I have been in Japan for about 6 days now and I am enjoying every second of it. My first few days were a bit difficult as I was jetlagged, adjusting to the humid temperatures, and getting bitten by mosquitoes. Other than that I have made plenty of friends with some of the other international students from France, Germany, and America. It has been quite a struggle for me to make Japanese friends as they tend to stay together, but It is still very early I hope to integrate myself even more with them as time goes by.
The train system here is 100 times more complicated than what I am used to in the Bay Area. Everyone takes the train so it covers a large area of all the major Tokyo regions. I live a 20-minute walk from the Higashi Koganei train station so I do so much walking every day. I live in East Koganei which is a town about 40 minutes west of Tokyo. Nobody speaks English in this town so I have gotten some serious practice with Japanese while buying groceries and going out to eat. I had a very difficult time this week registering for classes during my first day at Sophia University during orientation as there was not much guidance provided to us for support, but I eventually figured it out and got the classes I needed.
On the bright side, I went to Shibuya twice this week and was able to reunite with Minami who was an exchange student at San Diego State University from Japan. I started playing more soccer as it is extremely popular in Japan and we have a field at my dormitory. Overall, the next 10 months will not be easy but I am hoping to make the most from this opportunity and grow exponentially. I look forward to keeping you updated as I get more experiences to share!
Richard Amaechi is a senior at SDSU majoring in International Business with an emphasis in Japanese and Finance. He is attending Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan for the academic year.
The global experience, as told by SDSU students 
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