Last week, I undertook a massive file purge of an old hard drive. It is amazing how one’s drive tends to mirror the state of one’s office… In my case, this means a creative disarray of folders that was once painstakingly organized according to a complex system that I no longer remember! But among the files, I found a treasure trove of old photographs from my very first study abroad in Japan, when I was an undergraduate at Ursinus College (slideshow above).

It was fun reliving the memories of friends met and places traveled over the course of 2005 to 2006. And my, how things have changed from that very first adventure! I remember when two volunteers picked up a very jet-lagged 19-year-old version of myself from Narita Airport to help me find my new dormitory and my university in Mitaka. They kept throwing me softballs–what is your favorite music? favorite movie? favorite food? I remember nodding along, trying to wrap my mind around the barrage of syllables that felt simultaneously foreign and familiar. Every so often an English loan word would grab my attention like a shining beacon until the rolling murmur of the language swallowed it whole once again. I remember feeling a combination of excitement and nervous anxiety about what that year would hold, like any student starting out on a study abroad with only a beginner’s knowledge of the language. But the shock and trepidation wore off quickly, and I began traveling. I found myself venturing to Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, investigating Japan’s natural features, and making my way to exhibition openings and basement galleries, often with friends and sometimes alone. It was a year that built character and sparked a love of art, travel, and photography. It also taught me about the challenges that my own students face upon departure.

I used to bring a little Canon point-and-shoot camera with me everywhere I went. This is something that remains the same today, even though I am now dragging around a beast of a DSLR. But here are some glimmers from that year before I had ever decided to go to graduate school and devote my professional career to the study of Japanese visual culture.