Japan Study abroad Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The system used in Japan does not match the teaching instructed in the United States. An intermediate level in the US is considered a beginner overseas. Workload for beginning students is lighter than that of more advanced students. Grading system was very strict and broken down well. They expected your Japanese to be perfect, yet there English at times was horrible “pair of jean” as an example. This is not to draw humor at the instructors, but to illustrate the point that when learning a new language it is difficult to get it all correctly the first time. When getting things wrong in class we were often punished in some way or yelled at for quite a length of time. If I had to describe the educational system that I experienced in Japan I would say it was; unorganized, poorly written, frugal, untruthful at times, and filled with red tape. One of my biggest gripes was that we were never instructed on safety precautions of earthquakes or other natural phenomena. When the largest earthquake to ever happen to Japan hit, the students stayed in the dormitories and the teachers evacuated without so much as an announcement to the students. The situation could have turned out much worse. Communication between the University of Michigan and the students in the program was abysmal. I wouldn’t recommend it to my worst enemy.

On-site administration of your program

Getting anything done was difficult most of the time it required a lot of red tape. Administration did not speak English well (as expected) and communication was sometimes misleading. For example, we had a food reimbursement from the restaurant next door to the school. On one occasion we were told to wait to get our reimbursement and then denied the money because we were past our reimbursement date. My expectations were not met in the least.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The dorms were kept very clean for the most part. The only complaint I have is that they were very cold, to the point of being intolerable. I had to buy a rug and walk over two miles with it to get it back to the dorms. JCMU finally provided students with extra blankets after dozens of complaints. We had tiny little space heaters that barely kept the room at temperature. They were run 24 hours a day in order to keep the rooms somewhat warm. The large room heaters could only be used for a few hours each month or we would incur a charge. Because of my scholarship money I was able to buy many supplies for the dorm room Proximity to fun was ok, it usually took about a half an hour bike ride to get to anything worthwhile.

I ate everything I could get my hands on. All the food was delicious. In fact, its one of the only things I miss about Japan. My advice to future students is try as much food as you can afford. with all the biking i did i still lost 25 pounds.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I went to many more places than others. i visited Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, Nara, and Sapporo. there are too many things to mention here. everything was memorable

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

safety was up to the students.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Japanese had to be used on a daily basis. My improvement did not necessarily come from the training the program provided but the need to survive when outside of the JCMU walls. English was rarely used other than speaking with friends in the dorms.

Select all that apply

• Dorm

Select all that apply

• Local Students
• International Students
• Americans

Select all that apply

• Americans

• ability to explore the country
• scenery
• food

• the program needs an overhaul
• emergency procedures for natural disasters
• no compassion for student