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3 Reasons Why My Summer in Japan Completely Humbled Me
And why I now have more compassion for non-natives in any country
In 2015, after graduating college, I spent two months in Tokyo, Japan as part of an internship.
Though it was a fun experience, it was an incredibly lonely one. The language barrier coupled with some difficult emotional battles I was dealing with at the time, made me feel like I was on a complete island, literally and figuratively.
How I ended up in Japan
I’ve always been fascinated with Japanese culture, ever since I was a kid. I was into all the typical things growing up like manga and anime, (and still am).
In college, I did the not-so-typical thing and minored in Japanese language. It was incredibly difficult and there were many times I asked myself, “Why didn’t I just take French or Spanish like all my friends?” But I’m glad I stuck with it.
I graduated in 2015 and the opportunity came up to do a ministry internship for a church in Tokyo, something I was interested in at the time.
Long story short, the church I was a part of in Tucson, Arizona had a relationship with another church in Tokyo, Japan. They sent a student to Tucson for a year as part of an internship while he…
