A new face each day January 27, 2025
By Henry M (History, Brandeis University) - abroad from 08/27/2024 to 12/15/2024 with
IES Abroad: Tokyo - Language & Culture
I gained many new friends!
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
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? |
Study abroad is what you make of it. I took a lot of opportunities to meet local people and engage with the culture, but I also wish that there were more community events organized by the program. Many of the events they had were mainly just study abroad students. I recommend doing the Kaede Mate Program, in which you are paired with a Japanese student, meet once a week and practice language. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Japanese health care is excellent. I got injured (my own fault) and needed stitches. I was in-and-out in under an hour and the whole thing was around 25 dollars. |
| * Safety: |
I never felt unsafe during my time in Japan. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
The IES Tokyo staff was so incredibly nice and accommodating. Tokyo is easily one of the coolest places I've ever been to, and the staff connected me with people outside the program to become friends with |
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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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Don't buy stupid souvenirs. You don't need to commemorate your trip to Mount Fuji by buying a stuffed animal or some other garbage. |
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 |
Only the Japanese language classes were in Japanese, the other classes were in English |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | None |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? |
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? | Despite being called IES Tokyo, the housing as well as the campus are just outside of the city. The campus is about 30 minutes from Tokyo Station by train. That may not sound like a lot, but with commutes already being decently long each day, it can make getting into Tokyo a pain. It would be like having a program called Study Abroad in NYC only for it to actually be set in Jersey City. |
