Embracing distant and newfound family in Japan

In this episode, we’ll dive into the journey of two Asian American students — now best friends — who met during their study abroad in Nagasaki, Japan. Aolani, a University of Houston alumna, shares her experience reconnecting with her Japanese relatives and reflecting on her Japanese American identity. Gabby, an Indian American and senior at University of Nevada, Reno, recounts what it was like exploring Japan for the first time, being welcomed into Aolani’s family, and building a bond that crossed cultures and continents. 

Have an idea for a future episode or just want to learn more about study abroad? Email us at studyabroad@usac.edu.

Transcript

Embracing distant and newfound family in Japan

[00:00:00] Colette H.: Hello and welcome to THE Study Abroad Pod. Today we're hearing from two students who quickly became best friends during their study abroad in Nagasaki, Japan. Aolani will share what it was like reconnecting with her Japanese relatives and exploring her identity, and Gabby will give her first impressions of Japan and what it meant to be welcomed into Al's family.

[00:00:26] It's a story full of travel, self-discovery, and a friendship that feels like it was meant to be. 

[00:00:32] Gabby P.: Hi, I'm Gabby. I am from the University of Nevada, Reno. I'm class of 2026, and my major is graphic design. 

[00:00:41] Aolani W.: Hi, I'm Aolani. I recently graduated from the University of Houston and I studied sociology. 

[00:00:47] Gabby P.: And we met at the Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies during our study abroad program, 

[00:00:56] Aolani W.: and we became best friends.

[00:00:57] And we actually, after the semester ended, we traveled to like six different cities. 

[00:01:02] Gabby P.: So we're pretty well traveled together. That's, we survived together, we survived. Let's get started, I guess. What made you choose Nagasaki for your final semester? 

[00:01:12] Aolani W.: Yeah, so Nagasaki was my final semester of college. I was in Houston for three years, and then for my last semester I decided to do something crazy.

[00:01:21] So I'm Japanese American, and so I've been to Japan many times, specifically in the Tokyo area where my family is. But I studied abroad in Nagasaki specifically because my grandfather is from Nagasaki. And what was really fun about Nagasaki was before the semester even started, I was able to go visit my grandfather's siblings and all of their children and their grandchildren in their house, and so that was really, really amazing.

[00:01:46] Gabby, what made you study abroad in Japan and specifically in Nagasaki? 

[00:01:50] Gabby P.: So mine is not as like deeply rooted in my family as Aolani being Japanese American, but my aunt and my uncle, when they were young adults in like the seventies they met in Japan, they were both teaching English. Um, and growing up, my aunt and uncle played a really big role in raising me.

[00:02:13] They shared a lot of stories of their time living together in Japan. They actually got married in Japan also, and I think Japan was always just in the background of my life. I always heard stories about it. I started learning a little bit of Japanese with my uncle. And studying abroad in Japan was just always one of my goals.

[00:02:32] I never really had like a specific spot in Japan that I wanted to go to. It was more like just go to Japan and see Japan. And honestly, I landed on Nagasaki just based on being a student and having like one more big semester to do in the spring following my abroad program. It was, um, important to me to get back by a certain time.

[00:02:54] So Nagasaki provided that. So I went there and I'm really glad I did 'cause I met so many great people, including Aolani, so I love that. So Aolani, were you nervous about like study abroad specifically? 

[00:03:09] Aolani W.: That's a good question. Up until maybe my parents and grandparents dropping me off at NUFS (Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies) as we call it, I wasn't nervous 'cause I was as per usual when I was in Japan,

[00:03:19] I was surrounded by family, which I'm really grateful for. And so when, as soon as they dropped me off and I was alone in Japan, all of a sudden that's kind of when the nerves started kicking in. But soon after, I was able to meet everybody and orientation started so soon that I was no longer alone. I was with other people and we were all trying to figure things out.

[00:03:40] How about you, Gabby? First time in Japan. 

[00:03:43] Gabby P.: I was super nervous. I'd only been out of the country one other time. I traveled to Italy like two summers ago with my family, but traveling all by myself. I, to Japan was, it was crazy. I was honestly like freaking out like the weeks before it was occurring, and then on the plane, and then as I was getting off the plane and the first day I was there, I tend to be like, just like anxious in general.

[00:04:10] So I think just taking in everything, like step by step, day by day, was important for me, but honestly, similar to what you said, once we met everyone else, and you know, we have this shared experience of being, you know, in a study abroad program together. So meeting other people and confiding in them about being in Japan really helped me.

[00:04:33] But the nerves were so real and we were warned about that, like on all of our little USAC orientations. They were telling us like, you're gonna be nervous, and then it's gonna get better. And oh boy, did I feel that. 

