Study Abroad in Tokyo
 

I will be leaving this September to start a one year study abroad at Sophia University in Tokyo. This will be my first time going to Japan, so I am quite excited, but also quite at a loss as to what to expect. I will be doing a home stay roughly 45 minutes out from Tokyo, so I will have people to help guide me to get accustomed to the country when I arrive, but I would like to be as prepared as possible before I leave.

The preparation I have done thus far includes: over the past two years I have completed three years of Japanese at my University, gone to events hosted by Japanese students on campus, participated in a language exchange with a Japanese native, and for a weekend, I taught at a language camp for students learning Japanese.

By doing those things, I believe I have learned as much about the Japanese language as possible in the given time frame, but there are still many things in regards to actual life in Japan that I still wish to learn. That is where I hope this community can help me.

Here are my questions:

First of all, I should ask if anyone has had the experience of going to Sophia University. If anyone has, or knows of it, I would very much like to hear what you can tell me of it. What are most classes like? Is it easy to meet Japanese people? Did you have have the chance to join any clubs? What were they like? I personally am entertaining the idea of joining a club because I believe it would be a good way to make some Japanese friends. Does this sound like a good idea?

My next questions are about home stay life. Firstly, I was planning on bringing some small gifts such as food and pictures from where I live to give to my host family. Do these gifts sound like a good idea? Also, are there any customs I need to pay special attention to while doing a home stay. I know some things like having separate slippers for the home and bathroom, but are there other things I should pay special care to. Then I was wondering what are homes usually like in the suburbs of Tokyo? Do homes usually have internet in these locations? Furthermore, what kind of environment should I expect. I am guessing 45 minutes out from downtown Tokyo will still be quite city like. Is that right to assume?

I would also like to ask some questions about Tokyo and nearby locations. While I am in Tokyo, what are some must see areas? What are some areas that are fun to go to? I am not that big in to clubbing and I am not old enough to drink, so those kind of locations can be excluded. While I am in Japan, I would also like to try and go to places outside of Tokyo. Are there any onsen locations a little ways out from the city? Are there some interesting towns I could plan some trips to on weekends?

(While these are the main questions that came to mind, I would like to know more about anything you are willing to tell me.)

Thank you in advance!

1) Don't bring a small gift, bring a big gift. You are staying at these people's homes for a year. Gift giving is an important part of Japanese culture, and unfortunatley gifts tend to be expensive. I don't know where you are from, but a nice picture book of your local area, and some (non fresh) food items would be a good gift too. Nothing to big in size, but this will be the first impression you make on them, so I think it worth spending a little more to make it a good one.

Where are you going to live (town name)?

I will keep in mind what you said and try to find a good gift.

As for the name of the town where I am going to live, I am still waiting to receive that information. I have only been notified of my family's name, ages of family members, and commute time to Tokyo.

Lucky you. I was told that I'm going to find out all of that information either a few days before I arrive there or once I'm actually there.

I've never been to Sophia U, but a few people from my Japanese class have gone there. If you don't mind hearsay, I remember them describing many opportunities to join clubs and meet Japanese students outside of opportunities that IES or CIEE gave them.

As for homestay, based on my own experience, Internet was expensive for my family so I didn't have regular access to it. I've heard from others that they'd have to wait until they arrived at their school to use the Internet. For advice, I say that you really communicate. It can really go a long way. If you want to do your own laundry, say so - because after a year, it's possible that you'll be tearing your hair out every time someone does it for you.

Also bring all the deodorant and toothpaste you are going to use. I am going to guess that there are other things women might need to bring that might not be as available in Japan.

You are a lucky person :) Where I live they dont offer any study abroad to Japan or any Japanese classes. They did offer only one year of basic Japanese, but not anymore. I guess my teacher got tired:D. He wasnt even Japanese lol:D Well enough with my story lol. I hope you have a great year over in Japan and enjoy it alot. :vsign: :ywave:

Just a quick ques;

What are the costs for studying abroad? I mean when you do your year abroad in uni are the costs just what you pay yearly for the course or are there extras?

appreciated if you could reply because I want to do Japanese at Uni but worried about the costs

There is no set price, it depends om the University and the program.

I'm doing a bilateral exchange through my university, so the tuition overseas will be the same price as my home university. Then there are other costs which can vary such as housing, food, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses.

This was probably the cheapest choice available to me.

pillows!

bring your own pillow incase the family uses japanese pillows.

they suck royally. damn little bean bags.

