One year in Japan - the road from here

It has been almost 10 months since I came to Japan now, and my time here as an exchange student will soon be over. It has been a lot of fun to follow the SKP - Study in Kyoto Program, and I have learned a lot in the past months too.

It is a bit strange that there is just one month left of the semester, and that my time as an exchange student soon will be over. Though there is still a month left of the SKP and probably more adventures coming up before I leave Japan, I've got some other news considering the future I thought I should write a little about.

First of all, I will be going to Bolivia during my summer holiday! My goal with this, is to work as a volunteer at an orphanage in La Paz, and at the same time take classes in Spanish.
I am traveling through an organization called The Mission Alliance, which also has projects in other South American countries, Africa and Asia. Though I mainly will work as a teacher I might get to work with other tasks as well, since The Mission Alliance also runs other projects here, like providing the people with clean water for instance. I guess I will be back with more info when it is getting closer to departure. I haven't bought my plane ticket yet, but I believe I will be leaving in the beginning of August.!

However, I am not done with Japan just yet, because I just got news that I got into Ritsumeikan's master's program in International Development.! Which means that I'll be back again in Kyoto in September and stay here for another couple of years.
I've got a bachelor's degree in Pedagogy (education) and soon a degree in Japanese as well, so my point of study will change a bit from what I've done earlier. This semester I have been studying as as seiki (正規) student at Ritsumeikan, which means that even though I'm an exchange student I can take regular classes with the other Japanese students, and I've used this opportunity to take some classes about International Relations too.

I'm sure that both working as a volunteer and also continuing my studies at Ritsumeikan will be challenging, but I'm looking forward to it and believe that it will lead to a lot of nice experiences. So stay in tuned for more adventures in the future:)

About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.