Meet Your Enrollment Specialist - KayCee Carlen

What is your favorite memory from your time abroad?

KayCee Carlen in a traditional Japanese kimono standing next to a tree with orange leaves in Nishinomiya, Japan.

I studied abroad at USAC's Nishinomiya, Japan program in Fall 2022!

What is your favorite memory from your time abroad?

KayCee Carlen eating ice cream with a group of friends in Japan. Some of my favorite memories were just the ones spent with friends at the dorm after class, or when we would go on adventures around the country together.

I became close friends with the girls in my dorm who were all from different countries. As someone who’s from a small town and never had a big friend group like that, it was such a fun time of life to have that experience. I’m still friends with everyone, and we chat about our lives regularly! We all plan to meet up again in Japan a couple of years from now!

What is your favorite place you have traveled to and why?

Two monkeys sitting on rocks at the Jigokudani Yaen Koen (Snow Monkey Park) in Yudanaka, Japan. My favorite place was Yudanaka, Japan to see the Japanese Macaques at Jigokudani Yaen Koen (Snow Monkey Park)! I highly recommend you do this if you ever find yourself in Japan during winter.

There are hundreds of them, and they come right up to you! (Pro tip: bring a swimsuit. If you take a left at the fork in the road during your hike up, you’ll be able to enter an outdoor hot spring where the monkeys come right up to you. Some of them even get in the water.) When will you even get to hot tub with monkeys on top of a mountain again?

If you could go on any USAC program, what would it be and why?

Ahh this one is hard! I would jump on any chance to study abroad again, but if I had to choose one… probably Chengdu, China! I would absolutely love to learn Chinese and since I already have a background with Japanese (hopefully some of my Kanji knowledge transfers over). Many of the friends I made during my study abroad were from China and I would love to meet up with them again and see their country!

What do you like to do outside of work?

After my daily 5-7 p.m. nap, I like to test out my cooking skills from recipes I’ve found on TikTok or reels. I really enjoy Asian food (shocking based on my previous responses huh?) but going out to eat gets really expensive. My go to’s are tteokbokki (spicy Korean rice cakes), oyakodon (chicken and egg rice bowl), Japchae (stir fry glass noodles), and curry rice/udon.

What’s on your bucket list?

To live abroad again. Whether that’s Japan or somewhere else, it’s a feeling like no other. If I do end up living in another country I’ve never been to, I’d definitely want to learn the language and hopefully get to stay longer than just a semester!

What is a favorite food that you have tried while abroad?

Gyukatsu on a table with different sauces next to it in Japan. I absolutely LOVED Gyukatsu. It is super tender fried beef that you get to cook on your own little black stone to your liking. It comes with a bunch of sauces and every bite is actually melt in your mouth. Some popular ones located throughout Japan are Gyukatsu Motomura and Gyukatsu Katsugyu!