Coming into Temple University as a freshman, the city of Philadelphia had a way of singling me out while also swallowing me whole. Walking down the streets to class every day, my brain swirling with the idea of everyone’s eyes on me. Students just like me, watching each step I took with judgment plastered on their stone-cold faces. But as I came back each semester, I slowly grew to love the crazy and unexpected pace of the city.
Now coming back to Temple after a semester surrounded by cherry blossoms and the swarming crowds of Shibuya and Shinjuku, the city takes on an entirely new persona. A once scary unexplored territory is now regaining that unfamiliar touch. After finally growing comfortable with my daily walks across campus, I have to relearn what was previously second nature to me.
I’ve spent a lot of my life with the desire to travel and finally got to experience it during the second semester of my sophomore year, when I studied abroad at Temple Japan’s Tokyo campus. Going into my program, there was a heavy focus on the fears and anxieties of living in a foreign country, yet nothing prepared me for the experience of coming back.
During my time abroad, I faced a lot of homesickness. I had a strong itch that I couldn’t scratch to be standing in a room with all of my friends and family who hadn’t taken the journey with me. At the end of my trip, I adjusted my flight date to be a week earlier because of how much I wanted to see all my loved ones again. It led me to fly alone for the very first time. Sitting down for a 13-hour flight alone as someone who’s quite scared of flying was both riveting and nerve-wracking.
The experience abroad was life-changing, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of wanting to be back in a familiar city. But how familiar is a city that you’ve been away from for 4 months? When I landed in New York City, I was initially greeted by the bustling John F. Kennedy Airport foot traffic and angry security guards that I hadn’t had to face since I left for my trip. It instantly brought me back to the blunt and often aggressive American culture that was so different than what I had been experiencing in Japan.
As silly as it seems, I also struggled with the mannerisms I grew familiar with as someone who could barely speak Japanese. I still bowed to food and service workers after every interaction, walked on the left side of the street instead of the right, and spoke at lower volumes on trains which had never been an expectation in America. Although these were small aspects of my day-to-day life, it was frustrating to feel unfamiliar with the cultural norms I grew up with.
When I finally saw my friends again, I didn’t experience the slow-motion run to hug each other that the movies depicted, but instead, I almost forgot how to act like myself. It was awkward, plain, and simple. I got trapped in my own head, overthinking my words and actions and forgetting that I had spent every day with these people before I had left.
The Philadelphia streets that I grew comfortable with became jarring after feeling a deep safety net while strolling through my little home in Kamikitazawa. But slowly, I redeveloped my love for the city no matter how different it was from my experience in Tokyo.
When I came back home, Temple’s semester hadn’t ended so I spent my first two weeks back living on campus with my friends. We went out as much as we could, grabbing meals in the city and on campus. As each day passed, spending time in the city and re-exploring everything one at a time helped me to feel like I was back in my home. I was no longer distant from everyone I had been aching to be with all semester long, and I finally felt that it wasn’t all a dream that was going to end if I opened my eyes.
Now, after being back on Temple’s campus for almost an entire semester, I have a stronger appreciation for the cultural differences between Philadelphia and Tokyo that make them both so special. They are both my home in different ways, providing me with different skills and experiences that I will hold onto forever.
Studying at Temple Japan’s Tokyo campus was a one in a lifetime experience that gave me the opportunity to grow both academically and personally. If you’re interested in studying abroad like me, visit our website to learn more about Temple Japan’s programs in Tokyo and Kyoto.