STUDENT EXCHANGE

RILEY MARSHALL'S EXPERIENCE

At the moment I'm staying in Midori ward Kanagawa Yokohama with my host parents I'm really enjoying it and can say without a doubt this is the best and most challenging thing I've done in my life. I came to Japan at the age of 15 with the goal to learn Japanese and with that come back in the future to live and work here for a short period. In the time of 2 months I have seen myself grow up and change a lot, whether it's taking public transport (which I never did back home), or cooking more regularly for myself and my host parents, to doing the family grocery shopping. But the toughest of them all is getting up 6:40 every morning of the week except Sundays, all of this plus school and studying and my club (Running) has helped me grow up and see how the real world can be without the bubble or the cloud of safety I had back home. At first it was a struggle but after time I began to find these things that I struggled with at the start to become easier week by week and right now 2 months in I'm really happy with myself for getting used to my new life here!

I'm happy to say even with these challenges I have faced the good far outweighs the bad without a second thought! I have made heaps of new friends that I hope to keep for a very long time , I have become a part of a family which I didn't know two months ago, I have seen parts of the world I could never have seen if I hadn't gone on this exchange, and opened my eyes up to a different society and a way of life. But the main part:  my language is slowly but surely improving. All these experiences on this exchange help to shape the person I'm going to be as an adult and I think this the best decision of my life.