Studying Abroad Fall 2005

[ZachPA2Osaka!!]

Greetings All ;o) my name is Zach and i'm brand spanking new to these forums!!

Well, like my name says i'll be in an area pretty close to Osaka (Hirakata i believe) at Kansai Gaidai University next fall. I haven't applied yet, but our program at my university in Pennsylvania says that i'm sure to get accepted.

anyway... i just wanted to get feedback from everyone here about things i would need to do to get prepared to live in japan for a semester or two. i'm taking japanese I this semester at my school and hopefully level II next semester to get geared up. i was wondering also who you guys go through with airfare. i'm trying to go as cheap as possible hehe !! but anything other than that stuff just anything i might need to know, or if you have gone abroad maybe give me feedback. also, i think they allow you to travel a lot, and was wondering what would be a must see trip while in japan (maybe some i never thought of before).

Thanks a lot,
- Zach

 

[DragonChan]

I'm near Nagoya right now, in a high school. I can't tell you much about airfare, but I can give you general advice from what I've experienced.

For one thing, before you go figure out how to can call home. It is rather hard as you can't use an international phone card from a home phone. So my family calls me since phone cards are cheap in Canada.

Also, any japanese you learn is helpful. Especially the adjectives. Know a few of those and you can communicate a ton.

 

[ZachPA2Osaka!!]

SO i should buy an international phone card here in the states that will work with Japan, and just have my parents contact me?

Also could you possible tell me about the subway system in japan? I hea that travel is made very possible though the many rails and also through the speed avalible. I would like to make my way to many other places such as Tokyo, Kyoto, and maybe even to Okinawa.

I also have the opportunity to stay with a family or live in the dorms. i think i am going to chose the dorms due to not wanting to offend the host family and plus i heard that the families sometimes aren't the nicest!

 

[Ewok85]

A family would be easier on your wallet and you would gain proper cultural insight, but living in a dorm is a ton of fun. Its up to you.

I dont know why everyone rants about the subways in Japan, I never touched one, above ground for me baby! The trains can add up to cost a fair bit unless you have a regualr route and get a commuter pass. To travel from Osaka to Tokyo is about 14,000 yen there and back (I think, its 9000 one way, i might be misreading something). Kyoto is spitting distance from Osaka so no problems there.

Let your parents ring you! More money for you to spend on stuff that way

 

[Hero]

Expect to generally have a great time, meet lots of new ppl (if you can get past the language barrier), and to see many interesting things/places.

 

[MeAndroo]

SO i should buy an international phone card here in the states that will work with Japan, and just have my parents contact me?

If your exchange college is on the ball, they should hook you up with a card that you can put money on, hopefully a Brastel card. It was by far the cheapest one I used when in Japan, and you can put money on at random convenience stores. Having your parents is a very good way to go as well, though, especially if they're paying.

I dont know why everyone rants about the subways in Japan, I never touched one, above ground for me baby!

For me it was just because I'd never been on a subway. Living in LA, you get buses, trains, cars, but nothing underground. Plus, sometimes it's the best way to go...and the word chikatetsu is much more fun to say than densha

I also have the opportunity to stay with a family or live in the dorms. i think i am going to chose the dorms due to not wanting to offend the host family and plus i heard that the families sometimes aren't the nicest

A family would be easier on your wallet and you would gain proper cultural insight, but living in a dorm is a ton of fun.

If can be a bit of a toss up. Everyone from my home university loved their host families, and got taken to dinner, on trips, etc. It's also very convenient to have a Japanese person there if you lose something (like me and my wallet), want to reserve a vacation package, or are just wondering about anything in general. A few of my friends stayed in various dorms around Tokyo, and most had pretty negative experiences....no visitors, ESPECIALLY no co-ed stuff, noise restrictions, etc. Of course, if you get set up in a dorm set aside for exchange students, then the rules are different. I'd recommend the host family just for the cooking

 

[Akakubisan]

I would have to agree with MeAndroo about possibly staying with a host family. I stayed in a dorm close to Harajuku in Tokyo for a year and there are lots of rules.

