Aftermatch
Well, so recently I graduated and returned to Brazil. Now it's time to talk about what happened in between.
For most international students who return to their countries from Japan after grad school, the last months are never simple. There are lots of things that must be taken care of: get rid of furniture, ship things, clean the house, say goodbye to all (most) friends...
In addition, students from countries like Brasil, who has little educational treaties with Japan have an additional headache: the diploma can't be directly used in our country of origin. There's a process where a local university must recognize your diploma... Gotta love bureaucracy. There are reasons for demanding that procedure, but I'd rather discuss this further in another post.
In my case, I had another factor that made me glad, but multiplied the number of things I should do during that period:
My parents came to visit.
Yes, after three years in Japan, both my parents decided to pay me a visit. The "tatemae" reason is that they wanted to see my graduation ceremony, despite the number of times I've told them it's not that much worth seeing.
Honestly: that was the perfect excuse for them to visit Japan for the first time. And considering I was living in Kyoto - THE touristic city in Japan - the logistics became a bit simpler.
For me, that was also the perfect excuse to do a bit of sightseeing whenever I could; and to eat Japanese food before I left.
The problem was they were coming at a time when I was extremely busy. As much as or even more than when I was under pressure for my thesis. Fortunately, though, my parents can speak Japanese so it wasn't necessary to be with them all the time. Especially because I can't afford to travel together with people who have JR Rail Pass.
Another factor I miscalculated was the time necessary to pack and clean the house. After leaving Himeji to Brazil once I thought I knew better, but one year at a place where you can leave the furniture when you leave and three years where you should clean the house before returning to Brazil are VERY different.
Because of that, I missed an event my host family in Japan had prepared for my parents. After hearing that my parents like series like Mito Koumon, my host mother arranged a short visit to their studio! And guided my the actor that currently plays the lead character himself (I won't say the names, but they are easy to find)!
For that and for all the support during those three years, I thank deeply my host family in Japan. Hopefully we will meet again.
For most international students who return to their countries from Japan after grad school, the last months are never simple. There are lots of things that must be taken care of: get rid of furniture, ship things, clean the house, say goodbye to all (most) friends...
In addition, students from countries like Brasil, who has little educational treaties with Japan have an additional headache: the diploma can't be directly used in our country of origin. There's a process where a local university must recognize your diploma... Gotta love bureaucracy. There are reasons for demanding that procedure, but I'd rather discuss this further in another post.
In my case, I had another factor that made me glad, but multiplied the number of things I should do during that period:
My parents came to visit.
Yes, after three years in Japan, both my parents decided to pay me a visit. The "tatemae" reason is that they wanted to see my graduation ceremony, despite the number of times I've told them it's not that much worth seeing.
Honestly: that was the perfect excuse for them to visit Japan for the first time. And considering I was living in Kyoto - THE touristic city in Japan - the logistics became a bit simpler.
For me, that was also the perfect excuse to do a bit of sightseeing whenever I could; and to eat Japanese food before I left.
The problem was they were coming at a time when I was extremely busy. As much as or even more than when I was under pressure for my thesis. Fortunately, though, my parents can speak Japanese so it wasn't necessary to be with them all the time. Especially because I can't afford to travel together with people who have JR Rail Pass.
Another factor I miscalculated was the time necessary to pack and clean the house. After leaving Himeji to Brazil once I thought I knew better, but one year at a place where you can leave the furniture when you leave and three years where you should clean the house before returning to Brazil are VERY different.
Because of that, I missed an event my host family in Japan had prepared for my parents. After hearing that my parents like series like Mito Koumon, my host mother arranged a short visit to their studio! And guided my the actor that currently plays the lead character himself (I won't say the names, but they are easy to find)!
For that and for all the support during those three years, I thank deeply my host family in Japan. Hopefully we will meet again.
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