A Yankee in Emperor Meiji's Court: Adapting to Japan's Homogeneous Society Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The workload was the amount of a full year of Japanese language study within one semester. We had three quizzes a day to test vocab, accent, and grammar. There was a chapter test every Friday with an oral component as well as written. The Japanese cultural class had a blog, a presentation, a field trip, and a paper due every week.

On-site administration of your program

The program abroad through Middlebury College had a lot of strengths rooted in its ability to provide intensive language study programs. The fall semester of the program is completely devoted to language immersion through a Japanese culture class and four hours of language class everyday. Students are allowed to take one class in English during this semester, but it is chosen by the program coordinator. The reason they do this is to make sure the students adhere as closely to the language pledge as possible and keep all of the small group together. I see this as a weakness. Only the class taught in English provided the opportunity for us to mingle with other study abroad students and Japanese students. Besides that the Middlebury program students were kept in classes with only each other so they could get the personalized attention in language study. If one wants to take classes other than language then they would have to stay for the entire year or for both fall and winter term.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived in an all girls off-campus dorm since students who were only studying abroad for the fall semester were not provided with on-campus housing. I lived in the same dorm with two other girls from my same program, one other American study abroad student who went to ICU through a different program, along with Korean, Japanese, and Chinese college students from the area. All of us received a single room equipped with a bed with drawers, bed sheets, a lamp, an internet connection, a desk, a shelf, air conditioning/heating, a closet, and each room had a small deck overlooking the city of Musashi-Koganei where the dorm was located. Each floor had a washer, bathroom with both Western and Japanese style toilets, a sink, and a refrigerator. On the first floor was the house of the dorm mother or dorm manager, one of which was always around in case of an emergency. Also on the first floor was the communal washroom. In this washroom, there were four shower heads and one big tub all out in the open. You really had to get used to bathing in front of other people very quickly. The kitchen and dining was also located on the first floor with two tables, the only television in the building, the main prep area used for the house managers, a sink, a stove, and a microwave. The dorm fed us breakfast and lunch everyday except for Sundays and holidays. On those days, you were required to fend for yourself and allowed to use any of the pots and pans. The city of Musashi-Koganei became one of my favorite places in Japan. The city was only two trains and a bus ride, or just a bus ride from ICU, so it taught you how to use proper transportation. The dorm was actually a ten minute walk from the center of the city where the shops, mall, and the train station were located. The dorm was actually next to the police station and in the more residential or quiet part of the city. The train ride from Musashi-Koganei to Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo, or other major attractions was around 15 minutes to a half hour by the Chuou Line.

The dorm tried to provide both breakfast and lunch with two options for us: Western-style and Japanese style. Usually breakfast consisted of a traditional Japanese meal with rice and soup, or you could have toast with whatever you are eating. If you are a vegetarian, I think there would probably be a little bit of a struggle since many of the traditional meals involved pork. Mainly, I ate a lot of fish and rice.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Visiting Kyoto was my favorite part of the entire program. On the first day we stayed together as a group and went to the Golden Pavilion along with another famous temple before having a traditional Kyoto dinner. That night we stayed at a hotel and the next day we had our run of wherever we wanted to visit within Kyoto.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Before I went to Tokyo, I had to be tested for tuberculosis and that was about it. While I was there the only health problem I had was when I caught a really bad summer cold that kept me out of class for around a week. However, when I had friends that got injured they could just go to the hospital since healthcare is universal in Japan. Whenever you got sick the program coordinator or even our house mother would check up on you. As for safety, I did not have any problems or even felt unsafe while in Tokyo. As long as you are with a friend or in a group when around the more rowdy areas, you should be fine.

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

Many of my friends who I met in Japan could speak English somewhat and were very eager to practice their English with me. However, my program tried to enforce a "Language Pledge" where all of us within the program were supposed to only speak Japanese with everyone we came into contact with. All of our classes were conducted within ja

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• Dorm

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• Local Students
• International Students
• Americans

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• Intensive Japanese Language Study
• Living in Tokyo
• Field Trips

• Allow classes with other students
• More clarification about what classes students will be enrolled in