帰りたくなったよ

So I've been back in the United States for almost three months! I've been working as a research assistant for the Illinois Legislative Research Unit as a part of the Illinois Legislative Staff Internship Program (ILSIP). Three months ago I never thought I would be able to adjust to living in the quaint, one-Starbucks-kind-of-town Springfield after living in Tokyo, but here I am.

As for reflections on my year in Japan, it was amazing! My Japanese is so much better, even though there's definitely still room for improvement. A question I keep asking myself is whether I made the most out of the year. I regret that I chickened out of taking the JLPT (>.<)!$!% but in the end, I think I got a lot out of IUC.... But oh, how I miss it! Seriously- you don't know what I'd do for a bowl of 豚骨ラーメン.

Sadly, there's not too many resources for speaking Japanese here in Springfield, so I've been using Skype to talk with friends, hanging out with Japanese peeps when I'm in Chicago, and watching Japanese movies online. It's not the same of course, but it'll have to do.

On a side note, since I'll be here in Springfield for a while, I figured I would start blogging about life here in the Land of Lincoln. Cheers! (I leave you with a picture I took on top of Mt. Fuji!!! More on that some other time~)