Friday, August 21, 2015

Join My Adventure, Won't You?




Hello travel blog audience!

My name is Julia Price, and this is where I will chronicle my adventures during my study abroad semester at Yamanashi Gakuin University (YGU) in Japan. A little about myself as I anxiously count down the days until my first international flight, I'm going into my senior year at Washington & Jefferson College (W&J) where I'm finishing up my art major, as well as, a dual minor in Computer Information Science (CIS) and East Asian Studies. With this, I hope to work in interpretation/translation while doing graphic design/concept art and illustrations on commission.

This journey to Japan is something I've dreamed about for as long as I can remember, I've always had a sort of fascination with anything pertaining to Japanese culture, art, etc. As such, I began teaching myself the language back in my sophomore year of high school and studying Japanese art. Until now I've barely had the chance to get beyond my tiny little hometown of Washington Pennsylvania, but come next week I will be travelling halfway around the world. Needless to say I'm brimming with excitement and anxiety!

So onto my abroad university! I took advantage of W&J's special petition program after finding myself in a bit of a predicament that threw my dream of studying abroad into question. Going into my senior year means that I have to be getting my ducks in a row as far as academic requirements, however, the W&J exchange partners in Japan did not meet my need for a studio art course (something I absolutely needed in order to remain on track academically). At that point I started searching for a substitute university and found YGU and began contacting various individuals abroad. I was thankfully able to find a school that offered the course types I needed and was approved and accepted for the fall semester. As far as goals, the driving force for me to go to Japan is to gain fluency in the language, but there are many other things I want to accomplish/experience. This will be my first real chance to spread my wings and gain my independence, until now I've been living at home and commuting to class. I want to prove to myself that I am able to be on my own, to confirm to myself that I am ready to break out into the world and be an adult. I hope to not only make lots of friends, but to soak up Japan's beautiful culture and use these new experiences and scenery as inspiration for my senior art show as I complete my major in the spring.

I plan on taking courses that will help me complete my program requirements, some of those being:
Japanese language course (upon placement)
Japanese art history
Anime and Manga studies
Sculpture 1
As well as a couple courses to wrap up my general education requirements.

Well, hopefully this will be the only wordy post (as I plan to break up subsequent posts with various images once I arrive in Japan), but there was a lot of introductory information that I wanted to get out there before my trip begins. I'll be back to post again once I arrive at YGU, until then, I will be saying heartfelt goodbyes and enjoying my favorite things while excitedly thinking about all the amazing things that will be coming within the next week.

I hope you'll enjoy this adventure with me at every step,
Julia.

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