Second Week…Classes Begin!

Second Week…

So, the second week was better than the first because of the following:

1. Class Schedule Finalized & School Begins
2. Meeting the Japanese students
3. BOWLING
4. COOKING!

On Sunday, we were allowed to start cooking because the home stay students were finally placed with their families and had moved in with them! That same night I cooked my very first meal, Arushu no Chicken, or what I’d like to call “Some Kinda Chicken!” Essentially, it was 5 slices of chicken marinated in a “special” marinade comprised of fried chicken seasoning, black pepper, garlic powder, soy sauce, butter, and last but certainly not least, my roommate Laurie’s seasoning “Crazie Jayne” (all the way from Tennessee!) to top it off. Also, the chicken was smothered with a mix of bean sprouts and green onions that had marinated in the “special” marinade. After that, I cooked it in the toaster oven we had. After about 15 to 20 minutes, it was ready to eat!

Monday was the first day of afternoon classes, which were not the Japanese language classes. Essentially, it was a long week consisting of back-to-back class orientations and introductions, but the premise of each class promised an interesting semester-long adventure. Lucky for me, I got all the classes I wanted, which were Cross-Cultural Psychology, The Struggle for Justice, and Anime: Meaning and Method.

All the Japanese students were very friendly and helpful in making the international students feel welcome at Kansai Gaidai.

One of the biggest highlights of this week was that the Resident Assistants (RAs)  planned and arranged a Bowling Party for our Seminar House. Bowling in Japan was really fun!!! It also gave me as well as other students the chance to get to know one another.

All in all, it was a wonderful ending to a good week!

First Week in Japan…

Japan's beautiful landscape

First Week… 

So, I definitely suffered major jet lag, especially with the sun shining throughout my entire flight to Japan. However, the highlight was how easy it was to get through customs and immigration! The Japanese officials made everything so easy for us, the exchange students. Afterwards, it was an hour and a half to two-hour drive from the airport to the Seminar Houses. The rooms for Seminar House 3 were really nice and had more of an apartment feel rather than a traditional dorm. 

Bus Ride to Seminar House

Lobby in the Unit

Kitchen Facility in Unit

Den/Common Area

Seminar House 3 Room 3322

Desk and Chair

Closet in Seminar House 3 Dorm Room

Futon Beds in Seminar House 3

 

Kansai Gaidai Opening Ceremony for International Students

After arriving that weekend, we had orientation for the entire first week. One great thing about arriving on the first day of accommodations was that I was able to register for classes and have first dibs on the ones I wanted! At first, there were only a handful of students who arrived, but in my unit I was alone before one of my suite mates arrived later that night. As the days rolled by more students began to trinkle in until finally all the participants had arrived. Once everyone was somewhat settled in, we began the hectic process called registration.

As part of the  first week, we also had to attend an opening ceremony where we met the president of Kansai Gaidai, the U.S. Consulate General of Japan, the Australian Consulate General of Japan, and the Director of the Japanese Speaking Program! All the staff gave a warm and inviting welcome to all the exchange students. One thing the Kansai Gaidai staff did was to ensure the registration process was as painless as possible! They made sure to provide ample time for everyone to get his or her paperwork in order before classes started the following week.

Bowl of Instant Ramen a.k.a. " The First Meal"

Since no one was allowed to cook the first week we were in the dorms, many of us ate a great deal of instant ramen or soba noodles for dinner. Some, myself included, even bought freshly made and prepared meals in the supermarkets we could walk to from the Seminar Houses or the school.

All in all, the first week was pretty smooth thanks to the wonderful staff in the Center for International Education (CIE) who were a great deal of help for us lost and confused international students!

Greetings from JAPAN!!!!

Hello, Everyone! Welcome to my blog featuring the many awesome and new adventures I hope to have while in Japan for the Fall 2010 semester! First off, I’d like to say getting here was the easy part, but the pre-travel arrangements were the hardest. Despite that, it was well worth the trouble! Japan is such a beautiful place that I feel I would have sincerely regretted not coming. To those who wish to study abroad, it is well worth the hassle to go wherever it is wish to study!!

If you have any questions about the process, especially regarding bringing medications or other things of that nature, please feel free to leave a comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible!