By Brooke Beighle
“What a strange thing!
to be alive
beneath cherry blossoms.”
-Kobayashi Issa
As I prepare for this amazing once in a lifetime opportunity to go to Japan, not through the lens of a tourist but through the lens of a student representing her university and country, I think of the many times people have said this to me: “There is no place in the world like Japan.” I have heard this from friends that have both visited and lived in the country and am taking them at their word. I find the experience of packing and getting organized for the trip to be a very satisfying process as I am one that craves adventure and new experiences. Knowing that I am leaving the familiar to step foot on unfamiliar ground is exhilarating and feeds a large part of my personality.
I am currently a senior at The University of Montana about to complete my undergraduate studies in Communication and Human Relationships. Having a deep interest in other cultures, especially those that are drastically different than my own, I have studied Intercultural Communication and find the study of cross-cultural exchanges to be an important field of examination. In 2014, I spent three months in Southeast Asia where I met world travelers and humble Thai and Cambodian people whose reality was very different from my own; it was there that a desire to become a global citizen was born within me.
Traveling to Japan will help deepen my understanding of Asian culture, which I am most curious about. I am grateful to have the opportunity to learn about their societal and communicative norms, deep history, and education system. I think the gender roles that are defined by Japanese culture will be the most challenging part of the trip for me but I know to maintain respect as a foreigner. I believe that challenges help awaken things inside of us that would otherwise remain dormant. In this way, I expect the study tour to challenge preconceived ideas that I hold about Japanese culture.
Going in with a brief understanding of their cultural dimensions, I plan on utilizing the lens that I have developed by studying Communication to further develop a deeper understanding of how cultural miscommunication and conflict can be resolved between our two countries. As the world continues to globalize, I think it is imperative that we strive to embrace diversity, not by erasing the clear lines that exist around our differences, but by becoming educated on those differences so we can learn to take the perspective of others when engaging with them. This allows us to become more empathetic and educated about the world and people around us that participate in the world through their own cultural lens.
Japan, here we come!
The 2016 Kakehashi Japan Study Tour 