On September 10th, 2023 I embarked on the adventure of a lifetime to Tokyo, Japan. This study abroad was my first time traveling outside of the U.S. as an adult and on top of that, I was traveling alone! While some may see that as a downside, it made my experience all the more memorable. After landing in Haneda Airport I was so relieved, but the real fun had just started. I had been advised to take a bus from the airport to Musashi Kosugi Station by my Japanese friend, because it was more spacious and I had never ridden a metro before, much less rode a metro with two suitcases and two backpacks. From Musashi Kosugi, I took the Meguro Train Line to Okusawa Station and when I arrived I realized something quite concerning - the third party program I was enrolled with gave me an invalid address! At this point it was around 8pm and the housing closed to new students at 9pm, so I had an hour to find a mystery dorm in the largest metropolitan city in the world. After trying to speak with locals to ask for directions - and being met with silence - I made my way to the local police station for help. There, a kind officer pulled out a binder as thick as my arm and opened it to reveal an antiquated map of the area. He then gave me landmark directions and sent me on my way. Now, at around 8:30pm I was speed walking along the quiet streets of Okusawa, frantically trying to find my dorm to no avail. That is until I came upon an elderly man walking a chihuahua with a neon pink light-up collar. This kind elderly man was able to recognize the dorm from the picture immediately and escorted me to about 50 feet away from the entrance. After giving many thanks and waving bye, I had to dart down the street - two suitcases and two backpacks in hand - because I only had 5 minutes to spare! At last, I made it to the dorm and was able to sleep peacefully that night. I can still picture the following day vividly in my mind. After getting ready for the day, I walked out of the dorm into the sunniest weather one can imagine and made my way to Jiyugaoka Station. Along the way, I passed by the lovely homes of the neighborhood, preschoolers playing with sprinklers next to the street, and people riding their bikes past me. This feeling is what living in Japan was to me, and I got a taste of what was to come on the very first day. What I mean by this “feeling” is that one minute life would be so stressful and it felt like my back was against the wall, and the next it felt like I was living in a dream that I never wanted to wake up from. While I had downs like almost being homeless my second semester, waking up at 5:30am everyday to make it to my morning classes in the fall, and having to fix a major health insurance mix up over the course of several days right before going home, there were elysian times as well. From meeting a friend I tutored English to in Osaka, going to Christmas Markets, experiencing the top of Skytree for the first time with friends, building a snowman with a stranger during a huge snowstorm, going on countless shopping trips with my dorm mates, and even meeting up with a childhood best friend in Nagoya - just to name a few. From the hard times, I learned to adapt a Japanese way of thinking called “shouganai,” which roughly translates to “it can’t be helped.” As a lifelong American, before I went to Japan I thought that there was always a solution that could be found if one looked hard and fast enough, but that changed after living in Tokyo. I learned that sometimes the train will make you late to class, sometimes a restaurant will refuse service to you because you are a foreigner, and sometimes things just can’t be helped - rather, “shouganai.” And after experiencing and learning to be okay with these helpless moments when I lived abroad, I came to appreciate the good times even more. Overall, this study abroad was everything I could have ever dreamed and hoped for, and more! After coming home, I find myself reminiscing on all of the good that happened, and I’m currently trying to apply the “shouganai” mindset to my American life as well. I’m forever grateful for my time in Japan, and cannot wait to go back and continue my journey there!