Today, it’s exactly one year since I got on a plane and traveled to the other side of the planet in order to study abroad for one semester. When I began this blog, I had no idea what I was doing; I’d never used WordPress or any other blogging software before. Though this is the final post of this blog, as it was never meant to be anything more than an account of my study abroad experience, I still am not sure if I’ve done right by it. I hope, in my own narcissistic way, that someone somewhere will get some useful information or advice about Japan, Beppu, APU, or anything else I covered over the last 40-odd posts.

After one year, what are my thoughts? I suppose that the most prevalent of all of them remains my disbelief at how quickly it went. I know that I lived each one of those days and that I really was in Japan, but looking back I honestly can say that it felt like far too short a time. Even though I managed to travel around the entirety of Kyushu and explore Honshu for a wonderful bonus month, there were still many things I had hoped to do.

In a way, it’s good, because it means that I have many reasons to return to Japan. And I will return. If anything, living in Japan for those months only reinforced my desire to someday live there permanently (with dual-citizenship; I’ll visit America and other countries too, of course). I learned much during my semester abroad, and I know that it changed me (hopefully for the better).

All I can say after one year is, if you ever get the chance to study abroad (anywhere, not just Japan), take it. You won’t regret it.

Also, to end this post and the blog, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who rated, commented, lurked, or shared on LostinBeppu. You all made blogging into my interactive diary, and gave me something to look forward to every time I opened my laptop. Thank you.