Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyororin
Also - I didn`t just move over here out of the blue. My first trip was 3 months, and it wasn`t living alone (homestay).
If you`re 14, it`s going to be pretty much impossible to find anywhere that will even let you come for a full year - let alone 3. Your best bet for long term is to go with some sort of high school exchange program for a year when you`re 16 to 18. (The seemingly normal range for it) And then work toward university, which will allow you to extend your time.
The big thing is money, as you have to have all school fees plus living costs BEFORE you start. You can`t work and earn it while you`re here.
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I just want to post this reply as an older woman -I would LOVE to return to Japan as I had alot of Japanese friends there-to all of you who want to go to Japan-do go!!! But remember-the Japanese culture is way different from our western culture-be open and non critical and learn the language-Japanese style-like Nyorin-if I were to speak with a Japanese person over the phone that person would assume I was Japanese.
IF you learn the language (and that goes for every language) and the culture, you will have experiences a tourist or expat would never have! I can tell you so many wonderful things about the country-and many ways to avoid problems.
When I lived in Tokyo I did not live on a US base-we lived in central Tokyo and my neighbors and landlady were Japanese-my kids learned to play with their Japanese companions and learned the colloquial (sometimes good sometimes bad). I did not associate with other expats because as I learned the language I became well accepted by the Japanese neighbors. I believe in ways Japan has changed since I was there-I still am in contact with my sensei-I studied sumi-e (seriously and not as a thing to take up my time - I have a degree in art) and loved it.
Like the US-Japan has good and bad-when the culture seems so different to you that you just want to turn away-remember-the Japanese have a different belief system than you do- please do NOT hold yourself above them-there is so much to learn if you go! Bonne Chance!