I can't believe that my first trip to Japan is officially over. During my trip to Asia there were moments in time when I missed the U.S. There are simply aspects of both Japan and U.S. that are different. I missed being able to drive my car and conveniently get around Tucson. Despite loving Asian food and eating primarily Asian food back home, I found myself missing pasta and pizza and other American foods. I didn't expect to be slightly homesick for my home country. However, now that I am back in the U.S. I find myself missing Japan. 10 days went by so quickly and even though it hasn't even been a week since I've been back it almost feel like a dream, a wonderful one.
Although I'm happy to be back, I know for sure that I want to continue traveling as much as possible in my future. I highly recommend for all students to partake in this IPSF travel abroad opportunity and I know that I will greatly advocate this to everyone at school. It was a once in a lifetime experience that is well worth the money. I know that funding is always a concern for everyone, but it's very possible to save up money to go on this trip and I want others to know this! Also, money is something that can be made again; the experience is worth it! The experience gives you an appreciation for people who come from a different background and lifestyle from you. Despite language barriers, a connection can still be established between you and someone from another country. It is a humbling experience that I think I wouldn't easily get while in the U.S.
I would not pinpoint one specific aspect of the trip that made it amazing -- it was the experience as a whole. It was so interesting to learn about how pharmacy and healthcare in Japan was so different from the U.S. Although I learned a little bit about the Japanese pharmacy system from a Japanese pharmacy student who visited our University prior to my trip this summer, I didn't expect all the differences that I learned. I found it to be very thought provoking and it makes me want to learn more about pharmacy and healthcare in other countries.
Additionally, I think I can speak on behalf of every student on the trip that the Japanese faculty members and students treated us with such hospitality and kindness that we will always remember it. Many of us already started brainstorming what we can do when the students and faculty from KGU come to visit us in February. I know we all have such gratitude and respect for KGU and Osaka University after our trip. The students/faculty members from both universities took a lot of time out of their schedule to show us around the area and introduce us to delicious food and culture. Although part of the trip was for academic learning, it was 100% enjoyable. I know that I will want to visit Japan again one day. If I could change one thing, it would be that I wish I made more effort to learn more Japanese before my trip. Although many of the students knew a little bit of English, the majority of the UA students who went on the trip barely knew any Japanese. Hopefully in this next half a year I can learn some more basic Japanese so that I can communicate with the students when they come to visit in February 2017!
Aside from getting to know some of the Japanese pharmacy students, this opportunity allowed me to get to know my fellow pharmacy classmates even better! It was a great bonding experience and it was like one big travel family. We had a lot of good memories together and I know we will always be connected by this awesome travel experience. Dr. Katz was an awesome guide and was very open to whatever ideas we had which made it really stress-free for us! I am grateful that everyone got along and that we helped out each other. I remember during the first couple days of the trip it would take us awhile to figure out if we were missing anyone in the group when we were all meeting at a particular stop. However, by the middle to end of the trip, we could just glance around and recognize who was missing.
Prior to this trip I never really considered doing an international rotation, but now that I've visited Japan, I've started considering if this is something I may want to do. Even if I do not do an international rotation, I think I will at least consider an out of state rotation to experience something new. I think that the more traveling I do, the braver I feel. I have found that I want to put myself out there and experience fun and exciting things! It's such a fantastic learning experience and I think it's worth all the effort in setting up an out of state or international rotation!
All and all, my fear is that I will forget parts about this trip as time passes by, but I'm glad that we have these blogs to look back on. Additionally, I know that I'll be thinking about my memories from this trip from time to time. I want to visit Japan again some day, so see you one again one day Japan!
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