So Long and Thanks for All the Rice Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Academically, I did not feel my program challenged me. The intensive Japanese classes, which meet for approximately 18 hours a week, were frustrating, but not particularly challenging. There was a large amount of homework, but most of it was repetitive busywork, and the penalties for not completing it were not terribly severe. The course was designed for non-native Japanese speakers from all areas of the world, which meant that the majority of my classmates were Taiwanese or Chinese, and so there was little focus on learning more Kanji, because most of the students already know them natively. This is a problem without a solution for the institution, so I do not want to criticize them too harshly for that. The other four classes were taught in English, to a mix of higher level Japanese students and foreign students. However, these classes were designed with the dual purpose of practicing English and learning the subject, thus I was often faced with the surreal situation of taking an upper level course covering rudimentary subjects. Nevertheless, I enjoyed these classes, especially by comparison to my Japanese classes.

On-site administration of your program

Stregths: The program was very good at handling documentation and following proceedures for large numbers of students. There were maybe thirty or forty new international students who started with me. The program was very effective at getting us all into classes, testing our language aptituted, and getting us to city hall to complete our regisration with the government. Weaknesses: This program insisted that I be ready to pay my housing upfront, on the first day, which is fine, however, they do not accept any form of check or credit or money order, so I had to have several thousand dollars of yen on me when I got on the plane, keep that on my person throughout the 22 hour flight, and have it ready for the first day. Had it been almost any country other than Japan, I would have flat out refused to carry that much cash into an unfamiliar and vulnerable situation. Be aware of that if you decide to go here.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The dorms are spartan. It is a small room with a desk, chair, bed and bookcase. You do have an air conditioner and heating unit, which is quite a luxury for Japan, and something that most students living with host families did not have. The dorms are conveniently located on campus, not five minutes from class. The are segregated by sex, although men are always sneaking girlfriends into the dorms. There is a midnight curfew, much to the chagrin of many international students I spoke with. If you arrive at the dorms after midnight, the gates (with barbed wire on top) are locked and you have to go to the guardhouse and sign in. I am still not sure what the penalty is for breaking curfew too often. One friend who was late three or four nights in a row was pulled aside the next day an given a very stern reminder not to do it again, which of course he did. My biggest issue with the curfew was the gendered inequality passivly built into it. Outside the men's dorm, there is a section of the fence where there is no barbed wire, and so we could scramble over it and return home, consequence free, but the women's dorm had no such vulnerabilities. Women who returned home late had to sign there name on the public register and accept the judging looks of the night guards. Ostensibly, this was becasue women are at a greater risk of predators in Japan, but I always felt that it was an unfair way of forcing women to conform while giving men permission to break the rules as they saw fit.

I loved Japanese food all my life, until I had to eat it for a semester straight. My advice is to pace yourself, eat foreign food as much as you can. There is a Nepali place a block away from the train station, which was one of my favorite places to eat, because the food was so different from the usual diet of rice and miso.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Every year our school has a school festival where all the clubs can put on events and sell food for fundraising. There are bands, and the theater club performs its play. This is definitely worth checking out. Additionally, Tokyo around Christmas is beautiful, in its own way. If you are around for New Year's definitely go to a temple or a shrine, both, if you can manage.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Once again, safety was never something that I felt concerned about.

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

I did need to use Japanese every day, but not to any deep extent. Most the Japanese students I communicated with spoke a degree of English, so we often used a bizarre mishmash of English and Japanese. I did take the proficiency test while I was there. I did not pass, but I came close, but I do not feel that my Japanese improve substantively while I was there.

Select all that apply

• Dorm

Select all that apply

• Local Students
• International Students
• Americans

Select all that apply

• International Students

• I got to go to Tokyo, I loved my sociolgy class.

• The administration should accept alternatives to cash, the Japanese and non-Japanese programs coul both be made more effective and rigourous, and the staff needs to be more thoughouly vetted and instructed in norms of ethics.