Oh, you won't be able to live with a host family for the entirety of a semester or year. Thats not even an option. I had one & you go stay with them for 1 day or a weekend once every month or so. It was an awesome experience. But you either get to stay in Komachi Hall (Dorm) or Global Village (apartments). Honestly, both have their specific positives and negatives. In the winter, Komachi Hall gets the nod because it connects directly to the cafeteria and other sections of the school where your classes are held. Also when it snows (which it does & **** tons of it), you don't need to tread through 3 feet of unpaved snow to get to the cafeteria or better yet your classes, by which when you get to your classes, your pants/shoes are all soak and wet, which is why it sucks to live in Global Village druing this time. But on the flip side Global village is great because the set up of a apartment is perfect for hosting parties or nabe parties or large get togethers with international & Japanese students. You can expect all big get togethers among students (essentially parties) will be held at the global village apartments. You won't get a choice or preference for roommate either because you can either get a full-time Japanese student or another international student. You can also pay extra to live in a single apartment or dorm but honestly, in my experience, its best to live with a roommate. I lived with a Taiwanese roommate and we got along great, probably the best roommate I've ever had, in Japan or in the states period.
Also this should be of great excitement to you but when you come but during the entire first semester your here, you go on like 7-8 field trips that the school pays for. Its kind of a way to get you off the campus and acquainted more with Akita as a whole. They take you to a few cities around Akita prefecture including a famous
samurai village/town, autumn leaf viewing, Mt. Choukai and much more. ITs a pretty sweet opportunity so I strongly suggest bringing your camera, god knows how many albums I made on FB of just my time in Japan.
Just a heads up though, the semesters are different in japan compared to the U.S. so if you were to come to AIU in the fall, like I did. IT essentially be like the U.S. Spring semester because its the last semester for the seniors before they graduate. Then you have the winter semester, which is optional for you & most of the Japanese students go home to get part time jobs. During the winter semester, its called the intensive class semester because its a shorter length of time and so teachers cram more material in and it is overwhelming at time, especially Japanese class. So take 1 class only and if you can handle it, perhaps 2 classes tops during the winter. The in the Spring, the new Japanese freshman come to AIU along with the new incoming herd of international students. You usually never have any new Japanese or international students come during the winter semester just due to the time frame.
There are also many opportunities for you to join miscellaneous clubs on campus, whether you want to join sports team (tennis, soccer, basketball, badminton) or music related (band) or more traditional Japanese arts (calligraphy or flower arrangement), the school has you covered. Word of caution though, if you join a club, you have to be
100% committed to coming to every meeting, helping, interacting and taking time outside of your schedule to devote to the club. Clubs in Japan are a little different then in the states and its real serious business in Japan. I think you'll understand when your here. Also you'll love the classes they have to offer throughout the year at AIU, some of the best classes I've ever had were at AIU. Some classes that come to mind are Manga Mania with Professor Ashmore or Minorities in the U.S. with Akiba-sensei (Sociology class). There's also an Akita-culture class which is great if you want to learn more about Akita prefecture and you go on a few field trips to which were awesome.
Yeah, I'm not sure how your going to get here if you do indeed plan to study abroad at AIU but rest assured the school will look out for you. They have Japanese students waiting at the train station in Akita City (which is how most students get to AIU) where they'll help you get on another train to Yuwa station and to AIU itself. You can also take a direct flight from Haneda airport to Akita, where from there its only like a 20 cab ride to campus (we can see the airport where you land from campus). On your first couple of days here, its just straight orientation, they show you around the entire campus, help you fill out your health insurance, set up your banking (credit card, etc.), set up your alien registration card and of course, you have to take your Japanese class placement. Word of advice, don't sweat it or feel crappy after you take the placement test. IT has questions that range from 101-501, which is essentially absolute beginner to fluent, I can pass JLPT 1 with my eyes closed. Its a good test in terms of knowing your skills and placing people in the right class. But believe me, I felt like **** after. You are also allowed to skip Japanese classes if you want, a few of my friends studied during their long breaks and took a placement test to skip a class, in which they were all successful but just know it takes a lot of work. Another thing is don't worry so much about your Japanese pronunciation, that will improve without question when your here because unlike Tokyo, the town people and people you will interact with around the city (cashiers, grocery store employees, people working downtown Akita city) don't speak English as well & as frequently as more gaijin populated cities so they are forced to talk to you in Japanese. This is a plus and your Japanese will improve, believe me. But focus on grammar and vocabulary (kanji specifically). These were my weaknesses and while I lucked out and got placed in Japanese 302 class (intermediate Japanese class) when i got here, by my last semester, when I was in 401 (higher intermediate) class, not having a well-rounded base in all areas will came back to bite me in the ***. I ended up dropping to go back to 303. So study hard and don't focus on just your strong points, work on the weaknesses.
Also if your wondering, you'll have plenty of time to travel around Japan during the breaks, no question. Maybe not during the weekends of a semester but you have uber long breaks within the end of 1 semester and the start of a new one so don't worry about not having time to travel.
You also do have an opportunity to have a part time job (if you can call it that) through the school. I can't remember exactly what its called but i believe once or twice each month you take a bus ride to some random place where you do some intercultural exchanges or something and i believe teach English. You don't make much money but its better then nothing. You can also work part time on campus through working in the library or doing some odd job AIU has open for employment.
Hope this helped and again, if you have any questions just ask away.