2015 Kurashiki Student Ambassador Essay: Cory Bestwick

I am always a little embarrassed to admit that my love of the Japanese language

came because of my discovery of anime, but now I can say with full certainty that the
real Japan is much more wonderful than just the entertainment it creates. With the help
of the Heart of America Japan-America Society, the city of Kurashiki, and my Japanese
teacher Naoko-Sensei, I was able to visit the city of Kurashiki this summer, and it was
by far the greatest trip I have been on in my eighteen years of life.
After my second international flight and a stressful wandering through the
Japanese airport (I was not quite as stressed as my colleagues were), we met our
English-speaking guide James Benson, a great and wonderful man. We stayed in a
hotel for the first night, then went by train to Kurashiki to meet our host families. My first
family, the Ozaki family, was made up of Tomoo, Izumi, Reina, and Tatsuya. They were
a family of firsts in a sense for me, since with them I did many things for the first time in
my life. I bathed in onsen (a Japanese hot spring) for the first time, ate fresh sushi at my
first sushi bar, visited my first Japanese school, shopped at my first Japanese mall,
experienced my first typhoon, saw and swam in the ocean for the first time, almost
passed out on a bike in Miyajima for the first time, and learned many new things about
the Japanese language. Most importantly though, I had my first impression of the
kindness of the people in Japan with them, and I was blown away. Everyone was polite
and helpful, and no one refused a favor if you needed one. It was truly heartwarming to
see how well-mannered the people there were.

Since Tomoo was often working, most of the traveling I did with the Ozaki family I
did with Izumi. She was amazingly nice and patient with my lower-level Japanese skills,
but since she was also learning English we were able to help and teach each other
during my stay. Initially I was quite nervous because of how much Japanese I did not
understand, but with her help I was able to venture out of my comfort zone and vastly
improve my Japanese. We went to many stores and bought many things together (I
probably did the most buying actually), visited a nationally-renowned garden and castle,
and did a multitude of different activities with Reina and Tatsuya. Her cooking was to die
for; each nights dinner seemed better than the lasts, and she even let me prepare the
food one night (although hers was better). Reina and Tatsuya were hilarious and very
fun to play with. Tomoo was funny as well, and they were all patient and kind regarding
my level-two Japanese skills.
After my time with the Ozaki family I transferred to the Ono family. On my first
day with them I met their missionary friends, Michael Moos and Arthur Gabriel, and after
some intense ping pong we all ate delicious Indian food and went home for the night.
Even though we spent more time relaxing we still did many fun things and the added
down time was nice to have. One day the oldest son, Seito, and I spent the day at the
mall, where we bought a few trinkets, went to the arcade, watched the new Terminator
movie, and had sushi for dinner. Another day I went to a different mall with the oldest
sister, Seine, and had a similar fun experience. Everyone in the Ono family spoke
English well, so my imperfect Japanese was less of a constraint.
With my host mom Noriko, I helped teach an English class at her church, and
even one at her home. She was an amazing person as well, and being with her and her

family certainly enhanced my experience in Japan. Her missionary friends were

awesome as well, and I will never forget my time with them. Since we held similar
beliefs it was great to talk about religion with them; I remember one Sunday where we
talked for over an hour, just the three of us, about our beliefs. Meeting them was an
unusual addition to my trip that I could have never predicted, but I am forever thankful
that as well as my outstanding host families, I was able to meet them as well.
Not only did we do things with our host families, but we also had many trips with
Mr. Benson and some Kurashiki city officials during our stay in Japan. With Benson we
took a day trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima, visited two high schools, and also went on
another day trip with the members of the Kurashiki city office. All of these trips were
great experiences, and meeting and getting to know Benson is one of my fondest
memories of my time in Japan. Meeting the Kurashiki students traveling to Kansas City
at the luncheon party was also a pleasure, although dancing in front of everyone there
was quite unnerving. During our last days we traveled to Kyoto with our other guide
Fujii-san. I will never forget sightseeing in the city and getting lost together those last
few days, and I will always be able to remember Kyoto by the great souvenirs I bought
there.
I try to make it a goal in my life not to make too big a deal out of anything, but to
do this regarding my trip to Japan would be a great injustice to all of the individuals who
gave their time and effort to allow us to visit Kurashiki this summer, and even to myself.
No object or elaborate speech can express how thankful I am to my host families, the
Heart of America Japan-America Society, the city of Kurashiki, and anyone else who
had a hand in preparing our trip. The day I got the call from Patty Woods saying I was

going to Japan that summer I could not (and still cannot) figure out how a level two
amidst level threes and fours could have been accepted, but despite my lack of fluency
it was the most meaningful experience I have had in my life. I learned many great things
about Japan and about the language and about the people who live there. I also
learned, first-hand and undeniably, the benefit of leaving ones comfort zone, of trying
new things and expanding ones horizons, and not denying oneself of a perfect learning
experience because it might be embarrassing at times. I learned to swallow my fear and
try something new, and in this case, it was the best decision I have ever made.