By Jasmine Pacheco

    Traveling opens up a person to a new way of living and being. Traveling to a foreign country means being prepared to gain knowledge and create memorable yet valuable experiences. 

    To travel can mean a change in a persons mindset and outlook on life from being exposed to another country’s culture and people throughout their trip. Not only does traveling reduce stress but it also makes one more mentally and physically healthy as they gain qualities of confidence and independence within societal standards. 

    Hannah Hayakawa, a senior attending Ponte Vedra High School, recently traveled to Japan over the summer and returned with a distinctive yet positive perspective made from her experience. Due to the ability of learning as well as gaining information from new places and people, traveling has shaped Hayakawa unexpectedly. Hayakawa explains her reason for traveling to Japan over the summer, “My family has certainly been trying to go more often since my grandparents are getting very old and my dad wants me and my sister to spend as much time with them as possible.”

    Overall, traveling to a different country means exploring new cultures and ideas that have the ability to completely shift a persons way of thinking when it comes to interacting with the world on their own. Hayakawa said, “The people there are very polite and kind. There are definitely societal differences I don’t know how to describe it but people always follow the rules and they are very orderly. Everyone stands to the left side of an escalator, you usually do a slight bow when greeting someone and there is never any litter around. Everyone always uses polite language when talking to strangers as well”.

    Hayakawa had traveled to Japan with her sister and father for a month during mid July of the summer of 2023. She chose to travel to Japan to see her grandparents in Takasaki after some time apart. Hayakawa added, “I would consider this a memorable trip since we saw a lot of new places and I always love being in Takasaki.”

    Hayakawa’s family has lived in Japan for many generations now and are very fond over their traditions. Hayakawa mentioned, “One trip, me and my sister dressed up in Ukatas which is like informal Japanese wear and we went to the local temple and took photos. We also pray a little bit when we go to temples and everyone always rinses their hands with water before entering the temple as a way of purifying the body.”

    With many years of visiting and being involved with Japans culture, Hayakawa is well educated on their traditional foods. She explained, “The food has a lot of seafood incorporated into it and people usually eat rice at every meal. There is also really good noodle dishes. There is this one dish called onigiri which is like a rice ball with different food enclosed in it like salmon. I always make them with my grandma when I’m over there. We also enjoy eating at a lot of ramen shops there.”

    As intended, most of her stay consisted of spending time within the local area and enjoying the weeks with her loved ones. However, she did have an opportunity to visit Kyoto and Tokyo which resulted in a four day trip with efforts of seeing more of what Japan had to offer. Hayakawa said, “I continued to learn Japanese while I was there and I also learned more about the food  as well as the different Buddhist and Shinto temples. I also attended a festival in Kyoto while I was visiting.”

   Travel exposes a person to unique ideas and traditions through authentic encounters and memories created. Hayakawa stated, “One memorable place is a temple near my grandparents house. We always take a trip and eat at our favorite ramen shop and then we are sure to go to the temple which is in a volcano valley and has beautiful scenery. Another memorable place is a bamboo garden that we visited in Kyoto as well.” She then added, “My favorite part of our vacation was seeing my grandparents. I also love being immersed in my culture and I certainly love the food and scenery within it.”