Matt Proper has become quite the traveler over the last few years with stops in Thailand, Italy and Puerto Rico. Next up: Japan.

Proper, a 2002 Maplewood graduate and former Penn State University standout, was one of eight United States men’s volleyball players chosen to train with the Japanese men’s national team as it prepares for its Olympic qualifying tournament.

Proper is currently training with the U.S. national team in California. He will be in Japan May 17-25.

“Our national team has become pretty good friends with the Japanese national team as a program,” Proper said. “They haven’t qualified for the Olympics yet, so we’re going out there to train with them and help get them ready.”

Proper, a 6-foot-7 opposite hitter, will be joined in Japan by former teammate and the most valuable player of the NCAA Division I Championships, Matt Anderson.

“We wanted to send some younger players and give them more international reps with an eye on 2012,” U.S. men’s head coach Hugh McCutcheon said in a press release. “A lot of it had to do with availability. We had the right mix of guys who were going to be able to train in Japan at a high level, but not compromise what’s going on in our gym.”

In the meantime, Proper — who just wrapped up his season with a professional team in Perugia, Italy — is going to enjoy his return back to the states.

“It’s definitely tough being away for seven or eight months,” Proper said.

Part of Proper’s time back in the states will no doubt be spent helping his Nittany Lions celebrate their 2008 NCAA Division I national championship.

“I’m ecstatic about them,” said Proper, who played on PSU’s national runner-up squad in 2006. “All the alumni and current players … we’re really one big family.”

Proper isn’t 100 percent sure of his plans following his trip to Japan. A week after his return he said he believes he is headed to the PanAmerica Cup in Canada. The rest of the summer Proper expects to be spent training with the U.S. team. But after that, “it’s kind of up in the air,” he said.

Proper said a possibility is playing professionally in Turkey. Nothing has been signed officially, though.

“I’m having a good time,” Proper said. “And I’m getting to do what I love.”

All of this is another step toward Proper’s ultimate dream of playing in the 2012 Olympics in London.