Fascination of different cultures.

Recently, I've been interested in learning more and more about different cultures around the world. Having traveled to Mexico, I have learned about their culture, but I am also fascinated with Asian cultures. Particularly Japan.

I am enrolled in Japanese as a foreign language at my school, and have been for three years. What I really love about the class is that along with learning the language, we inevitably have to learn about the culture. This is because Japan in general is so different, and the language and culture are intertwined closely. For example, one of the first things we learn in first year Japanese is bowing. Bowing is a large part of their social customs, but we learned all about it because it always goes with greeting someone.

Our units are divided into different aspects of culture. We have had units on Japanese schools, homes, and technology. We learn different vocabulary in each unit based on what the unit is about. Of course, along the way we learn different types of sentences that we can incorporate those new vocabulary into.

Another great thing about my school's foreign language program is our fantastic opportunity to meet and get to know exchange students. Every year, we have exchange students who stay for the entire school year from various countries. Also, we have a sister school in Japan, called Narita Kokusai(成田国際）, from which they send more students on exchange for two weeks in the month of March. This is a really great opportunity for the Japanese students to get to know Japanese people. It's also an opportunity for both Japanese and American students to practice the languages they've been studying.

I had a friend who went on exchange to Japan for six weeks last summer, and a different friend that's doing the same thing this summer. Foreign opportunities really seem endless when you look at all the chances you may have. Getting to know the exchange students from Narita Kokusai last month was really fun, and sorrowful when they had to go back.

Last year, there was a year-long exchange student from Japan. I became very close with her while she was here. We still keep in touch with Facebook as well as Skype, but I do miss her a lot. It's also a really cool thing to have international friends. It's a neat feeling.

From a different aspect, I've also taken an interest in music and other pop culture items of Japan, as well as Korea. I've come to really like a K-Pop(Korean pop) band that I recently and randomly discovered on Youtube. It was also a surprise to find that my Japanese friend also listened them. That was one thing I was able to ask the two-week exchange students about while they were here. I found a few who also like the same band, so it was really awesome that we had something in common to talk about.

It's a cool thing to be able to travel and act as a tourist, seeing many different sights around the world, but to me, it will never match up with getting to know the culture. Being completely submerged in a culture that is different from your own is an extremely rewarding experience, and you take more from it than you would guess.