I achieved my childhood goal, which is to live in Japan, by getting accepted by a Japanese university. To commence my story, I am from Myanmar, a country that admires Japan for its amazing products and for being the best country in Asia. However, for me, anime has been the big part of my childhood so, that has been the driving motivation that has pushed me to do everything I can so, I can experience the life in Japan. Fortunately, I can easily cope with the Japanese culture, which is a collectivist culture, and enjoy my life in Japan to the fullest. Now, I will talk about some of the experiences I face in Japan and the similarities between my country and Japan.

I arrived Japan 2 years ago without proficient Japanese speaking skills and for the first few days I faced many troubles. However, since I lived in a Japanese dorm, I made some Japanese friends who explained to me about the things I need to know and taught me some useful Japanese words. I was surprised by how helpful and patient they were and was very grateful for their warm treatment towards me. In addition, there was also a time where I dropped my purse and a Japanese woman helped me even if it meant to miss the train she had been waiting for. There was also a time where an elderly Japanese woman spent minutes to explain and teach me how to use the machines for self-checkout in the supermarket. These are some of the awesome experiences I gained and they will also be embedded in my heart forever.

The similarities that I believe that my country and Japan have are that, the people from both countries are very helpful even towards the strangers, and are very kind towards each other. They would try to do things that do not pose any troubles to others and are very careful with words they use. Furthermore, when I was growing up, my parents taught me to consider about others’ feelings and work with others in harmony. An example is that if my friend wanted to copy my homework, I should allow him/her to avoid conflict. Therefore, living in Japan, which has similar culture as my country, makes me feel like home and even safer (Japan has the lower crime rate than Myanmar) and more convenient (many advanced machines and great transportation).

                  Japan is a country filled with well-mannered and kind people who adopted collectivist culture. Due to this similarity between Myanmar and Japan, I was given a great opportunity to live in Japan without facing many troubles and obtain amazing experiences that I believe I will not get anywhere else.