A list of the more likely ones.

1. Curfew, mongen (10 PM where I stayed unless you called in before that to the front desk, if you missed you got punishment cleaning or batsu souji at 5:30 AM)

2. Noise restrictions, but everybody else is noisy

3. Family style eating, but if you are late no food for you ( I didn't have a problem with this)

4. Mandatory meetings in Japanese (boring if you are nt in the mood)

5. No visitors in your room (means no female company)

6. Cleaning twice a week

I found #1 and 5 to be the most inconvenient.

But of course I never stayed with a Japanese family for more than a few weeks. I have heard some horro stories about that too. Both come down to what type of attitude you have while you are there.

No matter what good luck.

Study Japanese as much as you can before you go.

 

[ZachPA2Osaka!!]

The dorms are seperated from the Japanese students, and i believe the classroom buildings are setup the same way. Yeah, some rules like you guys said also apply to where i will hopefully be going. 10PM cerfew, no coed company, but i read reviews from students (on the net) saying that the International kids go wild with noise and sneaking people in the dorms and some rules more or less don't really get enforced.

Thanks for the feedback! I am hopeful that while over in Japan that i will also be able to travel a lot. Did you guys have experiences that allowed for travel to places that around just next door?

 

[MeAndroo]

We definitely snuck in and out of dorms, but it didn't mean it wasn't a hassle. Though it'd be a hell of a lot harder to sneak in and out of a house...but that's what love hotels are for!

Curfew sucks...rarely will you want to be home at 10pm. Actually, rarely will you want to get on the last train before 1, but it's decisions like that (all night karaoke or a bed) that make it so fun.

 

[DragonChan]

I am personally having a great time with my host family. IE: I just ate dinner, and now I am online while I wait to challange the winner at Mario Kart (my host sisters are playing at the moment.) However it can be a bit trying since my family is always talking to me (in Japanese) and if I am tired it is really hard to get up the energy to grab the dictionary and remember all the grammer and stuff. Especially when they want to have another debate on language learning methods. Though I suppose that is positive that they always talk to me, even if I can't usually understand more than a 1/4 of it.

On the other hand, in dorms you won't feel at all intrusive, and remember that Japanese walls are thin. You pretty much have noise restrictions wherever you are.

 

[ZachPA2Osaka!!]

Yesterday i went to a meeting, here at my university, hosted by the Japanese Student Association. It was very interesting getting to hear the different sounds of the language even though i am only capable of making out 1% pretty much of what they were saying. Anyway, i met three girls who are exchanged from the school i hope to attend next fall. They were very nice to talk to ( in english of course) even if i wasn't sure if they knew what i was saying. I told them i like Ichiro (baseball player).

I'm so excited about going to Japan i just want to make sure i prepare as much as possible so i'm not lost or confused when i arrive. Dragonchan, or anyone else, who did you fly through and about how much did u drop for tickets?

 

[Ewok85]

We definitely snuck in and out of dorms, but it didn't mean it wasn't a hassle. Though it'd be a hell of a lot harder to sneak in and out of a house...but that's what love hotels are for!

Curfew sucks...rarely will you want to be home at 10pm. Actually, rarely will you want to get on the last train before 1, but it's decisions like that (all night karaoke or a bed) that make it so fun.

Its a rare host family that puts a strict curview on you, or doesnt allow visitors. My family was delighted when I brought someone home and as long as I was quiet stumbling into the house at 3am is perfectly fine.

I forgot about all the rules attached to Japanese dorms, but from the japanese uni students I know I cant see them following the rules very much either

 

[MeAndroo]

Its a rare host family that puts a strict curview on you, or doesnt allow visitors. My family was delighted when I brought someone home and as long as I was quiet stumbling into the house at 3am is perfectly fine.

