Study Abroad in Japan

Hey everybody! Since we need to post a lot this week on our blogs, I thought I'd talk a little bit about my study abroad experience (and include some cool pictures so you don't get too bored).

I'm currently a junior and I studied abroad last summer after my sophomore year. I made the decision because with my double major I wasn't going to have time to study abroad during the academic year. I ended up studying in Tokyo at Sophia University for about a month taking two classes, Japanese I and Japanese Popular Culture.

The program I applied to was run by CIEE, an organization that offers many study abroad programs all over the world in an attempt to allow more students to experience other countries. The organization was very helpful with staff in both the United States and Japan; I would recommend looking at their programs if you are thinking about applying to a something that is not during the academic year or that is outside of the Notre Dame application process (there is no required language level for most of their programs).

I remember that my main concern with studying in Japan was the language barrier, since I didn't speak any Japanese before going. Even more of a concern was the fact that I was assigned a home stay (which I highly recommend!) with a family that had only an elementary understanding of the English language. Despite all of my worrying I had a great time trying to use the broken Japanese that I was learning in class, along with waving my hands and trying basic English words to get my message across.

My host family and me making homemade たこやき for a fireworks festival

I can honestly say that Japan is like nowhere else I have ever been. If you are at all interested in the history, language, or pop culture of Japan, I urge to you to consider going. From the rural areas, where the people act as if every American is a celebrity, to the busy streets of Akihabara everywhere was an adventure. Some of my favorite sites were the various shrines and temples, along with the customs that are followed there.

Here is the famous Buddhist temple Senso-ji 

Just to give a quick overview of the CIEE language program, we arrived at Japan and immediately went on a 4-5 day excursion through some of the more rural parts of Japan including Shirakawa-go, the setting for Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, you know that show were all the children are repeatedly killing each other.

I was less than comfortable here after watching that anime

During the excursion we spent the nights at various types of hotels that ranged from Western style to traditional hotels containing onsen (hot spring baths). After the excursion ended we separated to our housing assignment, either a hotel or homestay, and attended three weeks of class. Class was every weekday and two of the three Saturdays, with each class lasting two and a half hours. Throughout my three weeks there CIEE held various events including, a tour of Meiji Shrine, a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, a Rakugo performance, and many other exciting events.

Another picture of Shirakawa-go

There were so many cool opportunities open to me during my stay at Japan. My final for popular culture involved me going to Comiket, the world's largest doujinshi convention, and writing a paper about all the crazy Otaku stuff I saw (ended up buying some gorgeous art books for myself). Other exciting sites like Mount Fuji and Akihabara are only a few train stops away and very accessible (the public transportation is amazing in Japan!).  I'll just dump some pictures here about some of the popular culture stuff I encountered.

Enormous Sega arcade in Akihabara

The current Comiket convention center (sorry for the thumb)

A delicious treat from one of the many maid cafes

Yes that is an Attack on Titan Ferrari and no I have no idea what that guy is wearing

Not everything was touristy though, the bars in Japan are very friendly to foreigners so it was very common for a group of CIEE study abroad students, who were of age (drinking age in Japan is twenty, though they sell beer in vending machines), to go out and try various different bars to practice their language skills and relax after a long day of classes. I made some great friends through the program who I still talk to over Facebook on a regular basis. We are planning to one day reunite in Japan once we have graduated and have earned our freedom from school work, but more importantly hopefully we will have more money to buy all the things we saw but couldn't afford.

Well in case, if anyone is still reading this I can imagine all of this text has worn you out and you should really be getting back to studying right about now so I'll end it here. If anyone has any questions about study abroad or the program I attended or even if you just want to see more pictures I took in Japan don't hesitate to ask (your blog grade may depend on it).