Casie Bacani will be graduating this Spring 2021 with her degree in Linguistics and Japanese. Throughout her college career, Bacani studied in France & Belgium during Spring 2018 and in South Korea during Summer 2019. The following is a reflective piece she wrote after her study abroad experience in Kyoto, Japan, for part of the Spring 2020 semester.
I was seventeen the first time I visited the beautiful country of Japan, and I instantly fell in love with the people and culture. My desire to learn more about a country so different from my own consumed me. Thus, upon entering university, I dedicated my time studying the Japanese language and even worked as a docent at a Japanese garden. However, my dream was to study abroad in Japan in the hopes that I could experience Japanese everyday life and have a glance at the Japanese mindset. Moreover, the child in me wanted to fulfill my fantasy of seeing the world-renowned Japanese sakura.
With the political climate and state of world health concerning the coronavirus already beginning to escalate, a sense of anxiety had overcome both my family and me before my departure. Regardless, perhaps out of both stubbornness and uncertainty of the future, I proceeded through an empty airport and stepped into the plane decked with a facemask and all the hand sanitizer I could carry in order to embark on my dream. Upon arriving in Japan, I let out a sigh of relief, emitting all of the pent-up anxieties; I had finally made it back to what I call my second home. However, from my very first day in Japan, I was faced with a new turmoil daily. A new email from my home university, the US government/embassy, or Ritsumeikan staff arrived nearly every day, generally bearing disappointing news. I hated checking my notifications each morning. Within the constant change, I was determined to enjoy the city of Kyoto while I could, so I quickly drew up a list of my must-see sights. Common tourist visits to ancient temples and bustling marketplaces decorated these times, a particular highlight being my solo-climb of Mt. Daimonji. However, my favorite moments were my strolls through the neighborhood and the accompanying sounds of the passing trains; unique trinkets I would come across at nearby recycle shops; and eventually, the fluttering sakura along narrow paths. However, after only a month, the perhaps inevitable moment came of having to return home. It was a sorrowful goodbye, trekking my way across the country by taxi, car, and bullet train. My journey home was also riddled with the unexpected: family friends hospitalized, canceled flights, and emergency hotel stays. With a mask moist from tears after an 11-hour flight home, I finally landed back in Los Angeles.
These past six months became a time of reflection. With having experienced the most trying time in my life, I was faced with questions of who am I? What is my place in the world? What do I want to contribute? How do I want to live? As political riots and social movements riddled my country in the midst of the pandemic, these thoughts only escalated. Thus, I was grateful to escape into the world of language study with my online courses. However, one particular course encompassed me in the world of Japanese culture without having to leave my room, Western Perspectives of Japan. Through readings commenting upon Japanese culture and conversation with Japanese native students, this course transported me back to Japan despite the quarantine. More specifically, I was both challenged and struck by the words of British essayist Pico Iyer who brought into my consciousness the Buddhist proverb and Kyoto saying that “every reverse has a reverse.” It was from this philosophy that my thinking was challenged, particularly my construction of reality. I learned that where Americans focus on changing the future, Japan focuses on appreciating the now. I related to this as I have been accustomed to believing that I could shift my reality to accommodate my dreams. In fact, I would describe myself as a woman of countless plans and predictions in order to gain that which I am chasing. Yet, I have realized that I live too much in the future. From Iyer, I was taught that in Japan, it is the reverse. With Japan’s recognition of impermanence, it is of the Japanese mindset to appreciate the now because, in a world of suffering, there is no telling what one will face in the future.
It is this learned philosophy that has come to represent my experience in Japan and forthcoming experiences in my home country among hurting and troubled people; therefore, making my semester at Ritsumeikan the backdrop for more self-growth than I could have ever imagined. I would even go as far as to say that I learned more in my one month in Japan and four following months participating in online courses than I would have ever learned in a “normal” study abroad semester. I was able to both see, experience, and appreciate the impermanence of the sakura.
Kiyomizu-dera - Bacani fulfilled her dream of studying abroad in Kyoto, Japan.
Arashiyama - is one of Bacani’s favorite places in Japan.
Ryoan-ji - Bacani immersed herself in nature and many cultural artifacts while studying abroad.
Kinkakuji - Japanese and Linguistic major Bacani explored Kyoto, Japan