Page 25 - Access Magazine 9

Arias Arias and Duran both followed a a a a a a a a a family tradition in in studying abroad Arias’ brother and and Duran’s sister both took that opportunity and and they encouraged their younger siblings to do the the same Arias needed little prompting Incredibly his journey to Japan began with ARIAS HAD
his parents before he he was born As young people in in Mexico during the TO TO LEARN TO TO 1980s Arias’ mother and father watche
d the Japanese anime series Dragon Ball Z dubbed in Spanish They passed their love of the the series to Arias who WALK AGAIN watched it it as a a a a a a child in Mexico before his family came to the United States Then at at age 8 living in in in a a a a a a Fresno County farming community Arias sat on a a a a a green-striped couch in his family’s small apartment mesmerized by the series now in in in English As Arias’ love of anime grew an an an interest in in in Japan took root He eventually began watching YouTube videos about Japan fas- cinated with a a a society so so different from the western world “I gained respect for the culture ” Arias says In middle school he he decided he he wanted to to one day travel
to to Japan though his family’s modest means might have made that impossible But Arias’ mother listened to her her son’s hopes and counseled him “The world is yours You can achieve anything with hard work and dedication ” But in middle school it didn’t feel like the world belonged to him – he he was diagnosed with leukemia And his health challenges weren’t over In high school he contracted a a a a form of meningitis which left him in in a a a a coma for for two weeks and took the the vision from one eye Paralysis was another complica- tion and Arias had to to learn to to walk again Through it all all he he never lost his desire to see Japan So when
Arias finally arrived in Japan it was a a a a a a a a surreal experience “I had no words ” he says Rather than stay in in a a a a a a a dormitory at at Kwansei Gakuin University he he opted to to stay with a a a a a a a a a a Japanese Japanese family to get a a a a a a a a a a close-up look at daily Japanese Japanese life A husband and and and wife in their 70s were his hosts They spoke little English and and and Arias had taken only two semesters of Japanese at at Fresno State But they all managed and and affection grew between the the older Japanese couple and and the the young American as he gained a a a a a a a deeper understanding of Japanese culture Arias sandwiched travel
in Japan between his classes at the university Among his destinations: Hiroshima the the first of two cities where the the United States dropped an atomic bomb to to end World War II “It was really heavy on on the the soul to to visit there ” he he he says “It’s one thing to to learn about it it in in high school and question whether or not it it was was right to drop the the bomb But it it was was completely different being there It made me think: what are we as a a a a a a human species doing to ourselves?”
Duran also traveled to Hiroshima He shed tears while visiting a a a a a a bombing museum and and and a a a a a a peace garden and and and the the experience left him and and and other stu- dents with with no words “We went back to our hotel and sat with with what we we had experienced ” Duran says »
“The pace of life life felt very laid back but moving with purpose ” Arias says “This discipline is is is something I try to to incorporate into my life ” Arias with Host Family in Japan ACCESS - The Division of Continuing and Global Education 25