One year later...

Once again, I find myself sitting in the UH West Oahu classroom listening to Professor Jayson Chun giving his lecture about survival Japanese. As I sat there listening to him, I couldn't help but think about how I felt the moment I walked through the doors one year earlier.

I was nervous about my trip to Japan. I didn't know anyone in the class and I felt like a deer in headlights. I did not know what to expect.

This time around, I knew what was expected of me. I had friends to help me understand the culture. I sat there listening to him almost mouthing what he was going to say next, until he said...

"For those of you who went to Tokyo last year, do not expect this trip to be the same. Aside from being different from each other, Kyoto and Osaka, are not like Tokyo."

I immediately sat up like a meerkat hearing the call of a hawk. I started to feel nervous again. My heart started beating a little faster and my palms were starting to get clammy. As Jayson went over the history of Japan from the creation of "Kami" to the Tokugawa Shogun period, I slowly realized, we were going to see a different side of Japan. We were going to see the beauty and traditions of Kyoto and Nara, and taste the raw and "in your face" attitude of Osaka.