{"id":77441,"date":"2026-03-31T06:51:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T13:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=77441"},"modified":"2026-03-31T06:51:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T13:51:50","slug":"lumberjacks-abroad-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/lumberjacks-abroad-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Lumberjacks Abroad: Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jaidyn Thompson spent two semesters in Yamaguchi, Japan, where she not only learned to master the language but also got the opportunity to conduct research with a radio telescope, renewing her love for\u00a0astronomy.\u00a0Thompson\u2019s\u00a0experience abroad made her realize\u00a0important\u00a0things\u00a0about herself and her culture, widening her views of the world.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where did you study and why did you choose\u00a0that\u00a0country for your study abroad program?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I had the opportunity to study at Yamaguchi University in Yamaguchi\u00a0prefecture, Japan. Because I am a student in NAU\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Interdisciplinary Global Program\u00a0(IGP)<\/span><\/a>, I was able to complete a dual degree in any language,\u00a0along with my\u00a0physics\u00a0and\u00a0astrophysics\u00a0degree.\u00a0Out of\u00a0all of\u00a0the schools\u00a0in Japan,\u00a0I chose to go to Yamaguchi because it offered a unique experience to conduct research with their astrophysics department using the Yamaguchi University Radio Telescope. Additionally, the countryside was able to provide me with a glimpse of life outside the bustle of Tokyo or Osaka, which many travelers\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0get the chance to truly experience.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Jaidyn<\/a>What class(es) or research did you complete while abroad and for how long?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I went to Japan through IGP\u00a0and\u00a0was able to not only take classes while\u00a0abroad\u00a0but\u00a0also\u00a0participate\u00a0in a research internship at my host university, causing my study abroad\u00a0experience\u00a0to last approximately 11 months. During the first semester, I primarily took Japanese language and culture classes, along with one weekly seminar class introducing me to the work we would be starting the following semester. Once the second semester began, I\u00a0started\u00a0my internship with the university\u2019s radio telescope,\u00a0studying the\u00a0short-term\u00a0wavelength variations of the binary system\u00a0Algol. While conducting this research, I also\u00a0continued\u00a0with my Japanese classes, allowing me to fill most of my days speaking only Japanese with both international and Japanese classmates, as well as\u00a0lab partners.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How did you\u00a0fund\u00a0your study abroad experience?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before leaving for Japan, I applied to multiple scholarships to help with the costs of school and living abroad. On top of the Lumberjack\u00a0scholarship,\u00a0which carries over for the year abroad, I\u00a0received two other scholarships to\u00a0assist\u00a0me financially, with one being specifically for students studying abroad. In addition to this, I also worked while abroad,\u00a0tutoring local children in English and leading conversation groups with Japanese university students from all over Japan through Zoom.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Jaidyn<\/a>What expectations or preconceived notions did you have about your chosen country\u00a0and how has your experience compared to those\u00a0perceptions?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before I first traveled abroad to Japan, I was under the impression that personal space was something\u00a0greatly valued\u00a0there, even more so than\u00a0in\u00a0America. I was told that because\u00a0hugging and physical affection\u00a0were\u00a0not displayed as easily there,\u00a0and even handshakes were an awkward exchange, this meant that you should never enter a Japanese person\u2019s personal bubble. To an extent, this is true. However, I\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0realize that personal space\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0apply when\u00a0in\u00a0public. Trains, elevators or even just walking on the sidewalk on a busy street, you will be up close and personal, bumping shoulders with everyone around you. Unlike most places in\u00a0the United States, you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0say sorry after shuffling into someone.\u00a0It’s\u00a0a normal occurrence and expected when living everyday life in a busy city, so they do away with any formalities.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0so normalized there that when I returned to America, I was confused why people were waiting for the next elevator when it was only 75% full instead of shoving in.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What aspects of your host country do you find the most different than your home country, and why?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think the biggest difference between Japan and America on a foundational level is Japan\u2019s emphasis on respect\u00a0for\u00a0culture. Respect for other people\u2019s space and time is\u00a0very important\u00a0in Japan, influencing\u00a0people\u2019s\u00a0daily lives in a way that makes many things much more efficient.\u00a0Not talking too\u00a0loudly\u00a0on trains or in public in general so as not to bother people resting, squeezing as many people into elevators so as not to waste people\u2019s time, and even the lack of litter stems from having respect for other people and your surroundings. This is taught not only through societal expectations\u00a0but even at school, as students are made to\u00a0clean the school themselves every day\u00a0and even occasionally cook school lunches. This sense of respect and responsibility imbued into every student\u00a0couldn’t\u00a0be more different than my experience growing up in America,\u00a0and although it\u00a0definitely has\u00a0its downsides as well,\u00a0it\u00a0is the main reason that I was attracted to Japan in the first place.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Jaidyn<\/a>How has this study abroad experience influenced your personal, academic\u00a0and career goals?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>Has it\u00a0opened up\u00a0new possibilities or changed your direction?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Having the opportunity to study abroad in Japan has influenced my goals in\u00a0many different ways.\u00a0Personally\u00a0and academically, it has only increased my desire to travel to more countries and experience\u00a0different cultures\u00a0firsthand\u00a0and more personally than just as a tourist. Since you cannot\u00a0truly understand\u00a0a culture without first understanding the language, this has influenced me to begin branching out from Japanese and study more languages. In a more\u00a0career-oriented\u00a0perspective, as a student suffering burnout from my subject major, the chance to put all of my studies into action abroad and learn more about a subject we don’t really\u00a0study at school has made me rethink my decision\u00a0to\u00a0not pursue\u00a0astrophysics after graduation and renewed my passion for astronomy.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Has this experience changed any of your personal beliefs or values?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before my experience abroad, I\u00a0had\u00a0a very negative\u00a0view of myself as an American,\u00a0because of how divided our country is, how many problems it has and the image I know other countries have about Americans, especially as tourists.\u00a0I was honestly ashamed of my nationality. Additionally, I felt like I was lacking the culture that people of other nationalities seem to have, with the most American cultural festivities I could think of being the Super\u00a0Bowl and\u00a0the\u00a0Fourth of July. However, going abroad and not only hearing the perspectives of people from Japan and elsewhere, but experiencing living in another country firsthand as a resident and not just a tourist,\u00a0was\u00a0eye-opening\u00a0for me. Hearing that people around the world had negative opinions of their own country and continuously\u00a0looked\u00a0at most other countries\u2019 more positive traits helped me realize that just because I only see the good parts of other countries\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0mean they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have just as many issues as we do. It also helped me realize that just because\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0a young country born in the age of revolution and\u00a0we\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have ancient history and myths tied to our identity,\u00a0it\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0mean that our culture is\u00a0nonexistent.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jaidyn Thompson spent two semesters in Yamaguchi, Japan, where she not only learned to master the language but also got the opportunity to conduct research with a radio telescope, renewing her love for\u00a0astronomy.\u00a0Thompson\u2019s\u00a0experience abroad made her realize\u00a0important\u00a0things\u00a0about herself and her culture, widening her views of the world.\u00a0 Where did you study and why did you…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":77442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1821,1829],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lumberjacks-abroad","category-student-edition"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}