To Japan, or not to Japan

I have been toying with the idea of studying abroad as of late. It all started when a guy came into my thesis prep class and talked to us about studying abroad, and how much I should really do it. The thing is, I am on track to graduate. ON TIME. In a total of 4 years I will have earned my Bachelors Degree in Management Information Systems, completed an undergraduate thesis on Network Neutrality, and met some of the most amazing people ever. All this after switching majors, not once, but twice. 130 something credits, one summer class, and 5 W's later I will have that piece of paper in my hand. I love the idea of that. I fall in love with ideas a lot these days.

I would love to go to Japan. I don't speak Japanese. I would love to be able to study abroad. I would love to be able to study abroad in JAPAN. I would love to graduate on time. I can't do all of these things. If I study abroad in Japan, none of the classes that I take will count for anything, because all of the required coursework that I have left must be completed at my university. Balls.

Oh, I forgot to mention that for 4 years I go to school for free. I got a scholarship. I have a small amount of student loans, but those are mostly for living on campus and apartments and food and stuff. So, if I took a semester abroad, I would:

1) Not be able to graduate on time.
2) Actually have to pay for it.
3) Delay getting a job and not being poor anymore for an additional 4-6 months.
4) Have to take Japanese classes.

About point #4. As of now, I can take 6 classes next semester, 5 the following, 4 the semester after that and graduate on time. If I went to Japan my course-load would look like this:

Spring '08 : 6 classes (shoot me now, this includes a THESIS)
Fall '09 : 6 classes (please, just kill me, this includes most of my MIS classes and JAPANESE)
Spring '09 : 5 classes (GAH a fucking capstone course, all the rest of MIS, AND JAPANESE)

Then, I would get to party in Japan. Oh yeah, and take classes.

MORE CLASSES. Hopefully, I would become fluent. I could take classes in calligraphy, flower arranging, and stuff like that. It would be FUN. I could see the world. I could go to the place that I have always wanted to go, more than just about any place on Earth.

Why the fuck is there even a debate here?

The reason is because I hate how expensive college is. I hate how much it is costing me even though I have a scholarship because I still have to pay to live at school, and that is fucking expensive. $7 a meal to eat in that shitty dining hall. All you can eat is no good if you can't eat anything that won't make you sick.

I hate how colleges screw you over. I hate how most people I know can't graduate in the normal 4 years because they were misadvised and took classes that they did not need. I LOVE the idea of graduating on time because it feels like I am beating the very system designed to make me go into debt for the rest of my life. I want so badly to be able to say "I did it! I actually graduated in 4 years!"

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, I also am in love with the idea of going to Japan.