Japan in Three Parts: The People, The Students, The Places

Program Experience - Isla Milne-Smith

Introduction

After spending five weeks in Japan, and (obviously) posting all about it on Instagram, coming home meant answering the same question over and over: “How was Japan?” My friends and family would press me to “tell them everything,” but I never knew where to start. It feels like when someone asks for your favorite song and suddenly every single song you’ve ever listened to vanishes from your brain. There was just too much to say.

Writing this post is my way of untangling my thoughts and putting them into words. Even so, what you’ll read here barely scratches the surface. But here’s my best attempt: breaking down my experience into three parts: the people, the students, and the places.

The people

The first highlight of the program was the people. Traveling halfway across the world without knowing anyone was intimidating, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing. From the moment I landed, everyone was so welcoming. On my very first night, I met a girl and within hours we were wandering around the city together; making friends was that easy.

During those first few days, we stayed in a hostel where I shared a room with seven other girls. They invited me to a temple the very next morning even though we had just met. One of them ended up becoming my closest friend in the program—I’m going to visit her in England in a couple of months!

When I finally met my assigned team, I was nervous. These were the people who could make or break my experience. But, as it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. We became a close-knit group, and I loved getting to know people from so many different backgrounds: math, medicine, theatre, anthropology. It can be easy to gravitate toward the same types of people without even realizing it, but this program forced me to step outside that pattern and broaden my horizons.

And while the friendships were incredible, what struck me most was how smart everyone was. They say you should never be the smartest person in the room, and I definitely wasn’t; but that was the best part. Just being around everyone somehow made me a better person. I picked up confidence and inspiration almost by osmosis. Before this program, I never would have written a blog post like this and put it out into the world. But after watching everyone else be proactively involved in their communities and put themselves out there, I felt like I could too.

The students

Of course, I can’t write about this experience without talking about the students. Before teaching started, I heard people say the students were the heart of the program. If I’m being honest, I didn’t really believe it - I assumed it was just one of those things people had to say. But I was so wrong; the students were even better than anyone could have prepared me for.

They were polite, nervous in a way I could relate to, endlessly kind, and unbelievably smart. I cared about them so much more than I thought was possible. One moment that still makes me tear up happened in the last week when my group remembered the word “reliable.” I almost cried because I was so proud of them, and it still makes me tear up thinking about it now.

And it wasn’t just about how great they were - it was about realizing how much of an impact we had on each other. At the end of each week, students presented their “life missions.” In the final week, a student named Yona mentioned me in her speech. She said I inspired her because I was a kind teacher who made her want to learn more English. I still don’t really have words for how amazing that felt.

But the part that left the biggest mark on me was my homestay. I stayed with a student and her family in Okayama for a week. I was nervous going in—living with strangers in a language I didn’t speak felt daunting. But, like so many things on this trip, I was completely wrong. The family was wonderful. The mom made the most delicious food, and the daughter, Nana, was funny, sweet, and patiently translated everything for me. That week is one of my most treasured memories, and we all cried when I left. If you get a chance to be placed with a homestay family, I couldn’t recommend it enough.

The places

And of course, I can’t write about Japan without actually writing about Japan itself. So here are a few of my favorite places:

Fushimi, Kyoto

For the first two weeks, our venue was in Osaka, but I lived in Fushimi, Kyoto with three other people on my team. The neighborhood was stunning (see pictures below), and we even managed a day trip into Kyoto at a time when, miraculously, it wasn’t busy at all.

Our walk home in Fushimi

Our Kyoto daytrip to Fushimi Inari, Gio-Ji, and Kinkaku-ji

Hiroshima and Miyajima

After work one day, we took the ferry to Miyajima for less than five Canadian dollars. We stayed for hours: saw the deer, ate dinner while fending them off, and just sat by the water talking.

We were also in Hiroshima for the 80th anniversary of the atomic bomb, and the Toshin staff generously took us to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and the nearby river for us to join in the remembrance. It was an incredibly moving and special experience.

The Peace Memorial and the 80th anniversary remembrance ceremony

The ride to Miyajima and the deer there.

Nara

We also traveled here after work, and I loved how I could still see Japan even while coaching from 10-5. A beautiful and peaceful trip.

Kobe

A friend and I spent a day in Kobe visiting temples and the Herb Garden. The gondola ride up gave us breathtaking views, and the walk down through the gardens was just as beautiful. I highly recommend it.