I came to Japan on this day, 7 years ago. 7 years. That’s longer than I expected. I have spent most of my 20s in this country—an excellent time to reflect.
My move to Japan happened by chance. I was never interested in Japan or anything related to Japan. It all happened by chance. I wanted to move abroad and embark on a new challenge. Initially, my target was the UK, since I love football and Manchester United. My second choice was the US because everyone I knew was trying to go there. But none of those options ended up being viable for me. My parents told me that if I were to study abroad, I would have to do it with my own money. This put a huge barrier in front of me. There aren’t many countries where you can go fully self-funded. I almost gave up on my dream to study abroad, but then I learned about Japan and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University.
My friend from high school came here one semester before me. He shared with me the opportunity of studying in Japan. One thing lead to another and I was ready to move here. I had no idea what I was getting into, but I knew my life was going to change forever.
It definitely changed. Changed for the better. In the last seven years out of the 2555 days, I spent only 5 days in Bangladesh. That’s a crazy number when I put it like that. I never thought of it. I haven’t been home for even one week. Lots of things happened. Don’t want to spend a whole blog documenting my life in Japan, but I do want to share some small snippets.
The four years that I spent at university were one of the hardest of my life. But I also enjoyed the most in those four years. I got to learn so much about myself, life, and how to live it. I grew from being dependent on my parents to being independent.
I faced a lot of failures and challenges in those four years but the most important things were the lessons I learnt. Those lessons became the foundation of my next three years. The last three years probably have been the best three years of my life. I have never been happier and healthier. I still have failures and challenges but the four years at university taught me how to live a happy life. Again, I am skipping over lots of details, but if you ever want to hear details I am happy to chat.
In these seven years, Japan contributed a lot. It provided me with ample opportunities. It provided me with a beautiful country that I can call my second home. There are many things I love about living in Japan. I love the beautiful nature. I love how safe it is. I love how easy it is to travel within the country. I love the food and the culture. I love the friendships I have made here. Its definitely not the perfect country but it fits well with me.