When I first started this project, it immediately caught my eye, even though I did not know what to expect. I was curious and intrigued by the information they gave me about it, and I was looking for something fun and different from the rest. In addition, I thought that turning the “Tanki ryugaku” project into something virtual was creative and original.

When I first heard that I was going to be part of the “Refugees” group I was genuinely scared, because I have never dealt with such a hard topic in my entire life, even though I am mature enough to talk about it. However, neither in high school nor in my previous university we faced this theme and I felt like we, as humans, should deal more with such matters. Not only refugees, but also climate change, poverty, education system, and so on. As a matter of fact, these sensitive topics are not easy at all and, on top of that, the fact that we must discuss about it in Japanese makes them even more difficult.

In my group I had the pleasure to meet people from different ages and language levels, but in the beginning all I kept thinking was how scared I was. Nevertheless, since the very first zoom meeting with them, I realized how we all felt the same way. I could see in their eyes the fear of not being brave and enterprising enough to say their opinion, not because they did not know the topic, but because of the language they had to talk in. This point was the most sensitive above all. I personally think that the themes were interesting, but the Japanese language had set many boundaries and had made them difficult and sometimes even impossible to talk about. Fortunately, with the help of my colleagues, we have been able to go through these hard times in a victorious way, by helping each other a lot, by asking different questions on how to improve and by suggesting new ideas. Not only we supported each other, but none of us criticized the others, even when we took long breaks to speak or think about what to say, or when we could not end a sentence, or when we said something wrong. Regarding the topic, I was happy to realize the quantity of misinformation that is going around about it: fake news, ignorance, hate, and so on. I finally opened my eyes and now I am more sensitive about it. Even I had some preconceptions and stereotypes, so thanks to this project I can say I grew enough to look at this matter with more conscience. Together with my group we realized the importance of this topic and left the comfort zone we were trapped in.

The blog NoLBrick was surprisingly the best part, in my opinion. There, I had the chance to read about different topics and discover new information. For example, I found out how to learn Japanese with the help of new tools and thanks to the group “Working Life” I learned something new about the differences between working in Italy and working in Japan. Moreover, I was glad to find topics like “Genders” because I believe that people should be more educated about it. Besides, I had a lot of fun writing my own posts and people liked them too, because I received a lot of positive comments. Everyone has put much effort in their work, me included, so I am very satisfied.

In conclusion, initially I could not see a clear improvement in the Japanese language, however after some week I realized that I could speak with more confidence, I could use specific vocabulary and I was happy at the end of every meeting. Because improving in a certain language does not only mean to enhance the grammar, but also be aware of one’s own mistakes and lacks.  At the end of all, I am proud of my journey. Yes, this for me felt like a big journey, with upside downs and new discoveries every day, yet a journey that I will probably remember forever. I also felt like this project was part of something bigger and unique and even though there has been a bit of disorganization inside of it, I honestly think that it can be refined, therefore I am sure the next project will be even better.

ありがとうございます、皆さん！