Haruki Kawai, 2 July 2026
My study abroad experience in NZ
Hello, I’m Haruki from Japan. I have been studying abroad in NZ since 7 July 2025.
It has been almost 12 months since I arrived in NZ to study abroad. It’s now the last few days for me to stay in NZ. There were so many things that I have experienced and learned. I feel that I have grown up and matured so much during this study abroad opportunity.
Prior to coming to NZ, I was pretty worried and nervous about everything. I was not sure if I would find good friends or do well at everything. I mean, I was sort of scared to study abroad in NZ at first. You might wonder why I decided to study abroad in NZ. It was because I wanted to challenge myself to be independent and improve my English. To be honest, I also wanted to leave Japan to reset my mind, because I was lost as if I didn’t know who I truly was and what I really wanted to do. Before, I used to think that when I came to study abroad, I would automatically be able to achieve my goals, such as being able to speak English. However, it was not as easy as I thought. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I never gave up so I learned so much in the process.
I still remember the first day of school in NZ. I was surprised by everything, because it was completely different from the Japanese school that I used to go to. I was anxious more than before I came to school, because it was not like what I expected. Everyone spoke English so quickly, the students were taller and looked like grown-ups. I became insecure about my English right away since I realized that the English I had learned back in Japan wasn’t good enough. I was really worried about whether I could cope well.
For the first 3 months (Term 3), I was just trying to get used to school and make friends. I was too insecure to talk and make friends in the same class, so the first place that I joined was the group of people playing football on the small field. They were mostly year 9 students and welcomed me without hesitation. I was so happy that I was welcomed and could find a place that I could stay with other than a Japanese group. I played football with them at lunchtime and made a couple of new friends from that group. My English was still not great and their English was still too quick for me, but I really tried to communicate with them. Since I found my place, I started getting used to things and realised it’s not as scary as I expected.
During months 3 to 6 (Term 4), my study abroad life started to gain colour. I made various new friends, and communication was smoother than before. The thing I really remember in that term was Year10 camp. I joined a different class from the one I normally belonged to, because my class had already gone in Term 1. Although my Japanese friends were also in the same camp, I was quite worried about it because the majority of people in that class were pretty much strangers to me. However, it was also a good opportunity to make friends from a different class, and it was actually very successful. We were not allowed to use phones during the camp, so we played Ping pong, UNO, and did other things there. That made it easy for me to make friends. I would join people who were playing a game, we played it together, and we became friends. The best moment in the camp was when we gathered around the campfire at night. We talked, told some jokes, looked up at beautiful stars - it was so chill and was the best moment for me. On the last day, I knew most of the peoples’ names and they knew my name, even though I was a completely new guy to them before the camp. I was so satisfied that I had gone there and experienced so many things. It was an amazing and unforgettable experience for me. By the way, the nature I saw at camp was incredible, it was nothing like I had ever felt before in Tokyo.
During the summer holiday, I went to Auckland to a language school for two weeks. By then, I was not worried about anything like I used to be, because my English was getting better. Auckland was really fun for me. Language school sounds boring, but it actually wasn't. I made so many friends from different countries like South Korea, Chile, Brazil, etc. We talked about ourselves, our countries and cultures. We were not only learning by sitting in the classroom, we also had some activities every afternoon. We went to the Sky tower, the aquarium, strawberry picking, and so on. I had so much fun there. The most impressive moment for me was when we went to play Mini golf as an activity, because I got a “hole in one” twice in a row, that was exciting! After I came back to Dunedin from a really fun two weeks in Auckland, I went to Wanaka and Queenstown with my host family for a couple of days. I went rock climbing, to a ghost house, fishing, played mini golf and went bungee jumping. The most impressive thing was certainly bungee jumping. It was the first time in my life and I was pretty scared. It was as scary as I thought it would be but was also pretty exciting. I didn’t expect that I would scream so loudly when I dropped down. This is how I spent my summer holidays, I experienced new things, had so much fun and learned about NZ a bit deeper.
During months 6 to 9 (Term 1), after the summer holidays, I came back to school again. A couple of things had changed from last year including finally becoming a senior, getting the senior uniform including long pants and getting into new classes. By this time, my Japanese friends who used to stay at the same school were not here anymore, so there were no more chances to speak in Japanese in school. I was fine because I had already made many friends who I could talk to in English.
This term, I tried to get to know my friends even better. I would hang out with them at lunch time and tried to talk to new people. I sometimes struggled with my English and felt lonely, but I tried my best. Because of my efforts, I could make many friends from all over the school.
My final three months (Term 2) marked my final term in NZ. It was actually the best term in this study abroad experience. I tried everything so I would not have any regrets when I go back to Japan. I had so much fun with my friends every day, and every moment was a memorable moment for me. I’m quite sad to leave and am going to miss everything in NZ.
I sometimes compare myself to the old Haruki. I have grown up so much and found a lot of good things about this school and NZ. I’m not scared of being here anymore, rather it’s my safe and comfortable place right now. I’m so happy that I came and met a lot of amazing people to get the colour of my life.
I’m sure that what I learned in this study abroad will help me so much in my life. The things I learned and found important are broadly three things. First, “living my own life”. I used to compare myself to other people or do something other people do no matter if I like it, because I didn't want to look different and weird. But when I came here, everybody respected their identity, had confidence in themselves, were so independent, and lived their lives. It felt like they were who I wanted to be like. I was so impressed. I learned how important it is to live my own life and how to live it. I’m not going to compare myself to other people, I am not going to care about other people’s reputation anymore. I found my life and myself.
The second thing is that “Every culture is amazing and must be respected”. When I came here, I was surprised that so many cultures are mixed, because it was not really common for me to be around so many people from different countries and cultures. I was not interested in any countries and cultures at all before I came here. Actually I had a bad image of other cultures before studying abroad. However, I have met so many people from different countries through this whole study abroad opportunity, I carefully listened about their experiences, countries and cultures, which all sounded amazing, I’m now so interested in a lot of countries and long to visit them one day. Every culture has their own beautiful features and they must be respected.
The third thing is that “nothing happens unless I act”. In this study abroad time, I had to try new things a million times, even though I was scared of doing them. Of course, that was the purpose of coming here to challenge myself. As I look back on the stuff I have done, I really want to say to myself “well done”. It was not always easy, and I had so many negative feelings such as “What’s the point of trying” or “I can’t do anything”. However now I think every action had reasons, related to me right now. If I hadn’t tried to act anything, I would not have grown and matured so much.
I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been involved with me and want to say thank you myself.
