Duke University Office of Study Abroad

Dear Global Education Office:

Hands down, the best decision I made during my study abroad in Japan was requesting a host family. It's a risky venture: What's a more persistent problem than having roommates that you aren't a good match for? But if you are willing to dare and are a little bit lucky, it-ll be the greatest part of your abroad experience.

The reasons? Too many: There's the obvious advantage in learning the language; just having the constant opportunity to speak Japanese helped me improve immensely. By the end of the semester, you could tell a student's living accommodations by his or her comfort in listening and speaking.

Then, there's the cultural immersion. Culture sleeps in fancy temples and grand castles, no doubt, but lives in the everyday. If you ask me to define Japan, I'll describe a kotatsu, a low table covered by a thick blanket with a heat source beneath, where I can spend hours doing homework (or not) and eating a basketful of tangerines. Or a kaitenzushi, revolving sushi, restaurant. Or, perhaps, simply helping my host grandmother fold laundry, so that I can compete with the noise of a game show in the background as I tell her about a funny incident in the subway.

And, finally, a host family becomes exactly that -- your family. My host sister was a ready friend; we rode our bikes to eateries, toured the school festival together, as well as talk late into the night about the weirdest things. I cherished my host grandfather telling me stories peeled out of the pretty pages of photo albums. We rooted for different teams during a baseball game, once, our heated rivalry ending in uncontrollable laughter. And my host grandmother, where to start? I cried so much on leaving her; she made me, a stranger, feel at home in a foreign country.

If I go back to Japan, it will be to visit them more than anything else. The only downside I can see about living with a host family is that your nostalgia will wear familiar faces you long to see.

-Joo-Young Chang