Don! The temple bell tolls/The sweet smell of sakura/A sudden earthquake Past Review
By Katie A (Vocal Music, Austin College) - abroad from 09/13/2011 to 08/02/2012 with
CIEE: Tokyo - Arts and Sciences
Absolutely. It's hard to put a value on what I've learned while I'm still here--it won't be until I have to change back that I'm really aware of what I have gained.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Students were a little nervous about going to the doctor because Japan requires you to pay up front, and then get reimbursed by insurance later. We were also told that going to the doctor is very expensive in Japan (we were advised to carry 20,000 yen (about $225) in case we would need to see the doctor!), but when I visited the doctor, the price for both the visit and the prescription were very reasonable--only about $80 total. There's no worry about the quality of care, either--you're in the heart of Tokyo, after all, and the doctors here are very well-trained (though finding an English-speaking doctor on your own can be difficult, there is an English-speaking clinic in Yotsuya, only about a 5 minute walk from the CIEE offices and Sophia). |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
Tokyo is an expensive city--expensive but fun. Living on a tight budget is one way to miss out on a lot of fun with friends. Even free entry locations (i.e. temples and shrines, or just walking around certain well-known neighborhoods and districts) will still cost you for transportation, and Tokyo trains and subways charge based on distance traveled. |
| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | Yes |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Probably too much. I could often stretch about $100 pretty far, but whenever I did, I would end up splurging on shopping as a reward for watching my budget. Oops. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Learn to appreciate window shopping. Then go to recycle shops (second-hand stores) and buy whatever clothes you just saw at the up-scale stores. Research prices. Shopping around is the name of the game in Tokyo--there isn't price regulation across stores like there is in America. Things like clothes and electronics can and do vary in price around $15-$20 from store to store on the same street. Find a cheap restaurant and go there to eat instead of eating on campus, or pack yourself a lunch in the morning (you receive a grocery stipend every month if you live in the dorms, and host families are provided with money for feeding you). If you decide to go to nomihoudai with friends on a Friday night, only go maybe once or twice a month, and PAY ATTENTION TO THE MENU--nomihous are all you can drink for free, yes, but only what's on the designated nomihoudai menu. Also, try not to go to nomihous with bad reputations for ripping people off (one horror story circulated in our program was of the 4000-yen per person nomihou; the bar lured them in with the '1000 yen nomihou', but then forced you to buy a 3500 yen dinner to go with it--and this group also had native Japanese students from the same club who negotiated the price before sitting down, then got ripped off as well). |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Japanese 265 (Advanced Japanese, 5th semester) |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Join a club first semester, but not an 'English Speakers Club'. Really dive in to a club populated with Japanese students, where you will have to use Japanese. Though be careful! Some clubs are super traditional, and will require you to use keigo with your senpai (and considering that keigo is difficult for Japanese natives, unless you are very well-practiced in honorifics, you will probably be asked to leave), and some clubs will not allow you to participate at first because you're a newbie. But stick with it. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I wish I'd researched shipping rates a little more carefully--I spent a lot of money sending home items, and I will likely begin sending things home by sea mail soon. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Buddhist Traditions |
| Course Department: | Faculty of Liberal Arts |
| Instructor: | Jean-Thierry Robouam |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | I took two classes on Buddhism from this professor, and I loved them both. Dr. Robouam is extremely knowledgeable (he has been studying Shingon Buddhism with the monks on Mt. Koya for years), he teaches many classes on both religion and philosophy (he taught both Buddhist Traditions (300-level) and Buddha and Christ (200-level) in the Fall, and Intro to Philosophy (200-level) and Philosophical Approaches to Buddhism (400-level) in the Spring) and has a wonderful sense of humor. The material is not easy by any means, but even without a background in Buddhism or Philosophy, I was able to succeed in both of his classes. His teaching style is pure lecture, and he has no difficulty talking for 90 minutes straight, but the subject matter is fascinating--after you take a course from him, you, too, will be able to spend hours contemplating one single Kanji. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | I'm able to work with my home institution to apply these credits to my Japanese major, since the subject matter for both courses was Japanese Buddhism, but most universities would likely count the credit as Philosophy or Religious Studies. |
