東京都立小山台高等学校

　One of the students was surprised that their host family usually had a small breakfast of cereal.  The student said that in Japan, they usually had a large breakfast to start the day. 
The other student was surprised to find that there was a whole other small meal in the morning called “morning tea.”  Usually you will take some time to eat a small snack, and maybe drink some tea, even at high school!

 

　One of the students shared with us that homework was usually made up of writing assignments.  Because of this, the students were able to choose what they researched as the topic of their papers.
The other student was interested in the kinds of classes.  One of the classes that the student took was focused on figuring out what you want to do in the future.
In addition, both students were surprised by how small their classes were, only 20 students per class!

 

 By studying abroad, both students were forced communicate in English.  This might include some hand motions, but since no one around them understood Japanese, everything had to be done in English.  This helped both students to increase their “every-day speaking.” This includes things such as greetings, small talk, and going shopping.  They got to experience what I have been trying to tell students for years, and that is, “Don’t worry about your language ability, especially when you are somewhere that you are going to spend money.  No matter how bad your speaking ability is the people who work there will do their best to understand you, and to make sure that you can understand them.”
 In addition to this, one of the students found that they were able to increase their ability to talk about things such as sports and current events by listening to their classmates talk around them.

 

 One of our students found that this experience prepared them for becoming an adult.  By being in a foreign country without their friends or family, they were forced to be independent.  The student did not have the same expectations for their host parents to take care of them like their real parents would.  Also the student found that they were more responsible for their actions, and how they spend their time.  This student feels that studying abroad affected all parts of their life, and will continue to affect them forever.
 The other student actually found the opposite to be true.  For this student, studying abroad forced them to realize how dependent we are on other people.  Because there were so many things that this student could not do in English, they were forced to rely on their host family and friends to help them, and to support them.  By asking other people for help, this student was able to not be limited by their ability to speak English.  This also gave the student support for what was happening in their life.

 

 One of the students hopes to return to Australia one day to visit their host family and friends, but also intends to study abroad in England in college.  The other student was not sure if they wanted to study abroad again, but they want to work in foreign countries looking at environmental issues after graduating from college.

　It’s listening to these students’ experiences, and hope that everyone has the chance to talk with people who have lived in a country different from their own and hear what they learned.  It is impossible to say all of the things that you can learn from studying abroad, and it is impossible to say all the ways that it will affect your life.  Even after returning to your country, by continuing to stay connected with your host family and friends on the internet, your “trip” will never stop.