1. Your study programme or your internship programme
My study program was part of the Minor Abroad at my home institution Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and at my receiving institution of Osaka University I completed the OUSSEP exchange program. In the OUSSEP program I could combine different courses that were offered as part of this program to make a personalised program that would fit my situation and background. However, it was also
recommended to take courses outside your own field of study to broaden your horizon. Moreover, there was also a possibility of taking ‘regular’ courses – courses that were not specifically made for this exchange program but that regular students at the university would take –, although there was no guarantee that you would get in because regular students would be admitted first and because for some courses you needed prior knowledge.
2. Language
The language spoken in the country of my receiving institution was Japanese, but the exchange program consisted of courses all given in English. However, there were language courses offered at the university as part of the exchange program of different language levels depending on your personal situation. I have taken and completed one of these language courses. Outside of the university not many Japanese people spoke much English, but this was made up for by their willingness to try to communicate as well as the many signs that were usually both in Japanese characters and Roman alphabet, especially since I stayed in Osaka which is one of the bigger cities in Japan.
3. Finance and other conditions
I had a scholarship – Marco Polo – that was offered by my home university, as well as prior saved money and my student loan. There were also several scholarships offered by Osaka University depending on your grades and motivation and whether you already had other financial aids, as in my situation with the Marco Polo scholarship. Living in Japan is quite costly. Doing groceries tends to be an expensive trip, especially fruits and vegetables are pricey, with exception of bananas and when you go right before closing time when a lot of daily fresh food is on sale. Also, one thing that was not expensive was eating out, which I took great advantage of to try a lot of different Japanese foods.
4. Preparation and contacts with the faculty before, during and after your stay
Contact with the receiving university faculty before my stay was absolutely fine. Whenever I had a question they would answer it within a few days. Other preparations went fine as well. I have to confess that I cannot remember all the exact logistics of handing in all the documents and papers since that was occasionally quite stressful and this differs per case, such as obtaining the visa on time. However, the procedure was very doable. Contact with the receiving university faculty during and after my stay was fine as well. The supervising/managing team at my faculty was extremely friendly and always willing to help and in order to do so were willing to go above and beyond.
Contact with my home university faculty was fine as well, although I have not contacted them as much since it was not needed during my stay luckily. However, on the cases that I did contact them they were always very helpful.
5. Housing
There were several housing options at Osaka University. Before my stay during the preparation procedure I had to fill in my top three preference list of dorms in which I wanted to stay. I was lucky to stay in the dorm that was my number one pick, which was Toyonaka International House. This dorm was located on one of the three campuses of Osaka University, the one which I had most
classes on. Housing was not too expensive in my opinion, it was comparable to housing back at home. Some dorms were shared dorms where people would share bathrooms and kitchens, but in my dorm I had a kind of very small studio apartment, including my own kitchen, shower, toilet and even a small balcony. I really enjoyed staying here. In my opinion such a dorm could get lonely depending on the person’s situation, but luckily I met a lot of amazing people during my stay and quickly had a close group of people both at university and outside of university life.
6. Culture
The culture was very fascinating to me. It was very different to my own culture back home in the Netherlands. In Japan everything is very well thought out and executed in a very structured manner.
Moreover, not only are there a lot of rules and regulations, but most of the time people also follow these rules. This makes for a very organised, consistent and safe environment. I felt very safe at night as a woman, which I have never felt as much as I have in Japan. Moreover, you know what to expect in most situations whether personal or bureaucratic. This can also cause problems where people do not stand up for themselves because they think their situation will not change anyways or if they think that it will inconvenience other people. Japan is a very community based and community focused society, whereas the Netherlands is a very individualistic society. People in Japan are also very welcoming and hospitable, I have not met one Japanese person that was not willing to help me if I needed help. However, they will stare at you if you look different, because they are a very homogenous country as well.
7. Free time
I travelled a lot in my free time, tried a lot of different foods, went to karaoke bars a lot with friends – which is extremely common in Japan –, went to church, went to local festivals which was very
interesting, hiked a lot with friends as well. I especially loved trying Japanese things, such as the local festivals where you experience the culture and local (street)foods, such as going to karaoke bars and such as hiking, since Japanese landscape and scenery and especially the mountain scenery is simply breath-taking.
8. Travelling
I travelled in the beginning of November to Okinawa, a group of tropical islands in the south of Japan.
I strongly recommend doing so. The island reminded me a lot of Hawaii in scenery as well as the more laid-back mentality of the Japanese people there as opposed to the rest of Japan, even though the city I stayed in (Osaka) was supposed to way more chill and direct compared to the rest of Japan already. Even though it was late in the year it was still very warm on Okinawa, due to the
geographical location of the islands. I had the best time there, I snorkelled in one of the many coral reefs, tasted great food, went on boat trips to some of the smaller islands to enjoy their beaches and cultural heritages, enjoyed some good drinks and undertook some small road trips with our rented car to beautiful spots to hike and enjoy nature. I also travelled to Hokkaido during winter break, which was equally as amazing but the total opposite of Okinawa. I have never seen as much snow in my life before. We skied for two days, which was pretty expensive as it usually is. Again we had a lot of great food, enjoyed nature and the snow and took some small trips to nearby towns and a nearby onsen town which I strongly recommend! I also travelled during the same winter break to South- Korea for almost a week, which was very different from Japan, but which I really enjoyed. In between the bigger trips I occasionally travelled to nearby cities such as Kyoto and Nara, to either see the deer, enjoy nature, hike some more, do some shopping, become fascinated by the culture and deeply rooted traditions as seen especially in Kyoto, to enjoy amazing local food or to enjoy a festival such as the Uneme festival or the Wakakusa Yamayaki festival both held in Nara.
9. Other
There are so many amazing things I experienced, which I cannot all write down. However, a few things that I left out are all the trips/parties that Osaka University organises for international students, which I really appreciated. As part of OUSSEP I went on a trip with all the OUSSEP
international students to Hiroshima – which was very impressive and moving because of its history – as well as Miyajima – where I learned more about the local traditions – and we stayed overnight at Hiroshima. Moreover, at the university it is possible to partake in some of the many
sports/culture/music/art clubs, but this depends on whether the specific club allows international students who are not fluent in Japanese.
