IES Abroad Nagoya: A Good Life Experience Past Review
By Caitlin C (Japanese; International Relations, Tufts University) for
IES Abroad: Nagoya Direct Enrollment - Nanzan University
Studying abroad was definitely worth it. Being on my own in a completely foreign culture forced me to adapt and negotiate with my surroundings. It was difficult to be so far from my family and friends, and even more challenging to face racism for the first time, but the friendships I made and the experiences I had in Japan made it worthwhile.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Except for in my Japanese language class, analytic thinking was not a component of my education in a Japanese university. Neither were meaningful assignments that required any sort of educational benefit. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
For the most part, the administration was pretty helpful; whenever I had a question, it got answered fully, and any problems I had were resolved quickly and sufficiently. My only complaint is that the director of our program was not on campus on a day-to-day basis, so most issues were resolved through e-mail. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I loved my host family. Living with them was a great way to immerse myself in the language and culture, and to create meaningful bonds with people I really enjoyed spending my time with. My host family treated me like a daughter, they cared for my well-being but also expected me to contribute, which was great. I really felt welcome, like I belonged. My only complaint is that my host family lived an hour and a half away from school, so commuting was fairly difficult. |
| * Food: |
Japanese food was consistently delicious, but expensive. For cheap meals, I would buy things at the convenience store. I would then splurge on better food at restaurants and the like. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Japan had some great festivals that were really fun to participate in, like Setsubun and the Fertility Festival. Not to mention, the field trips we took as a part of IES were amazing. We were treated like kings, exposed to the best food and experiences. A part of the program, we had some amazing opportunities to visit places in Japan we would not normally travel to. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Japanese healthcare is much different than American healthcare-- namely, there is more access because you can walk into any facility. I got sick several times, and it was my responsibility to seek my own care, which was occasionally difficult, given the fact that I had to communicate my medical issues in a foreign language. For the most part it worked out well; my main complaint is that medicine in Japan is a lot weaker than that in the United States. |
| 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) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Money disappeared too easily in Japan. Pretty much everything you buy is more expensive, including basics like food and drink. I spent between $60 and $120 a week. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Small purchases add up. Do not buy drinks from the vending machine every day. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Fourth-year level |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
One good thing was that we had language classes everyday, which really helped reinforce the grammar we were learning. However, most of the practice I had speaking was exclusively with my teachers, since Japanese students were more interested in speaking English to us. |
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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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Someone who is outgoing and willing to keep making friends will benefit most from this program, because there is not a lot of administrative help in facilitating friendships with the Japanese students. You really have to go out of your way to establish relationships with students not on your own program. Also, someone looking for a good homestay would also benefit from this program. |
