Past Review

By (East Asian Studies., Wellesley College) for

Associated Kyoto Program: Kyoto - Doshisha University

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
Yes it was the best 8 months of my life, probably! I loved the people I met there, Kyoto, my host family, everything. I was very happy the entire time. There was more that I could have done to become more culturally aware, but that was my own fault. I learned a lot about Japan!

Personal Information

If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: Doshisha University- Imadegawa Campus
How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 6 months+

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The Japanese program was really good, and there was a lot of variation in the other classes.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

They were really great.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

A pretty large house, somewhat in the suburbs. Around 20 minutes by train from the city. Around 30 minutes from Osaka. <br /><br /> My host family was nice, but I think I went out too much and was generally not as into family things as previous students may have been, I'm not sure. I liked them and had a good time, even though there were times when I thought about how nice it would be to be in my own home. They treated me like a guest for the most part, but sometimes I was treated like a member of the family. I really think this is different for everyone.

* Food:

It will be hard to be a vegetarian, but you will not die. I'm not a vegetarian and pretty much eat anything so I had no issues, but there is very little in Japan that is not made from fish. Pork is also hard to run away from, since it's used in ramen broth and sometimes snuck into things like bread. There aren't ingredients on the things you buy in stores, so it's best to be flexible when possible.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I had too much fun! I went to tons of temples, visited Tokyo a couple of times, spent nearly a week in Kyushu, and went to Osaka a few times. AKP does one field trip each semester, and I definitely think those were good, too. Our parties were fun because by the end there were a lot of people from the program who I just didn't see much, but got to see at the parties.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

A couple of people got swine flu, but they're fine now. If you got sick and needed help, one of the office staff would help you or go with you to buy medicine, so I was never really worried about the language barrier and medical things.

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? Yes

Finances

* 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)

Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? TOO MUCH. I ate a lot and went out for coffee and cake pretty often, I think. I also ate out at least once a week, which got expensive. I didn't shop much, but some weeks I'd spend up to $200 just on random things. I was bad at budgeting.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? Coffee is really expensive, so exercise caution and restraint!

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? Yes
How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? Intermediate
What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? 3rd year Japanese
If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?

Language acquisition improvement?

I'm way better at Japanese in all ways, but not as good as I would have been if I studied more.

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Host Family
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Host Family
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? Everyone's going to have a different experience, just do what's most important to you during your time in Japan!

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:

History of Kyoto

Course Department:
Instructor: David Boggett
Instruction Language: English
Comments: We went on trips to different places in Kyoto and were supposed to learn things about them, but David's such a funny guy who loves to ramble on about interesting things, and a lot of us didn't do the readings so it was mostly just hanging out with David in different places. VERY FUN. I did learn a couple of things by the end, though.
Credit Transfer Issues: I hope not!
Course Name/Rating:

Japanese Linguistics

Course Department:
Instructor: Wako Tawa
Instruction Language: Japanese
Comments: Difficult and not very interesting.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

AKP Joint Seminar

Course Department:
Instructor: Sparling and Pavloska
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Got to meet Japanese students, and talked about some things, but it was just an ok class.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

Minorities and Immigration in Contemporary Japan

Course Department:
Instructor: Terry Macdougall
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Awesome class, I love Macdougall! We learned a lot and took interesting trips. Very eye-opening!
Credit Transfer Issues: