Meeting with the Wonderful Foreigners of Japan Past Review
By Matthew P (Chemistry, Trinity University) - abroad from 08/25/2014 to 12/11/2014 with
Temple University International Programs: Tokyo - Temple University Japan Campus
Even though I didn't necessarily meet all the Japanese people I had in mind, I was surprised by the diversity of people I met in general. Temple Japan had students coming in from all over the world and I was in close contact with them the whole time. Even if they weren't all Japanese, the people I met there was the greatest part of the experience for me
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Honestly, the difference in quality of teaching and students between Temple Japan and Trinity was pretty apparent. Classes were taught pretty poorly which would've been bad for me if they weren't so easy to begin with. A lot of students seemed to lack academic drive to try and get things done. It wasn't terrible, but it was noticeable. One class I took, however, Managerial Economics, is one of the best classes I've taken in my entire college career. That class alone made things a lot better. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Extremely helpful in getting me adjusted and on my way to living in Japan. Any question I ever had they were glad to help. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I did a homestay and the Suzuki's were the kindest people I had ever met. They were extremely patient with my developing Japanese and the meals were fantastic! I still miss those meals today. My one complaint is that the layout of the house kind of made me feel isolated from the family at times but they always would reassure me that wasn't the case. |
| * Food: |
Phenomenal |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I loved speaking in Japanese to my host family every day and getting to know them and I know I got a great experience on that front. When I went to school, however, I found myself speaking primarily in English. I made few Japanese friends and hardly hung out with the ones I did have outside of class. I understand that it is an international school but I was still disappointed that I didn't really seem to get the full "Japanese college student" experience that I was looking for. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Never required HC so N/A for me. |
| * Safety: |
Tokyo is insanely safe. Just don't do anything stupid on a paramount scale and you'll be fine. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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) |
Tokyo is a very expensive city. you blow through money like it's dry leaves on a windy day. I was spending one average probably ~$100-120/week, Although it is possible to spend less than that I feel like you might not have a good time otherwise. You are only abroad for a limited amount of time, so I'd rather enjoy it as much as possible than worry about money. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Approximately 6000-7000 yen which translated at the time to about $53-$65. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Don't buy you commuter pass every month. You will save yourself a lot more money and time by just laying down the big bucks up front for the amount of time you will be there. |
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 |
Unfortunately, like I said earlier, besides inside my homestay I spoke English most of the time. It's a good thing I had the homestay too because my Japanese language class was a joke. I hardly knew any Japanese before going to Japan and I still knew almost everything that was taught in that class. |
| 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? | Four years of Spanish in high school |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Make local friends. You'll want to understand them and communicate with them more and that alone will propel you learning process. Find events where you don't think a lot of foreigners will show up, people will approach you and interact with you in such cases because they're curious why you're there. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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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? | I wish I knew that the Japanese program was not good. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Nearly Native or Trail BlazerCraving the most authentic experience possible, perhaps you lived with a host family or really got in good with the locals. You may have felt confined by your program requirements and group excursions. Instead, you'd have preferred to plan your own trips, even skipping class to conduct your own 'field work.' |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Managerial Economics |
| Course Department: | Economics and Business |
| Instructor: | Dr. Bedard |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Hands down the best class I've ever taken in college. It was intellectually stimulating, challenging, interesting, and fun all at the same time. I really learned how to think critically about the kinds of situations that managers out in the real world face and how to tackle them. Discussions were great and Dr. Bedard was fantastic. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
