Temples are a sort of neighborhood oasis — perfect for when you want to escape the stress, concrete and traffic of everyday life.

When I studied abroad in Japan, my two big goals were 1) to take advantage of my cultural and academic experience in Tokyo and all that great stuff, and 2) to find temples.

After my purposeful and accidental temple wanderings, I was not only able to see the various functions temples hold in everyday life, but also to catch the different faces these sites show at different times of day.

It doesn’t matter where you’re from or how you made your way to temples — they share a sense of calm and belonging that transcends pretty much everything. My fondest memories of Japan during my brief travels there as a kid were walking to the temples in my grandparents’ neighborhood and looking at the trees, listening to the crows, and watching people walk up to the temple to throw coins and ring the bell rope.

Temples have the silent ability of taking a location and making it yours.

The original function of many temples was a protective one. They were a place to protect your “village” or “town.” As a sort of communal center, they also served as the hubbub of annual festivals, such as ennichi or matsuri, most often held during the dog days of summer and beginnings of fall.

At New Years, many visit their local temples for the first shrine visit of the year (a hatsumoude). In the spring, the temple grounds burst into color during cherry blossom season.

When not in the center of action, temples receive daily meanderers. Some (like me) visit for a nice walk/detour from commute. Others wander through to offer a prayer of success, hope, or grief.

I would often stand off to the side, or sit on a bench, and watch the successive visitors as they walked up to the altar, and wonder what it was they were praying about.

Click here to see this in motion. (video taken by author)

During my walks, I also found the many different faces a temple will show throughout the day. The starkest difference, I think, was at night. Once in the summer, I came home later than I usually did, walking out of the train station right when it began to grow dark. It coincided with the onset of the intense heat that was to take over Japan in July and August—and so I was quite sweaty and tired.

After walking past the little restaurants and shops that had their warm, yellow neon lights lit, I glanced over at the temple to see it aglow as well. Little lantern posts lined up along the walkway, leading to two large lanterns on either side of the front of the temple, which I had never noticed before.

Instead of going straight to my grandparents’ house, I took a little detour to another temple close by, and saw a similar sight—several series of stairs lit by rather ghostly lanterns. Because the dark obstructed most of my sight, and the birds were asleep, I heard and felt things I could not during the day. You could almost feel the place breathe. It felt alive.

See night temple magic in motion. (video taken by author)

Whenever you find yourself in Japan, I recommend you search out these neighborhood delights, and see what surprises you will stumble upon in your adventures. Japan shows its beauty and life in unexpected places.

The post Matcha, Manga, and Mayonnaise: Temples appeared first on KRUI Radio.

And so, considering just how awesome an experience it was for me, I thought I would devote a post to touch on how to get on the right track towards study abroad. Study abroad is like that iceberg meme—much focus is placed on when you get there; but this long-anticipated moment is the result of a LOT of hard work. So I thought I would bring up a few points to keep in mind, if you are thinking about starting or have already started the process to study abroad, first study your options of places and languages, for example studying in israel in english is a possibility and one of a great options.

1) Do a little ~Introspection~

A vital question to ask yourself is “why do I want to study abroad?” It’s one of those sentences that your mind automatically answers with “Uh, because I want to?” while glossing over study abroad pamphlets. But it is a serious and valid question that must be addressed before even choosing your program. It can validate, critique, or instigate your plans. Why are you studying abroad? And why this country or program? Is it just because your friends did and you want to follow suit? Do you want experience, or a chance to step out of your comfort zone? Do you see it as a challenge, or a way to discover yourself? As for me, I wanted to study and experience a culture and people that have been a large part of my life and my identity as a biracial person, and to pursue academic areas (such as linguistics and translation) that are part of my career goals, and to study abroad is the best decision you can make,  to study abroad, first study your options of places and languages, for example studying in israel in english is a possibility and one of a great options.. And believe me, this introspection is going to do wonders when you’re doing applications and statements of purpose (just saying).

2) Money Money Money

A more logistical concern surrounds finance. You really want to go abroad, but then you see a cost sheet for your program, or remember your tight financial situation. The thing to remember, however, is that there are always opportunities to help finance your experience, but this also requires the initiative to seek them out and pursue them. A lot of the scholarships and grants that you will find may give you the “There’s no way I’ll be able to get that” mental flinch. But go for them anyway. I applied for the Benjamin Gilman scholarship—applying to a big program like this was a first for me—because there was an opportunity staring at me in the face (and people had recommended it), that I had to take a shot at. And I got it. That, together with other scholarships from my university, made my experience possible.

3) Tick-Tock Goes the Clock

DON’T PROCRASTINATE. Says I, someone so articulate in procrastination that I should have a professional degree in it. But the fact remains that you’re dealing with deadlines that will usually be as hard as the sidewalks you walk on. You are working with (and hope to actually be with) institutions that are working with who-knows-how-many prospective applicants. You will also be working with two different governments (again, depending on your program) to get visas, passports, airplane tickets; and this is not including potential duties that may need to be done abroad (I had to deal with tonnnnns of paperwork in Japan too).

It may help to think of this article as a memoir of things I needed to remember when I was preparing to study abroad, during which I learned important lessons about time management, responsibility, and a bold use of opportunities.

The post Matcha, Manga, and Mayonnaise: Study Abroad appeared first on KRUI Radio.