[00:04:48] Aolani W.: But no, Gabby for real though, my parents and I were talking like, it's a very different experience for me to go study abroad in Japan.

[00:04:54] But for like my, our peers, like youth for example, I think it's like y'all are so, so brave for going to Japan, it's just so different from America. And so I'm very proud of you and I'm so glad that you did it. Because now we have all these fun memories together. 

[00:05:09] Gabby P.: I honestly, I had a moment where I knew that I needed to study abroad.

[00:05:12] I remember one of my professors saying, if you're gonna study abroad, you have to do it in the semester if you want to graduate on time. And you know, that was kind of like, okay, well I have to do this. It's literally built into my program to have like an independent study semester. That's like perfect, so I have to do it.

[00:05:31] Aolani W.: What were you most nervous about? 

[00:05:33] Gabby P.: Oh man. I think honestly it was a mix of being alone and also the culture shock. I think being alone really hit me the hardest, the most, especially when I was first in the San Francisco airport. It was really hitting me that I had to be strong and independent and figure everything out, and in figuring everything out.

[00:05:53] It was like navigating the culture and everything else about Japan, but you know, I think out of everything, it was probably being alone and having to be brave and be fully independent in that way. 

[00:06:05] Aolani W.: For sure. For sure. 

[00:06:08] Gabby P.: What about you? Did you have like specific things that you were nervous about? 

[00:06:12] Aolani W.: I think I was most nervous about, I guess my identity as well as how well my language skills held up over there, because I speak Japanese at home with my mom.

[00:06:26] But, so she's like the main person I speak Japanese to and build my skills with. But I was really nervous to see how I would held hold up in Japan, but yeah. And so what helped you push through the fear of potentially being alone at first? 

[00:06:44] Gabby P.: Honestly, everything became easier after I met everyone else in our program and after the first day when we got settled, just building out my routine there, like settling in, like, okay, I'm here.

[00:06:56] Like I can't just back out of this. And realizing obviously that there's people around me like going through the same thing. That helped me a lot and I grew to really like my independence there. Like I, we both lived in single rooms, so we didn't have any roommates. Luckily, thank God. No shade to like anyone?

[00:07:17] No, no, no shade at all to anyone on our floors. But it was really nice to like have my own space at the end of the day. So something that terrified me at first, like, super initially became a really good part of the abroad program. 

[00:07:32] Aolani W.: Adding onto what I was talking about earlier, about what I was nervous about.

[00:07:35] I think another thing that I was super nervous about was my identity, but specifically if I would be two American or the Japanese students, or two Japanese for my American peers, and I guess being Japanese American. All of a sudden it was kind of like a scary identity to have in a sense, while studying abroad in Nagasaki.

[00:07:58] But I think what helped me push past that fear was, I tried to explore my identity more, and actually I actually did an independent study at Nagasaki and the Independent. Thank you. Thank you. And that independent study was a research project and I surveyed some of my peers, my American study abroad peers and my Japanese peers, and asked them about their perceptions of Japanese American mixed race identity.

[00:08:22] And it's kinda interesting to hear all these perspectives and what they thought about this identity. Like I mentioned, I'm a sociology major and I have done research in the past, which I love, and so exploring that in an academic sense for some reason was comforting, and I got a lot of good information from that.

[00:08:39] But overall, just pushing through and being very accepting of my identity kinda helped me push back against that fear. 

[00:08:48] Gabby P.: I was gonna bring up your research project as you were speaking. I'm glad you brought it up. It was it. It was really cool. I remember looking at the results with you. That was super awesome.

[00:08:57] I'm really glad you chose that as your independent study. It's something awesome to see. 

[00:09:03] Aolani W.: Thank you so much. We both had independent studies. They were very cool. Woo ooh. 

[00:09:10] Gabby P.: I'm like trying to remember. I'm like, I did an Independence day. Yes. Yes, I did. 

[00:09:13] Aolani W.: I think you kind of mentioned about the feeling on the first day, but how about.

[00:09:18] If you could go back and talk to yourself from that first week or maybe even that first day, what would you say? 

[00:09:24] Gabby P.: I think I would honestly just reassure my past self that it will turn out okay. I think I was really proud of myself for even like taking the first step of like settling into my dorm and then pushing myself to go downstairs and meet with people like.

[00:09:41] So I would tell myself like, trust yourself. It'll be okay. Take a breath. Turn on the AC. I know it's hot. Oh my God. Did you struggle with turning on the AC? 

[00:09:51] Aolani W.: Yeah.

[00:09:52] Gabby P.: Okay.

[00:09:52] Aolani W.: I had to start Google up and find an English translation version of our remote. 

[00:09:58] Gabby P.: Yeah. I literally found a blog that was specific to this AC unit.

