really nice to visit Japan again, as I miss a lot of things about it. But I still think it was the right choice, to come home when I did.