About

 こんにちは！私はジョジアズツです、そして私のブログに来てくれてありがとう！

Hi! I'm Georgia Zutz, and thank you for coming to my blog!

I'm a current student at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, MN, but I'm originally from Manitowoc County, WI. I feel grateful to have grown up in my hometown, with one of the many reasons being the strong sister-city relationship between Manitowoc, WI and Kamogawa, Japan. In the summer of 2018, I had the opportunity to visit Kamogawa through a student exchange program, and little did I know at the time, but those ten days in Japan ended up changing my entire course of life.

After my time in Japan, I continued to stay involved with the sister-city relationship, and developed a blossoming interest in all things related to Japan. Years later, I signed up for my first semester of college courses, decided to take an introductory course in Japanese, and started down a path of renewed passion for the Japanese language and culture.

I decided that I wanted to be a student in Japan during my first year of college, but COVID ended up shifting my plans around, with my goal of studying abroad continuously being pushed back as the world continued to struggle with the pandemic. I continued studying the Japanese language and was dipping my toes into culture classes. My studies ended up being a lifeline, creating a goal that I could push towards when it felt like nothing else was set in stone. Several years later, I now find myself having finally achieved what I strived for, and I hope to share everything I have learned and experienced with you!

I created this website not only to share my experiences, but also to mitigate the stress and fear that can come with studying abroad, learning a new language, or learning in cross-cultural contexts. There are so many questions and concerns that can arise with these different situations, and I hope to create a digital space where individuals can find resources and answers as they venture on their own journeys. 

So whether you are here to learn about scholarships or Japanese language learning resources, or if you simply want to follow along with my journey, welcome! I'm so glad you are here, and I hope we can learn lots together. :)

始めましょう〜！

-ジョジアズツ