Friends and Entertainment in Japan

Hello, my name is Karlee Nadorozny and I am a joint major in Economics & International Studies, and I am a fan of Japan and the Japanese language. I have taken Japanese for three years with Ms. Ami Hagiwara, the Japanese language instructor for the Department of Global and International Studies. During my time studying Japanese, I had the opportunity to meet and become friends with many foreign exchange students from Japan. And this summer, I got to meet some of them again. In Japan! I went with Kim Tran, who graduated in 2016 with a joint major in Political Science & International Studies, and Aisha Kore, who is a biomedical student. You can see us in the photo above with Saki Oyama, one of the Japanese exchange students I met. From left to right is Saki Oyama, Kim Tran, Aisha Kore, and myself. This photo was taken in the Asakusa, Tokyo, a famous entertainment district. We also went to another famous entertainment district -- Tokyo Disneyland. I was surprised to learn that some people visit Tokyo Disneyland on a regular basis and dress up as their favorite character. Also when one of the employees in the park comes along as a character, visitors do not make a line but instead stand in a circle and try to get the character’s attention to have a photo with it. Like we got the attention of the character in Asakusa in the photo. Friends, characters, and entertainment. I recommend Japan to you.