Self-Reflection: Farewells and New Beginnings

Hi, Victoria here!
The project was a really enlightening experience. I learned a lot on the Hakodate War and the prevalence of seafood around the city. Doing all the research beforehand gave the parade so much more meaning that I thought it would. I did not have to understand Japanese to understand the context of the final battle and the surrender scene afterwards. Know what was going on really added impact to the parade. I found that opinion to be similar among my classmates, as some had said that they did not understand what was going on but it would have been so much more interesting if they had known. I also think that I enjoyed simply walking around the city much more because of our seafood project. Even after a couple days in Hakodate, I knew that seafood here expanded past food and it was something more for the city and the people here. It was a symbol for their city, an icon, especially the squid. Knowing that there could be squid anything around the city, I was excited to walk around and just observe what was around me. Because of that, I appreciate the small charms of Hakodate, like the manholes, the random squid-shaped post boxes, and motifs in city decorations wherever possible.

Me and Krista became fans of Hijikata Toshizo.

Both projects really enhanced my appreciation of the city and the historical events surrounding it. Through this research I was able to fall all the more deeply in love with Hakodate.

These past two weeks have gone by in a blur. I felt that I have both stepped so far and yet not moved an inch. At the start of my university career, I never would have imagined that I would be here writing my last journal response sitting in a room I share with four wonderful women in Hakodate, Japan. Even up until last year I thought doing group studies or going abroad was not for me. I used to think that I was unable to adjust and inflexible in new situations; but I have found a very different side of myself that can be comfortable in new settings. Yet, I discovered the same part that I thought to be inflexible, my desire for things to go just right, was a survival skill I relied on to get around the city and figure things out. I feel utterly changed and unchanged all at once, thinking back on this trip. I have learned so much and yet, after all this, there is still so much more to learn. There is so many more things to see, to do; so many more people to meet.

Each time I pray the thing that always comes to mind is how fortunate I am to have been able to have this opportunity to go on this trip to experience everything I have. I'm not sad to leave, because I know now that I want to come back. I hope to one day revisit this place with a bigger mind and a bigger heart to enjoy everything Hakodate is.

As we all go our separate ways, I hope that the brief encounter we had does not just remain as a memory but as something that leaves us transformed and better equipped for whatever lies ahead. The world is big and we have a lifetime to learn from it.

 

 --VY