(you can also buy them here tho)

45 minutes outside tokyo are the suburbs. so lower rise buildings, more space, that kind of thing. but definately not country side so not to worry. but 45 minutes is a short commute, you might not even feel like you've left the city.

hakone is up in the hills and is very nice for onsen, its an hour out of tokyo, and you can see mt fuji on your way. you can do a bit of hiking there too, nice an naturey and stuff.

tokyo has just about anything you want so it might be more helpful to list what you are looking for as opposed to what youre not.

No toothpaste? Don't they brush their teeth? =/

I read somewhere it's can come in handy to take a electronic dictionary with you. It's practical when you don't understand a kanji or word (Akihabara is a good place to buy this, see link below =)) .

I advise you to read this: Untitled Document
Maybe it comes in handy.

Hakone sounds like a nice place to visit. One of my worries about living in Tokyo is that I may become overwhelmed by city life, so I would like to have some places in mind that move at a slower pace. Hiking and going to an onsen sound like great options.

And yeah, I realize that I may not have been very descriptive of places I would like to go to in Tokyo, but I guess that is because I am not fully sure. I realize Tokyo truly has a lot of things to offer, so I guess what I am asking the members here is if there is anything in particular that stands out among the rest. It could be a place that you really enjoyed during your own time in Tokyo, or ever a place you heard about from a friend and it sounded interesting.

That article was a good read. It was nice to be able to read about another person's study abroad experiences in Tokyo, and it gave me a few useful tips to keep in mind.

As for an electronic dictionary, I got 漢字そのまま楽引辞典 for my DS. I think I won't need more than that while I am in Japan. It has the ability to write in Kanji I don't know, and that would be my main concern.

Wow! I just heard some great news from the learning abroad center at my university. I've been awarded the Monbukagakusho scholarship for Japanese studies! Wow, I think this upcoming year in Japan may be cheaper than this past year I spent at my university in the states. I'm even more psyched to go to Japan now. So happy :D

Not all Japanese toothpaste has fluoride. I spent about 9 months in Japan and used only Japanese toothpaste. When I came back to America I had a dozen new cavities. After that I never used Japanese toothpaste again.

Holy crap..that actually shocked me..
If I ever do go for an extended period of time..bring toothpaste from home..check.

It`s not the problem with Japanese toothpaste - it`s that there is no fluoride in the tap water. Most toothpastes DO have it these days, or at the very least there is no trouble finding ones that do.

My teeth are also absolutely awful because of the lack of fluoride in the water - using fluoride toothpaste didn`t change things a bit. If I`d known about this back before problems arose, I`d have probably gone for fluoride treatments (dentists offer them for quite cheap - around here it`s 1300yen for a treatment once every 6 months to a year)
You can find deodorant these days, but they are tiny and very pricey.

I can`t say I advise bringing a pillow as was suggested, as that is a LOT of space in your luggage for something that you can buy here for less than 1000yen.

Bring a large significant gift for your host family, and a ton of small gifts for everyone else of importance you will meet - teachers, counselors, etc. Not giving a good enough gift is a huge taboo, really. I am STILL complained to by family about the time I had my mother visit and she didn`t bring anything to give to the in-laws. It will reflect badly not only on you, but your entire program and everyone involved.

My dad will be taking a trip for work over to Germany, and I was thinking of asking him to pick up some wine for my host family. Would that be a good gift along with some food and such found in America?

Also, what would be some good small gift ideas for my teachers and such?

Been a little while since I posted here, but just wanted to say that I made it to Japan. I would like to say thanks to everyone who posted here for every little bit of advice helps when going to a new country.

Things have been going more smoothly than I expected since I arrived. When I first got to the airport, my university sent a student to help me take the trains to my homestay family, and since then, my homestay family has been very helpful with aiding me to get used to the country and do such things as setingt up a bank account and getting a cell phone. As for gifts for my family, I brought chocolate made in Minnesota as well as books with pictures showing animals and different areas of the state. My host mother seems to really like the pictures.

One thing I would recommend for those who are planning to study abroad is to get Skype. I tried using it today, and I was able to call my parents at home, and it only cost about 20 cents for 5 minutes.

Glad to hear things are going smoothly. I can't help but feel the vicarious excitement!

Wishing you success in all your endeavors!

ご活躍をお祈りします。

How are things going there in Japan?
Did you bring enough toothpaste?
Oh, and if your parents get skype 2, you can call them 4 free!:D