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Hi~! This is NANAMI😏✨

Hope you guys doing well!

 

So, this time I’d like to talk about my studying abroad in the U.S.🇺🇸

This will be separated in 4 parts!

 

Part1: University life in the U.S.

Part2: Volunteering in the U.S.

Part3: NYC & LA Trip

Extra: The reasons for studying abroad in the U.S.

 

Today’s blog is for University life in the U.S.👏!

 

 

 

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Environment🌲

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<Outside-Campus>

 

The destination for studying abroad was Wisconsin, U.S..

I chose a university located in Wisconsin for my studying abroad.

 

First of all, Wisconsin is NOT like “THE AMERICAN” place!

No, not at all…not like a shiny and full of sparkle thing that some Japanese imagine…

I was actually shocked how rural Wisconsin is and how COLD it is.

I’m from rural area in Japan, but… Wisconsin was much more rural than I expected.

 

But, those aspects was really interesting for me and

actually enjoyed spending time in Wisconsin!

 

One thing that I felt so uncomfortable was transportation system.

Living in the US especially in a rural area, we must have a car🚙

I was not allowed to drive a car in the U.S., so it was very uncomfortable.

Every time I need to go out of the campus, I asked someone who drive a car.

We also need a car in a rural area of Japan,

but we still have options like bus, train, taxi. 

 

Our campus was surrounded by those cornfields👇 

We have rise fields in Japan, but cornfields in the U.S.😁

 

 

 

 

＜On-Campus＞

 

I loved the campus of my university in the U.S.!!

University campus in the U.S. is so much better than those in Japan!!

They are large and have many fun places✨

 

Large dorms, cafeteria, restaurants, cafe, gym,

theater, stage, library, bowling alley…🎳

 

 

That is so nice, great, amazing, awesome!!

 

In Japan🇯🇵, I was like studying on campus,

but playing outside campus.

However, in the U.S.,

I was able to enjoy spending time on campus,

thanks to those great facilities.

I didn’t even need to go outside of campus to find great place to have fun👏

 

 

–✌️– Now, I’d like to share 3 things that I was shocked during my dormitory life –✌️–

 

①Barefoot, everywhere

 

I was so shocked when I see some people walk into restroom barefoot.

Restroom is not clean place for me, so I was surprised.

They were always carefully washing their hands,

but…they seemed they don’t care about their foots!!

WHYYYYY!!!

Not everyone, but some people….😱

 

②Very simple shower room

 

For me, or probably for many Japanese,

shower rooms in the US are so simple.

At first month, I couldn’t get used to these type of shower room.

I always missed bathtub and soaking in the bath🛀

And also, even we had more than 20 girls on our floor,

we only had 3 shower rooms.

I often bumped into others while I was still naked!!😤

One of the Japanese things that I missed the most was shower room…!

 

③Always clubbing…!

 

Dormitory, sharing place with others…

Every semester, there was a room which holds a party every day, like a club.

I was sometime got pissed off  when I was deadly tired😂

 

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Studying✏️

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I was studying abroad in the U.S. as a exchange student👩‍🎓

My major in my university in Japan was English and International Relationship,

but I was able to take any courses I’m interested in, in the US!

So, I took courses which are not so common in Japan.

For example, Criminal Justice, LGBTQ+, Social Media Marketing, Psychology…!!

Those courses was soooo interesting, especially Criminal Justice course, 

we got great opportunity to learn from real police and also FBI agents!✨✨✨

 

 

In the U.S., I studied a lot, studied like a senior high school student

who is preparing for an university entrance exam👩‍🎓

 

(※In Japan, we have a national test for university admissions,

and normally senior high school students need to study a lot, really a lot.

This test is so important for the people who want to enter the university.)  

 

The reason why I need to study a lot was scholarship. 

I got full scholarship from my university, so I couldn’t failed a class.

If I failed a case, I needed to pay back a few millions yen 😂

 

One thing that was interesting for me was

that students in the U.S. studied so hard.

In Japan, university students normally don’t study a lot like those in the U.S.😅

The time Japanese students spend on studying are less than US students’ one.

We spend more time on other things like club activity,

part time job, and hanging out with new friends!

※Of course, it depends on the people,

but I think US students spent time more on study.

Probably it’s because of the cultural and system difference between Japan and U.S.!

 

 

So(?), when I was studying abroad,

I studied a lot…I can studied a lot thanks to environment🍀

 

 

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Food🍔

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In the beginning, I couldn’t get used to the foods, especially those in cafeteria.

Only junk food like hamburger, fries, pizza, ice cream was

that I was able to eat without any concern😅

(※because junk food was also common in Japan, and I used to eat it.)

Those junk food in the US were so great, just amazing✨

I missed them so badly… yes I was kinda addicted to them haha

Thanks to those delicious food, I gained 7kg/15lbs in 9 months 😹

Even the food in cafeteria was not my taste, 

but we had some fancy and “dangerous” cafe and restaurants!

 

 

btw, after coming back to Japan, I lost 7kg/15lbs without any dietary restrictions😲

It was proved in myself that Japanese food is just healthy….!

 

What do you think is the healthiest food in the world?

Please teach me your thoughts when you come to MITSUWAYA😏

 

 

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This is all for my University Life in the U.S.!

Next time I’d like to talk about Volunteering in the U.S.

 

See you next time〜👋