[00:10:04] Honestly, if I'm being 100% real, I was crashing out in my dorm because it was so hot in there. It was so hot in there. Because we came in like middle of September on, actually, we arrived. We arrived on my birthday, so I think that that added a lot to me. Yeah, I think so too. My feelings, I was like, it's my birthday and nobody knows it's my birthday and like, and I'm sitting in my dorm room, figure out this AC and then we figured it out.

[00:10:33] It's okay. Past self, you will figure out the AC, I promise. There's literally a blog that tells you step by step. Then you'll go downstairs, you'll be fine. 

[00:10:42] So yeah, that's what I tell myself.

[00:10:44] Aolani W.: I think I'd also tell them, Google the AC first. Figure that out. Cool off the room before you do anything. 

[00:10:51] Gabby P.: Yeah. 

[00:10:52] Aolani W.: But also I think the people that will, our peers and all that, not just from America, but from other countries that we'll meet are gonna be very welcoming in that in the end.

[00:11:05] Everything was a very positive experience. 

[00:11:07] Gabby P.: Everything worked out 

[00:11:08] Aolani W.: somehow. 

[00:11:09] Gabby P.: Somehow it worked out. Did you have. Any moments where you felt at home in Nagasaki?

[00:11:16] Aolani W.: I think it felt very, very different from anything because as I mentioned, I've been to Tokyo area 'cause that's where my family is. So I'm very used to that big city and or like Osaka and Kyoto, which I visited with my family and family friends.

[00:11:30] So I'm super used to big cities in Japan and back home in America. And so going to Nagasaki, which is very, very most southern part of Japan, mainland Japan was very, very different. It was very small, quiet. It was beautiful, beautiful city, and I miss it and the quietness and the nature so much, but it's such a big different culture shock for me just within Japan, which is crazy, and I didn't expect that to happen.

[00:11:54] And so I think where I felt most at home was visiting my grandparents, my grandfather's old, old home, and meeting all my very, very extended family members, so meeting his siblings and their children, and their children, their children, and all of that was, I think, I felt very at home, which is, I guess, surprising because I had never met these people before and it was the first day in Nagasaki and I was bombarded with all these new things and, but just meeting them was such a beautiful experience, and that's part of why I wanted to go in the first place and also be able to bring my grandfather back to Nagasaki.

[00:12:35] That was really amazing, but yeah. 

[00:12:38] Gabby P.: Yeah. I remember like touching on like the smallness of Nagasaki. I remember in one of our times that we traveled together, I think we were in Kyoto, where I just remember this one moment where we were both like overwhelmed by the big city that we were in. We were like, we got, yeah, we got so used to our small little Nagasaki that we went to this bigger city and we were like, "there's so much going on here". 

[00:13:07] Aolani W.: I agree. Oh my gosh. I love that we have talked about this individually one-on-one many times. Gabby, my friend, do you remember the first time that we met and hung out one-on-one?

[00:13:20] Gabby P.: Yes, I sure do. I don't remember what day it was. I feel like it was day like three or four. It was during orientation, is that right? Yeah. I had met one of our other peers named Monica, and then she invited me to go thrifting with herself, Aolani and one of our other peers, Kyler. So we all went thrifting as a group.

[00:13:45] It was a really fun little excursion. That was our first time using the bus. 

[00:13:50] Aolani W.: Yes. We get the bus wrong at first, and then we had to catch the other bus and we made it over there. We just kind of figured it out. 

[00:13:59] Gabby P.: But we went thrifting and then we got food. And then when we got back to the dorm, we talked about, okay, we're gonna go to our rooms and then we're gonna reconvene in the lobby afterwards.

[00:14:10] Then everyone went to their rooms, and then only me and Aolani came down to reconvene. 

[00:14:18] Aolani W.: We were downstairs in the community area of the dorm. I think I was the first one there waiting. And then Gabby came by and Gabby and I barely spoke any words directly to each other during this thrifting or eating food.

[00:14:32] So it was like, "hey person that I spent a few hours silently with, but I was like, okay, cool, cool". Let me be brave. Let me speak to this person. Lemme try and make friends and all that. I don't know. I think as we were talking, we found out that we had a lot in common and had a lot of similar interests.

[00:14:54] I don't know, it was just very random how soon and quickly we met. I still can't explain it. Yeah. And when I in Reno and I met your family and I was speaking to your mother, she was like, yeah, it's crazy how you two just met and you two just became such quick like best friends. And I was like, was there like something specific?

[00:15:13] And I was like, I don't know. I don't think there was anything specific that occurred or anything, but I think we just started talking and we just kind of knew that we were, yes, this is meant to be, we're meant to be best friends and meet here. How about you? What do you think? 

