I’ve always wanted to know what it would be like to live as an everyday person in another country and not as tourist.  It was honestly one of my major motivations for not only choosing UBC but going to university (although I probably would’ve regardless…)

The deadline is January 19 or January 21 for those who are wondering.

I’m stuck.

I can’t decide where to go, I just want to go.

You get to pick your top 3 and rank them and so far I have two stirring in my fantasies.  Keio University in Tokyo, Japan and University of Manchester in… well, Manchester, England.

Why Keio?  I’ve been studying Japanese since grade 9 and I really want to be put in the environment and see how it goes.  Japanese vending machines and convenience stores.  Selection of courses I would never get the chance to take here.  And to be honest, because I am Asian.  I’m all for stepping outside of my comfort zone but compared to going to, for example,  Norway, where I don’t speak the language and obviously look like I’m from far away, in an Asian country I would have a nice balance between comfort zone and non-comfort zone.  I think.

Why Manchester?  They speak English.  It’s in Europe, a continent I’ve never been to!  I like bands from the UK.  More than my love for the Arctic Monkeys, I love European architecture.  This is my chance to really experience what it is like as a local because I get to take exactly what the students there would take. (Where at Keio, I would be taking classes made for English speaking international students.)

The main dilemma though:

Going to Keio would be like missing out on term 2 and summer semester.  Graduation would definitely be delayed and co-op would be hard to apply for.  Going to Manchester would be like not missing anything at all, but I will miss out on the chance to take unique cultural based courses…

I think I need one of those pros/cons charts.

There is also something lingering in my mind that makes me not really want to apply at all:

I don’t want to stay away from my friends and family for too long.

“WEAK SAUCE!” says all the international students.  Haha.