Today we are sharing our intern, Luke Buaas’ study abroad story and how the pandemic affected his time overseas. Read below to learn more about his experience:
“Hello, my name is Luke Buaas, and I was studying abroad from August of 2019- August of 2020 at Kansai Gaidai. Originally, I was supposed to have returned by January of 2020, but I decided to extend my stay, and reenroll in my school for the spring semester as well. Little did I know that this decision to extend would change my course in life. I have so many different stories from my time abroad, but today I would like to share how COVID-19 affected my study abroad.
In Japan, worries in Osaka, the prefecture in which I was studying, about COVID-19 started around February. I remember being in my dorm and started to hear one student on my floor say that this will be the end of the world and was saying how every country would shut down because of this virus. At the time, nobody believed a word he said, but looking back on it, he was right in everything he said.
I remember the exact day that I received the email from Towson telling me I had to come home. The email said that I must return to America within one week. I was devastated. On that day, I told my friends the news, and everyone dropped their plans for the day, and went to a place in Kyoto called Arashiyama with me. Because of its natural beauty, this was one of my favorite places in Japan at the time. Before going home, I wanted to wear a Kimono (a traditional type of Japanese clothing), and just walk around Arashiyama at least one more time. There were so many things I wanted to do, but when I received that email, I had to start prioritizing the time I had left.
The very next day after that, I woke up with a feeling in my gut that I could not ignore. “I do not want to go home yet. There is still so much for me to do here.” I thought to myself. With this new sense of determination I started emailing the Study Abroad office to see if there were any methods for me to stay in Japan, as well as talking to my friends and family to get their opinion on what I should do. My older brother was working in Japan at the time and saw how much of a positive impact me living there had on my life, so he was willing to help me anyway he could. So, after receiving the support of my brother and friends (notably my parents did not support me on staying in Japan because it was dangerous and risky) I started to also talk to my Japanese University to figure out what must be done for me to stay.
My Japanese university said that they are not forcing students to leave, meaning that if I could get Towson to allow me to stay, then I would have been able to stay in Japan. At the time though, the Towson University Study Abroad Office was overrun with emails from abroad, doing their best to ensure the safety of their students, so it would take them some time to answer my email, but I was running out of time. So, I got in touch with my brother, who luckily had an international phone plan, and I asked to borrow his phone.
Since my brother works in Japan, he could not get to me until 8/9pm and I had to tell the Kansai Gaidai staff whether I could stay or not by the end of the day. The director from Kansai Gaidai’s center for international exchange heard me talking to their office for the past few days about trying to stay in Japan, which may have been my saving grace. I asked the director if there was any way that I could tell them the next morning what happened on the phone call, but to my surprise he offered to stay at the office until 10pm just so I could make this phone call and follow the proper procedures. If he had not stayed in the office, I would have had to return home the following day.
During that phone call, I called the director of Towson’s Study Abroad Office, Liz. After speaking on the phone for 15-30 minutes, we came to an agreement that I could stay, if I signed a waiver made by Towson’s legal team and unenrolled from Towson for the remainder of the semester. After hearing this, I decided that my time abroad with my friends and improving upon myself was more valuable to me than the credits I was taking, so I accepted that office. My brother and I then proceeded to tell the direct of Kansai Gaidai’s center for international exchange what was said on the phone call.
After that I called all of my friends together and I decided to play a prank on everyone. Originally, we were going to go out to give me my “last supper” since nobody thought I would have been able to stay. So, I decided to not tell them that I could stay until after I made everyone get emotional. I went up to each of them prior to the dinner and said “I’m sorry…… But you’ll have to deal with me for a couple more months!” The funniest reaction I got was one girl who went from crying, to laughing and happy, then to mad and hitting me, all within 30 seconds. I was very happy and blessed that I was able to stay like I wanted to, and I know not everyone could stay like what I did. After finally deciding on staying, I then had to deal with lockdowns and other things, but those are stories for another time. I am very grateful that I was able to go abroad, and even more grateful that I was able to be there for a full year.”
While the pandemic has impacted so many study abroad experiences, we know that their time abroad was still valuable. Students like Luke were able to utilize their experience, despite it ending abruptly. #TUProud #HowBigIsYourWorld