Departure and Reflections

Thursday, Dec. 11

A day full of traveling was ahead of us and we had our last breakfast at the hotel's buffet. After checking out of the hotel we took a bus to Kyoto's domestic airport, where we would then take an 1.5 flight to Tokyo's international airport. Before checking in for our flight we presented Noriko with a thank you card everyone had signed. We were all grateful for the effort she put into scheduling our activities and managing the trip to Japan. I don't think we could have had a better guide.

After we landed in Tokyo from the dometic flight we still had to take another bus to get to Narita airport. However once there we had plenty of time to check in and grab something to eat before our flight back to the U.S. Ten and a half ours later we were back in the states. I guess we even got a little taste of time warp, since we left Japan at 2:35pm on Thursday and arrived in Chicago at 3:35pm Thursday.

Inside Narita airport

Looking back on the trip, I think it's one of the best opportunities I've been given at DePaul. I visited a country and culture I'd been curious about for some time, while also experiencing the industry side which related directly to my major. In fact I think I got a better perspective on what I can expect when I do break into the gaming industry.

Industry wise, most of my questions were answered without even having to ask. We got a taste of the attitudes of smaller companies versus larger companies. We also got to meet a number of developers, those that had the vision to design for themselves while designing for others. We learned how important the aesthetic and marketing aspects of game design are, especially when localizing content. Moreover, the animation companies illustrated the advancement of digital technology and how beneficial it was towards the creation of more consistent content.

I'm honored and grateful that I was able to be part of Japan CDM 2008. My thanks goes out again to Noriko for being such a great guide and planning a well balanced itinerary. Thank you Josh for supervising, although at times in Japan you were in the same boat as many of us. Thanks to everyone on the trip as well, it was fun getting to know you. I know I've made some memories that I will never forget!