The Transition-1

A question that I am commonly asked by people I meet for the first time is, why did I choose to study in Japan? And I guess I never gave the proper answer to anyone! Well, I came up with a standard answer over time (cause you know you don't always have the power to make up instant stories!). But at this point of transition, when I am taking another big step of life, I guess I have figured out why I left home in 2009. And this story is for those who might be considering moving to/ studying in Japan. It's true that not everyone will have the same experiences but this might give a little insight of how is it to live in a country like Japan for 5 years.

Looking back...
Stable and secured life probably never attracted me. Like many other challenge loving persons I was always enchanted by the mystery of unknown and test my ability and patience by choosing a rather arduous path. And that is one of the reasons along others why I decided to move to Japan.
Back home I had a pretty much perfect life (well, there is nothing called "perfect life" but it was not bad at all), I just got into my dream institute BUET at the Department of Architecture. I was topping in class and already started to dream of future me as an architect. We moved to our new beautiful house and I had my own room where I could work all day and night. It was not easy to take that much of workload, but its never easy for students of Architecture in any country in this world.
But one of the factors that was not under my control was the political turmoil in our country. The university would often close down because of it and that caused session jam. Students could not graduate when they are supposed to, 5 years Architecture course would often take 6-7 years. We were always little concerned about that, and that's when I got to know about MEXT (Monbusho) Scholarship of Japan.
Later I applied for the scholarship, passed the first selection and was accepted to sit for written exam. I also managed to pass the written exam though I thought my exam was terrible and finally went through the interview. And I got chosen as one of the 3 students (in my program) for the scholarship.

But it's never easy to leave everything behind, your home, family, friends... The reasons why I chose to go to Japan were-

• I might lose extra years for session jam if I stay in my country, so even if I have to spend one extra year to learn Japanese its ok, cause I am actually investing my time for learning something new, something I can treasure.
• Since I will be fully supported by scholarship I will learn to live independently. Though it does not cost much (almost zero) to study at public institutions in Bangladesh, I never wanted to depend financially on my parents. 
• Most importantly I will be able to broaden my perspective by mixing with international community, learn about unique cultures and be able to gain more knowledge about Japan and other countries.

So on April 2nd, 2009 I left home for Japan. I still remember my first morning in Tokyo. Chilly breeze with warm sunshine of early spring, high rise buildings at Shinjuku, white and pink cherry trees - I fell in love with Japan at the first place and I loved Japan more each day till August 14th, 2014 when I left.
It's true that there is no perfect place to live on this earth. But I would say Japanese people has taken it pretty close to ultimate perfection. I learnt to appreciate nature and beauty more, learnt to be more punctual and be attentive to details while my stay in Japan.
But there are always compromises, things that you will lose to achieve something. I have those too, but I won't probably regret spending the most of my youth in Japan. And if you are open to learning a new language and culture, you won't regret as well.

I am writing this post from USA where I'm going through my second great transitional period of life, meeting new people, having new experiences everyday. But I will leave those stories for next post.

Before that, here are some (interesting) facts/incidents from my early days in Japan!

• My friends used to think Japanese people eat only raw fish, which is not true. They have varieties of simple and healthy food. And unlike many friends of mine I loved Sushi and Sashimi from the very first time!
• I heard skirt was first invented for male population but I saw a guy wearing skirt for the first time in Tokyo. 
• Japanese people are really kind and generous. Once I went to supermarket and saw an old person dropped the egg box she bought while leaving. But the store assistant came running and exchanged that for a new box of egg for free.
• Japanese people are also very honest. If you lose something somewhere you are more likely to find it back. One of my friend forgot his iPhone at restaurant once but it was right there when he went back after hours.
• Japanese people don't use English or other foreign language much but they will never make fun of your broken Japanese. They will always listen to you carefully, try to understand what you are trying to convey and tell you "Sugoi ne" (Wow! You're brilliant!)

I guess these stories will never end. But this is all for today.
日本大好き！