Good morning! (evening here as I’m still in Japan) In this post, I wanted to focus mainly on some tips for students contemplating on studying abroad in Japan–in particular with Rollins through the Kansai Gaidai exchange program. My first piece of advice is go for it.
Studying abroad is an exciting part of getting an education and Japan is one of the best places you could possibly do it. Kansai Gaidai isn’t the best but it is still excellent. I’ll begin with my experiences about the cons regarding the university.
Cons:
– Unlike schools in the U.S. where you can add classes after dropping them, no such thing exists at Kansai Gaidai University.
– Unlike the language partner program with the Semester in Shanghai program with the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, there is absolutely zero requirement or commitment with the language partner program at Kansai Gaidai. I had two partners, one I only got to meet once, the other I only met twice. Another classmate also had two, he only met one once and never even met the other one.
– In the fall semester, there are zero observed holidays (with the exception of one day off for a sports festival called Asutomo, you can choose to travel during this time but I highly recommend participating in the festival if you want to have fun and make more friends!) In the spring semester, there are holidays such as spring break but international students start school about a month (or two) before local students do.
Pros:
– The teachers are willing to work with you and are very good, especially the Japanese language teachers!
– You will have enough free time to travel.
My advice:
– Do the homestay. It will be much more beneficial, immersive, enjoyable, and personally rewarding. I did the student housing (which actually recently changed so I can’t comment too much on that).
– If you’re unsure about adding a class or about extending another semester, just do it. Why? Because you cannot add something or extend after the deadline but you can drop things or change your mind and not extend later on if you choose to. Also, gakubu courses (classes with local students) are a good way to make friends so I suggest signing up for one but they do not count towards the minimum credit requirement for the Asian Studies Program which is 14 credits.
– Get out of the area, go somewhere new. If you’re new to the language, I strongly urge you to practice the basics on your own before arrival (at least the alphabets such as hiragana and katakana, if nothing else). If you want to meet as many people as possible then join the student clubs and circles, gakubu courses, volunteer every chance you get (because you may not get a spot at everything you volunteer for).
Good luck and enjoy!