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MEXT Japanese Studies 2017/2018

I think I will apply as well. As making relationships with other japanese will be more difficult for us than for some people, due to the place where we (or I) will live, that's to say a campus with only foreigners, plus the fact that hanging out in Osaka city will certainly be expensive, I guess our opportunities to spend time with locals will be quite rare. However, I'm quite afraid of applying, since my level of speaking japanese is really weak (like N4-N3 but not more).
 
I will apply I think because my friend studied at Tsukuba one year and returned with the same level of japanese as he had year ago because he didn't communicate with japanese people in japanese at all
 
And i didn't receive any letter about home stay so far. Maybe they don't offer it to some students. And I leave for Osaka on 25 September. Who else here knows his or her departure time?
 
I received my departure details today, but they weren't correct. I was supposed to board a plane in a neighbouring country, and it was confirmed by the embassy that the has been a mistake and they will send me the new details soon.
But I still can't apply for a visa. It seems that the embassy has yet to receive the needed details for my visa ( But I already received the details about the dorm and I'll soon be getting the correct plane ticket details. I wonder what other kind of information they need. :/

My colleague also received her details today. Hers were correct.
 
I've just received my flight itinary and will arrive on the 25th of September as well.
 
I am going to study at Doshisha University this fall, too. May I ask which school are you going?
 
hnl said:
I am going to study at Doshisha University this fall, too. May I ask which school are you going?
Click to expand...
I'm going to Doushisha as well. Which dorm did you apply for?
 
I've received a mail from Osaka Daigaku concerning the placement test. We have to take tests of kanji, grammar on their website and 3 compositions in japanese in order to estimate our level. For the tests, time will be counted so we cannot look in dictionaries I guess. I'm gonna take the tests this evening.
 
alchie said:
Same. Are you going to apply for their internet?
Click to expand...
I am thinking about the pocket wifi because the fixed internet line is way too expensive for me alone. How about you? I think if we can find others who want to share the fixed internet line that would be great.
 

I lived in Wakayama Prefecture for a year about 4 years ago and visited Osaka regularly. Obviously I wasn't living in Osaka full time but I'd spend weekends and such there. I never thought "wow, everything here is so much more expensive than in my little town!" If anything it seemed more affordable. I didn't have to spend as much on getting around and it was easier for suppliers to get things there than to my isolated town.

That being said, things in general are quite expensive in Japan, especially fruit. While it's always easy to blow through money there while hanging out with people, I've found that there are usually much cheaper options for the same activity if you're willing to shop around or wait for special deals.

Also, a friend of mine from my country lives and works in Osaka and he put me in touch with a Japanese friend of his who's doing his doctorate degree at Osaka University. After talking to him, I found that the Minoh campus is not only for foreign students but also for Japanese students who are studying foreign languages. If nothing else, we should have chances it interact with them.
 
I got my email about the placement test but nothing about housing. Did others who are going to Osaka get that info from the university or from the embassy? I still haven't heard anything from my embassy. I don't want to live in the dorms anyway if at all possible but I don't want to show up and not have housing either...
 
Thanks for clarifying Hikari ! By "expensive", I meant taking the train/ subway, I saw a blog a couple weeks ago written by a student living in the Minoh Campus, and he said that going outside of Minoh to get to Osaka's center was very expensive.

Concerning the mails, I only received mails from Osaka concerning the host family and the tests but nothing concerning the dorm. No news from my embassy neither since the announcement of my placement. I know that I'll arrive in Japan on the 25th of September (the travel agency directly contacted me), that's the most important anyway !
 
hnl said:
I am thinking about the pocket wifi because the fixed internet line is way too expensive for me alone. How about you? I think if we can find others who want to share the fixed internet line that would be great.
Click to expand...
I was thinking of buying a sim card like the ones from U-mobile (they have a 25gb sim card with voice included for only 2880 yen a month. I'm not interested in the voice option, but we might need it. And the speed of the connection fluctuates during the day. In the evening it tends to be really slow from what I've read. But that happens to all of the other cheaper sims) and use it as a hotspot when I need internet on my laptop. I hope it works fine. I wouldn't want to pay for the fixed internet either, too expensive.
I currently use only mobile internet, I have no fixed internet at home. And I pay only 6.5$ for 35gb and unlimited calls in every network from here. I barely call someone though.

I also read that there wi-fi hotspots everywhere in Kyoto for free for tourists.
KYOTO WiFi
 
Last edited:
Oaneyl said:
Thanks for clarifying Hikari ! By "expensive", I meant taking the train/ subway, I saw a blog a couple weeks ago written by a student living in the Minoh Campus, and he said that going outside of Minoh to get to Osaka's center was very expensive.
Click to expand...

Hmm... I guess it depends on what you're used to paying, then? I checked hyperdia to see the cost of getting to Osaka Namba (one of my favorite areas to go in Osaka) from handai byouin mae, which is near campus is about ¥700. When I lived in Tanabe, I'd pay 2,000 some to get to work most mornings.
 
2880 yen for a 25 GB data with voice sim card sounds nice! I will think about this option.
 
As a French person it's extremely expensive, one ticket to go wherever you want in Paris for 1h30 is 1$50, some trains for a 800km distance cost 20$, that's to say very cheap (a lot are expensive too, it depends on the areas obviously, but we do have some cheap options). But anyway, I understand it's different in the other countries I'll deal with it, it's just that I'm not used to pay that much for trains normally and the guy who wrote the blog also lived on a country where trains are quite cheap if I remember well, that's why we got surprised when we saw the prices I guess.
 
I didn't get any mail from Tomita of CJLC, but she called me today and asked my mail. No news about housing. on their website it was wriitten that a single room will cost 20,200 yen and deposit also the same fee so altogether it will be 40,400 what we have to pay at the time we enter the dorm I guess. And there was written about the furnishings and utencils in the dorm.
 
I have passed the placement test just now, its grammar and kanji parts, but there was no essay to write?
 
Tomita told me to send her an email. Could you guys check if her address is right because I sent her a mail but there is no answer yet. "kouryu@cjlc.osaka-u.ac.jp"?
 
Yes Olya it's the correct address. Note that they told us there will be the summer break from the 11th to the 16th of August, and that they won't be able to reply. Concerning the tests, I guess the answer is no, but will we know our score in the end of them?

Edit: Could you please send the page where you saw the fees for the dorm? I saw several of them, but with different fees on each, it's a bit hard to take things into consideration.
 
I haven't heard anything about housing/dormitories either. I would really like to avoid a dorm if at all possible too. I was thinking of living somewhere between Osaka city and Minoo, like Suita or Toyonaka where the other two Handai campuses are. I've found rooms for around 30,000yen a month that look nice but when I consider utilities and laundry and furniture I'm not sure if it's worth the cost. However, since Osaka city is far away from Minoo, I probably wouldn't visit very often if I were in the dorms.
It would also be nice to have friends stay at my apartment, which is impossible in a dorm.
 
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