by Dina Gustin 10/26/26
As the semester slowed down at Toyo University in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, the Badminton Club surprised Colby Armstrong with several gifts to take home to the University of Houston. On his final day with the badminton club, Colby received a traditional Japanese farewell gift, or senbetsu (餞別). The team gifted him a club jersey and a handmade book filled with messages, drawings, and photos from his teammates. He realized how far he had come from being the only non-native speaker on the team to being part of a global community.
He thought about the times he put his trust into jumping into new situations and experiences like trying regional cuisines or taking his first snowboarding trip near Mt. Fuji with international friends. There were also solo trips on the bullet trains to Nagano’s nature preserves to find shrines for omikuji (御御籤) or fortunes. Colby had also earned credits towards his UH degree in Finance, such as Business Japanese, International Finance, and Intercultural Understanding. He now realized the reward of placing himself into unfamiliar situations and making them work.
“Although the nerves don’t ever go away, I learned that that’s all they are: nerves. If I just trust myself and jump into new situations and experiences, I always am able to find opportunities to grow in one way or another.”
At a young age living in Beaumont, Texas, Colby was intrigued by Japanese culture
beginning with Dragonball Z. This interest continued to motivate him to learn Japanese,
spend late hours working on applications to become a Gilman Scholar, and for the qualifications
to be awarded the Critical Language Award for his semester abroad in Tokyo. Now he
was ready to share his experience with others. Upon his return for his senior year
at the , Colby serves as both a KEI ambassador and one of the UH Global Guides in the Institute for Global Engagement.
When Colby participated in the Global Guide panel for International Translation Day this September, he brought a new perspective on communications. He explained his point of view as a second-language learner who placed into Toyo University’s highest level of Japanese courses. He cited examples of some of the ways he experienced Japanese honorifics while learning abroad. Honorifics are suffixes like (-san) attached to a person’s name to show respect, familiarity, and politeness which is integrated into daily conversation in Japan.
Colby’s interest of surrounding himself with Japanese language in written and spoken
form continues to grow. He hopes to share this expertise developed throughout his
college years to improve intercultural relations both professionally and personally.
With global interests in mind, and staying engaged with international friends, Colby
has found the confidence to transform a surreal, translation zone into a comfort zone
of possibility.
As this current semester winds down, Colby is now positioning his future after graduation
in December. He is developing a plan to return to Japan with a focus on International
Relations. He wishes to pursue his internship research which is focused on understanding
language acquisition in social settings.
If you are ready to take tangible steps towards your goals and learn abroad, we have
many programs. Come speak to us!
Gilman Scholarships:
Learning Abroad advisors: uh.edu/learningabroad
Global Guides on Instagram: @uhglobalguides
Institute for Global Engagement: uhglobal@uh.edu