Deputy Chief of Mission from Tokyo & Consulate Members from Osaka

This was a huge opportunity for me seeing how I'm not exactly a political science major and have anything to do with politics except for the fact that I am studying about Contemporary Issues in Japanese Politics and my future career involves politics...how does that work? I don't know, I'll find out soon enough.

Four American students (including me) and about six Japanese students, the my Politics professor, an English Professor and the Director of JCMU were put on a bus and driven to the capital of the Shiga prefecture, Otsu. It took about two hours, and it rained, it was sunny before, but nope it rained on the way there. Nothing really exciting happened on the way there, but when we arrived at the building where we were going to meet that's when everyone started to get nervous.

We didn't know we had to ask questions.
We didn't know what was expected of us.
WE DIDN'T KNOW WE HAD TO INTRODUCE OURSELVES IN JAPANESE, TWICE!

I mean I'm used to introducing myself in Japanese, I mean that's what normal people do when they first meet someone. But I didn't expect them to have us introduce ourselves...maybe it's just me being nervous?

The gist of the meeting was to have the Deputy Chief of Mission from the Tokyo Embassy meet students learning Japanese and students that are learning English to get a feel about how they feel about the relationship between the United States and Japan, also I think it was just to expose him to the difference of students that are learning Japanese/English.

Ok, so Hikone is the Inaka. Rice Fields, lake, no really tall buildings.
Inaka...
What is Inaka? Inaka (e-na-ka) basically means the country. Hikone is like the country because no tall buildings not a lot of technology flashing it's bright lights at you, and there isn't a lot of noise.  So for people in Wisconsin think of places like Racine, or Kenosha where there are a lot of fields.

I believe the session was about one to two hours long where students were able to speak their mind or ask questions and everything would be off record. There were questions like:

• Finding assistance for graduate students that are looking for Jobs in Japan
• Feelings about how the United States isn't protecting Japan in terms of policies
• Nuclear energy
• Jobs for students that are interested in government internships
• Japanese students going abroad
• Female Students going abroad & workplace for them

These were just some of the questions that were asked. My nervousness melted away during the session, but afterwards it came back because we had a small sessions where everyone was able to talk to the Deputy Chief of Mission, the head of the Osaka Consulate and the officers that came with them. Previously the JCMU director and I had a talk about going to the Osaka Consulate and speaking to one of the Foreign Affairs Officers that he knew, while there the office he spoke about was there and he introduced me to her! I was excited and nervous at the same time because my career choice has nothing to do with my current major, so I am basically at entry level.

Long story short she and one of her colleagues gave me some tips on how I should go about studying for graduate school and just applying is something that I should do. The short conversation that I did have with was amazing. It somewhat in a way reinvigorated my dream, but then also made me think about the consequences in my future. Life isn't set in stone so I'll worry about that later.

  Also I received my first business card, it is an amazing feeling. It's in English and Japanese.

But something that I started doing a lot while in Japan can be summed up in the phrase " Just do it, what do I got to lose?" There are several things that are new and foreign to me but I did it or at least attempted to do them. I feel like applying this to normal life is something that I've been doing more and more, but then it makes me seem like a brash person right? But I'm not I think about the consequences and possible outcomes and even if I think it's bad I still go for it taking risks are apart of life.

You learn or you learn the hard way
You take chances or you always think about the 'what ifs' and hesitate.

I'm that person that learns the hard way and take risks. Which one are you?