My Experience as a Japanese-American in 法国 

成长为一个 第一代 日裔美国人, 我的日本文化 一直是我生活中重要的一部分 身份 and something I felt would be difficult to continue connecting with in 法国. One of the most surprising parts about 在格勒诺布尔留学 was how much cultural 多样性 the city had and how many opportunities there were for me to not only connect with my own culture but to also explore a wide range of other cultures. 

Meeting students with diverse cultural backgrounds and learning about their identities let me learn more about and appreciate the unique qualities of my own culture.

我捕捉到了什么 

I visited a cafe owned by a French-Japanese couple with my mom. She talked with one of the owners in Japanese and it was such a special moment to see the instant connection they had over their shared culture and language.

One of the main ways I connected with Japanese and other cultures 而 宝博体育 是通过 食物.

My first time visiting a local Asian grocery store. I was excited to see so many familiar ingredients I grew up with that allowed me to recreate some of my favorite Japanese dishes.

Whether this 是通过 trying new restaurants or cooking familiar recipes, getting to recreate a little taste of home always helped me get through the homesickness and made 格勒诺布尔 feel like home.  

One of my favorite comfort dishes that reminds me of my culture is Japanese curry rice and cooking and sharing this dish along with my roommate and others reminded me of home.

This was a Japanese restaurant I saw during a 东航卡帕 excursion in Annecy and it was very exciting to see Japanese cuisine being appreciated and popularized abroad.

Mille-feuille, 典型的法式甜点, 抹茶味的, which is a traditional Japanese ingredient.

I anticipated a majority of 食物 in 法国 to be traditionally French, but was surprised to see more integration of 不同的文化 like the dessert pictured above.

在我的国外学期, I met students from all over the world with various backgrounds and learned about the defining characteristics of 不同的文化 通过我的课程. Interacting with a diverse group of people and experiencing a new culture allowed me to better understand what makes 日本文化 unique and how integral being Japanese is to my 身份.  

Through my travels and getting to explore 不同的文化, I learned so much more about myself and the ways in which I connect with my own culture.

研究ing abroad was an invaluable experience that allowed me to learn more about myself and my 身份 in four months than I had in twenty years.

During a street art tour of 格勒诺布尔, one piece was created by a Japanese artist and featured very clear Japanese imagery which was unexpected yet very exciting to see.

Putting myself in a new environment so far away from everything familiar to me really pushed me to understand what components of my 身份 were most important to me and how I could continue connecting with these parts of myself no matter where I am.  

Signs in multiple languages on buses and train stations.

I visited 巴黎 and was surprised to see these signs on buses and hearing announcements in train stations in Japanese, as I didn't think there'd be that large of a Japanese community there.

我的绘画目的 

The purpose of this photoset is to visually represent how I connected with my 日本文化 而 在法国格勒诺布尔留学 通过我在其他地方的旅行. Despite being thousands of miles away from my family in an entirely new country, trying to maintain my connection with 我的日本文化 and the other important facets of my 身份 allowed me to feel at home during this time of adjustment and exploration. 

My mom and brother visited 格勒诺布尔.

I shared what I learned about the new culture I lived in 而 also getting to connect with my family in person after so many months of being away from home.