Brian Doyle
The International
Brian Doyle
My name is Brian Doyle and I will be leaving my home for several months for the first time. As an International Business student, I believe without the ability to communicate and understand a culture in its home location, the culture is excluded and immersion cannot be attained. Therefore I plan to participate in Japanese business and language courses, studying the traditional Japanese life style, and understanding how globalization impacts cultures outside the United States.
I will be attending Kwansei Gakuin University located in Osaka, Japan. Their classes offer a unique way for foreign students, such as me, to learn the Japanese business, economic and political structure firsthand. Also, this offers a great opportunity to break out of the routine students follow semester after semester at their home college.
Living with a Japanese host family is another personal goal I want to challenge myself with. Boarding with a family provides an unmatched opportunity to speak Japanese and learn Japanese customs. This experience may strengthen my values or it may cause me to modify or abandon them and embrace new concepts and perceptions. I expect that encountering another culture will enable me to see the culture outside the United States through new eyes, providing a unique opportunity for reflection upon my return home.
I will be leaving the United States in December 14th 2010, three months prior to my study abroad school experience that starts on March 28th 2011. For the first three months I will travel to Japan, South Korea, and China to learn, cultivate, create and understand the world and myself. Please join me for the good, the bad, the happy, and the sad times that I will embark upon from this journey.