[00:15:28] Gabby P.: We were sitting down there for like, 

[00:15:31] Aolani W.: oh my God

[00:15:31] Gabby P.: six hours talking. It, the conversation started off like really like academic, like what have you been doing in school and like work and all this stuff. And then it slowly like devolved more into like special interests and like, like, I don't know, like past dating stories. Like

[00:15:50] Aolani W.: Dating horror stories.

[00:15:51] Gabby P.: And Yeah, and I think it was honestly like a symptom of our situation of like, yes, we were both being brave talking to this person. And then, I don't know, it just happened. We just clicked. I honestly just think it's like a happy coincidence. I guess that we had so much in common and we were like so open with just like literally yapping for six hours.

[00:16:18] We just met and we yapped for so long. 

[00:16:21] Aolani W.: We were surrounded it, some point, we were surrounded by other people who were also hanging out and it was just, it just me and you 

[00:16:26] Gabby P.: and we had blinders on and we were looking at each other quite literally. 

[00:16:28] Aolani W.: We were literally surrounded by people. 

[00:16:31] Gabby P.: I'm pretty sure it started off light outside and then it was dark outside by the time we were 

[00:16:36] talking.

[00:16:37] Aolani W.: I think what you're saying about we both are aware that we're trying to be brave and that, you know, we're both kind of like unsure what's going on, not just like between us, but like in general of study abroad. And so I think that. That kind of, it's funny how that kind of new, scary, daunting experience and situation allowed us to be brave and to try and connect with each other.

[00:16:59] So I think that's really amazing. 

[00:17:01] Gabby P.: Yeah, definitely. It was really nice to have those social experiences with people. I'm so introverted and I have a core group of friends in Reno that expanding. It was never even on my radar until I went to Japan. I made new friends in Japan, which I don't know if that's crazy, but that's just how my experience in college has been.

[00:17:21] We've talked about this a lot, how we both had. Maybe unorthodox college experiences where it was less about like social experiences and more about, let me just get through this class and stuff. 

[00:17:35] Aolani W.: Facts. Facts. And so that's kind of why for my last semester I was like, I literally only need one more college credit in order to graduate.

[00:17:43] Why don't I study abroad and take like five, six more credits actually? And so, yeah, and do something crazy, but yeah. 

[00:17:53] Gabby P.: Thank God you did.

[00:17:54] Aolani W.: Thank God we both did.

[00:17:59] Gabby P.: So how did it feel when you introduced me to your family at the end of our abroad program? 

[00:18:06] Aolani W.: Yeah, it was kind of a crazy, it was crazy. So what happened was we were in Nagasaki studying abroad, and then the day after Halloween we went, Gabby and I went to Osaka with one of our friends and. That was our first little trip, and we made it to the trips.

[00:18:24] I was like, okay, yes, yes. Good things, good signs. Because the possibility of me bringing a friend home to Tokyo, to my grandparents' house was on my radar. On me and my mom's radar this whole time. And then I went to my grandparents' place in Tokyo solo to visit for the weekend. And so when I went there, they're like, so you wanna bring your friend over?

[00:18:47] I was like. Who told you that? Because I did not tell you that. I was like, oh, my mom told you that. Great, great, great. I was like, yeah, I do. What do we think about this? They're like, yeah, cool. And I was, okay, great. And so I think I, when did I tell you, Gabby or like offer for you to, 

[00:19:02] Gabby P.: I honestly feel like it was brought up super early, like pre Osaka, Kyoto, that you mentioned it.

[00:19:09] I'm pretty sure it was really early and then when I heard it, I was like. That would be wonderful, but I'm not gonna push this person to like bring me to see their family. But I think, honestly, we probably talked about it more after Osaka and Kyoto. I think that was like probably like the final nail in the coffin that we were capable of doing travel together.

[00:19:32] Aolani W.: Absolutely. 

[00:19:32] Gabby P.: And coming out unscathed for the most part. I'm kidding. Um, but yeah, I think it was right after that 

[00:19:40] Aolani W.: I was very nervous because. This is my first time bringing a friend over to me. Not only my grandparents, but my three cousins, my aunt and uncle, and I was like so nervous about the dynamics and so I was, I was very nervous and I think Gabby knew that Gabby was very gracious and very and welcoming of the new experiences in me.

[00:20:04] Figuring out how to make this work for everybody involved, but, and it was so nice to see Gabby getting along with them, and especially at the end when you wrote that sweet postcard for them and you gave it to them at the end when you go to the airport, that was so, so sweet. And so I'm really, really happy that you were able to make it.

[00:20:26] And you saw so many cool things in Tokyo, including New Year's, which you were there for. That was crazy. 

