Blog Post 1 - Goals

So I begin to plan for what I want my next year to be like. My plan is to spend next year (365 days) spending 4 months split between three countries: Argentina, the United States, and Japan. I'm including the United States because I'll return for a four month break where I readjust just to have to switch cultures again. While abroad I want to accomplish three goals. One, become a more fluent speaker of Spanish and Japanese. This is why I want to travel to countries where the languages are spoken natively, so I interact with people who grew up speaking them and gain a more natural understanding. Secondly, I want to understand the history and culture more directly. I want to travel to the countries to visit places I've heard so much about and experience the culture firsthand. I can also gain a much broader understanding of different political climates and different customs by living abroad. Finally, I want to see if I want to focus on other cultures, languages, and geographies as a career or if Software Engineering is still the route I want to take. I am excited the different experiences I will encounter, but I am a bit anxious because of the language barrier and the culture shock, but I believe I will adjust in time. To maximize my experience, I will try to socialize with the school as much as possible, travel when I can, and challenge myself often. My doing so, I surely will be able to experience each country as fully as possible.