It all started from Mumbai's CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI INTL. AIRPORT. It was the night of 8th September 2013 and I was taking leave of my family and friends to go to a whole new country called JAPAN. It was my first trip abroad and, in fact, my first Airplane journey ever. I was very excited but at the same time a bit anxious. I was going to a place very different from India, culture-wise and of course language-wise. I was not sure whether I will be able to adjust. And thus, my whole flight experience was spent contemplating about Japan and its culture.
I had, previously, read about Japan and the highly polite nature of Japanese people. But first thing, that really surprised me, was when I saw the ground crew at Narita Airport doing the “Saikeirei” (最敬礼 – the Japanese traditional bow) at the time of arrival of the airplane. At that moment, I realized that I was about to enter a very special place. But the anxiety was still there. The JICA staff at the airport was surprised when I said “Konnichiwa. Hajime Mashite” (Japanese way of greeting someone the first time). And from there, my journey in Japan began.
Everything in Japan was amazing. From the super-clean streets to the sky-high buildings, from the cars who line up for signal even at 3 in the morning to the queues of people waiting on the train station, from the extremely expensive malls to the reasonably priced 24-hour convenient stores “Kombini”s (“reasonable” according to Japanese standards :P :D). I was feeling amazed at each and every step. Ofcourse, communication was bit of a problem but any Japanese, I was approaching for help, used to try his/her best using smart-phone apps or hand-actions or any other way to communicate. All the anxiety, I had, was gone in first week itself.
Then came the big day. The “Welcome Ceremony” at Keio University. This is the day, I became part of the prestigious Keio University of Japan, starting my Masters' studies in the department of Mechanical Engineering. It all began with a mesmerizing performance of the “Keio Anthem” by students and an inspirational speech from President and Vice-President of the University (though only some of it was in English). I felt proud to be part of this great institute. News of starting the semester with the summer camp visit to “Nippon Steel factory” was a pleasant surprise. With my extremely limited Japanese language skills and some English, I managed to make a lot of friends. Not only Japanese but I also made many French, Burmese and German friends.
Fall semester started and the work-load increased but, thanks to the research-oriented way of teaching and my very kind and always ready-to-help supervisor, I was never under any kind of stress. Friendly discussions with peers in meetings, during lunch and on coffee in cafeteria made me think more openly and insightfully. As I am in an International graduate program, I got to interact with students from varied backgrounds and exchange cultural stereotypes. Along with research, weekend trips to parts of Tokyo, Nikko world-heritage sites and parties with lab-mates just added to all the fun. The experiences, of having “gohe-mochi” (rice cakes) in Iida city (Nagano prefecture) and “hakata ramen” (Noodle soup dish) in Fukuoka (Kyushu prefecture), were something to be cherished for a long time. Additionally, the local cultural exchange events organized by JICA Yoke desk provided much more insight into the Japanese culture.
Currently, I am in my second semester at Keio and I am quite sure that my future stay in Japan will be just as fruitful and filled with amazing experiences as it has been till now. But I can say, now, that I have transformed from being a proud “IITian” to being a proud “Keio-jin”.