Even though the beginning was a bit difficult, I had a very good time in Japan. I got along very well with the language buddy I was assigned to, and I feel that my Japanese definitely improved while I was here. I stayed with a host family and talking with my host mom at meals really helped getting used to speaking Japanese outside of class. In the fall semester, my host family hosted another CJS student as well, and luckily, we became friends very fast. My host mom had guests over often and so got to meet a lot of different kinds of people. Overall, coming to Japan was a great experience for me.