[00:20:34] Gabby P.: I mean, I, I knew you were nervous about bringing me, I was very nervous as well. But were you? Well, yeah. I mean, I, I feel like this was like another step up from study abroad. It was basically like a home.

[00:20:48] And despite staying in Japan for an extended period, my Japanese was still very minimal. It's all right. You give me too much credit. I think in my family, and I don't know, maybe this is just a thing of all families, but it's really rooted in my family, to respect your elders. And like there, growing up, it was like drilled into me, like how you act around certain people.

[00:21:21] So, as we're like writing the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo, I'm like reviewing my notes, like sitting there, like I have to be like a model citizen, like the perfect person, like my God. And I mean, once we got there and settled in, it was. So nice. It was honestly nice to experience a home stay type of duration. And your grandparents' house is so nice.

[00:21:48] Even though I couldn't speak a lot of Japanese with your grandparents, it was nice to pick up on some things and it was great. I really liked that. I was so glad to hear that the nerves were gone really quickly. I feel like you were more nervous than me. And I was trying to be a good. Be a model citizen, like I said, to relieve your nerves.

[00:22:08] I'm like, I can be so quiet, you're not even gonna know I'm there, actually. 

[00:22:13] Aolani W.: Oh my God. Yes. I had so much fun and they had so much fun having you. They said just come back whenever. 

[00:22:20] Gabby P.: Yeah, they really did. They're like, come back soon. I feel like we should talk about New Year's a little bit. 

[00:22:27] Aolani W.: Oh, you are right. Okay.

[00:22:27] New Year's is the most important holiday in Japan and Gabby and I, we are already in Tokyo area by the time that New Year's happened. And so the night of, we went to the local shrine, Shinto shrine, and we prayed a little bit with my grandmother and it was a bit of a struggle getting there, but it was super fun and it was super exciting.

[00:22:49] I so we did that and then we did all the stuff at home. But we decided not to go to the super, super big Shinto shrines or the Buddhist temples on that first night because it'd been super crazy. 'cause millions of people, especially in Tokyo, millions of people will be at those shrines and temples said, okay, we'll hold off and we'll just go on the third day, there's the third and last day of pretty much celebrating.

[00:23:12] So that day we woke up very, and we went first to Asakusa and went to the Meiji? No, went to the, where do we go? Gabby, what was the second one. 

[00:23:24] Gabby P.: What was the first one? 

[00:23:27] Aolani W.: Yes. I'm sorry. We went to Senso-ji in Asakusa and that was amazing and beautiful. And then the second place we went to afterwards was Meiji Jingu, which is in a different city in Tokyo area.

[00:23:38] Yeah. Gabby, what did you think about going to both of those places and celebrating New Years in Japan? 

[00:23:44] Gabby P.: It was awesome. I think that was maybe one of my top moments. In Japan. I don't like having that opportunity to be in Japan on New Year's, first of all is insane. I'm so glad that I was there and I was there with you.

[00:23:59] Mm-hmm. To see all of that. I think in general, seeing shrines in Nagasaki and in any of the places that we went when we were traveling through Japan was one of my favorite things to do. I just love how beautiful all of the shrines were and being able to participate in such an important part of Japanese culture was incredible.

[00:24:17] The vibes were just awesome that day. The vibes are crazy. The vibes. Like there was still so many people. It was incredible. And I got, I got a bunch of little like amulets for my family, and doing the prayer was really important to me and. It was just, it was just amazing. How did you like it? This is your second, it was your second time?

[00:24:38] Aolani W.: Yeah. This is my second time celebrating New Year's in Japan. The first time I went was I think 10 years ago. And do you remember that arrow that I brought with me from America? Mm-hmm. So there's these arrows in Shinto, I guess, religion and these arrows that you get in New Year's primarily. And the one that I had, it was the year of the horse.

[00:24:59] And when we looked it up, that was like almost 10 years ago. And so, because I knew that I was gonna spend New Year's in Japan, I wanted to bring the arrow from Japan that we brought home to America 10 years ago back to Japan in order to, I guess properly, respectfully, what's the word? Get rid of the arrow? Or get a new arrow for this new upcoming year.

[00:25:18] And so that was crazy, bringing that old Relic from 10 years back, and being able to dispose of it properly. That was really fun. 

[00:25:25] Gabby P.: Yeah. 

[00:25:26] Aolani W.: With the arrow specifically, it's displayed downstairs, the one that I bought recently, but this new one that I got, it's for protection of the house primarily, and so I brought it back home and it luckily did not break in the suitcase.

[00:25:42] I was really worried about that. It's made of wood, so thankfully that was good. And so I'm displaying it downstairs right now. But with the old arrow that I pretty much traded in on the first night. I was hoping they would still be there on the third day that we went, but it wasn't. But usually on the first night people bring old amulets or old arrows or old things that brought protect into the house to the New Year shrines, and they burn it in a fire and it's a really, really huge fire.

