Josh Falls, Reflections

The Merriam-Webster dictionary lists one of the definitions of passion as “an intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction.” Passions are what guide us through life and influence the decisions we make. Throughout life I have developed many passions. Music, traveling, video games, etc. Some of my passions I recognized at an early age, some I didn’t even know I had until a certain experience in life caused me to realize them. But how are passions born? How does one identify passions one doesn’t know they even have?  

My journey with Ohio and Chubu University began when I was 18 years old and first started attending Ohio University. It was at that time that I first met the Chubu University students. Little did I know that that encounter with Japan would go on to shape my entire life. And I do mean ENTIRE life. After my first encounter with the students, I would switch my major to international studies with a minor in Japanese, study abroad, graduate, and move to Japan. I still currently live there. 

I consider studying abroad the most significant thing I have ever done in my life. Not only did it change me as a person, it opened up doors I would have never dreamed of, both personal and professional. Up until that time, my life had been one-sided. Meeting the Japanese students at Ohio University and studying abroad at Chubu University provided me with one of the most important tools in life: curiosity. It opened in me a passion I never knew I had for Japan and its magnificent language and culture. 

By studying abroad, I grew tremendously as a person. Just like the Japanese saying goes, “A frog in a well knows nothing of the outside ocean.” Indeed, until that point, I had always done things the American way, thought of things from the norms and standards native to my country. Studying abroad taught me that the world is indeed big, and there are many ways to think about something. It certainly didn’t teach me everything, but it provided me with a starting point. It gave me the tools to start thinking outside the box, to start thinking from a DIFFERENT perspective. Those tools are invaluable in life and something not obtained by staying in your own country. 

My experience with the Chubu students at Ohio University and studying abroad at Chubu University in Japan helped me develop a passion I never knew I had for the Japanese language and culture. To this day, I still find myself passionate about learning more about the country and language that have enchanted me. One of my hobbies now is traveling across Japan to every prefecture to learn about the different local cultures. One would be surprised how different Hokkaido and Okinawa cultures are despite being in the same country. But that’s just one of the allures of Japan. Traveling, the people, the culture; every day is a new experience and a day in paradise for me. 

Studying Japanese and studying abroad have provided me with skills that uniquely shaped my life into the one it is now. It allowed me to be a more diverse individual with more skills to tackle the ever-changing world. I feel that it has allowed me to become a more “complete” individual that is more open to foreign cultures and better equipped to interact with people of different backgrounds. As a result of my time at Ohio and Chubu University, I was able to start my career off as an English teacher in Japan after graduation. This would ultimately lead me to going back home to America after five years to get my master’s degree in translation and moving back to Japan in a different career field. This would form a bridge for my passion of video games that I have had my whole life, and my passion for Japan which studying abroad helped me realized. 

I currently work as a video game translator in Japan. Needless to say, I incorporate the lessons learned from studying abroad and living in Japan every day. Translating video games is not just translating Japanese to English. A poor translator I would be if I simply translated just the words. Translation is about translating ideas as well. Localizing things to fit the local culture. Thinking of ideas and concepts different than what I am used to as an American. And not only translation, going into work on the subway, coming into the office for the morning and leaving at night, cultural specific knowledge is required all throughout my day.  

The journey is still going. I am living out a dream I never knew I even had. Every day I am in Japan is a result of going to Ohio and Chubu University. I can’t emphasize how grateful I am to myself and my teachers for instilling in me the passion to experience more in life. To go out of that small well I lived in and to see the world. For trying something new and bridging my passion for video games and Japan. So often in life, we grow accustomed to our surroundings and tend to not try anything new. But my life is incredibly fulfilling now thanks to the chance I took. I hope that throughout my translation work and interaction with other people in Japan, I can instill in other people the same curiosity and sense of adventure that others instilled in me when I was younger. Life is what you make it, and I can definitely say that mine was forever shaped and enriched by my attendance at Ohio University and studying abroad at Chubu University.