A Short History

For those of you who don’t already know about my up and coming journey, my name is Andrew and I am going to spend three months studying in Nagasaki, Japan. This trip started in earnest over a year ago when I began my search for the perfect travel abroad agency to take me to Japan. I found one that took me to Nagasaki shortly after Christmas.
The reasons behind Japan are largely personal, and have little base in academics. I have always felt a strong pull towards the foods and cooking styles of the Far East as well as the austere artistic style that I always thought was Japanese. Simple clean lines used to accent and enhance the incredible beauty of nature. Ever since I was a kid I also had the secret desire to be a Samurai. I’d chop wildly at pokeweed plants with a hand crafted plywood katana my father made me. I’ve since given up on such wild dreams, and moved on to more tangible goals. I want to experience literally everything I can physically stand in Nagasaki. I wanted to eat fresh tuna sashimi, buy beer out of a vending machine, climb Fuji San, visit a peace park, walk with bare feet through a bamboo forest and listen to the wind rattle through it, be pushed onto the bullet train by small men wearing even smaller white gloves. Needless to say that is only a fraction of my goals and desires.
While I have my own agenda I am actually going to study in Japan. I am enrolled through the University of Wisconsin in The Nagasaki School For International Foriegn Language Study, or the JASIN program for short. While I have not signed up for classes yet (we do that upon arrival) I hope to take classes largely in traditional and modern Japanese Literature and Art. I will be living with a host family and two other American boys who I know nothing about. . . whatever.
I leave in 9 days now and I must say the pressure is mounting. True to form, I have not even thought about packing yet, but intend to begin tomorrow. I hope all of those who read this account of my travels find it interesting and enjoyable.