While it's true that host families do like to meet your friends, I was talking more about opposite sex, not necessarily friends-type people. My family was definitely against that with me, which led to some alternative options having to be explored.

 

[ZachPA2Osaka!!]

So what do you guys recommend? I have the option of either meeting a lot of non-Japanese in the dorms or i can move in with a Japanese family. My family here is a little wary of me living with a Japanese family just because they worry about something possibly happening to me ( yes they are paranoid). I think it would be a good experience to live with a family, but i worry it will take away from meeting new people or from making every day decisions such as staying out late or going to clubs impossible. I want to try to experience as much of Japan i can while having the most amount of fun in the process.

 

[Ewok85]

Host Family all the way. They know Japan, and are able to take you places and show you things that you wouldnt be able to do on your own (for me it was fishing in the mountains in Miyagi-ken, all paid trip to Osaka and Kyoto, seeing just about everything there is to see in Chiba-ken, support and encouragement for everything I did, showing me all kinds of japanese food and drink, introducing me to people, etc).

They wont do anything to you tho, I'd be more worried about someone living in the dorms

 

[ZachPA2Osaka!!]

If i take my laptop over to Japan is there any special adapters i need to get onto the internet? I'm not sure if they use the same exact ethernet or phone jack setup. I think i would like to post an online journal that's why i am curious.

 

[MeAndroo]

Host Family all the way. They know Japan, and are able to take you places and show you things that you wouldnt be able to do on your own

That about sums up my feelings as well.

If i take my laptop over to Japan is there any special adapters i need to get onto the internet? I'm not sure if they use the same exact ethernet or phone jack setup

Hopefully your school has a computer lab/library with areas for broadband access. I bought an ethernet cord there that works here in the States, so I doubt that'll be a problem. You will need to get an electric converter because of the differences between American and Japanese currents. I bought mine pretty cheap in some random computer store.

Personally, I found my laptop to be kind of a burden outside of my host family's house. They had a router and let me plug right in to their network, so access wasn't a problem at home. Plus, I have a dell inspiron 8200, and with only one battery the thing weighs like 9 lbs. It got really annoying trying to find a place to put it if we went to a bar or club or just to eat after school, so I abandoned it in favor of the school computer lab. It helps on the plane, and at home, but unless you don't mind lugging it around after class, leave it at your host family's place.

 

[Nuala]

Zach your lucky, I was going to be an exchange student but we had to pay alot of money for it and frankily my family isn't exactly rich,
Anyways, it's a good idea to get familar with the japanese culture, you don't want to stick your chop sticks up in rice. ☝

 

[Ewok85]

Ethernet is an international standard, I dont know about phone jacks, they tend to change from country to country.

Do you want to lug a laptop around tho?

 

[jieshi]

I do!!! Im buying one in japan

 

[Ewok85]

Leave it at home where its safe, outside the house you'll be busy enough without having to worry about losing it.

 

[Nuala]

I'm getting a nice Toshiba notebook for less then $1,200. That's right, Terror will soon be portable!

 

[ZachPA2Osaka!!]

i've used sites such as travel.yahoo.com and many others to look for cheap tickets to Japan and i can't seem to find tickets as cheap as other people say they find theirs for. I would leave from Baltimore most likely and go to Kansai Airport. The cheapest tickets i have been able to find are around $800USD, while many are over $1000USD. does anyone know if that's what i will have to bear with or if i'm just not looking hard enough?!

 

[Nuala]

Expedia.com
I was reading through Expedia.com, and I found low fares on a round trip to Japan from Illinois, USA. Maybe you'll find a good fare there too.
Good luck!

 

[MeAndroo]

See if there's an STA agency in your area. They specialize in student fares, and I got open ended tickets from LA to Tokyo for about 630. I think they make you joing a travel organization for like 20 bucks, but it's no biggie, and you can get discounts at certain places. Selection might be a little more limited from Baltimore to Kansai, but definitely check them out.