I choose to begin my impressions about the study trip to Japan with this quote by Aldous Huxley, as it offers a good perception of what I feel and think at this moment.

Japan mend to me, before everything, an incredible cultural experience…from unique spiritual perspectives (in Shinto and Buddhist temples) to academic insights on economics and politics; from staying with a Japanese family (in Hiroshima) to interacting to the people there (students from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, other young Japanese people met on my journey, the people from Nagisa Taiko). 

I discovered a Japan enriched by religious sights, but also a modern Japan full of futuristic plans (Tokyo by night, Panasonic Centre).   I discovered so many new tastes and flavors of the Japanese cuisine but also enjoyed the old western way of cooking…Japan seemed to me full of contradictions and similarities to Europe, so new and old, so modern and traditional…my heart just had another pulse there.

I felt myself lost while walking through Shibuya and Ginza in Tokyo, when not being able to read even the signs at the metro stations, when not being able to communicate with the people around me. 

But I was happy when I rediscovered myself while taking off the shoes for entering a Japanese house, when trying to experience Tea Ceremony and Ikebana.  I found my values and thoughts while accepting that everything around me has a soul, that hospitality and politeness are Japanese natural states of spirit and that saying “thank you” to the people around us has a deeper meaning than just being formal. 

I know better who I am and what my believes are, now that I visited Hiroshima.  I know better what I stand for and where I should put my energy, when trying to change the world.

I am now still wondering how much I took back home from Japan.  My room is full of souvenirs, from small train and theatre tickets to Origami figures made at Nagisa Taiko, from beautiful coloured Kyoto leaves to Yukatas, green tea and sweets. 

My heart is full of other souvenirs: places, traditions and people.  The interaction with Japanese people was for me the most important component of the program.  Without people there will be nothing else: no culture to explore, no project to take part into, no challenges around you.

I discovered and understood how the Japanese daily life really looks like while taking dinner with my host family: three generations round one table, three ways of thinking, three perceptions and dreams.  Still, one kind hospitality and warm pleasure to have me there.

I spent only two days with the Katagiris but that was enough time to learn that language barriers and specific cultural differences can never be large enough to divide people.

The stay in Hiroshima represented for me the centerepiece of the study trip.  Meeting the history in the Peace Memorial Museum was overwhelming and very complex for me.  It was the first time during the study trip where I found time to think about the things that I experienced in Japan.

Back home, I want to read more about the atomic bomb, to understand deeper what happened in Hiroshima and in the world afterwards.  I knew before how horrible it was (I learnt about it in school), but I have never taken it as a personal experience.  I knew the story of Anne Frank, but I had never heard before the one of Sadako and her Paper Cranes. Hiroshima became part of my thoughts and of my heart.  I hope to carry this spirit to all the places I will visit in the future.

Away from the peaceful stay with my house family and back to the city chaos of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, I have learned that plans are good, but the ability to reshape them is better.  I was fascinated by the way our guides (and all the organizational staff who was behind them) managed to coordinate a groups of 30 Europeans, one more stubborn and individualistic than another.  We definitely enjoyed Kaneko San and Tada San, the professional way they provided us with information about the sights and the peaceful and friendly way they reacted when after explaining something more than once very clearly there was still a voice to ask for it again…or when being late (again) although they explained us the importance of punctuality.

I also had some unexpected discoveries. I thought I know my country better than anybody else. I thought I am able to respond every question and nothing could surprise me.  Well, I discovered that I have many more things to see or learn about Romania.  It was astounding to find out what Japanese people know about Romania: usually about gymnasts, soccer players, the “Numa-Numa” Song and Dracula;  but imagine the thrill when a student told me at the end of our university visit: “I heard it is a beautiful country. I want to go there someday”.  Then, she asked me for my email address: “I would like to know more about Romania. Could you send me some pictures from your country?”  I kept on thinking what I should send her…what is “Romanian”?  would she have the same perception of my country, as other many Europeans do? 

In Japan it was amazing for me to see how many Japanese people visit the sights of their country. It was amazing to see how they cherish their culture and how respectful they talk about it…to my shame, I haven’t yet visited the monasteries in the north of my country, which are UNESCO world heritage…

I am very grateful to have had the change to go to Japan.  I would like to sincerely thank the organizers and all the people who put their passion and energy in this program, so that we can discover the beauty of their country.

 Japan allowed each of us to choose the way we wanted to be: Europeans or Asians, modern or traditional, meditative or funny.  I simply chose to let myself taken by the mystery of an ancient civilization, to try to step into another culture and to open my heart to an unknown experience.  This study trip represented for me a mind-opening experience, a source of new energies and fresh perspectives.

I lived every moment like a child who keeps his lolly-pop with both hands.  I enjoyed every moment, every colour, every gesture…Japan found a special place into my heart.