Tsukuba University

On one beautiful day I have received a following message:

You have been granted a scholarship for a study program in Japan!

A message like this would surely make anyone happy, right? I still couldn't believe it... I will study there, live there, breathe there... simply I will be THERE. I will BE there... All of these feelings must be familiar to anyone who has ever gotten a chance to study abroad and I have admit, this feeling is very addictive ☺.

The university I got a sholarship to is called Tsukuba University and it is about an hour away frmo Tokyo by a special Tsukuba Express train. It is a small-ish university town with the biggest campus in Japan. So if you like the metropolitan life, this is not the way to go. However it is an ideal place for students. It's calm, with beautiful nature, there is enough shops, cinema, gym and a bar is also to be found... and tokyo is close enough for occasional visits (if you have enough money for the express train that is).

Now the program itself...

I have met some other students at the airport that arrived approximately at the same time as I did and we waited for someone from the university to tell us, where to go and what to do.

When we met, we exchanged the typical:

Me: こんにちは (hello)

Him: 日本語が上手ですねー (your Japanese is awesome...!)

After which he helped us buy bus tickets, told us where to get off and left us. Well, we had about an hour time at the airport, se I had my historically first Matcha Latte in Staba (Starbucks) as you can see in the picture. The color was kinda wierd, but the taste... godlike. My life in Japan started sweetly =).

The way from the airport to Tsukuba was without any troubles, we were picked up by a school bus upon arrival that drove us off to our respective dorms. The only problem for me was, that I did not have any information about where I am supposed to live, I wiw not have any buddy to help me settle in... oh and I also did not have the necessary visa, because the school did not manage to send me the necessary documents on time. So when they asked me where I will live, I said I don't know... when they asked me who my buddy was I said I didn't have one... so they just took me to a dorm, where most of the students went and told me to try and ask there.

I did. I asked. I filled out some paperwork, which was a little nerve wrecking because I was somehow thrown into the world of all Japanese without warning. I got a key. I went insinde my "room". I survived.

Living conditions

I was very lucky with the dorm I was staying at. Well, it was called a dorm, but you basically got a tiny appartment to yourself. There were several buildings divided based on whether you are living alone or with a family. Some only had warm water for a couple hours and had shared bathrooms. Well on my 14m2 I had my own bathroom, kitchen, balcony, AC unit and thanks to my friend from my home university who studyied there before me I also had a fridge, water kettle and a rice cooker. Luxurious, right? I did have to wait about a week to get them though, so I have to admit, I was a little hungry the first couple of days and looking at the instant food I brought with me was painful. But all is good ☺.

Studies

We had to do a test before we were assigned classes. Either I kiiiinda flunked them or they just didn't trust us and put us all lower than we were supposed to be. During the first class we had confirmation tests again, where they figured out I was suppsoed to be hgiher and moved me. The only negative thing about this was, that the whole level-moving took about a week and the rest of the classes was already decided by the time I got where I was supposed to be. So I had Japanese culture and history in English... because at the time we chose our classes I didn't have the necessary level of Japanese required. Well, too bad.

So the classes I had were: Japanese language (of course, divided to grammar, lsitening and speaking, kanji), Japanese history, Japanese culture, Linguistic anthropology, PC. The classes were awesome but the teachers had a difficult time getting accustomed to our "unacceptable" behavior during class... well we are used to talking with our friends, making jokes occasionally, etc.

Travelling

Even though the study program was hard at times I still had some time to travel around.

The closest desetination of course, was Tokyo.

Since the train was not the cheapest, I always got some accomodation there and spent the whole weekend. The cheapest accomodation I could find but later found I actually preferred it to other fancier ones, was a capsule hotel. If you are familiar with the movie Fifth Element, I guess you can imagine it. Shared bathrooms were clean, the one I grew to like had a "spa" included in the price.

During Christmas I also went to Disneyland... alone because others didn't want to go. It was the best Disney visit ever! I arrived in the morning and spent the entire day on rides, had fun and just felt like a little kid again. I also cut lines very often because I was alone so they took me to the front to fill a group of 3 or 5 people. I also didn't eat so I didn't have to stand in line for the ordinary hamburger. The only thing extraordinary about that was the price.

With my friends from my home university I also managed to visit Hakone. The way to get there was dreadful however. It all began with an earthquake that got us while we were in a train... on a bridge... so I had a delay which I couldn't communicate to my friends because I didn't have a SIM card or Wifi access... but when we finally met in Hakone couple hours later, the trip itself was great. We took a shinkansen on the way back together with a visit to Yokohama. It was incredible how we got back in only 15min =D.

Beppu

An amazinlgy pitoresque city with famous onsens. Great sushi I had almost everyday, sea, quiet... It was veery cold, but there was nothing better than to just take a towel, fgo to the onsen (spa) by foot and then just walk back home while looking at the steam covering almost the whole city.

Fukuoka + Dazaifu

Fukuoka has its own charm and I am glad I went there. I also visited a national museum and marine world which was nothing ike all the other aquariums I have seen before. Whilst there I also went to Dazaifu and see maybe the most beautiful shrine and the most delicious daifuku I have ever had in Japan.

#japan #scholarship #tsukuba #university #dormlife