[00:26:10] And it smells really good. I think so. And that's how you properly dispose of it through fire. But since on the third day we were there, it wasn't there, we respectfully traded it in to a person who's working at the shrine. 

[00:26:23] Gabby P.: I also got some arrows. Yes. 

[00:26:27] Aolani W.: Yes. And the fire. So on the third day when we went, the fire was not there, so we could not burn it in a cool way, but it's okay.

[00:26:35] Gabby P.: It's okay. We still respectfully turned the bib exactly along, I think. Did you turn in an amulet as well or was it just the arrow? Yeah, I think I turned in an amulet as well, and also got, I got an arrow for my parents' house and I got an arrow for my aunt's house, the aunt that was in Japan and they were ecstatic to have those.

[00:26:58] Yeah. You saw, did you see them display in both houses in your parents' house and your 

[00:27:03] Aolani W.: Yes. In my grandparent's house as well. I saw both of them. It's like, oh my gosh, it's there. And it was crazy. Okay. Do you wanna talk about Gabby? We went to like six cities, six, seven cities altogether. 

[00:27:16] Gabby P.: Yeah, so you'll have to help me.

[00:27:18] I think I have like the order probably wrong. Um, we went from Nagasaki. First we went to Fukuoka and we spent Christmas there. And then from there, did we go to Kyoto next, or was it Hiroshima? 

[00:27:32] Aolani W.: Hiroshima first, yes. Hiroshima. We went to the castle and actually it was really lucky we went up to the castle. And from the castle we were able to see the A-Bomb Dome (Atomic Bomb Dome).

[00:27:43] So like the bombing remains. And so that was really important, at least for me, that I really wanted to go see that. So luckily we were able to do that. 

[00:27:49] Gabby P.: And then after Hiroshima, was it Kyoto? 

[00:27:53] Aolani W.: I think so, yes. It was amazing. We went and also went to Nara, the deer park. That was super, super fun. It was so nice there.

[00:28:00] The deer was so sweet. 

[00:28:02] Gabby P.: After that, Mount Fuji was crazy. It was incredible. We went specifically on the Shizuoka side. 

[00:28:10] Aolani W.: Yes, 

[00:28:11] Gabby P.: that's right. I think the more famous touristy attraction side is if you're coming down from Tokyo. 

[00:28:16] Aolani W.: Mm-hmm. 

[00:28:17] Gabby P.: That was great. I liked the simplicity of our little Fuji plan. Me too. And we also had really good food in the station.

[00:28:25] Yeah. He's amazing. This is technically like a Korean barbecue style. Yeah. Which is fun in the Eki (Japanese for train station). Yeah. 

[00:28:32] Aolani W.: Yeah. And you guys, we were traveling. We were just taking day trips to Hiroshima. Day trips to Mount Fuji on the way to our final destination of the night. And so after Fuji, we made it all the way to Tokyo and

[00:28:44] that night we made it finally to my grandparents' house in the Tokyo area. And then from there we did little trips inside Tokyo. But that was the end of our traveling section. 

[00:28:55] Gabby P.: Yeah, it was over the course of like four or five days. Do you remember the like time leading up to going to Tokyo? It was, was it?

[00:29:06] In my head it was like so quick. 

[00:29:09] Aolani W.: It felt quick because the last day of campus, we were in enough. Nagasaki was the 23rd of December and that was such a, that was so sad. On the last day, I packed my stuff up, cleaned my dorm, like all night, I didn't sleep at all, I don't think. And I did my final trip to Peace Park and the bombing hypocenter.

[00:29:32] And because I just wanted to see those things one more time before I left Nagasaki and see the peace park statue and all that. One more time. And so that was really, really nice. And that was my last day. Then Gabby and I were crying in the station as we were leaving Nagasaki. 

[00:29:46] Gabby P.: Crying. Sobbing. We could not look at each other.

[00:29:51] We had moments where we turned and looked at each other and we were like, like, you cannot look at me right now. 

[00:29:57] Aolani W.: No. 

[00:29:57] Gabby P.: I think going, circling all the way back, one thing to share with my past self is you're gonna love Japan so much that you're gonna be sobbing at the end of your study abroad program.

[00:30:07] You're gonna be like a mess on that last day saying goodbye to everything. Oh, that should be enough to reassure someone that you're gonna have a good time, that you're gonna love it so much that you're gonna genuinely mourn the loss of it. That was something that I was experiencing. 

[00:30:23] Aolani W.: For me. And I think I told you about this, Gabby, you, you noticed this?

