The reason why I wanted to study abroad for a long time was because of my short-term study abroad in New Zealand.I had been listening to Western music since I was in junior high school, and I was interested in foreign countries, so I studied abroad for a short time in my second year of high school.Based on this experience, I wanted to know a world that I couldn't see in a short period of time, and then I wanted to try to study abroad for a long time while I was in college and learn more about countries.
After I entered university, I started studying Korean on my own because I liked Korean idols, and in the first half of my first year I took a Chinese class that I was interested in at the same time as Korean, and eventually I began to consider studying in either country.Then I met a senior who was planning to study in Korea during that Chinese class.From there, as I consulted about studying abroad and listened to my experiences, my dream of studying abroad became more and more familiar, and I began to wonder if there was anything I could do to prepare for studying abroad.At that time, I started participating in international exchange meetings between Kobe Gakuin University and schools with agreements such as Korea, China and Taiwan to create opportunities to engage with local university students.After that, the time has come for me to finally choose a country to study abroad in the summer of my freshman year when I was attending all the exchange meetings that I could participate in and was learning about the culture of each country.
And as a decisive factor and purpose of studying in Korea after hesitation, I have loved clothes so much that I coordinate myself since I was in kindergarten, and I have worked part-time in apparel even after entering university, and I would like to work in clothes in the future.Among them, I have always wondered that Korean clothes, a genre of Korean fashion in Japan, are designed and sold at a low price, and I have come to want to learn locally about things that cannot be absorbed just by being in Japan, such as how to keep them low.Therefore, this valuable opportunity to study abroad will not only help you make many friends, improve your language skills, and experience things that you can only experience locally, but also make it a year where you can pick up many clothes and absorb designs and materials.

I have less than three months left to study abroad for one year.In the past seven months, I have had a lot of experience in both life and learning.In terms of living, I started by getting used to the public transportation system of trains and buses, and at first I got used to it in about two weeks, although I sometimes missed it in the opposite direction.At first, I went to a mart near my house for food procurement, but two months after I came to Korea, I was able to use online shopping and buy heavy things easily, so I didn't feel the difficulty of living outside of language.
As for the learning aspect, I took the course focusing on the comparison of various cultures between Japan and Japan.Even though I understood that I was taking the same class as a Korean student to study abroad, I couldn't answer anything during discussions, but after reviewing each class, I could understand most of it at the end of the semester, and participated in the class.
Also, I felt that the biggest thing that led me to the growth of my speaking ability was that I played actively with friends I made there.The university buddy program, where one local student supports foreign students and tours tourist attractions together, made it easy for friends to make friends.In addition, Koreans who took the same class liked K-pop idols just like me, and I had many opportunities to use Korean because we became closer by going to a cafe together and doing otaku activities on our days off.Having had this experience, I felt that playing with friends was one of my studies, although I needed some understanding in sitting.
I still have a lot more to learn in language skills, so I will do my best in class and play for the remaining three months.

　I finished studying in Korea for 10 months, and it took less than a month to return home.
There were about five things that I gained from studying abroad this time.The first is language ability.When I first started my life in Korea, I avoided talking to people because I was afraid that what I wanted to say would be conveyed to them.However, just like Japan, Korea is a country with a "high context culture," and when I spoke some different words, they understood me and found that even if I made a mistake, they would correct me, so I came to enjoy talking to people.
But as I grew up in Japan, I also understood the culture of non-imagination in Korea.As mentioned earlier, I can understand the words I want to convey, but I felt that it was more difficult than in Japan to understand them by expressions and indirect expressions without translating them into languages.Therefore, I became good at translating my thoughts into languages.
　Third, I was able to expand my friendship.Of course, I would not have met Korean friends if I hadn't studied abroad, and I made a variety of friends because they are multinational departments such as China and Vietnam.Not only that, but also because of the differences in the regions where Japanese friends of the same nationality live, it is very impressive to think that if you hadn't studied at this school during this period, you wouldn't be able to mix.
　And I feel that I have gained planning and energy.I have the impression that in Korea, people don't make many plans more than a week in advance, and there are many restaurants and nail shops where reservations can only be made one week in advance.I was often invited to play the day before or on the day of an emergency.My friend's invitation was to participate as much as possible in order to study a language, so my footwork became lighter than in Japan.This is something I want to cherish in the future.Now that I have overcome the need for planning and energy to study abroad, I am considering studying in China for a short time, which I had been thinking about since the beginning of university.I believe that the planning and energy gained from studying abroad have enabled me to shift what I had been dreaming about up until now into my goals and then into reality.
　Finally, the biggest gain from studying abroad this time was that I was able to decide the direction of the job I wanted to do in the future.I decided to study abroad in Korea because of fashion.However, as I studied the culture of Korea and Japan, I noticed that Japan has not yet been digitized compared to Korea, and that the design of advertisements such as Korean fashion, cosmetics and food products is very important.For this reason, I am thinking of moving towards becoming a system engineer or web designer in the future.I was able to find a future goal that had been ambiguous until now.
When I finished studying abroad for a short period of 10 months, I initially suffered from cultural and linguistic gaps, cried a lot and wanted to go home many times.But now I feel lonely thinking that food and walking are all the last things.From now on, I will devote myself to my university life so that I can achieve my goal by studying abroad, which is full of precious memories.