When I first came to the University of Arkansas, I have heard of numerous opportunities about traveling abroad. Back then, I honestly never considered the opportunity; after all, I thought to myself that it would seem a bit impossible for me due to certain circumstances that I have had. When my advisor told me that I had to take two years of my chosen language course, I was a bit enthusiastic in it.
Despite the fact that I was born and raised in the United States, English was not my first language; rather, it was Vietnamese. When I was young, my parents told me that I shouldn't forget my own roots and heritage. Therefore, they told me to purse my culture, learn its language. Up until now, I am proud to say that I am still quite fluent in Vietnamese: I am able to read, write, and express myself well.
Perhaps, I had a bit of too much confidence when I had chosen Japanese as a language I wanted to pursue for 2 years. I thought it should be simple~ However, my conjectures were wrong. Japanese was much more difficult than it appeared to be on the outer surface. Besides learning the vocabulary and common greetings, we started to learn the complications of the language such as its syntax, grammar, verb forms, etc. I was bewildered and due to my social anxiety personality, there were times when I found it hard to participate in class. Honestly, I felt very distraught and disappointed at some point.
It wasn't until this year that I started to befriend several good, Japanese friends. I then heard about the Conversational Partner Program, and decided to register for it. I wanted to gain some service community hours, but beyond that I wanted to befriend a Japanese buddy! Just with my luck, I was paired up with the sweetest partner ever- her name was also the same as mine- Ai. We met and we "chit chatted," but still.. I felt that our conversations were being limited due to the language barrier. When we met, she had just came to America for only a a week or two, so her English was very limited. Every single time that she could not understand what I was talking about, I tried to think of a word I learned in Japanese class to translate myself, yet, it was sort of futile. I barely knew much!! Once again, I felt helpless.
I didn't know when, I didn't know why, but I had the urge to go register for studying abroad. I recall telling my parents about my dreams. I told them that only if I could go over to Japan will my language skills be improved. It's funny because after I told my dad of my plans, he went around telling his family and friends that I am going to Japan this year. I told him, "OH MY GOSH, why on earth did you do that, if I don't get accepted it would be so embarrassing!!! But then, I never even registered yet!" -_- My mom, on the other hand, tried to discouraged me from going. I guess it must be hard on a mother to let their kid go, especially if this is their first time not being able to see their child for a whole semester except through the use of technology such as the phone and skype. Before I knew it, I registered.
I anticipated the results, but it didn't seem to come too quick. I remember lying in my dorm room thinking that if I didn't get accepted, it would be ok- I guess. I guess I could always try again in my Junior Year, which would so be so busy. Yet, if I manage to try, it'll work out right? I remember saying a prayer about it as well before I ended up falling asleep in my process of thoughts...
It was like any other day, and I remember having to go to the library to go study. Like usual, I would open up my email first thing. In my inbox, it said I had 2 mails, and one of them was from Laura Moix. I remember being very nervous about it. I thought to myself that it must be those letters that told me: Hi Ai, thanks for applying, but unfortunately we could only select 2 students. However, thank you for your time in trying... blah, blah.. Yet, when I read the first line, I thought I was going to pass out due to joy! "CONGRATULATIONS Ai, we were glad to nominate you..." It seemed to good to believe that I'm going to Japan! I secretly wanted to jump up for joy, but it's only a matter of expression.
Acceptance was the first step, and it's the other steps before going to Japan, is the difficult part. I had never traveled of the United States before. Therefore, I had to scramble around in confusions. I was told that I had to get my passport done, visa, paperwork, and more paperwork done. I'm sure Laura was probably tired of me constantly emailing her a billion times a week for help. Yet, I appreciate her help so much~
Little Ai ^-^