[00:30:26] I was like. I was staying strong all day on the last day. 'Cause we met up at the Ecky (train station) In the last hour. 'cause I was off doing my own thing that day for some reason. And so up until then I was like, yeah, we're cool. Like, yeah, I'm so excited. Like I love Nagasaki, but I'm ready to move on and let's keep this going.

[00:30:42] Let's keep this good vibes going until I was like walking solo towards you at, at the front. And all of a sudden I was like, 

[00:30:49] Gabby P.: yeah. 

[00:30:52] Aolani W.: And I was like, don't look at me, don't speak to me. That was so, that was so crazy. I was like, burst out crying. 

[00:30:57] Gabby P.: Yeah. I, I spent that last day. I think I was just hanging out with some of the friends that I made at NUFS (Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies).

[00:31:03] I was like staying strong most of the day. You know, just like, I'm just gonna be happy and like, spend time with these people. But then as I was saying, bye to that group, yeah. I was crying. Yeah. And then I like. Regain composure. And then I saw Aolani, and then I was crying again. 

[00:31:18] Aolani W.: Oh my God. And the next day was Christmas Eve.

[00:31:23] Gabby P.: We're like, yes, I'm so, let's go celebrate Christmas. No, it was really fun. It was fun. It was an underlying buzz of, oh my God, it's over. 

[00:31:33] Aolani W.: like I can't believe this portion of study abroad is over. But speaking of the studying part. We took not a lot of similar classes we took only had we only shared maybe two classes.

[00:31:46] I would say 

[00:31:47] Gabby P.: honestly, the classes that I took were very simple, so I took like a religion class. That's the class that we shared. It was seminar, right? We did we share that class? 

[00:31:57] Aolani W.: Yes. Religious class. 

[00:31:59] Gabby P.: All of the classes I took were really geared less towards giving you homework and giving you assignments and more about like they understood that we were here for like study abroad purposes, so

[00:32:12] why would they hold you back with homework when you could like go out and experience like the culture and the history that you're learning about in these lectures physically by going out? And then I took Japanese. I was in the first level of Japanese and I have like foundations in Japanese. I'd been learning it for a while, but I didn't necessarily want to go up a level nor did I test into a level above level one, which was fine with me.

[00:32:38] The Japanese class I took and the kanji class I took. Kanji one. Both very, very nice. Based on the Genki textbook. I think any student that studied Japanese in the US probably is familiar with that textbook. It was straightforward. It was good. I learned a lot in the language classes. You also took that and I enjoyed it.

[00:32:58] And I took art classes. I totally forgot I took this one traditional arts class that was broken up into three different sections. At the start of the semester, we did tea ceremony where we were physically learning how to do all of the practices within tea ceremony, leading up to the short guided tests at the end where we went through the entire tea ceremony.

[00:33:22] After that, there was a calligraphy section where we did very simple calligraphy, and then there was a flower arrangement portion, which was over the course of three weeks, but it was just three classes. Another thing about these classes is they're all just one day a week. That was, that was besides the language courses.

[00:33:42] Yes, yes, yes. But yeah, I did flower arrangement and those are really fun. Very simple. Relaxing along with the traditional Japanese arts. I took a Koto class, which is a Japanese instrument. It's a large string instrument that you play with these like finger picks it. We practiced a few songs which culminated in a performance at the very end, and it, it was really fun.

[00:34:06] It was again, like a nice, simple class. It was fully taught in Japanese, which had its merits and demerits. Sometimes for someone that doesn't have a full grasp on the language, but. It was incredible. I really loved it. And if anyone going to NUFS, I would really recommend taking those arts classes if you can.

[00:34:25] Even if you're not an arts student, you don't have to be an arts student to take those. But how were your class experiences? 

[00:34:31] Aolani W.: My classes were very good. I mentioned, I was in the independent studies class. I did that research and I was also a TA, so teaching assistant for my professor, it's for Japanese students, and I was

[00:34:43] me and the professor were the English speakers in the class. And so I was, I was in the Japanese level four class and I was also in international cooperation peace studies and some of these classes that Gabby mentioned, like the seminar and the overview history classes. So I was, so those are the classes that I took, kind of different experience from Gabby.

[00:35:04] But yeah, overall it was super fun. I think the craziest part for me was the once a week structure for the classes that were non-language, but I think that's makes sense since this was for a study abroad program, so it was geared towards study abroad students and our like wants and needs during this time.

[00:35:23] So that was really convenient actually. Yeah. 

[00:35:25] Gabby P.: One thing I was like a little nervous about going into it was like the class structure. 'cause we didn't really have any frame of reference with how our classes were gonna be, or at least I didn't like have any frame of reference. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I think I took eight classes total.

