Heading Out!

Hello blog readers! I’m Logan Suits, a senior at USF majoring in microbiology and Japanese, bound for a semester in Japan. (Side note: there’s no Japanese major, but there’s a world language major with a concentration in Japanese that’s basically the same thing. So everyone just calls that the Japanese major.)

I’m not familiar with the website, WordPress, so apologies if some of these first posts don’t turn out to have all the bells and whistles that you might expect from a blog. Right now, I just see a white screen with text. That’s real boring, and I’ll do my best to change it when I learn the system. I’m a fast learner, though, so hopefully that’s soon!

A little bit about me, other than that fact: I studied judo at USF! It’s definitely a passion of mine, and I developed a tight-knit friend group from it. I started when I was a freshman, and I’ve continued it for the entirety of the time I was at school. I was eventually promoted to Vice President, and got my green belt. I’ve abandoned the post of Vice President now, though, in the capable hands of those I’ve left behind. I hope and know they’ll do a good job.

Judo is one of the reasons I’ve decided to study in Japan. Japan is the founding place of judo, and they’ve been dominant in judo at the Olympics ever since it was added. I also want to study in Japan to improve my Japanese skills, and become more comfortable using the language. I want to work in Japan some time in the future, and I need to master the language first. Thankfully, the Mark Orr Japanese Study Scholarship funded some of this travel, and allowed me to take this amazing opportunity.

I think I’ll be able to accomplish both of these goals with this trip. For nearly 5 months, I’ll be studying at a college called Kansai Gaidai, and living with a Japanese family. Their knowledge of English may be limited, so I may have to rely on my abilities in Japanese. It may be tough, but I’ll do my best! I’ve also have to navigate Japan, learn the train system, and generally live on my own. It’ll be my first time alone abroad, and I’ve never really had experience with train systems or much public transportation at all. It’ll be a learning experience that I’m excited to go on!

I don’t know what awaits me in Japan. I’ll be honest: I’m nervous. I’m excited. I’m scared, happy, jubilant, and afraid all at the same time. But at the end of the day, I’ve chosen this path. I hope you’ll join me along it, though this blog. Expect more posts in the near future!