The first couple weeks I was here was great. The Japanese students would come running up and want to talk to you and I really enjoyed that.
For every one person that will return your wave and say hi, 6 are ambivalent to you, 2 will stare at you like you are Big Foot and one will glare at you as if to say “get the hell out of my country.”
… as the novelty [of being here] wore off, I came to find how isolated I was. … It’s hard not to feel depressed and lethargic to it all when you feel so lonely.
An American student in Japan, Meh, 2009