[00:35:40] Eight or nine classes? 

[00:35:42] Aolani W.: Me too. 

[00:35:43] Gabby P.: Yeah, we have to be full-time students, which means you have to take that many classes. But they're all, most of 'em are one credit besides the language courses and because they're ones a week, they were really like very attainable. If you're someone like me that kind of got stressed looking at the schedule.

[00:36:01] That's fine. You'll be fine. Don't worry. It came out easy in the end. Yeah, like we were saying, they had an expectation that we're study abroad students, so the classes were kind of geared towards that specific experience. 

[00:36:16] Aolani W.: Exactly. 

[00:36:16] Gabby P.: Which I appreciated. 

[00:36:18] Aolani W.: And what was cool was like we had peers from obviously America as well as Canada, Taiwan, China, Korea.

[00:36:26] France as well as some other students and obviously the Japanese students. And so we were all, not only was there cultural exchange with the Japanese students, but among our study abroad peers, there's a lot of cultural exchange there. So I wanted to highlight my little study abroad Friendsgiving potluck event that I hosted, which is super fun.

[00:36:44] So I hosted, I co-hosted with our friend Cooper. He and I created and hosted the Friendsgiving potluck event and he was grilling hamburgers for us outside. And I was kind of hosting inside and I think like 25 plus students came from like six different. Together. So that was super fun to, I guess bring the community in, I guess in a sense together.

[00:37:07] And so that's something I'm super proud of. Yeah. So wrapping this up, Gabby, what is something that you took home with after studying abroad and traveling and everything? 

[00:37:19] Gabby P.: Honestly. Confidence like I gained so, so much more confidence in like talking with people in general in trying new things. Like I was mentioning before, I'm very reserved and introverted, but since coming back from Japan, I think I've come outta my shell a lot more because I know that I'm like capable of doing

[00:37:44] daunting things and meeting people and forming connections like this that are going to last my whole life. So coming back with that confidence and honestly like the knowledge from everything I learned, like in my classes and culturally, directly through experiencing Japan, it all made me grow a lot as a person.

[00:38:06] Aolani W.: Yes, definitely love that. As I mentioned, I'm definitely also introverted, so experiencing myself, being confident kinda transferred back home. And also about like while thinking about my Japanese American identity, I came to my personal conclusion that there is no correct way to be Japanese American.

[00:38:25] It doesn't matter what percentage you are or anything like that, it's just about what you think of yourself and how you want to go about living your own life. But I think that's what I took from this. Yes. As we wrap up, I'm getting the, this is a, remind me of when we said goodbye at the airport in Narita.

[00:38:41] Gabby P.: Oh, stop it 

[00:38:43] Aolani W.: All day. Since that morning we were on the verge of tears. Yeah, but finally when you were saying goodbye crying, so that's, 

[00:38:50] Gabby P.: I don't recommend it actually. Just stay actually. Just don't leave. 

[00:38:54] Aolani W.: Just don't leave. Well, that's, I think a testament, like you said earlier about how much study abroad was amazing and how we didn't want it to end.

[00:39:02] And how you can make beautiful friendships like this. Hey Gabby, come visit me in Austin soon 

[00:39:08] Gabby P.: I will! 

[00:39:09] Aolani W.: okay, good. 

[00:39:09] Gabby P.: This summer we will. 

[00:39:10] Aolani W.: Okay. I'll be waiting. Well, this is so fun. I really enjoyed chit chatting with you. 

[00:39:16] Gabby P.: Yes, I enjoyed it a lot too. It's super nice to reminisce on everything. 

[00:39:20] Aolani W.: I know. It is amazing.

[00:39:21] So please go to Nagasaki. More people should go. It is amazing down there. Yeah. So thank you so much for listening to our little trip down memory lane. I'm Aolani. 

[00:39:32] Gabby P.: And I'm Gabby. 

[00:39:34] Aolani W.: And it's proof that one semester abroad can change your life forever.

[00:39:42] Hi, this is Aolani, beyond THE Pod. I just had two things I want to add. First off, happy Asian American Pacific Islander Month. Gabby and I are both Asian American. I'm Japanese American and Gabby is Indian American. And second off, I think I mixed up these shrines and temples earlier. Senso-ji is a Buddhist temple and Meiji Jingu is a Shinto shrine. Thank you so much for watching. 

[00:40:03] Colette H.: Thanks for listening to THE Study Abroad Pod, a podcast brought to you by University Studies Abroad Consortium. Please listen, subscribe and review us on Buzzsprout or wherever you get your podcasts. You can follow USAC on all your favorite social media channels @studyabroadusac, and if you have an idea for a future episode or you wanna learn more about Study Abroad, you can email us at studyabroad@usac.edu.