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2015 JET-MIP ESSAY: GEORGIANNA ECKOCTOBER, 2015: BREEZE ISSUE #96
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OF
JAPANESEGEORGIANNA ECKNorth Penn High School
Lansdal, PA

MY EXPERIENCE WITH JET-MIP
The experience I had in Japan while participating in the JET
Memorial Invitation Program was undoubtedly the best of mylife. Never before have I personally felt so utterly free andsimultaneously completely connected with the people andworld around me. I feel that my experience in Japan has not
only changed my life, but also left an impact on the lives of
those I met during my stay, whether they were American orJapanese. I was moved by the stories of Tayler Andersonand Monty Dickson as well as the stories I heard while inJapan of people who survived the tsunami to take every
opportunity to live my life fully each day, and starting inJapan, I attempted to begin doing just that.
My personal experience in Japan was extremely positive;
although I was thousands of miles from my house in
Pennsylvania, I felt utterly at home. The Japanese people were very polite to me, and I wasshocked at how easily I could connect to others and make friends using only Japanese. I
truthfully had no large difficulties while in Japan, and I immediately felt that the country wasvery beautiful and its people very kindhearted. Throughout the duration of my stay in Japan, it
was proven to me again and again that it is a country which shows great hospitality and apeople who help one another in any way possible. I hope to come back to Japan in the near
future, because I felt very comfortable and welcomed there. I would also like to return to see
the progress of the people recovering from the tsunami, because the perseverance in the face
Privacy - Termsof adversity that I witnessed in Japan was nothing short of inspirational.

Although I have always been very passionate about my Japanese studies, my trip to Japan
ignited a flame in my heart, kindling desire to learn and motivation to work such as I have neverfelt before. I have truly never been more inspired in my entire life than I was in Japan. Every
conversation I had in Japanese both added to my confidence by proving to me what I wascapable of and also encouraged me to keep learning by highlighting the areas in which myJapanese was still weak. I feel that I have learned a good deal about the simple concept oflearning itself while on the JET Memorial Invitation Program, for I learned so much in Japan inways that I would never have previously imagined. I now feel much more comfortable
conversing in Japanese and possess greater direction in which to take my studies. Overall, I
feel that my language studies are more focused than they were previously, and I also feel morecertain about my future in Japanese, for this trip has solidified my intention to use theJapanese language in my future career. I truly love the language and culture of Japan, and I
fully intend to continue my studies and hopefully use Japanese for the rest of my life.
The richest experiences of my time in Japan lay in the time I spent with other people and therelationships I made. Both with Japanese people and the other participants in the program, I
shared many enjoyable and emotional moments which left me with unforgettable memories. Atthe High School Summit in Rikuzentakata, I met with Japanese students in the Tohoku region
whose lives had been affected by the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami. Along with other Americans,
we visited Rikuzentakata High School and discussed ways to improve the conditions in thetown for people who had difficulties living there, such as those who were disabled or foreign tothe country. I also had the lovely experience of meeting with two older women in thesurrounding area and discussing the difficulties of their daily lives with them. At the HighSchool Summit, we were able to discuss these difficulties and speak on behalf of those older
women and many other elderly people like them with similar problems in the town. I hope thatour presentation made a difference in their lives. It left a huge impact on me to speak withthese people and others in the Tohoku region who had been affected by the disaster, and I
hope that our visit left an impact on them as well by creating friendships across country
borders and discussing improvement of the situation. I also made lasting relationships with myhost family during my homestay. My host sisters and parents were extremely kind to me, andthey patiently shared the typical Japanese lifestyle with me. I discussed with them what life waslike for me in America, and we still keep in touch, sharing our everyday experiences in ourseparate countries via social media. Their hospitality opened up my world by allowing me tofully experience Japan and also blessed me with friends across the world whom I will keep intouch with for the rest of my life. I also made many friends within the program who live all
across my own country. While experiencing Japan side-by-side, I found some of the greatest
people I have ever known and some of the dearest people to me today. Now that I am back in
my home country, I still keep in contact with them, and we are all working towards our eventual
goals of returning to Japan and furthering our Japanese studies. I know I have made an impact
on these people as they have made an impact on me. Both the people of Japan and my fellow
participants have become important people in my life, and I now feel bonded to others across
my own country and across the world. It seems to me that many of these people who I met alsofeel this sense that they have bonded with me, and I hope this will help to bring Japan andAmerica closer in comradery, making it possible for people in the future to do the same. Privacy - Terms

Before this program, I always desired to visit Japan due to my interest in the culture andlanguage. However, my trip to Japan and the stories of Tayler Anderson and Monty Dickson
have left me with far deeper impressions in regards to returning to Japan and continuing
through the rest of my life as a person studying Japanese. If I could speak to Tayler and Monty,I would thank them, because their stories inspired me and my own experience in Japan
illustrated to me their philosophies on life. In Japan, I stopped planning and overthinking andworrying; I just took every opportunity that came my way and truly lived. I have never lived sofreely or fully in my life as I did in Japan, and I would like to tell Monty and Tayler that theirfree-spirited state of mind allowed me to think that such raw experience and carefree
happiness was possible. Without this program and without knowing their stories, I would never
have let go enough to learn that there was so much more to life than preparing and organizing,that just going out and doing something, ready or not, could be as fulfilling as I found it to be. I
want to tell Tayler and Monty that they should be proud of how they followed their dreams, andI would like to thank them for helping me decide to follow mine. Overall, I would like to thankthem for teaching me to really live. They will continue to live freely in my heart and the heartsof a great many people forever.
In Japan I learned a new way to live and made friendships that changed my perspective. Myfamily tells me that I changed in Japan, and I believe that they are correct, because each daythat I wake up, the world looks different to me now. I now hold the opinion that each day isgiven to us to be filled with people dear to us and experiences that enrich our lives. I now holdconnections to a country on the other side of the world and wish to go back there, because
nothing will ever be able to sever those bonds. I am now ready to go out and live the rest of
my life, following my heart and my dreams, together with others dear to me, just as Tayler andMonty did before me.

NIPPON THROUGH MY EYES PHOTOSUBMISSION“Kiyomizu-dera”
I chose it because it was taken at Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto, which was one of the most aweinspiring places I have ever visited, and the people in the photo were my friends who
experienced it with me.

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Breeze #98

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