In less than two days, the 23 students participating in this year’s Texas State SJMC Japan Education Abroad program will take flight and travel to Tokyo, marking the first of three stops.
Over the course of 13 days starting on Monday, students will experience, document and publish their encounters with Japanese culture and sights. While the trip will undoubtedly be one for the books, the anticipation to head to the easternmost edge of the globe is the group’s focus as they countdown to departure day.
On May 26 and 27, the students met in Old Main to discuss final expectations and preparations for the voyage. They wrote their student creator bios and took headshots for their first publication to the SJMC Japan website.
Before concluding class on May 27, Academic Program Director Gilbert D. Martinez gifted each student a Daruma doll, which is a token of good luck in Japanese culture. Martinez explained to the group that in Japanese tradition, recipients of the ceramic dolls color in the left eye with a marker before embarking on a journey, manifesting a specific goal or wish. Upon return, the right eye is also colored in, marking the end or accomplishment of said goal or wish.
While the excitement of arrival buzzes amongst the students, the final stretch of days has proven to separate the planners from the non-planners. Advertising senior Heather Hoang has already had her intricate packing list ready for weeks.
“I am Type-A for sure,” Hoang said. “I looked at the itinerary, and I wrote out what outfits I’d like to wear for each day and packed based off of that.”
Contrastingly, a handful of students feel the whole packing and planning process is an added stressor. For many participating in the program, this is the first time they will be on a long overseas flight. To pass the time, most students plan to sleep, read books and watch shows or movies on their personal devices.
The pressure of preparing for the course load and being so far from home makes packing a harder effort than expected for a majority of the group. Self-appointed “Type-B” student and mass communication senior Celeste Montoya feels that packing is her least favorite part of the process.
“I honestly feel so unprepared, but I think it’s just because I’m anticipating so much from this trip,” Montoya said. “I try to take everything step by step, but still, it can get overwhelming.”
Throughout the course of the trip, students will visit three major Japanese cities: Tokyo, Hiroshima and Kyoto, with planned visits to many iconic sites. In Tokyo, students will visit Kamakura, an ancient capital of Japan, and explore historic Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines and coastal scenery. They will then continue on to Hiroshima, where they will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Miyajima, home to a famous floating torii gate. The group will also visit Kyoto to tour the iconic Kiyomizu-dera and Yasaka Shrine, two of the city’s most well-known cultural landmarks.
With excitement brewing and anticipation for departure growing, students are looking forward to sharing their experiences on this blog while traveling across Japan. Stay tuned for June 2, when Ainsley Burnett and Valeria Cerecer-Vargas will be sharing all about the long travel day and first night in Tokyo.
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