In order to live like a local, I believe that I will need to become friends with one. I think it would be best to have someone that I can spend time with that knows the area well and can show me what locals do.
For me, "living like a local" means that I would participate in activities day-to-day that locals themselves do. While I will probably be friends with some international students, I believe it would be best to spend time with local students while I am on campus as much as possible. I think that this would be one of the best ways to improve my Japanese language ability, and I have seen this work with my international friends in the past.
I also think that it would be a good idea to join a club (which is a norm in Japanese schools) so I can meet new people and find people with similar interests. I hope that my day-to-day life will include activities after class with friends. I don't normally do anything after classes, so living in a more urban environment may provide interesting was to kill time.
I hope that living like a local would influence my Japanese and help me to learn in a more native way. If I can think like a Japanese, maybe I can think IN Japanese better. I think that this will make my experience abroad more positive, and I hope that living like a native will make it easier for me to make local friends.
What kind of club or organization do you want to be involved with? What does your school offer? What sorts of things in an urban environment draw your attention? What do local Japanese people do for fun?
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