Behind the Scenes: What It Took To Get Where I Am

People always ask me how I planned my trip to Japan. Some of them are merely curious and some ask because they would like to do something similar. I personally believe this has been a life-changing experience for me and one that I think everyone should be able to enjoy so I am going to share with you all my not-so-secret secrets!

I spent almost a year preparing for my application to the "ideal" exchange program. I wished and hoped and wished again that it would work out for everything I had was dependent on getting accepted by this program. Needless to say, when I got rejected I didn't really know what to do. I didn't want to deal with the hassle (or the expenses) of applying for another program so it seemed the only other option I had was to make my own!

First I had to figure out more or less how this trip would lay out. I ideally wanted to go for 6 months because it is said that that is how long it takes to be fluent however, with my trip rushing in on me I realized that I did not want to deal with the hassle of getting a student visa. I can be here 3 months on a tourist visa (aka just a passport) and I realized this would just have to do. I asked around to find out what a reasonable sum to pay my host family for boarding me would be, I applied for a passport (of course), and I calculated approximately what all the expenses would be.

Next, I needed to find a host family. Thankfully I happened to have contacts in Japan through my Japanese aunt, my Japanese teacher, and my church (the LDS church). I am not exactly sure how the host families were found except that my aunt somehow contacted a church leader and the church leader found 2 families who would be willing to accept me. My Japanese teacher found one more willing family through a friend of hers who happens to live in Osaka. I decided to stay with one family from my aunt for 1 month and the family from my teacher for 2. With the first big hurdles done I was on a roll!

Lastly I needed to find something to fill my time while in Japan. I knew I wanted to go to school but I if that had not worked out I would have found a different sort of volunteer opportunity to make this trip really worthwhile! I asked my host families what the closest high schools were and it turned out that my host sister from my first family went to a school that loves exchange students. I wrote a formal letter to this school requesting that they allow me to be a visitor at their school. I offered to volunteer in the English classes if I couldn't be a student and basically assured them that I would respect their rules and be a great addition to their school. I had this letter translated into Japanese by my aunt and sent it off to the school. My second host family did basically the same thing for my second school. They went through about the same process.
For those of you wondering what the school's wanted of me this is what I provided for them:
-2 recommendation letters (one from principal, one from Japanese teacher)
-proof of health insurance that would cover me in Japan
-a few photos of myself (for the first school)
-and other various paperwork that will vary from school to school.

These 3 steps seem like very little but there are many little minute details that had to be planned in there as well but since every trip is different these details will vary. Basically the thing that made this trip possible was having contacts in Japan. Family, friends, church, teachers, etc, all of these are great resources for planning a trip to another country. The only thing you have to keep in mind with something like this is that there is always a way. Some plans may fall through, others won't work out quite like you wanted and all you can do is keep yourself open to many options and you can accomplish anything! To all those who are going to embark on a journey like mine I say "good for you! good luck! and you will never regret it!"