I’m writing this article while I’m still in Japan for a long year youth exchange. A long-term exchange last a full school year and students live with a family in the host country and attend school there. I have been living in Japan, believe it or not, for about 9 months. I still remember that feeling at four in the morning when my family woke me up to wish me a happy birthday and to drive me to the airport. There were so many emotions in me, both positive and negative. At first I felt excited and I was extremely happy to board the various planes that would bring me to one of my dream destinations, but, at the same time I also felt sad to say goodbye to my family and friends, even if it was just for a year. Nonetheless, after a couple of hugs and a good crying session, I started heading towards the security checks with tears in my eyes and a shaky hands that were waving goodbye. When I first arrived at the Chubu airport in central Nagoya my host family welcomed me with open arms and a wide smile. Since the flight was extremely long I was very tired, so immediately after coming home I fell asleep, but, that’s where I found a problem that I have never faced in my many years of travelling: the time zone was very different, so for the first few weeks I would wake up at 3 AM without being able to fall asleep again, so I would calmly wait until 8 AM when my host grandmother would wake up and start preparing breakfast for my host mother, my host brother and me. Another difference I found is that Italian breakfasts and Japanese breakfasts are very different. A Japanese breakfast is typically very big, consisting of a salad, usually a slice of bread with cheese, natto (fermented soy beans), eggs, miso soup and rice. It is very different from the one I usually have in Italy, which consists basically of milk and cookies. On the 1st September, after a couple of days of settling in, I started my first day of school in Japan; if I said that I wasn’t scared I would be lying, but if I said that I wasn’t excited, I would be lying too. I woke up at 5AM that day and while I was picking which clothes to wear for my first day, my host grandmother was preparing my lunchbox, which was usually made up of rice, some kind of meat, a salad and a tangerine. After getting my lunchbox, getting dressed, and saying goodbye to my host family, I closed the door behind my back and I left for school. At every step that I took I could feel the excitement and fear slightly increase in my body, but, after arriving in front of my school, the excitement overshadowed that fear and I went to the teachers’lounge where my teachers and some other exchange students were introducing themselves. One of those exchange students turned out to be one of the most important friendships in my exchange year, her name’s Aisha and she helped me during the first few months whenever I missed my family or I needed someone to talk, she also introduced me to her friends which are now some of my dearest friends, and for that I can’t thank her enough I received a real warm welcome and I started to introduce myself even though my Japanese vocabulary was very limited. Initially I didn’t understand so much, but my classmates did their best to speak English with me while also teaching me some Japanese, so that I would still be able to understand everything they were saying. During the last few months my vocabulary, as well as my relationship with friends, have been growing more and more, in fact I’ve made friends from my Japanese school with who I very frequently hang out and enjoy hanging out with. We met during our school festival in September and since then we watched movies together, we had Christmas parties and we’ve been inseparable. I also have visited a lot of places during these months, such as Tokyo, Hiroshima, Osaka, and Himeji, and I’m planning to visit many other places and attractions in Japan. I’m very grateful for everything that I’ve learnt during this experience, and for everything that I’ll keep on learning during the following months. I highly suggest doing an exchange year, because it will help you to be more mature and will open your mind to new cultures and costumes. There are many ups and downs and sometimes you may miss your family, but the result is absolutely worth it, because I’m sure, you’ll come back home and you’ll feel differently, more grown up and a more responsible person.